My
Netflix wasn't coming through for me, so I used the magic of
FUNimation's internet episode streaming to watch the
first episode of Baccano! tonight. I really like it. The show has promise.
I'd heard people talk about this show from time to time, and it sounded like it had a lot of things that intrigue me. It's set in New York in the 1930's. It follows about 20 years (maybe more?) of gang wars in New York....as seen from the look back of two newspaper reporters. There are also
20 characters. Not kidding. The director uses the first part of the first episode to seemingly justify this......he has the reporters talking about the story and where it should start and who the main character should be and how hard it is to successfully follow so many characters. It was a bit weird, I admit....the way it was set up. But once we got past that and into the story, it was pretty great again. Right......I forgot to mention that most (if not all) of the 20 characters are immortals. Yes.....immortals, involved in gang wars in 1930's New York.
See....I heard the premise for this series and I thought.......it's hard for that to go wrong.
So far it doesn't. I mean, yes, it's hard to follow because there are so many characters. After one episode I have no hope of knowing who is who (excepting a few key characters). They also all have weird names. And of course, there are many story arcs going on at once. This show has a LOT going on. But it's done well. The art and setting and music are exactly what they should be to put you in the time that the story is taking place.....lots of jazz music, lots of muted browns and dark backgrounds and shadow. It's all well executed. Even the opening sequence is a perfect jazz/swing number while the still images of the characters flash by with their names next to them (everyone has weird names......Jaccuzzi is my favorite, I think). The end theme is.......well, it's an end theme. It's a nice slow J-pop ballad composed by Yuki Kajiura. It didn't do anything for me. I would rather have gotten more jazz or swing.
I'm not going to talk about the story or really get in depth at all, because I wouldn't do it justice at this point. Hopefully I'll be able to procure the first disc from Netflix very soon (though I think that if I like the first disc then I will likely buy this series the next time the FUNimation sale comes around).....once I watch enough to get a feel for the show, I'll bring you a more in-depth review. This is DEFINITELY a first impression only.
But! My first impression is that this show is something special compared to a lot of what we've been seeing lately. I'm worried about following what's going on......but it's been ok so far, and it seems like the director knows what he's doing, even though he hadn't really directed much else but
Koi Kaze (not getting into that).
Stay tuned for more when Netflix brings it to me!
Also......use the FUNimation webstream! It gives you a nice look at the shows....and you can download to own for less money than you would pay for DVDs!
Labels: Anime: Baccano
