Yeah, this is short.  Give me a break; the baby’s crying.

At first, Baccano! seems like it’s going to be…madcap. Like a heist comedy, or one of those movies from the 1960’s with a huge ensemble cast where everyone is competing in a cross-country airplane race to win a prize. But only halfway through the first episode, you have to admit there is something deeply unsettling about the show. There is a large ensemble cast, and comic relief is provided by a couple crazy thieves. But Baccano! is really a shockingly violent series, awash in an ocean of blood.

The place is New York City in the 1930’s. The Great Depression is in full swing. Prohibition is on and gangs fight to control the city. A cross-country luxury passenger train, the Flying Pussyfoot, is all the rage for those who can afford a ticket.

But something very weird is going on. Some of the gangsters caught up in the mob war get killed, only to climb to their feet and come back for more. A notorious cult leader is sitting in jail, much to the dismay of his followers, who believe he’s immortal. And a creepy old geezer named Szilard Quates is literally sucking the life out of his enemies.

Most of the action takes place aboard the Flying Pussyfoot as it makes a cross-country journey. Besides the usual passengers, this trip hosts a number of different factions, none of whom are involved with each other- at first. A group of the cultists has hitched a ride, intent on taking hostages to secure their leader’s release. Two thieves with a penchant for flamboyant costumes are also on board. There is a band of bootleggers led by a young man with the unlikely name of Jacuzzi Splot, who is out to rob the rich passengers. Ladd Russo, the utterly psychopathic heir to the Russo crime family, is also riding with his posse, with no purpose but to murder as many people as possible, just for the Hell of it. Then there’s the cute little urchin who looks about ten, but who is far older. And finally comes the fresh-faced young conductor, who may just be the most dangerous character of all. Put them together on a train hurtling across the country, and very soon the story explodes into an orgy of violence. Necks are crushed, brains are splattered across the upholstery, limbs are removed, and the Flying Pussyfoot leaves a trail of mangled bodies along the track.

And back in New York, the mobsters fight it out, drop dead, and get up to do it all over again, while Szilard Quates searches for the secret to his own eternal life.

Baccano! doesn’t rely on linear storytelling techniques; the story jumps from 1930 to 1931 to 1932 and back again. Flashbacks drop us into the 18th century, when a group of alchemists on a ship bound for America makes a deal with the devil, for real. Later, the story reaches back into the 1920’s and (inexplicably) shoots forward for a brief foray into 2001. Despite the helpful dates that flash onscreen, it can be confusing, so you have to pay close attention. The characters also weave and out of the story, meeting each other and parting and meeting again, both before and after the Flying Pussyfoot incident.

The only real problem with Baccano!’s mode of storytelling is that they should never have gotten off the train. What happens on the Flying Pussyfoot is riveting. Afterwards, when everyone returns to their lives (or goes to jail), the story loses steam and gradually sinks into the Swamp of Boring.

Everything else about Baccano! is pretty standard, from the character designs to the animation to the voice acting (it was rather nice to hear Takehito Koyasu again, though; I hadn’t heard his sexy voice in a while). The characters themselves are interesting, though there’s a few too many of them to give any one enough screen time to develop a personality.

The opening is a lot of fun; very jazzy and energetic. The ending…well, it’s standard.

I wish I could recommend Baccano!, I really do. But I can’t in good conscience recommend a series that is so excellent up until the last few episodes; the disappointment is more crushing than if it had been boring from the beginning (it’s like Robin Hobb’s Assassin Trilogy, if you’ve read that). Anyway, watch at your own risk.