Forum:Question about Ronnie

When is it revealed that Ronnie is the demon. I have searched through the yen press translation and fan translation, but besides the epilougue I found nothing. I found a summary of the Light novel and anime that states Ronnie and Maiza Have a conversation about Szilard, but that seems to contradict Maiza being shocked when Szilard shows up at the speak easy.


 * Since I'm currently scouring the Rolling Bootlegs, I feel equipped to answer this. The short answer is: it isn't explicitly revealed at all. Maiza and Ronny do have a conversation in the anime, but it's not necessarily about Szilard--Ronny just points out in his own mind that Maiza is worried about Szilard and that his threat is looming. As for the novels, no such conversation happens.


 * The reason the photographer knows in the epilogue that Ronny is the demon is because of his speech pattern. Both in the anime and the official translation for the novels, he has a tendency to excessively use either the phrase "well, no matter" (anime) or "well, never mind" (novels). His style of speech doesn't change whether he's presenting as the demon or as Ronny, so the photographer was able to pick up that the two are the same person. The conversation between him and Maiza in the anime was added so that this connection was easier to make for the viewers themselves, since the anime cuts out that epilogue.


 * AGAlbatross (talk) 17:41, 12 November 2022 (UTC)


 * I second AGAlbatross' reply. That Ronny-Maiza conversation in Baccano! Episode 07 is anime-original unless I've entirely forgotten some scene that happens in a different LN; however, within the scope of The Rolling Bootlegs [TRB], such a conversation can't take place from an extradiegetic standpoint; Ronny's identity as the demon is implied ('revealed') to the reader at the tail end of Day Two, right before that second Epilogue wherein the Unnamed Photographer has his denouement reveal, when Ronny stares at the fresh batch of immortals and mutters, “I noticed it during the toast last night, but…in the end, I didn’t stop it. I had the vague idea that, if it was us, we’d stick with it for a long time. …Well, never mind.” Per AGAlbatross' comments, that's the cue for the reader to exclaim, "Wait a minute, you've got to be kidding, Ronny's the...?"


 * Any inclusion of such a conversation beforehand would have necessarily revealed that Ronny was the 'demon'—or at least was involved in Maiza's past, depending on whether the catchphrase was used. It's worth noting here that Shinta Fujimoto's manga actually expands on the anime conversation in Baccano! Manga Chapter 013, where Ronny asks Maiza if he sees Gretto in Firo. Ronny saying something like that in TRB would have been a giant flag, making the "Well, never mind" reveal moot. (God, "Well, no matter" is still so much better.)


 * Note: that manga chapter also slightly deviates from the anime's conversation. In the anime scene, Maiza says, "It's risky turning the Runoratas against us. But you could say this Gustavo character is not a very formidable opponent to have to face." However, in the manga chapter, Maiza says, "Someone seems to be dealing drugs on the Gandors' turf. Still, unless it starts affecting us, I don't think we need to do anything." (That someone is probably the drug addict panhandler who was once beaten by Dallas Genoard, later killed Barnes' blender and tried to rob Firo. Can you believe that fella—and thus Dallas—is responsible for 1930 and everything that follows?) Anime!Maiza's Runorata comment was a flimsy attempt on the screenwriter's part to create another connection between 1930 and 1932 whereas manga!Maiza's comment is more believable / truer to the source; Luck in LN chapter "Day One" mentions having heard word about a drug addict wandering around.


 * I've taken the opportunity to mention some of this in Chapter 13's article; honestly, the manga chapter articles would benefit from having 'adaptation differences' sections like the anime episode articles. I'm prepending this forum topic with (which should have been included by default when OP clicked 'New Topic', odd) so that this thread can be filed in that sub-forum. The OP also asked about the Maiza-Ronny conversation in an old Reddit thread of mine, so I'll try to reiterate our replies there in case other redditors ever stumble across OP's comment.


 * Edit: I should clarify that in "Epilogue...2" the photographer considers Ronny and how at the "very end [of Firo's story], this guy was depicted as a demon." He mulls over the possibility of the demon disguising himself as a syndicate member to better witness the immortals' fates, then overtly thinks, If you're a demon, show me proof. Ronny obliges.


 * Revriley (talk) 00:01, 14 November 2022 (UTC)