Japanophile Isle

Is it really the end? Is there even such a thing as end of story in Baccano anyway?

The three DVD episodes of Baccano were intended as an epilogue to the main series, a “let’s take a peak at what they are doing now” kind of experience and this episode provides some sort of closure for most characters

Ladd is recovering, feeling nostalgic and claiming all the murders he committed were in self-defense

With Rachel we actually learn her back story, as her father was a train company employee who became a scapegoat for an unfortunate accident.

That’s why she :

She hates the rail company, but loves the railroads

Stows away from her grudge and saves the passengers out of her love

Apparently though meeting with conductor from hell that Rail Tracer was changed her ways. So when a huge amount of money is pushed into her she spends it all on tickets to make up for free rides he had

Isaac and Miria…well we already saw their epilogue in main series, here they do what they do best:

Steal stuff

Run away

and spread the love

Oh and the domino?

Turned out to be a flawless victory despite the interference

and our beloved duo has bestowed the title of “Dominist” upon Firo

The grey haired babe turns out to be Sylvie from the ship when demon was first summoned.

And the demon himself:

Yes, Ronnie is the demon who granted was summoned 200 years earlier and fulfilled Elmer’s one wish by staying on Maiza side and helping him though centuries. And of course helping Issac and Miria with domino

The real star of this episode though is Claire and damn,  we saw a huge range of him this time

” I don’t know if she’s saying that she wants to kill me or that she loves me and wants to see me”

He sought love advice from Rachel and …

he blushed! Rail Tracker blushed! The world is coming to and end I tell ya!

But this isn’t a change of character, it’s just a sign of other side of him.

Vino is still a monster

And Czeslaw certainly hasn’t forgotten about it.

Claire has full intentions of teaching more people about who he is

And finally the fight.

Graham throws his wrench.

Vino catches it and throws it back.

Graham fought bravely

and with fury.

But he didn’t stand a chance.

He had enough brains to back off though.

“The one I want to kill is in front of me. But I can’t even lay a hand on him,

because that man will be beaten to death by Ladd one day”

Leave it to Graham to excuse his failure so well

The series ends as it began

Why can’t a story end? Because if there’s a chance of continuation it will pull more people in.

God, I hope the studio is hinting at something here

Szilard’s “self repairing” mouse

Thus ends the short return to Baccano world. I loved it. Heck, Baccano is so close to my heart I would probably love three episodes of Baccano characters talking DVD episodes were a nice epilogue to the main series, they’ve explored in greater depth characters who were previously only sketched, they gave us a long hard look at Vino, more Jacuzzi and Ladd and even managed to introduce new characters, including Graham, who in mere three episodes managed to live up to the rest of crazy Baccano cast. Not to mention some great action scenes.

This anime begs for second series. There’s still so much potential here, so many unanswered questions and so much fun to be had. This last episode hints at continuation, from the girl’s comments to the ending scenes which show starting points for new plot threads (like Dallas getting rescued and apparently put in some lab for experiments). Let’s hope those are more than teasing, because Baccano is not only an outstanding show, but also one that’s like nothing else in anime format.

I will be re watching this series and waiting for further fan translation of novels until second season gets announced or some American publisher picks up the novels. Preferably both

So this is the end, eh?

I’m hoping for sequel!

rating: 9.0/10