Baccano! (2007 Anime)

Baccano!  (バッカーノ!, Italian for 'ruckus') is an anime series by studio Brain's Base based off the light novel series of the same name by Ryohgo Narita. Funimation announced on July 21, 2008 that it had licensed the anime, a license which expired on February 08, 2016.

The first thirteen episodes adapt the first four light novels of the series, and the three DVD specials are linked to the first Baccano! gaiden novel. Altogether, the sixteen episodes adapt less than a fifth of the ongoing story.

Background
Aniplex held a focus panel for their already announced anime adaptation of Baccano! at the Tokyo Anime Fair (TAF) on March 23, 2007. Though a broadcast network had yet to be determined, the broadcast was expected to air that July. The panel members were: Baccano! author Ryohgo Narita; confirmed director Takahiro Omori; Suzuki, one of Narita's Dengeki Bunko editors; and Aniplex Chairman Masuo Ueda.

Production
In an interview, Takahiro Omori recalls that he had started work on the anime adaptation by 2005 at the very least. For the sake of accuracy and atmosphere, he later took five days off between recording sessions of Hell Girl's second season in Autumn 2006 to do location scouting with other Baccano! staff members in New York. Many of the locations in the anime are based on real places the team visited; the Coraggioso, for instance, is inspired by the historic Chumley's speakeasy.

Production
Screenwriter Noboru Takagi credits Omori with the decision to adapt four novels simultaneously, alleging that he had been inspired by 21 Grams – a 2003 film whose original linear narrative was recomposed during the editing stage. Meanwhile, Takagi's greatest influence while writing was Intolerance, a 1916 silent film which tells four parallel stories from four different periods concurrently and ties them all together at its end.

Rather than attempting to write a confused scenario from the beginning, Takagi decided to write the script directly and make adjustments along the way. It would take over a year for his script to be firmly developed up as a consequence, since he had to constantly revise previous episodes throughout the writing process. Omori has acknowledged that the unorthodox making of Baccano! must have required completely unfamiliar tasks from Brain's Base – a relatively small studio at the time of the anime's production – but he also believes that larger studio may not have allowed previous episodes to be altered when future episodes were already underway.

Casting
Aniplex & Brain's Base: According to Aniplex Producer Shuko Yokoyama, Baccano! 's last of a singular main character meant that the casting process was an even one that had no particular consideration for a leading role. Half of the cast had been decided by the time of Baccano! 's first audio play (originally broadcast in 2005; released in disc format 2006), and the only two roles that were audition were Ennis and Miria Harvent. For the rest of the cast, the staff seemed to have particular images in mind: in the case of Ladd Russo, his voice actor Keiji Fujiwara was suggested because he dubbed the character Sawyer on Lost - an American television drama that Baccano! 's staff was hooked on at the time.

Funimation: Funimation's casting process for Baccano! remains one of the studio's longest to date, with an estimated one hundred and thirty-five voice actors auditioning for the eighteen main roles over the course of six days. The challenge Baccano! posed was not just that its main cast was large, but that it required a variety of period and non-American accents and involved older adult men – none of which was common to the anime voice acting industry.

ADR director Tyler Walker tackled the challenge that was Baccano! in two main ways: he asked voice actors to directly recommend their colleagues (such as R Bruce Elliott, who recommended several of his fellow theater actors for roles and went on to voice Szilard Quates); and he actively considered newcomers, as he felt the anime was a good opportunity to discover fresh talent. Among these newcomers were Joel McDonald and Bryan Massey, who found their breakout roles in Jacuzzi Splot and Ladd Russo.

Staff
For full staff, see Anime News Network.

Brain's Base

 * Director: Takahiro Omori
 * Screenplay: Noboru Takagi
 * Character Design: Takahiro Kishida
 * Music: Makoto Yoshimori
 * Art Director: Akira Ito
 * Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami
 * Director of Photography: Yoshihiro Sekiya

Funimation

 * Producers: Carly Hunter; Justin Cook


 * ADR Director: Tyler Walker
 * ADR Engineer: Kory Charlot
 * Translation: Steven J. Simmons
 * Script:
 * Eric Vale (E01)
 * Leah Clark (E02-E03)
 * Chuck Huber (E04-E16)

Music
''Main Article: Baccano! Original Soundtrack - Spiral Melodies''
 * Opening: "Gun's & Roses" by Paradise Lunch.
 * Ending: "Calling" by Oda Kaori

List of Episodes & OVAs

 * 1) The Vice President Doesn't Say Anything about the Possibility of Him Being the Main Character
 * 2) Setting the Old Woman's Qualms Aside, the Flying Pussyfoot Departs
 * 3) Randy and Pecho Are Busy Getting Ready for the Party
 * 4) Ladd Russo Enjoys Talking A Lot and Slaughtering A Lot
 * 5) Jacuzzi Splot Cries, Gets Scared and Musters Reckless Valor
 * 6) The Rail Tracer Covertly, Repeatedly Slaughters Inside the Coaches
 * 7) Everything Starts Aboard the Advenna Avis
 * 8) Isaac and Miria Unintentionally Spread Happiness Around Them
 * 9) Claire Stanfield Faithfully Carries Out the Mission
 * 10) Czeslaw Meyer is Forced to Rework His Tremble-Before-the-Specter-of-Immortals Strategy
 * 11) Chane Laforet Remains Silent in the Face of Two Mysterious People
 * 12) Firo and the Three Gandor Brothers Are Felled by Assassins' Bullets
 * 13) Both the Immortals and Those Who Aren't Sing the Praises of Life Equally
 * 14) Graham Specter's Love and Peace (OVA)
 * 15) The Delinquents That Arrive at the High-Class Neighborhood Are the Same as Always (OVA)
 * 16) Carol Realizes That the Story Cannot Have an Ending (OVA)

Gallery

 * Height and Model Sheets