7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hot off the “Roaring Twenties” and headfirst into the uncertain volatility of the “Dirty Thirties,” criminal syndicates stormed into power by bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition Era, but the most notorious “liquor” of all time is about to set off a violent chain reaction within the mafia underworld! Each of the gritty stories in Baccano! involves an eclectic cast of innocent and not-so-innocent, turbulent characters in several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral further and further out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia-operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction are brutally mashed together for a explosive massacre straight out of crime noir movies.
Starring: Akemi Kanda, Masaya Onosaka, Sayaka Aoki, Sanae Kobayashi, Kunihiro KawamotoForeign | 100% |
Anime | 99% |
Action | 11% |
Comedy | 8% |
Drama | 3% |
Film-Noir | 1% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Horror | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p (upconverted)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English, Japanese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Remember when Lost had captured the cultural zeitgeist like virtually no other show before it? Watercooler discussions, chat boards, texts and emails abounded with theories about what exactly was going on with Jack, Kate, The Others and a host of supporting characters that had the odd propensity to become more than just something analogous to the “red shirts” of Star Trek fame. A truly labyrinthine story unfolded with pretzel-like fluidity that slowly but surely provided an incredibly interlinked set of backstories that of course became one of Lost’s stocks in trade. When the series started to introduce elements of time travel, immortality, long ago wizards and parallel universes, the appellation Lost perhaps most accurately described the audience’s state of mind. When Lost delivered an enigmatic finale that may have raised as many questions as it ostensibly answered, a lot of longtime fans were left asking, “That’s it?” A laundry list of unsolved mysteries soon filled watercooler discussions, chat boards, texts and emails, but over the ensuing year-plus since the series’ demise, that chatter has died down, at least somewhat. For those of you who may be Jonesin’ for a new Lost-esque fix, you could do a lot worse than the challenging anime series Baccano!, a similarly labyrinthine set of stories built around a disparate group of characters who briefly at least intersect at various moments. And just for good measure there’s even immortality and wizardry thrown in.
Despite being upconverted from an SD master, Baccano! looks surprisingly sharp and well defined courtesy of an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is an anime which has been drawn with quite a bit of care, and directorial touches abound which mimic traditional film devices like pulling focus, deep focus, montage and the like. Colors are very well saturated, line detail is very sharp, and the overall image is very appealing. There's very little blank canvas throughout Baccano!, and as a result there's almost always a lot to be looking at, something which this new Blu-ray iteration supports very well. While the series might be faulted for relying a bit to heavily on the brown-beige end of the color spectrum, alert eyes will pick out an amazing variety of hues, albeit sparingly chosen from time to time.
Baccano! is supplied with two lossless tracks, both LPCM 2.0, one in the original Japanese and a surprisingly artful English dub. There's a really unexpected, perhaps picayune, difference between these two tracks in terms of openness and clarity, with the English coming out on top. Though quite subtle at times, the difference can be heard if you simply toggle back and forth during the opening theme music credits sequence. What's really interesting to do with this jigsaw puzzle of a series is to listen to the English dub with the English subtitles on, as the subtitles, hewing more closely to the original Japanese, give all sorts of supplementary information that the English dialogue, timed to match lip movements, doesn't get into. One way or the other, both of these tracks are very spry and well modulated, albeit obviously across a narrow soundfield. Baccano! features a very enjoyable jazz inflected score which is very well represented on these three Blu-ray discs. Both the Japanese and English dialogue is clear and well voiced, and even those who don't usually like English dubs may end up preferring that choice in this instance.
Unusual both in setting as well as basic (if anything in Baccano!'s twisted universe can be termed basic) story, Baccano! also is ambitious in the sheer scope of characters and various plot elements it attempts to tackle. This is not an "entry level" anime that can be enjoyed or even partially understood without paying fairly close attention. That said, don't get hung up on minutiae the first time through the series—simply enjoy it for the often madcap enterprise it is, and then go back again after you've had time to digest the various strands it weaves (not always together). For anyone looking for something unusual and, yes, challenging, Baccano! is Highly recommended.
2010
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