YMMV / Baccano!

• Adaptation Displacement: The series is better known by its anime adaptation in the United States, due to the anime being much more popular there and the original novels being unavailable outside of Japan until 2015, years after the anime first aired.
• Adorkable: Jacuzzi. He's cute, awkward and cries a lot.
• Angst? What Angst?: Several characters have good reason to angst about their lives but don't. Doesn't mean they're necessarily all there mentally.
• Awesome Music: The anime's Instrumental Theme Tune, "Guns & Roses", is a catchy jazz number that's generally considered to be on the same level as "Tank!" from Cowboy Bebop in terms of awesome. Also the "Baccano! Theme".
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Isaac and Miria. Hilarious Plucky Comic Relief duo? Or annoying scrappies who get too much screentime?
  • Jacuzzi Splot. A shy teenager who's kinda cute and may be a bit badass at times? Or a coward who's as annoyingly whiny as much as Shinji Ikari?
  • Graham Spector; just as crazy as Ladd and Claire, or a lame attempt to copy them who makes the OVAs more about him than any of the people we care about?
• Better on DVD: As a series that relies heavily on Anachronic Order, it should come as no surprise that the anime is better enjoyed in one sitting as opposed to only watching one episode per week.
• Complete Monster:
  • Lebreau Fermet Viralesque, one of the original immortals, was the caretaker of the child Czeslaw Meyer, with a public reputation as an affable and trustworthy man. However, once they were immortal, Fermet revealed his true colors as a vicious sadist who tortured Czeslaw for years and years, with new, inventive ways, ranging from throwing him into a roaring fireplace, to making him bathe in acid, claiming to be testing the limits of immortality, but really doing so out of sadism. It's then revealed that Fermet's the reason why the child torturing cult SAMPLE spread across the world. Fermet also killed Huey's wife Monica, resulting in Huey becoming who he is. Fermet also nearly killed Niki, who loved him and was close with Huey and Elmer, and then tells Elmer and Huey that their bomb did it just to see the pain on their faces. Fermet will murder, torment, hurt and betray practically everyone who crosses his path just for fun, even the people who love him. Especially the people who love him.
  • Szilard Quates is an alchemist who believes in knowledge being the most important commodity in the world, and to that end devours immortals for their knowledge. After becoming immortal, Szilard devoured the brother of the immortals' leader before being driven away. Szilard creates homunculi to serve him, abusing them mentally and physically. He also developed his own immortal potion that he feeds to intelligent people before devouring them to amass their knowledge without working for it. He isn't above straight up murder for his purposes either. It's mentioned at one point he finds no greater joy than in devouring others.
• Crack Pairing: The DS game sparked one thanks to a particularly cracky alternate ending: Ladd takes Interplay of Sex and Violence a little too far and proposes to Claire. Claire, after the initial WTF, figures "Sure, why not?" Claire and Ladd. Married. Yes, really.
• Crazy Is Cool: Damn well half the cast, really. That being said...
  • Claire Stanfield is an unhinged lunatic who's convinced that he's the only real person on Earth and everyone else are just figments of his imagination, therefore, none of them can hurt him. He backs this up by being quite possibly the deadliest fighter of the entire cast, to the extent that he's the subject of a legend about a train-stalking mythical demon. Not quite.
  • Isaac and Miria, the unofficial mascots of the series, a pair of thieves whose sheer enthusiasm for committing various crimes is matched only by the staggering black hole where their common sense should be in doing so, but they manage to escape from the cops, the Mafia, a literal demon, serial killers, and power-hungry immortals, completely unscathed every time, just because they're so utterly nuts that no one has a rational answer to them. Want to rob a museum, but realize you can't possibly carry off everything inside? Steal the door - that way, nobody can get in! Rich family being torn apart by infighting over its inheritance? Steal the inheritance, that way, they'll love each other again because they don't have anything to fight over. They manage to become immortal by accident... and don't realize it until 70 years later.
  • Ladd Russo, a flamboyant psychopath who takes great pride in being his family's deadliest - and most unhinged - assassin, and specifically wears all white because it makes the bloodstains look prettier. Taking out a guy threatening him with a Tommy gun by punching him in the face pro boxing-style until he dies is one of the more restrained things he does.
  • Jacuzzi Splot, a weepy, sniveling teenager who's such a wuss that he cries when introducing himself. Also the same weepy, sniveling teenager who knocked over 18 Mafia speakeasies in one night with a Tommy gun (while crying the entire time) and takes out a guy with a flamethrower by kicking him off the back of a speeding train. While unarmed.
  • Graham Specter, a ranting, hyperactive maniac who likes disassembling things with a ginormous monkey wrench. Including a massive car engine, in midair. Even Ladd Russo thinks he's nuts, and he's just as entertaining to watch.
• Creepy Awesome: Claire "Rail Tracer" Stanfield is a standout here. He's probably the best fighter and the most batshit out-of-his gourd character in the series. Now go look through the character page and consider the full implications of that statement.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Claire enjoys playing jump rope with the Moral Event Horizon. Fans seem to have settled on him being Ax-Crazy Awesome for the time being.
  • If you're watching the anime, it's safe to say that anything Ladd does ( except killing Czeslaw, but he got better) is this.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Fermet and Huey are baffling examples; there exist a small but loud fraction of the fanbase who perceive Fermet's abuse as his twisted way of showing "love" to Czeslaw (ignoring the fact that Czes learned a long time ago that Fermet never truly cared about him and only took enjoyment in seeing him in pain), and who insist that Huey is at least a tiny bit regretful about his treatment of his daughters, even though it's made abundantly clear that he doesn't care about either of them, would off them both in a second, and views them as nothing but experiments - that failed.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Granted, there are a lot of likeable characters in this series, but Ladd, Claire, and Tick in particular are extremely popular.
  • Chane is one for Narita himself. Purportedly, she was originally slated to die during the events of the Grand Punk Railroad novels. However, he became fond of her, and subsequently spared her.
• Fan Nickname: Czeslaw has "Czeswaffles", as both a joke on the way his name is actually pronounced (Czes-WAUFF) and a term of affection due to his woobiness.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The anime is very popular with American anime fans, especially since much of the story takes place in America during the Prohibition era, and its English dub is well-regarded for its use of different regional American accents and period-accurate slang. Domestically, however, it suffered from low ratings and abysmal DVD sales and thus never received a second season.
• Harsher in Hindsight: You know how members of the Martillo family find much amusement in the fact that Firo manages to remain a virgin into his nineties (especially since he's been married for over twenty years)? Another Junk Railroad features a conversation between Firo and a concerned Berga that heavily implies that Firo has a Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality... because he was almost raped when he was younger.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: After the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the English dub gives us Winry and Scar as a couple!
• Hollywood Homely: Nice Holystone. You know those scars and missing eye that are supposed to detract from her appearance? They don't. Not one bit. If anything, they make her hotter.
• It Was His Sled:
  • Claire Stanfield is supposed to be a secret character. The fact that he exists is only the beginning. If you've been reading this page, it's likely you know everything about him at this point.
  • It's also rather telling that in the opening, while every other pivotal character is given a proper introduction, he only gets a "blink and you'll miss it" appearance.
• Jerkass Woobie: Huey Laforet. While in the present, he's a complete and utter sociopath, it's revealed that he became this way after he lost everything he cared about, one by one. He even was a normal kid until his entire village was wiped out by fake inquisitors^note actually members of SAMPLE when they all sold each other out, accusing each other of false crime so that the torture they were being subjected to would finally stop. The first one to die being his mother didn't help. Then he finally found someone he could love: his wife Monica. It was only after she was killed by Fermet that he became so cold and uncaring. He's not a good person, not by a long shot, but there is a very heartbreaking reason for all this.
• Love to Hate: Claire Stanfield and Ladd Russo are widely loved because they're crazy psychopaths, not despite it.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Luck Gandor is an unfailingly polite mob boss who runs the Gandor crime family alongside his brothers, Berga and Keith, using his affinity for charisma and manipulations to function as the practical brains and face of the organization. Having slowly brought the Gandor family into more power than it's ever held with his strategies and people skills, Luck instills total respect from those under his control with his cool head and refusal to bring the chaotic force of drugs into his corner of Manhattan. Giving even those who betray his trust the opportunity to redeem themselves yet never hesitating to coldly execute them if they prove undeserving of his friendship, Luck keeps even the likes of Claire Stanfield and Maria Barcelito under control and uses them to further the Gandor's control over Manhattan, taking out rival crime families and turning enemies into allies every step of the way. Upon becoming immortal, Luck pays back fellow immortal scumbag Dallas Genoard for murdering Luck's friends by sinking him in a river to drown unendingly, however later shows mercy to Dallas' younger sister Eve and allows her to save Dallas from his horrible fate, showcasing that Luck's morals and standards are just as notable as his ruthlessness.
  • Claire Stanfield is the feared hitman known as "Vino," functioning as the single most dangerous character in the story while simultaneously being one of the most entertaining. A brutal badass who has pulled off impossible feats for years, Claire's introductory story sees him slaughtering his way through dozens of murderous criminals to protect the passengers aboard the Flying Pussyfoot train, Claire having used the railroads as means of travel by disguising himself as a conductor. Upon setting up in Manhattan under his close friends, the Gandors, Claire immediately brings respect and fear to the small crime family with his mere presence, and goes about utterly decimating rival gangs to secure power for the Gandors, using his affinity for disguises to play the arrogant Gustavo Bagetta right into a trap. As fun as he is deadly, Claire always has a snappy one-liner and a healthy dose of his zany egotistical outlook on the world to make even the most psychotic enemies blanch at his sheer audacity, befriends many characters from all walks of life with his affable personality, and has a genuine love for the silent Chane Laforet, eager to do whatever it takes earn her affection and respect.
• Memetic Molester: Fermet, due to how creepily intimate he liked to get towards eternally ten-years-old Czeslaw—while torturing him no less. Notably, Fermet is a rare case of this trope NOT being played for Black Comedy, as a good number of fans are legitimately concerned that part of the reason Czeslaw is so messed up is because Fermet stole his virginity.
• Moe: Jacuzzi, a cute young man who cries and apologizes a lot, is a total softy, and is very nice to everyone.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Fermet has committed so many atrocities that it's difficult to peg just which one qualifies—though killing Monica is a good start.
  • Szilard crossed it when he murdered Maiza's brother.
• Narm Charm: General consensus is that "Jacuzzi Splot" is simultaneously the stupidest and most awesome name ever.
• No Yay: Czeslaw/Fermet. And Ladd/Claire depending on how you look at it.
• One-Scene Wonder: Tick, in the anime, only has one scene where he's in the spotlight. and it really leaves an impression.
• Signature Scene: The scene where Firo regenerates his fingers and the scene where Ladd brutally murders a Lemure randie are easily the most well-known and remembered scenes in the show.
• Spiritual Adaptation: A variant; the anime is essentially what would happen if Quentin Tarantino made a Japanese cartoon.
• Superlative Dubbing: The English dub's Noo Yawk accents and '30s slang make it a rather more immersive experience.
• Unpopular Popular Character: Ladd is not very well liked by most of the cast in Baccano for good reason. Even his own family thinks he's out of his gourd, and they're The Mafia. Most viewers of Baccano though categorize him as Crazy Is Cool and Narita admits that Ladd is his favorite character.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Resident Fauxta, Ricardo Russo. It doesn't help that she's also an ore-onna.
• The Woobie:
  • Czeslaw, when not being a trauma-induced Creepy Child. His horrible past aside, his occasional homicidal tendencies in the name of self preservation as well as his less than kind disposition at times could make the argument for him being closer to the Jerkass Woobie.
  • Also, Niki from the light novels.
  • Jacuzzi, with his crippling shyness and constant tendency to burst into tears makes him one of the characters that you just want to hug tightly.
  • Illness goes through much suffering throughout her life, with hardly any bright spots. She has an extremely harsh past that causes her to feel alienated from others to the point where she doesn't even consider herself human. The conclusion to her part of 2002 (having her be forced to be the leader of SAMPLE, the cult that tortured her during her childhood) only makes matters worse.
  • Iron Woobie: Nice after her accident.
    • And Firo because of the incident above.

---