Baccano! Episode 16

"Carol Realizes That the Story Cannot Have an Ending" is the sixteenth episode and third OVA of the 2007 Baccano! anime.

Funimation Blurb
Here’s what’s what: The mouse might be the main character. They all know about it. They don’t know anything. He is cooperating more than expected for a psychopath. He buys her silence. She buys peace of mind. His name delivers terror. She slips out of the celebration. He’s a man of many names. The note was ambiguous. The monster is surprisingly human. The informant takes a ride. The barrel is empty. They look into each other’s eyes. After so many centuries, they are reunited. After only moments, they say goodbye for now. She finds a way to let go. He is in human form. They weigh the pros and cons of jumping to conclusions when considering a caper with almost twenty lead characters that spans centuries. Their story never ends. The story never ends. Here's all you need to know: The mouse might be the main character. After so many centuries, they are reunited. The barrel is empty. After only moments, they say goodbye. The story never ends.
 * First Version
 * Later Version

Recap Scenes
Claire Stanfield asking Chané Laforet to carve her response into the roof of the Flying Pussyfoot before she leaves (E13); Chané and Ladd Russo dueling while Ladd vows to kill Huey Laforet in a voiceover (E11); Isaac & Miria assuring Eve Genoard that she will be happy (E08); the Martillos celebrating the completion of the dominos design while Sylvie Lumiere looks on (E14); Claire revealing that he felled Ladd to Graham Specter (E15); Barnes swinging down his hammer onto a restrained rodent (E03).

Synopsis
Title Card.

The President of the Daily Days once again holds court in his office in the Daily Days on the details of the Flying Pussyfoot incident, this time hearing reports from Nicholas Wayne and Elean Duga. According to Nicholas, strong and successful efforts by Senator Manfred Beriam and Nebula have been made to keep the incident from the public eye, including bribing the passengers to keep silent on their experiences. The President mulls over the possibility that Beriam and Nebula may have had a hand in facilitating the incident itself, and Nicholas brings up an unconfirmed rumor that Beriam visited the terrorist Huey Laforet during the latter's incarceration. He reasons that, given Beriam's supposed rivalry with Huey, the incident may have been the result of a game or experiment on their parts.

The President soberly notes the loss of life incurred due to the 'experiment', and asks Nicholas what he thinks Beriam's and Huey's objective was. Nicholas shrugs, jibing that the President and Elean would probably have a better idea than he would. Elean coughs at that, and the President reprimands Nicholas for his cynical attitude; he points out that in sharing the secret, Nicholas also shares the danger involved in knowing such a secret, and adds that the "Vino affair" should have taught Nicholas that lesson. Nicholas has a visible negative reaction to the word "Vino."

The President requests that Nicholas and Elean should focus on doing their jobs as information brokers, gathering information without being influenced by their personal stakes and biases. Nicholas and Elean respond with "Yes, sir," simultaneously and glare at each other for the jinx, but straighten to attention when the President asks them to continue reporting on the minutiae of the Flying Pussyfoot incident. Nicholas reports that Ladd Russo of the Russo Family is fully cooperating with the police, albeit insisting that all his kills were made in self-defense. Ladd himself is shown sitting on a bed in a windowless room, with a guard on alert by the door and Bill Sullivan mid-interrogation by his bedside. His left arm is tucked into his robe's sleeve, his right ear is bandaged, and he is uncharacteristically subdued when he asks Bill if he is familiar with Huey. Bill replies that he is, and, when Ladd asks him if he knows which prison the government is shipping Huey to, answers that it will probably be Alcatraz. Meekly, Ladd thanks him.

Elean chimes in with news on the Chicago-based gang led by Jacuzzi Splot: the Genoard Family has hired them as employees on the recommendation of the Flying Pussyfoot 's head chef, and the gang is currently residing in the Genoards' penthouse on Millionaires' Row. Jacuzzi himself remains in the hospital, having aggravated his injuries thanks to his rendezvous with Graham Specter. The President inquires as to Eve Genoard's status, but Nicholas believes that it would be best for "Sugarcube" to report on her, rather than him. Sugarcube, who has just arrived, gives his report from the doorway.

Eve has poured funding into the ongoing construction works by the pier in cooperation with the Runorata Family, all with the aim of rescuing her brother Dallas Genoard from the riverbed. She spends much of her time watching the construction work with her steward Benjamin, and one on such occasion is watched in turn by Bartolo Runorata and Manfred Beriam from the privacy of an automobile some distance away. Bartolo asks Beriam if there is some way they can arrange for Eve to meet Dallas, and Beriam remarks that it is unusual for Bartolo to show an interest in helping others. Bartolo's justification is that he fails to see what harm there would be in doing so, but Beriam counters that every information leak has consequences. However, should Eve prove willing to spend the rest of her life locked up in a laboratory with her brother, Beriam would not be opposed. Bartolo gapes, but recovers and returns to staring at Eve. The President compliments Sugarcube on a job well done, and Sugarcube pauses in his mastication of a sugarcube to offer one to Nicholas. Nicholas declines. He makes the same offer to the President, who accepts, and Nicholas and Elean watch in astonishment as Sugarcube disappears behind the paper-laden desk so that the President can take a cube. Once Sugarcube returns to the door, the President instructs him to continue surveillance on Eve's movements, and Sugarcube nods and leaves the room.

Elean belatedly realizes that he had grabbed onto Nicholas at some point while they'd stared at Sugarcube in mutual shock, and hastily releases him so he can report on Rachel to their employer. He affirms that Rachel went to see the "little boy" who had ridden the Flying Pussyfoot, and Nicholas chimes in with information on a certain encounter Rachel had in the station's terminal.

Rachel sits alone in the terminal, her leg injury freshly bandaged and her bag of belongings by her side. Mary Beriam calls her name and rushes over to her, followed by her father, her mother Natalie Beriam, and a man wearing a black suit and black sunglasses. She thanks Rachel for rescuing her as soon as she reaches the bench, as does Natalie. Beriam and his guard arrive, and Natalie introduces him as her husband.

Natalie and Mary head for the exit at Beriam's bidding, and the Senator tosses a white envelope at Rachel before he and his man follow. Rachel is immediately offended when she discovers that the envelope contains money and makes to throw it at the Senator, but stops when she sees Mary smiling and waving at her through the doorway. The President remarks that Rachel has had an unpleasant time as of late, and Nicholas points out that Rachel can at least stop hitching free rides thanks to her unexpected windfall. The President reminds him that Rachel has her own personal reasons for stowing away; Elean nods approvingly at this, only to glare when Nicholas remains skeptical. At Nicholas' skepticism, the President finally decides to lay his cynicism to rest by relating Rachel's past to him. He says that a terrible train accident occurred when Rachel was young, for which the railroad company was responsible. The company pushed the blame onto Rachel's father, a railroad engineer, and Rachel bore direct witness to how her father's love for trains persevered through his despair. The President is sure that she must have inherited both her father's love for the railroad and his bitterness toward it.

Nicholas extrapolates that the President means to imply Rachel saved the passengers on the Flying Pussyfoot out of some sort of love, and groans that all that is a bit too much for him to wrap his head around. Still, he agrees to stop teasing Rachel about her hitching rides for free.

In the station, Rachel shoves a wad of large bills at a teller and demands that he sell her as many tickets as the money will buy, with the destination irrelevant since the money is for "everything up 'til now." The teller is confused, but Rachel insists that explaining would take too long. Bewildered, the teller takes the money.

The President asks for information on Vino, but Nicholas balks and claims he knows nothing about him. The President urges him to calm down, but Nicholas, ashen-faced, insists that he knows nothing.

In the little alleyway courtyard behind The Alveare, Rachel and Czeslaw Meyer stare blankly at Vino - the former Claire Stanfield - and Czes asks who he is. Vino is surprised at Czeslaw's lack of recognition - even though his clothes are different and he is no longer covered in blood, he imagines that it would be difficult to forget the voice of one's would-be murderer.

The memory of Vino biting off his fingers comes back to Czes with horrific clarity, and he backs away from the man with fear on his face. Vino claims that he has let Czes off the hook given that the Flying Pussyfoot arrived safely in New York, so Czes should relax. He turns his attention to Rachel and, calling her a freeloader, says that he heard she bought a large quantity of tickets after arriving at the station. Vino leans in close and compliments the gesture, but notes that one is ordinarily supposed to buy tickets in the first place. Like Czes, Rachel finally recalls Vino's voice - in this case, when Vino whispered "Your ticket, please" into her ear underneath one of the cars.

Czes screams in fright and runs away, leaving Rachel alone with Vino. She identifies Vino as "that conductor," but Vino emphasizes that he is no longer of that profession. He then asks her if she would like to have lunch with him, admitting that he needs a woman's advice on how he can convince another woman to marry him. Inside the Alveare, elsewhen, Isaac & Miria and several of the Martillos watch in delight as their domino creation collapses before their eyes. Firo Prochainezo moves in tandem with one of of the destructive waves, watching lines of dominos fall one after the other with unabashed delight. Maiza Avaro remarks on the irony of Firo enjoying the dominos the most out of all of them, his smile broadening into a mischievous grin when Firo cheerfully calls for Maiza to stop giving him a hard time. Meanwhile, a silver-haired woman watches the proceedings from where she sits alone in a booth.

Everybody cheers when the last of the dominos fall, and Isaac and Miria proclaim Firo to be their "maximum-grade dominist." Firo whoops a happy yahoo!, still glowing from the excitement. The silver-haired woman takes the opportunity to stand and slip out of the room unnoticed, though Maiza looks over when he hears the door close. His smile vanishes.

Vino and Rachel sit outside an Italian restaurant at a table for two, each with a plate of penne pasta in front of them. With their food arrived, Vino launches straight into his dilemma: he needs Rachel's advice on how he can confess his love for a certain woman. He assures Rachel that she is not the woman in question, and then prompts her to speak up when she does not immediately respond. Rachel would like to know his name before they discuss anything, and Vino replies that he used to be "Claire Stanfield," but that he is currently searching for a new name. Until he finds one, Rachel can call him the "Rail Tracer."

Rachel introduces herself simply as "Rachel" when Vino asks for her name, and Vino once again asks her for her advice. She demures that she is not sure how useful her advice would be, since she is not what one would call a "normal girl." Undeterred, Vino tells her through a mouthful of pasta that this is not a problem since the woman in question is even more abnormal than Rachel. At that, Rachel disdainfully advises that Vino should work on fixing his incredible insensitivity first. Vino cocks his head, oblivious, and Rachel wisely moves on and asks him if he is at least acquainted with the woman. He answers that he first met the woman on board the Flying Pussyfoot in hectic circumstances, and that the woman left a note behind for him in which she asked him to find her in Manhattan, where she would look for him in turn. Rachel supposes that the situation seems hopeful enough, but Vino is less optimistic. He does not know for certain whether or not the woman wants to meet him in order to kill him, or because she loves him. Even then, her wanting to kill him might not necessarily mean that she does not love him.

Amused, Rachel highlights the speculative nature of Vino's train of thought. Frustrated, Vino stabs at his pasta and mulls over the possibilities: the woman might love him so much that she wants to kill him, or maybe she sincerely loves him but wants to kill him for the sake of something more important. He jabs a forkful of pasta into the air for emphasis, which he shoves into his mouth a moment later. Vino shamelessly explains that he had fallen in love with plenty of women in the past, whose rejections he always moved on from without a second thought - and that this occasion is different from all of them. The note, the way the woman silently fought against the man in white, her expressionless face - with his head buried in his hand, Vino confesses that the more he remembers her the more he falls in love with her.

A certain memory causes Vino to bolt upright, the absence of his hand revealing a faint blush on both of his cheeks. The memory is of when he first told the woman that he would help her - looking back on it now, Vino believes that he must have down so out of love-at-first-sight rather than mere sympathy. His blush deepens, and Rachel smiles and admits that this is the first time she has actually seen him as human. Vino looks back at her at that, commenting that even he finds himself confused over what he is from time to time. At any rate, he is sure that he will be successful in his pursuit of his woman, no matter how long the pursuit may take. Even if the woman has no romantic interest in him, he will ensure that she does someday, whether it be months or years down the line.

Rachel asks if he has figured out the woman's whereabouts, and Vino replies that he knows exactly where she is. On the night of Eve's confrontation with the Gandor brothers, Nicholas follows Eve and Elean to the Coraggioso and presses his ear to the door, clearly intending to eavesdrop. Vino emerges from the shadows and slams Nicholas against the metal handrail by his throat, identifying him as "Nicholas, the information broker" and himself as both the former Claire Stanfield and a former train conductor. Nicholas' eyes widen in fearful recognition, and Vino coldly says that from what he understands, Nicholas was responsible for putting a young lady in a dangerous situation. He calls Nicholas a bad person, fulling ignoring Nicholas' claims of innocence, and announces that he will administer Nicholas' punishment accordingly (and that he has questions he needs answering).

Vino takes Nicholas up to one of the trains travelling on the overpass and holds him over the tracks just like he did with Dune. There, he demands that Nicholas tell him where Chané Laforet is if he wants his life to be spared. Nicholas screams that he will talk.

Vino's casual admittance to traumatizing Rachel's colleague is one that Rachel is forced to take in unnerved stride, and she offers a mild comment on the information's sure reliability in response. Vino's main concern is how to figure out if Chané reciprocates his feelings, and Rachel suggests that he send her a letter and present. He is intrigued by the idea.

In the future, Nick picks up Graham's ransom note and reads it, curling his arm around his bruised abdomen protectively. Infuriated by the note's contents, he stands with difficulty and orders Chaini and her follower to fetch Nice Holystone while he goes straight to Jacuzzi. The three of them race back to the Genoards' manor.

Vino watches them leave from where he stands behind a telephone booth, having witnessed Graham's kidnapping of Chané from start to finish. He is pleased that Chané was wearing the dress he sent her, especially since he did not think she would don it so soon. Addressing the small boy staring his way, Vino wonders out loud who the blue-clad mechanic was, and if he should chase him. He has no doubt that Chané could take care of the man on her own, and asks the boy if he thinks he should chase after them anyway.

The boy is silent. Vino agrees that he is right, and runs off to meddle in the warehouse showdown. Timeskip to the warehouse. Graham hurls his wrench at Vino with incredible speed and strength, but Vino grabs it and hurls it back with equal force. Graham does not attempt another throw once he catches it, charging at Vino instead with the aim of hitting him directly. Vino leaps into the air in the second before Graham swings his wrench down, alighting on its end with featherlight grace. He declares that it is impossible for Graham to beat him, and proceeds to easily dodge the next few fury-fueled swings of Graham's wrench with increasingly impressive acrobatic skill.

Graham finally concedes that Vino was not lying about his skill, and laments that he will not be able to engage his hated foe any further on a matter of principle, since Vino is clearly meant to be killed by "Boss Ladd" and no one else. Vino is willing to acknowledge the "little warning," but Graham corrects him - it is a death sentence. On the way out, Graham tells Jacuzzi that, having endeared himself to Graham, he can use the warehouse any time he wants. As he leaves with his men, he calls out that he will see Jacuzzi's gang later - when "that confounded redhead" is not present. Jacuzzi wonders if Graham is a good person or a bad person, but Nice is just satisfied with knowing that all their friends are all right. Still, she is curious as to who Vino is. Jacuzzi is of the mind to let Vino and Chané be, since Chané looks just a little bit happy with him. He is correct; Chané's eyes are shining.

The silver-haired woman exits the Alveare, walking past a man smoking a cigarette next to the storefront without so much as a glance in his direction. The man looks at her walk by, and smirks. Sylvie likewise pays no attention to the man walking past her from the opposite direction, only to stop when the man calls her out for not greeting him. She turns, and recognizes the man as her fellow immortal Elmer C. Albatross. Elmer smiles, greeting her as Sylvie. Sylvie is mildly surprised that he recognized her, considering that she looks quite different to how she looked aboard the Advena Avis in 1711. Elmer says that all he had to do was age the Sylvie in his memory, commenting that Sylvie looks just like the mature version of her in his head. He asks her when she drank the elixir, and Sylvie explains that she decided she would wait to refine herself before stopping her bodily clock, and thus did not drink her portion until several years after the Advena Avis.

Elmer compliments the "twenty-something version" of her, but Sylvie has darker matters on her mind. She brings up the news of Szilard Quates' recent devourment, of which Elmer was already aware. Sylvie murmurs that the boy who devoured Szilard resembles Gretto with a hint of melancholia, and Elmer urges her to cheer up and smile. Sylvie curtly says that she is fine, though she admits that she had nursed thoughts of "becoming one with Gretto" before arriving in Little Italy. However, she had changed her mind upon seeing "that boy" smile - and had concluded that Gretto might just be happy inside him.

Elmer smiles, relieved that she is in a better frame of mind than she once was. His smile fades when Sylvie says that she has to leave, and he points out that their reunion feels far too underwhelming for two people who have not seen each other in over two hundred years. Sylvie pauses, and imparts that she currently makes her living as a singer. She suggests that Elmer lounge about the city's speakeasies if he wants to find her again, and adds that she is certain that they will meet again before heading off down the sidewalk. Their farewells are equally brief.

Elmer resumes course in the opposite direction, approaching the smoking man to abruptly slap him on his back in hearty greeting. The man bursts into a coughing fit, hunching over with his arms wrapped around his ribs while Elmer remorselessly remarks that it has been a long time since they last met. He knew who the man was immediately, thanks to his unique aura, and wanted to come over and thank him for keeping his promise.

1711. Elmer sinks into the depths of the ocean, a jellyfish floating nearby. The 'devil' has promised to give him one wish on account that he finds Elmer fascinating, and Elmer wishes that the 'devil' look after Maiza in Elmer's stead. Maiza has just lost his younger brother, and Elmer would like the 'devil' to stay by his side in human form, helping him until he can someday laugh once more. Elmer is sure that doing so will make the 'devil' smile as well, and the 'devil' expresses his dry astonishment at the fact that Elmer wants to see him smile as well. However, he agrees to Elmer's wish. Present. Elmer affirms that he would love to see the 'devil' - Ronny Schiatto - smile, but there are countless people out there whom he still needs to make smile first. Spreading his arms wide, Elmer declares that after two hundred years of living he figures that there is probably no meaning to life - so, in his mind, life would be a lot better if everyone could just live their lives happy and smiling, free from hatred, pain, and sorrow. He slaps Ronny on the back for a second time, mercilessly inducing another round of coughing before he takes his leave. As he heads off in the direction he'd originally came, he asks that Ronny continue to look after Maiza.

Ronny watches him leave and mutters that he has stayed by Maiza's side not because of the promise he made to Elmer, but because of his own personal curiosity. He lets out one last cough as he considers Elmer's retreating form, silently referring to him as an "arbitrary fellow" ("selfish man" in the sub).

Gustav St. Germain and Carol walk hand-in-hand down the sidewalk, passing Elmer from the opposite direction. Carol asks Gustav what the ultimate beginning and ending of "this story" are, a question which Gustav disparages as "foolish." He correctly guesses that Carol is still searching for the story's main character, and warns that she ought to discard such dogmatic ideals along with the illusion that stories have defined beginnings and endings. Stories are comprised of people living, endlessly interacting with and influencing each other before parting ways. As long as stories are told, they should not have endings.

Carol grimaces, complaining that Gustav's philosophy is hard for her to understand. Gustav apologizes, but says that some things can only be told in a certain way. He prompts her to think for herself on why stories ought not to have beginnings nor endings, and her proposed answer is that leaving room for the story to have a sequel is appealing. Gustav awards her three points, much to her disappointment, and he claims that he can think of infinite answers to his own question.

As the two of them walk past the Alveare and Ronny, who has resumed smoking, Gustav elects to give Carol the simplest answer of them all: because stories without endings are enjoyable. Carol immediately points out that many people would be dissatisfied with such a non-conclusion, but Gustav counters that such an aspect only makes it more enjoyable. Carol is distracted by a rodent running across the street. She smiles at it, only for it to immediately be crushed by the tire of a passing vehicle. Horrified, Carol buries her face in her hands. Gustav considers the rodent for a moment before leaning down to put his hand on Carol's shoulder. He gently urges her to not look away, asking her if she does not recognize the white mouse. Carol lowers her trembling hands just in time to see the mouse regenerate and scurry across the street with nary a care.

A smile spreads across Carol's face. Gustav, smiling in turn, asks her how she thinks the mouse has lived his life up until now, and what experiences it will have in the future. He encourages her to imagine it all for herself just as the mouse disappears into a sewer gutter, and she exclaims that it is "a lot more" fun to imagine the rest, just as Gustav had said. He applauds her for having hit the nail upon the head.

Several people are seen, one after the other: Elmer, walking with a smile on his face; Ronny, smugly smoking; Sylvie, turning the heads of passersby; Graham, Shaft, and his gang heading away from the warehouse; Jacuzzi and his gang looking at Vino and Chané in the warehouse. Vino bashfully says that the two of them can start out as friends, but asks if Chané thinks she will be able to fall in love with him someday. After a moment, Chané blushes and smiles.

On his bed, Ladd stares up at the ceiling with a vacant expression. It morphs into one of manic anticipation.

The construction workers have dredged up the long sought-after oil drums said to contain Dallas and his cronies. Eve sprints to the dock as fast as she can upon receiving word, but Dallas' drum is empty - all that remains is cracked cement and the playing cards embedded in it. Czes and Ennis walk the streets of New York hand-in-hand, content; Keith, Berga, and Luck Gandor prepare to play poker in Coraggioso; Rachel tosses her newly bought tickets into a trash can and smiles, a weight lifted off her shoulders; Nicholas and Elean exit the President's office and share a brief grin before looking away from each other, scowling; Huey sits in his Newfoundland cell with an empty smile; and the Martillos and Isaac and Miria celebrate their dominos party with mirthful abandon. Somewhere on a New York street, the immortal mouse scampers off to its next adventure.

1930. Several policemen run down the middle of the street in all their whistle-blowing, club-shaking ire. Fleeing from them are Isaac and Miria, clad in the religious garb they were wearing when they left the Alveare. The two of them hop onto the sidewalk; Isaac reaches into his sacks and pulls out fistful after fistful of bills, flinging the Genoard fortune behind him as he and Miria make their escape. His shouts of "Merry Christmas!" ring out through the crowd, even as Miria laughs that Isaac is a month too early. Passersby scramble for the money trail, drivers lean out of their cars to catch the fluttering money, cars are crashed - even the policemen have stopped to scoop up the scattered cash. Thwarted in their pursuit of Isaac and Miria thanks to the traffic jam, Agents Bill Sullivan and Donald Brown are left to stew in their automobile.

Isaac lets go of the depleted sack, confident that he and Miria must have made up for at least fifty robberies in getting rid of such a vast amount of money. Miria agrees, equally certain that Raymond Genoard is beside himself with joy up in Heaven. Isaac adds that Eve and her brother will surely be happy and devoid of any reason to fight with their money gone. The two of them dance in the street as they approach Grand Central Station, and consult each other on where to take a train to next. Isaac decides that they will head for California and pan for gold, stealing from Mother Earth herself.

Preview
None.

The Daily Days
Click "Expand" for differences regarding the Daily Days scenes. The President does have more than one meeting with Nicholas and Elean in the fourth volume, but none of their meetings concern the Flying Pussyfoot. Therefore all their scenes in the episode are largely original for the sake of a framing device. Sugarcube (Rubik) may be the only person in the anime to have reportedly seen the President, but since his appearance in the episode is anime-original, this is not the case in the novels. Even his role as a Daily Days employee is anime-only, since his real relation to them is that of a customer who frequently sold them information.

Regardless of the originality of the scenes, Nicholas' continued snide attitude toward Rachel's stowaway activities is absent in the novels, since Novel-Nicholas is by and large a more decent human being than his anime counterpart. The President has no need to tell him Rachel's past because Nicholas was never rude enough to warrant the hubris check in the novels. Rather, the vast majority of Nicholas' negative traits stem from the information broker Henry, whom rather than Nicholas serves as the antagonistic information broker of the fourth novel.

It is Henry, not Nicholas, whom Claire eventually holds hostage on the end of a train, albeit due to somewhat different circumstances. Henry did endanger Eve, but not by the same means - he suggests to Roy Maddock that Roy take Eve captive and use her as a trump card against the Runorata Family. This is only brought to Claire's attention through Edith, who spills everything to him and the Gandor brothers after Henry explains the deal he made with Roy to her. Edith leads Claire to Henry, who had demanded that Edith scrounge up information on Vino and the Flying Pussyfoot for him, and Claire proceeds to interrogate Henry for Chané's location, though he does answer Henry's questions in exchange. A bit of Henry's hair starts to grow white after the event.

Rachel's Scenes
Click "Expand" for differences regarding scenes that involve Rachel.

Rachel was injured in her thigh, not her lower leg. It is Senator Beriam who approaches her first, not his wife or daughter, and he thanks her for protecting his family before handing her a thick paper envelope. It is Natalie who stops her from throwing the money at him, gently apologizing to Rachel for her husband's rudeness. She explains that money is the only way he knows how to express his gratitude, and then thanks Rachel for her heroic efforts. Mary peeks out from behind her and does the same, acting more shy than her anime counterpart. Mary says that she wants to be as good a person as Rachel is someday. This scene is meant to happen at the switch point rather than the final station, and Rachel only purchases her tickets once she arrives there. The anime does not bother to specify that she only uses half of the money for the tickets, intending to use the other half on proper treament of her leg wound.

Rachel is wearing a hat and a fur-lined coat over a white dress in the courtyard scene, not her coveralls. Instead of heading off to eat at a random Italian restaurant, she and Claire head back into the Alveare to dine at the speakeasy. The Martillos all take notice, since originally she had met Czes inside the speakeasy over half an hour prior. Once they order, Claire says that he currently goes by "Felix Walken" instead of Claire Stanfield, in contrast to Anime-Claire calling himself the Rail Tracer.

She does not say out loud the line about her not being a normal woman, though she thinks it.

Claire only says that he learned of Chané's location through an information broker, and does not describe what he did to that information broker unlike his anime counterpart. The interrogation in question happened under somewhat different circumstances, as the previous section describes.

For the most part their conversation closely matches their conversation in the novels, though the anime decides to cut the extended discussion on what sort of gift Claire should send Chané (Rachel shoots down his idea of sending her a military uniform and a knife set). Claire offers to pay for her food when he leaves, though he actually ends up having Lia Lin-Shan put the bill on Firo's tab. Rachel muses that she should have probably just taught Claire common sense before leaving. Several minutes later, Firo returns to the speakeasy with Isaac and Miria and is completely befuddled to learn that some "Felix Walken" has saddled him with a bill.

Czes waits for Rachel outside the speakeasy, and she notes that immortals apparently can be happy and scared just like regular people. Once Czes reenters the speakeasy, Rachel wonders what sort of woman the "monster" is in love with.

The Warehouse
Click "Expand" for differences regarding that which is relevant to the warehouse. The delinquents who are with Chané when she is kidnapped are not specified to be Nick, Chaini, or Chaini's follower. There are also more people around when Chané is kidnapped, and Claire watches her kidnapping from a crowd rather than from a more secret hiding spot. There is no lollipop-carrying boy in the novels, so he asks himself if he should follow Graham, not a passerby. His question as to why Chané went along with Graham so willingly is not asked in the anime.

Claire and Graham's fight in the novel is much longer than their fight in the anime, and Graham makes use of a wider range of tools and combat tactics than his anime counterpart. Most of their peri-fight dialogue is also lost, including that of Graham's strength verse Ladd's and Claire's past training with something called Cookie. Graham's surrender does not happen until several minutes into the fight, when he finally realizes that Claire has not even bothered to properly counterattack him.

Shaft tries to interject when Graham speaks of his "hated foe" and his inability to lay a finger on him, only to receive a blow to his gut via a small wrench for his trouble.

Jacuzzi falls to his knees with relief once Nice confirms that everyone is safe - by this time in the novel he has been discharged from the hospital, though he is still using two crutches. Since Claire does not identify himsel as the Rail Tracer, Jacuzzi fails to recognize him and only knows he looks familiar.

1711 Characters
Click "Expand" for differences regarding scenes involving 1711 characters.

Elmer's original wish was for Ronny to smile, shocking Ronny to the point where he apologizes for having underestimated Elmer. It is the hardest wish Ronny has ever heard, but Elmer stops him from running away and says that he is willing to give Ronny an extension on the wish, with conditions. The condition is the same as Elmer's wish in the anime, that Ronny stay by Maiza's side in human form until he (and both of them) can smile.

Elmer's conversation with Ronny in the anime is anime-original. His conversation with Sylvie is similarly fabricated, since the two of them do not actually reunite until 2001. Neither of them would have been aware of Szilard's death in 1932 as it were - in fact, Elmer is actively searching for Szilard in 1932, and continues to do so until he finally learns of Szilard's death in 2001. Sylvie only learns of Szilard's death through Maiza once he finally finds her in the second half of the twentieth century.

Unlike his and Ronny's conversation, Elmer's and Sylvie's conversation is at least based off of the actual text. In this case, their conversation is slightly reminiscent of their actual reunion scene in 2001 The Children of Bottle, but only slightly. Elmer accuses her of being Huey on account of her beauty and then points out that she looks nothing like her seventeen year old self, at which point Maiza has to explain that she did not drink the elixir immediately.

Sylvie is not present at the domino party.

Other
Click "Expand" for differences regarding scenes that do not fall into the prior categories. Gustav's conversation with Carol about beginnings and endings is original to the anime.

There is no direct context in the anime for what led to Isaac and Miria running from the police in 1930, but in the novels one sees that they deliberately draw the police's attention away from the Martillos in the aftermath of Szilard's death, and then flee for the main streets. They lie to the two policemen guarding the mouth of the alley by claiming that there are armed men chasing them - the police, of course - buying just enough time for them to burst out onto the main avenue. The two policemen mount NYPD horses and take chase, but are unable to maneuver through the chaos incurred by the money trail in Isaac and Miria's wake.

Donald and Bill are not chasing them, and are thus not caught up in the traffic jam.

Like in the anime, the two decide to go pan for gold in California once they reach the train station. The anime fails to include the rest of their conversation, which takes a slightly sober turn once they realize that they did not have the chance to give Ennis and Firo and the others proper goodbyes. Deeming New York City "interesting," they vow to return and visit their friends someday, and use their last bundle of bills to buy two tickets to California.

It is then that Isaac and Miria think of all the joy that the Genoards must be experiencing without their fortune, rather than when they were running down the avenue. Right before they board the train, Isaac graffitis a Welcome to NYC! sign by drawing a bite mark over the apple representing the state.

Trivia

 * Goof: The American flag hanging above the Italian restaurant is anachronistic, displaying forty-nine stars instead of forty-eight. The flag had forty-eight stars from 1912-1959, at which point it added on another star for Alaska and would remain at forty-nine stars until it added one more for Hawaii one day shy of a year later.
 * According to screenwriter Noboru Takagi, "the story cannot have an ending" from the episode title is a quote from Kazumasa Hirai.
 * The scene in which Eve is running along the dock technically takes place in 1933, since Dallas is retrieved from his barrel in September that year.
 * Sugarcube's real name is Rubik, but he is only ever referred to as Sugarcube in the anime.
 * Maiza's design for the dominos setup was that of a Phoinix, an appropriately thematic choice.

Unanswered Questions

 * How, why, and when did Dallas escape the oil drum?