*Gives up on Baccano*

[major_kerina]

I swear I have never seen a more haphazard, convoluted, and absolutely incoherent anime in all my life.

First episode has...girl and guy deciding on...a main character for a story while playing a game of points? Meta thing?

Then the Flying Pussyfoot train...with almost a dozen people I don't know doing all kinds of shit. I start to learn a little about a guy and girl who are rather weird and went gold hunting because the guy saw a centipede and thinks it's the god of gold. Okay. Oh yeah and there are ghosts...immortals...people who can't die...etc...

And now another story is starting...

WTF!...It's like some moron took Cowboy Bebop, The Godfather, Fullmetal Alchemist, and bunch of left over story notes into a blender...yanked out whatever words that came out first and called it an anime. I'm sure someone will explain..."oh you're just not "getting it"...if I need to go through all kinds of shit just to "get it"...then I don't want it".

Worst recommendation ever. And this may get "better" as it goes along but for now it's easily the most incoherent and worst "well-drawn" anime I've ever seen in my life.

Characters rambling incoherently about "this is my role and the job of the teller of the tales and form that takes the teller or relating the blah blah blah"...seriously...I give animes some credit for being translations and translating is tough but the verbal diarrhea spewing out of the old man "main character" meta crap...is just a pile of shit unequaled to any I have ever seen in the history of any and all writing (anime or otherwise). It's so bad it makes me feel better about any of my sins of clunky, artificial dialogue..."at least it's not Baccano..." It's insanely incoherent. You could just throw out a bunch of madlips and it would have about the same meaning.

BAH!

PS - The 15-ish character names are incredibly forgettable...except for someone named "Nice Svuturo or something for a last name"....okay....clearly someone on the anime staff has a random name generator...*slight sarcasm but just slight*. There is not a single name that comes up that feels the least bit memorable...it's just...unreal. I've never seen an anime which just frustrates every single way to be enjoyable.

Addendum - I was trying to think of Isaac and Miria (the only two characters I feel anything for)...and here's a decent anime post of the first episode...it makes more sense of the episode than I could.

http://niraikanai.animeblogger.net/?p=63

Comments

[syrg.livejournal.com]

This is apparently a very negative week for you, media-wise.

Not a side of you I see often. You're usually almost-sickeningly cheerful.

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Heh. I do have a really critical side but it's rare anything really stokes my emotions to the point I feel like I need to flame the crap out of a something that I feel doesn't deserve being so otherwise praised. Like the kid that said the Emperor is starking nude. Just gotta say it. ^^

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

B...but...Baccono... is.... win O_O

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Why? Can you give me a reason?

I've given you the benefit of the doubt with each work you've recommended. I've gone in with an open mind and intent to enjoy it but Baccano just refuses all of my efforts in English and Japanese.

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

Well *pokes fingers together* I found it to be very entertaining. I see nothing wrong with combining supernatural elements with historical eras (I mean, I like Hellsing for example... Nazi Vampires...) And specifically because of the random storylines I was hooked to see how they all really come together in the end. To me that is a very interesting way to tell a story, giving clues and seemingly parallel and unrelated stories all gradually intertwine. Just as in the real world "its a small world after all..." different people and events may be linked in ways we'd never guess without closer inspection. I found many of the characters lovable especially... well I don't want to spoil it... but a certain unexpected twist in one very unassuming character who turns out to be the bloodthirsty acrobatic super-assassin... and his later adorably screwy attempts at romance in the OVA. And then of course Isaac and Miria...

I don't know. Maybe I'm just easy to please. I don't see why that's a bad thing. When I watch shows and pass them on, I do so for entertainment. Simple delights. I don't need something uber-deep, philosophical, or with copious amounts of character development... I'm not saying those are bad things or turn-offs to me, just they aren't necessary when essentially I am just spending my free time watching a show and enjoying the ride. :|

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Then how come so much of the stuff you recommend me is all this convoluted/philsophical/zombies stuff? :-p

My problem is I can't buy into the promise that these characters will be connected in any "worth it for the effort" way. I did find episode 4 the least painful episode so far. But I've seen this kind of concept ("it's a small world...") done soooo much better in the tv series Lost. Which, if you like this sort of thing, you'll probably really enjoy.

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

I could tell you and spoil it, if you even cared to watch the rest :P

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Having a spoiler would be my only reason to bother watching any more. But it probably should be a private message so those who don't want to see it don't have to see it.

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

there's a lot to spoil, maybe just look at the wikipedia entry ^_^

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Maybe I will...

But I did find something which made it a marginally-better.

I decided to watch it without subs on English. Just blank.

The wooden and wordy script at least sounds a little less clunky.

[eirienlisandrie.livejournal.com]

It's very very bad with the achronological plot. Worse than Haruhi even.

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

Haruhi at least has clearly-defined (although fairly stereotypical) characters to hold you into the story (along with Kyon's context-helping narrative).

And in Kyon's immortal (fan-sub defined), possibly-ironic words - "Please...I'm begging you...establish context before you start speaking". Or, in this case, telling a story. All I get from Baccano is some sort of train robbery happened either in 1931 or 1932 or something. And that a girl and an old man are piecing it together...sorta...and these Mob guys are...zombies?...*shrugs*...maybe after something that happened on the train. Fullmetal Alchemist works because its level of disbelief is countered by rules regarding what can and can't be done by Alchemists. And it gives you a background episode by the second or third episode (an awesome one at that). Baccano gives you exactly zilch in that regard. Hey, if they want to be artsy, that's their perogative but I'm not gonna call it roses just because of artistically-convoluted storytelling.

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

mu~ nobody ever likes anything I suggest T_T I guess I'll just stop. I just want to share the things I enjoy T_T

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

*shrugs* No need to stop.

Just know that what I like very much isn't the same as what you like (which was pretty clear when you went "OMG...WIN!" when the main character's personality was deleted into a perfect girl in Girl in My Dreams and that just utterly turned me off to the story as a whole because any and all character development and personality is down the crapper).

Do you seriously think it's better if I just went *reset button* *Kimi girly girl forever*? That is exactly the evil in Mecchen House expressed through Hitomi. She wants to use the personality reset button at any and all cost to make things like how they used to be (a bad idea).

[maychanlj.livejournal.com]

nu *pouts* I'm just halfway teasing T_T

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

:-p Sure you are...*pokes*

I did manage to finish the 4-set of Baccano episodes.

I definitely get a sense that the story is being shown in a very convoluted order. It's beginning to make sorta sense but as it makes sense I get the feeling there's a lot less "there" than the story would like the viewer to think (a bunch of people drank the immortality wine on the train).

The anime definitely has several things that annoy me about noir/gangster movies.

It's called the "Hey! We're the Ronatsus and we hate the Gondor people...and here's some people we captured....let's beat them up!"

It happens all the flippin' time in gangster movies....there some random person of some Family that comes out of the story...no explanation...and then that person gets shot/tortured. Especially the Godfather has this...which is probably why I'm not that fond of it anyway.

Baccano would be a lot more interesting if it dropped this whole meta "how can we tell this story of this Incident on a train?" and instead took its time to focus on the story of the events. I do like how it completely annihilates the "what's going to happen?" aspect of the story for filling in what happened in between...but I can't buy into finding out what happened between points A and G so far as what I've seen so far.

It's like "here's a montage of events that occurred past and future to these people who were on this train when something Happened".

The idea is interesting but the execution just doesn't work for me.

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

See...the thing is...I've looked ahead and they are still saying halfway through the anime and beyond (episode 8-ish) "this still doesn't make much sense and it's just introducing new stories".

I do have a feeling it might have a post-modern-ish "this story can't be truly known, so we're telling it from all perspectives possible" point but I doubt it. I'm not gonna hold out for an episode 13 payoff when people are talking "can we get a season 2 to make sense of things?"

Agreed on your points too.

[kyaathecatlord.livejournal.com]

I think the answer I had to Nina's question of "why continue" was "Its on DVD and I have the next episode." Had I stopped after the first episode, I wouldn't have continued, but since I had more... I blinked away the chaos and hit the forward button.

Baccano's first episode DOES blow. But it is such a chaotic mess I have to love it just for the chaos.

[major-kerina.livejournal.com]

That would be fine but I've finished the 2nd episode and I'm halfway into the 3rd episode...and it's still a chaotic mess with no signs of coming together other than a vague theory.

If this was fun along the way then I might be more forgiving, but other than the goofy, Bonnie and Clyde-ish duo of Miria and Isaac...there's not much to enjoy character-wise.