Baccano! - 03
I’m surprised that I’m the only one who has said anything about the second episode of Baccano! This is a really fun show, especially once you realize that it keeps hopping from one time to the other without any warning whatsoever. This episode made even more sense than the previous one, despite the horribly complex first one. It’s strange, but this anime seems to know exactly what it’s doing. So many loose ends are already tied together, and we’re only at the third episode. This series is definitely one to look out for.
This episode has three focuses: 1930, 1931 and 1932.
1930 tells how everything started. Szilard Quates isn’t a mafia-boss at all. He’s a scientist, who invented the immortality-drink. His work gets interrupted by an unpredicted fire and some street-thugs, though. He first gets saved by Firo, who just received a new hat from Maiza, after which he gets attacked again. Ennis sees him recover. The interesting thing is that Firo and Ennis weren’t any accomplices back then, and they didn’t even know each other. Same with Isaac and Miria. Something happened here, and it brought immortality to at least Isaac, Firo, Luck and Chezlaw, and it set the stages for the later parts of the anime. The most obvious questions are now: where did Chezlaw get in the picture, and does Ladd have immortality as well?
1931 tells about the happenings at the Flying Pussyfoot, and it’s basically a continuation of the previous episode. Ladd and Lua have quite an interesting and puzzling relationship. By now it’s clear that Ladd has some mental problems, and Lua seems to be hopelessly in love with him. The strange thing is that they keep talking about Lua’s death, and how the moment when Ladd would kill Lua should be something really special.
Also, the reason why Ladd recognized Jacuzzi: he’s wanted. There seems to be a bounty of 5000 dollars on his head. Jacuzzi’s motives are still a puzzle to me, but I think he and Nice went on the Flying Pussyfoot to stop the Chane and her companions, as at the end of the episode, he runs into a few dead people. I suspect that these people were after this, or there must be some fifth party on that train I don’t know about. I need to rewatch the first episode for that. The obvious question is now: what the heck happened on this train, considering that even the locomotive had to be replaced? At the end of the episode, both Lad’s henchman and Chane’s companions try to seize control of the dining room, though what will happen next?
1932: the events in this year are all centred around Dallas Genoard. The events that happened in the first episode definitely didn’t happen chronologically, as there was an entire year between them. Apparently, Dallas made the Runorata-family very angry with his accusations, after they killed his brother and father. He afterwards disappeared for both them and his sister. In this episode, we see both of them enter an enterprise, trading information, and we see the black guy from the ED. He seems to have some connections with Dallas, but he unfortunately can’t help Eve. The biggest question about their story: how the heck are they related to the things that happened on the Flying Pussyfoot? So far, the only link between these stories that we’ve seen is that Eve’s brother Dallas is being searched by the Runorata-family, who is on wrong terms with the Gandor-family, who is acquainted with Isaac and Miria, who happened to be on the Flying Pussyfoot when all the events took place. Obviously, there has to be a more obvious link.
Still, I really recommend this series, and it really is among the highlights of the summer-season.
