Baccano! Specials

In 1929, Ladd Russo spared Graham Specter's life and earned his unwavering loyalty. Three years later, Graham is infuriated upon learning that Ladd was pushed off the train after the events aboard the Flying Pussyfoot. As a man of bizarre yet passionate philosophies, he plans to make an offering to Ladd by kidnapping Eve Genoard and subsequently capturing Jacuzzi Splot, who has been living in the Genoard mansion with his gang.

Meanwhile, Jacuzzi and his gang take in an unfamiliar woman, Elmer C. Albatross pays a visit to the prison to meet an old friend, and Czeslaw Meyer runs into the man he hoped he would never see again.

These seemingly separate storylines merge, tying up several loose ends and revealing the whole truth of the anomaly that occurred aboard the Advena Avis in 1711.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Stanfield, Claire Main

Morita, Masakazu Japanese

Russo, Ladd Main

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Splot, Jacuzzi Main

Sakaguchi, Daisuke Japanese

Laforet, Chane Main

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Specter, Graham Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Holystone, Nice Main

Kobayashi, Yuu Japanese

Rachel Main

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Dian, Isaac Supporting

Onosaka, Masaya Japanese

Harvent, Miria Supporting

Aoki, Sayaka Japanese

Prochainezo, Firo Supporting

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Oomori, Takahiro Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Kanbe, Mamoru Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 27, 2024

elthreedotcomma

Recommended

"Put aside the illusion that there is a beginning and ending to a tale"

Baccano! Specials is a good show. While it does not exceed its prequel in terms of what it depicts, it is certainly a very good sequel, and wraps up the story in an interesting manner. It follows in its predecessor's footsteps in the fact that it maintains its trait of having a large cast and balancing it well. The 3-episode sequel seemingly wraps up most plot points covered in the main show.

While Baccano! was largely non-linear, Baccano! Specials is much more focused on one overarching story, with some alternative plot wrap-ups sprinkled ... in. At the centre of this overarching plot is Claire Stanfield, a previously unexplored character. Claire was present for a lot of the first season, not much of his own life was told till the last few episodes, and even then, it mostly felt like an information dump rather than personifying exposition. This season provided a much needed exploration of Stanfield, as well as other characters like Rachel, Elmer and Ronnie. Some minor mysteries from the show are also covered, though they do not impact the show majorly.

The "villain", Graham Specter, is largely comical, as he is just supposed to be an underling of Ladd Russo. Just like its predecessor, there is no clear-cut "villain" in this show, just an antagonist (and the two are quite different). Ladd is shown ocassionally, but is not explored too much since he served his purpose in the original show.

There is no noticeable drop in quality : the animation, art style, performances and music are all just like the previous season. This, if nothing else, is a good continuation and a satisfying conclusion, even though it does not conclusively end the show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 28, 2024

BaselessFall

Mixed Feelings

It's the deserts you get after a five star meal.

Baccano was my real introduction to Anime. It was the first time i was captivated to watch a show from start to the end. Not gonna lie, since watching it in the very start of 2024, I am in love... very much in love... and depressed cuz this show is from 2007-2008... :(
I tried many, many, MANY times to get into anime by trying to watch Miss Kobayashi or Demon slayer and i just could not get into the medium, despite being into the Anitube sphere. That was, until one beautiful day when i found myself ... bored and i remembered this existed so i went through illegal means of watching this cuz Crunchyroll sucks huge dick (Fuck that app. Srsly.) and then... I just kept watching this through many, many nights...

However, i won't talk much about the main series here. Since this is only for the specials, i should just voice my opinion on them. To be honest, it's alright. A lot of the praise Baccano gets in the main series won't apply here but you can enjoy it just as much. It depends on how much you enjoy Baccano by the time you get into the specials in my point of view. I didn't really like the different antagonist the specials featured, but seeing the main cast in a more casual setting, post the events of the main series, is a joy.

Overall, you should not be dying to see this after the main series, you should suffer from depression because you will never get any more of this meal... I am so glad i was not an anime fan at the ages of 2-3 when this was airing... ANYWAYS, ENJOY THE DESERTS!

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 29, 2024

Lainsbearsuit

Not Recommended

Regardless of the fact that this is purely bonus content for fans of Baccano!, which is a fine series and franchise, these 3 episodes tend to feel more like a weight pulling it down rather than something to lift it up.

While this does indeed give us more information about the characters, and maybe ties up a loose plot line or two for the few people that actually cared about them, we still have to ask ourselves why these three episodes exist, who they are for, and what do we do now that we have watched them. As far as I can tell, this was ... made concurrently with the main series which is why it looks and sounds exactly the same, so when they realized that the plot was very neatly concluded after the 13th episode, they decided to use their remaining resources on... this.

This is a direct sequel to the Baccano! anime, and it shows us just a little bit more after the events of the series. The problem is that for the most part it shows us very, very little. Honestly it feels like the story just wants to continue on, which of course it does in the original visual novel form, but this is just 3 episodes.

In fact, these three episodes do have the potential to make the original series worse in retrospect because it just muddies the waters a bit. It ties one or two plot lines together but then just leaves so much undone and even sets up things that we will never, ever see. Not in a way that is interesting like, "Oh there they go again", but more like "I'm about to do something really awesome, sure would be a shame to miss what I'm about to do next" and then it ends. The emotional climax definitely happened in the 13th episode of the main series, and it felt really good the way it ended.

Worst of all, compared to the other Baccano! series, these episodes are boring. Most people will probably watch this thinking it's part of the main series because they are usually listed as Episode 14, 15 and 16. While the main series is full of violent interactions between insane personalities, these three episodes are almost entirely devoid of violence, interactions, or personality. I know it seems like I'm being hard on a mini OVA but it's because this is tacked onto the main series in a way that will make the viewing experience worse for most people.

Truly content for Baccano! fans only, and you should only watch this after you've taken a break from the series. Maybe a few months after watching the 13 episode series, if you feel like you have some itch to play the visual novels or read the manga or play the DS game, maybe THEN you should watch these 3 episodes just to get your toes wet in the larger lore before jumping in. That's why overall it's a 4/10 and just a Bad Anime because it only exists to try and push you out of watching anime and into the rest of the franchise content.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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