#Baccano! Light Novel Spoilers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

savannahstanfield27 · 4 years

Text

Retrospective on Huey Laforet and Firo Prochainezo

Hey all,

So this is going to be a digression on why I believe that Huey and Firo are the dual main characters of Baccano, and also describing their similarities and differences. This is just my opinion of course, I bet everyone has different interpretations of who the main character is.

Nevertheless, this is going to be very long, so I’m going to include a cut so that I don’t take up a ton of space on anyone’s dash. Warning for spoilers for the entire series (anime/light novels/light novel/drama cd/etc) throughout this post.

Primary Point

Firo and Huey are two very important characters in the world of Baccano. Firo, a member of the Martillo Family, and Huey, immortal terrorist and scientist. If it weren’t for the additions of the 1700′s and 2000′s arcs I wouldn’t have come to this conclusion, but they only solidified my point. To me, the story of Baccano exists to tell the story of Huey and Firo, how they grow as people, how they struggle, and how their interactions with other characters changes them.

I won’t go into detail on each and every interaction they have, if you’ve watched the show or read the novels, you most likely already grasp what I’m saying. I’m going to focus on Huey’s relationships with Monica and Elmer, and Firo’s relationships to the Martillo Family, Ennis, and the Gandors/Claire. They interact with most of the characters in the novels at some point, but I believe these are the most significant to their character development,

Firo and Huey are sometimes two sides of the same coin, sometimes they’re complete opposites. I intend to explore these points in this post.

Adolescent Years

Alright, so first I’d like to start off talking in length about Firo and Huey’s adolescence. Huey presumably loses his father at a young age, there is not a lot of development on that front. His mother is executed by drowning in front of him. This obviously takes a toll on Huey, as by his mother he was described as “innocent” prior to this incident. Firo, on the other hand, describes never knowing his father as he died before he was born. Firo’s mother dies of tuberculosis before he reaches 10 years of age

In Huey’s case, he develops a hatred for the world around him and he desires the destruction of it. He copes with his loss by being consumed by anger and negative emotions. Huey is taken in by Dalton and he becomes an alchemist. You could call this a “found family,” but Huey doesn’t have much of a connection to them. The other students in the alchemy class gossip about him, and Huey puts on fake airs to seem well adjusted.

Huey does eventually gain a core group of friends: Monica and later Elmer. You could add Niki to this list as she is also part of the group but she was always an outlier to me. Huey never opened up to her. He tries to keep Monica away from him and reacts to Elmer’s kindness with open hatred. However, he eventually grows to trust them and they are the two people he is about to rely on and feel compassion for. They form the Mask Makers, an organization specializing in illegal activity. I prefer to call this Huey’s “found family,” rather than Dalton and the other alchemists.

Now let’s discuss Firo. He lives only to survive after his mother’s death, pick-pocketing on the streets of Manhattan. I’ll be discussing his relationship with the Gandors and Claire at length later, so I will not include it here. We haven’t been given a lot of information on how Firo copes with his Mother’s death, that I can find. Please enlighten me if you know and I’ll edit the post with your contribution.

Firo eventually is taken in by the Martillo family. You could say Maiza is like an older brother figure to him, and the Don Martillo a father figure. They are also an illegal organization, and they make Firo feel welcome and needed. Rather than pushing away from those who care about him, like Huey, he embraces those who care about him. Firo is someone who yearns to belong. Firo spends a lot of his childhood comparing himself to his friends, but I will be taking that into account in a different section.

While Huey and Firo grow up in similar situations, it is the result of what happens after that changes them. They both find a core group of people to support them. In Firo’s case, he retains many feelings of inferiority but he continues to become his own person, relying well on his family and friends. Huey is only willing to open up to a few people, and after Monica is taken from him, he loses any interest in opening himself up again. Firo grows forward as a person, yet Huey regresses backwards.

Feelings on Death

I’ve already described how Huey coped with his mother’s death, but now I’d like to talk about Monica. Monica was Huey’s lover, whom he finally was able to open up to after so long. Her death caused him to shut down as a person. He is not the same man after he returns to Lotto Valentino. That emotional void in him is the only way he can cope with her death, as well as striving to complete his fruitless goal of meeting with her again. He feels guilt towards both of these deaths, as he describes to Victor in 1931.

Sometimes, when Huey thinks of his happier memories with his lost family, his face seems to brighten and open up a little. He quickly shuts that down in favor of treating the situation like an experiment. He even ponders to Victor in 1931 about if there is a scientific way to discover which is his worst memory. He copes by not coping in the slightest. (Because of this, I both yearn and fear for his reaction to meeting Luchino hopefully in 2003)

Huey seems unfazed by his own possible death. The only time I can find him actually voicing an opinion about it is when Firo attacks him in 1934. He doesn’t seem to possess fear or regret, only interest in his lack of foresight that this might occur.

Firo has not had to cope with much death in his life. Many of his friends are immortal, as well as his Martillo family. However, the outlier here is Claire Stanfield. Claire has always been the person Firo saw as above him, and in 1936 he stops to ponder on what would happen if Claire died. Claire will die eventually. Firo knows he is going to have to cope with that. The thought makes his chest tighten, and he decides not to think about it, because he cannot imagine a world that Claire is not in.

Firo deals with his anxieties about death by feeling denial here. He decides he just won’t think about it. On his own death, in 1934, Ladd Russo acknowledges with glee that Firo still fears his own death, he does not view himself as an invincible and strong being.

Both Huey and Firo possess equally bad coping mechanisms when it comes to losing their loved ones. They both choose to deny and forget. Huey becomes obsessed with the denial, spending his entire life trying to gain the knowledge to meet Monica again. This causes his subsequent emotional detachment, and lack of interest in his own possible death. Firo, on the other hand, possesses immortality but still fears his own death. When thinking on the possible deaths of others, he prefers to put it out of his mind.

Feelings on Love

In regards to love, Huey runs from it and struggles to embrace it. I’m speaking in a romantic sense, I should preface. Huey finds it difficult to comprehend that he might have some sort of feelings for Monica. He can’t fathom that someone managed to make an impression on him. He tries desperately to run from this feeling and deny it, but eventually he ends his struggles and embraces his love for Monica.

With familial love, Huey does not feel any of it. He does not value his daughters in an emotional way. They are merely tools for him to achieve his goals. He will tell them anything, especially in Leeza’s case, in order to appease them or to make them more loyal to him. Chane and Leeza possess complete and utter loyalty and devotion towards Huey, but he does not return it. (on that note i’d love to do a future post on Hilton and her relationships with Chane and Huey)

Firo runs towards love. He sees Ennis and immediately becomes infatuated enough to follow her. He falls hard and fast. There is no denial on his part. Firo finds it easy to open up to people, as a social being, but he does struggle to speak his feelings to Ennis. It did take fifty years for them to get married after all. Though he has embraced his love for Ennis, Firo finds it hard to tell her, and instead shows it by all the things he does for her.

With familial love, Firo has a fierce loyalty to the Martillo family. They are “home” to him. Especially in regards to Maiza, who can be seen as an older brother figure, he is completely loyal. This can be compared to his relationship to the Gandors, three brothers who shared the same apartment building with him in his childhood. He cares for them enough to help them, a rival family, in 1927. His loyalty to the Martillos only swells when Molsa praises him for helping his “family.”

I also think it’s a great parallel of Melvi Dormentaire kidnapping Ennis and the 1700′s Dormentaires holding Monica. They are both on a boat after all. Both Huey and Firo experience helplessness when they realize what has happened to the women they love. However, they immediately jump right on track to figuring out how to save her. This is a great example of Firo expressing guilt. He often feels down when he cannot help those he cares about, like he failed them. Huey is the same way about the situation with Monica. He was so close...and then he lost her..

Relationships with Close Friends

I’m going to focus on Huey’s relationships with Elmer and Fermet. In regards to Elmer, Huey views him as his one true friend. Though in his youth, he hated Elmer and tried to stay away from him, they eventually became friends and Huey was able to open up to him. Even without seeing him for 300 years, Huey still thinks about Elmer and keeps his promises to him. This is why Huey does not hurt “innocents,” because it would make Elmer sad.

Huey often references Elmer and his worldviews during conversation, which causes him to actually express emotion. Elmer managed to touch Huey as a person and this deeply affects him as a person. Both Huey and Elmer can relate on both an emotional and intellectual level, they understand each other well even in their youth.

I’m not sure how well this point will come across to everyone, but I’ve always viewed Fermet as Huey’s “Claire,” in regards to Firo. Fermet is also an intellectual genius. He is the person who managed to take everything away from Huey, for seemingly no reason. However, they manage to collaborate on their research later on. This is merely my personal interpretation, but I believe that Huey does have a slight inferiority complex in regards to Fermet, and that he does not like having to rely on the same person who took everything from him for help with research. I’d love to hear anyone else’s opinion on this!

Firo possesses a deep inferiority complex when it comes to the Gandors and Claire. He has always viewed them as one step ahead of him. Especially in the case of Claire, Firo views him as successful in regards to his confidence in love and in his own abilities. Firo compares himself to Claire throughout his life, almost treating him like an idol or mentor at times. He feels insecure, such as in 1927, when Claire’s own abilities surpass his. He does not like to feel useless or unneeded.

In regards to the Gandors, specifically in the case of Luck, Firo views him as the perfect “gangster” and as someone who has always been ahead of him. Compared to the Gandors, he sees himself as the inferior child. Luck is not that much older than Firo, but he possesses much more emotional maturity and restraint, something Firo finds it hard to come to terms with at times.

Firo idolizes the “true mafioso” figure and he wants to be like that, which is how he views the Gandors as. Many of his friendships stem from insecurity and inferiority. He wants to make it on his own, without having to rely on his family (The Gandors).

Personality

In his youth, Huey was much less reckless. He proceeded with caution and did not like to get involved in most situations. This is demonstrated when he decides to ignore Niki being attacked in Lotto Valentino. He is forced by the situation to fight the attackers, but it is implied that he doesn’t possess much strength or technique on the subject of fighting physically.

(I will add that Huey is noted as looking feminine by various characters such as Elmer, but it does not seem to faze him that much)

Huey has an enthralling personality as he ages. He is manipulative by nature and will stoop to any level to get what he wants. He tends to speak in a detached manner, but outwardly he is very pleasant and polite (similar to his facade from his youth). His manipulative techniques have caused many people to fall victim to his spell, increasing his amount of subordinates and allies.

Huey’s primary goal is to meet Monica again, and to obtain the knowledge to do such. He lives by researching and doing experiments, learning more about humans and why they do what they do. He views humans as “raw materials,” and their only use to him is to further his experiments. Huey is a very detached person from the world.

Firo is extremely reckless throughout his life. There are many examples one could place here: pick pocketing a Mafia Executive as a child, following Ennis, rescuing Barnes, etc. Firo is always ready to jump into the situation at hand. He is friendly and sociable, but can be very irritable and negative when the mood strikes him. His sharp temper and bluntness do mellow with age, but they are at their worst in the early 1930′s.

Firo has many issues with femininity and his “babyface,” which most likely stem from a childhood incident in which he was kidnapped and mistaken for a young girl. He is insecure about this and will strike back at anyone who messes with him for it, except for Claire.

Firo is not outwardly manipulative and cruel, but gaining the trust and help of others does come easy to him. In 2002, Ennis says this on Firo: “ Firo was really very good at getting people to do what he wanted without telling them the important things. Actually, to be precise, he was good at making them want to help him.”

Firo and Huey both possess the type of personalities that make it easy to manipulate others, whether knowingly or unknowingly. They make others want to believe them and help them out. Firo is much more blunt and emotional than Huey in the 1900′s, but I do find 1700′s Huey quite similar to Firo, especially in his emotional angry outbursts to Elmer.

Relationship to Knowledge/ Meeting in 1934/35

Huey’s relationship to knowledge is simple, he wants to know more in order to keep his promise with Monica. Huey views himself as a scientist and as a researcher. He pursues knowledge and wishes to obtain it. When he meets Firo in 1934, he questions him about having all the knowledge that Szilard has accumulated. He wonders if that changes the subject as a person. Huey is greatly intrigued by the ways that other people act.

Firo never finished school, and he does not consider himself intellectually smart. After devouring Szilard he is consumed with memories of many alchemists, and a vast amount of knowledge is now at his disposal. He grows worried that the memories will consume him and that he will become just as bad as Szilard. He fears the knowledge that he possesses, preferring not to look into it. He doesn’t seem to understand why it interests Huey so much.

Their meeting, first in 1934, astounded me when I first read it. The way Firo reacted to Huey was much like how Huey reacted to Elmer (this is a digression...) They are two characters who grew through similar circumstances, one becoming more of a person, one becoming less of a person. Firo runs from knowledge, Huey yearns for it. Firo embraces the love and support of others, Huey uses it for his own needs. But they both retain that key element of living and dying for someone else.

Huey is living to find Monica. Firo is living for his Family. Both possess flaws and strengths. As for their meeting in 1935, we don’t know the full details yet but I cannot wait to find out what they were cooking up behind closed doors.

Conclusion

I fully believe that Huey and Firo were destined to be the main characters of Baccano. Their stories grow and change as they interact with others and are affected by them. Think back on Maiza’s quote “maybe every encounter is some sort of miracle in it’s own way.” Huey and Firo change throughout every single arc, for better or for worse.

The 1700′s arc is about Huey’s adolescence, and about how he loses his humanity because of tragedy. But we are also able to see how he was once a much different man, and his personal relationships with the few he decides to let in.

The 1930′s arc presents Firo, someone who is neither destined to be hero nor villain. His inferiority complex clashes with his deep need to help those he cares about. With every interaction- Ennis, Czes, Maiza, Christopher, Isaac and Miria, Melvi- he grows as a person. He learns and develops. Huey has regressed in the 1930′s, and we are seeing how he coped with the events of the 1700′s. And everything comes to a head when they meet in 1934, and when the tragedy of Monica’s capture seems to repeat itself in 1935.

The 2000′s arc shows a much more refined Firo. He’s retained many of his good qualities from his adolescence, but he has grown to be much more kind and understanding. Of course, he worries (”can i really be a family man?”) he messes up, he acts reckless even. But he has matured into someone who his friends and family can be proud of. He should be proud of himself. I’ll leave my thoughts on 2000′s Huey for when 2003: epilogue is released.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my ramblings. I’ve been a fan for a long time, but with no outlet to share these thoughts other than my dear friends, so it feels nice to let them out once in a while.

#baccano!#baccano #firo prochainezo #huey laforet #ryohgo narita #light novels

29 notes · View notes

crazy-rich-king-of-mongrels · 4 years

Text

THE GUIDE TO FATE FRANCHISE

*just a short description of the series, not gonna explain as it will take time... Don't wanna admit my laziness

FATE/STAY NIGHT

▪︎Fate/Stay Night Trilogy (originally a VN)

• Fate (Saber's route)

• Unlimited Blade Works (Rin's route)

• Heaven's Feel (Sakura's route, the darkest) - has 3 parts which are (I) Presage Flower (II) Lost Butterfly (III) Spring Song

▪︎Fate/Zero (prequel to FSN = MAJOR spoiler to FSN)

▪︎Fate/Hollow Ataraxia (6 months after FSN, VN game only)

ALTERNATE TIMELINE

▪︎Fate/Apocrypha (originally a LN but has an anime adaptation already)

▪︎PRISMAVERSE (originally 5 seasons, the final should be animated soon)

• Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya (magical girls alternate timeline spin-off)

• Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Sekka no Chikai

• Fate/Kaleid Prisma Illya 2zwei

• Fate/Kaleid Prisma Illya 3rei

▪︎Emiya-san chi kyou no gohan (more like Shirou's cooking show)

▪︎Fate/Unlimited Codes (PSP game)

▪︎Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note (spin-off. 10 yrs after the event in FZ so they are on the same universe as FSN, but this happened in London)

▪︎EXTRAVERSE

• Fate/Extra (PSP game, has 3 routes - ending may vary on your servant (3), alternate universe on FSN timeline)

• Fate/Extra Last Encore (adapts the reality of an alternate bad end of FE's original storyline: already adapted in anime)

• Fate/Extra CCC (PSP game- JP only, parallel timeline to Extraverse, has 4 playable servants, has 3 routes; normal, servant, ccc)

• Fate/Extra CCC Fox Tail (spin-off manga of CCC, parallel timeline to CCC events, ongoing)

▪︎EXTELLAVERSE (sort of sequel to Fate/Extra)

• Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star (PS4, alternative storyline that occurs post FE)

• Fate/Extella: Link (sequel storyline)

▪︎Fate/Prototype (original concept of Nasu's FSN, not genderbent arthur that's why it's prototype lol, short OVA and manga's ongoing)

▪︎Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver (prequel Light Novel ongoing)

▪︎Fate/Labyrinth (alternate timeline created by the protag of F/P inside a dream, same timeline as FA)

▪︎Fate/Strange Fake (Light Novel. Entirely separate timeline but mixed of different elements from other Fateverse. THIS IS THE FREAKING COOLEST ENTRY ON FATEVERSE!!!!*for me ofc 😎 Same author as DRRR and Baccano, Narita.)

▪︎Fate/Grand Order (mobile game. SALT, black keys, mapo tofu, master loves NTR but I still ship Ana and Kadoc. Spoils other fate franchises the deeper you go. Canon alternate timeline in Fateverse)

There are 5 anime adaptations to FGO:

▪︎Fate/Grand Order: First Order (movie)

▪︎F/GO: Camelot Agateram (movie in Aug 2020)

▪︎F/GO: Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia (21 eps. 7th singularity in 1st arc and the most interesting singularity in 1st arc hah! yes)

▪︎F/GO Final Singularity: Grand Temple of Time Solomon (confirmed that this would be adapted- trailer already released)

▪︎F/GO: Moonlight Lostroom (prequel to 2nd arc which is Lostbelt)

▪︎Fate/Requiem (LN ongoing, JP only)

▪︎Fate/Type Redline (ongoing manga. Mostly comedy gags on Okita and Nobu)

▪︎El Melloi II's Adventure (novel. Happened after 5th HGW but it does not have the same timeline with FSN. Only has Vol 1 and does not have tl as of now)

I just want to mention:

Carnival Phantasm (spinoff. Comedy OVA series based on TakeMoon. Probably more like a break from those stressful events on Nasuverse. These are all mash-up of characters mainly from Fate and Tsukihime)

Thanks to google for some of the confirmation although I was still confused of FSF since there are some debates of its timeline relating to FSN.

#fate stay night #fate stuff #fate strange fake #nasuverse #type moon #fate grand order #fate series #fate franchise

88 notes · View notes

midnight-in-town · 4 years

Note

Do you read Light Novels and which one would you recommend?

Hey Anon! Yeah, I do read some Light Novel series, or at least I used to because I haven’t read any new series in a while.

Anyway, almost all light novel series I came upon because they got an anime at some point, so you can check those out too, if you want to start somewhere. :))

So if I were to recommend some titles, I’d say:

all series by Narita Ryogo-sensei:

Durarara!!

Baccano!

Other titles I haven’t read: Vamp!, Etsusa Bridge, Fate/strange fake

Overall, it’s actually called the Naritaverse, because most of his light novel series are happening in the same universe. :) So, if you like fantastically bizarre plots and a very colorful cast of characters, then you should give these series a try!

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, by Kisaki Chiaki-sensei

Less known but a personal fave! Also happening in the Naritaverse lmao, as in, Kisaki-sensei wrote a crossover novel and Narita-sensei is also supposed to write one.

Anyway, I think the cast is even more colorful and diverse than in Drrr and Baccano which is why I love it. :))

Hyouka/Koten-bu series, by Yonezawa Honebu-sensei

Loved the anime, which is how I read some of the light novels. :) If you like slice of life, it’s for you!

The Suzumiya Haruhi series, by Tanigawa Nagaru-sensei

My first anime & light novel series. It’s really good and popular, even if it technically never ended and I still have so many thoughts about the main character, haha (/!\ spoilers).

I may be forgetting one title or two, but that’s about it.

Oh, I also want to read the Violet Evergarden light novels by Akatsuki Kana-sensei.

Feel free to check their tag on my blog if you’re interested (refer to the tags on this post).

I hope this answers your question, have a nice weekend Anon!

#drrr #baccano!#hakata tonkotsu ramens #suzumiya haruhi series #violet evergarden #hyouka #narita ryogo #vamp #personal #anon #answers

9 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 4 years

Text

Baccano!: 2002 [Side B]: Blood Sabbath

By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

I’ve talked before about the Japanese tendency to write the blackest of black villains, so evil and horrible that it ends up being absolutely fine when our heroes kill them off in morally questionable ways. In general, I’m not a fan of these, and tend to prefer more nuanced or morally grey types. That said, I have to admit, Narita writes these sorts of people better than most light novel authors. We get two classic examples here, but one’s a spoiler, so I’ll talk about the other. Bride is the leader of SAMPLE, a thoroughly disturbing religious cult descended from the same cult that tortured Elmer when he was a kid. Bride is abusing children, mentally breaking and drugging a woman (investigating them undercover) into submission, killing large numbers of people, and being gleeful about it the entire time. But he’s sort of horrifyingly fun. Possibly as the book avoids the rape threats so many other authors would throw in (Bride makes a comedic play at his drugged wife, but this seems staged.) He also contrasts with the other villain of the book, who is… less fun.

The first half of this book takes place on Exit, the ship going from Japan to New York, and the sister ship to the one Firo and company are on. Elmer, Sylvie, Nile and Denkurou (who gets his first significant role here, though to be honest he doesn’t do much except moon over Sylvie) are invited, supposedly by Huey, to the ship, and they all go because if they don’t, Huey would arrange it so they do anyway. There they don’t find Huey, but they do find the Mask Makers, who are also on the other ship, who have a plan to get revenge for a killing that happened 300 years earlier by capturing Elmer. And the passengers also include SAMPLE, Bride’s religious cult, who are there for Sylvie. As for Isaac and Miria… well, they still aren’t here, they’re back in New York. Which is probably why everything starts to go wrong for everyone on both ships. Even Firo, who tries to look cool in front of his family, does not really succeed.

Speaking of spoilers, there is a question about how much constitutes one. This series, after all, is mostly read by fans who have already spoiled themselves on this book and future ones. And indeed we get a big spoiler for (one assumes) future books given to us as part of the plot early on here: the Mask makers are supposedly getting revenge on Huey for killing Monica 300 years prior, which might come as a surprise to those who read the 1705 book. That said, it’s possible that the reader will be more distracted by the end of the book, which reveals who the real Big Bad of the entire Baccano! series is… and it’s someone that we thought had already been dealt with. Interlocking and interconnecting plots and characters are how Narita writes, but this particular book works very well at making you want to go back and read some passages in older books while also making you anxious for the next ones.

So a much better book than the first part, as is typical with Narita two-parters. Bobby is still annoying, though. So, next do we go back to 1710 to see the tragic fates revealed in this book? Or do we continue in the 21st century to see how Czes and his family deal with this new and horrifying threat? Of course not, that would be too easy. No, next time it’s 1931, as we go back to the Flying Pussyfoot and the immediate aftermath, in a plot that might seem very familiar to those who saw Baccano’s 3 OAV episodes…

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

2 notes · View notes

shazzeaslightnovels · 5 years

Text

Reading Log - February 2019

Mostly Saekano with some first volumes thrown in. As per usual, there will be no spoilers, unless tagged otherwise.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 4 by Fumiaki Maruto:

With this volume Blessing Software is now complete! But before I talk about our new member, I want to say that my favorite thing about this volume was seeing just how close Katou has become with Eriri and Utaha, especially the former. I have mixed feelings on Michiru: on the one hand, purple colour theme + short hair + can’t-read-the-room + genki gal = moe; on the other hand, I would hate her if I met her in real life. She constantly invades Tomoya’s personal space, belittles his hobbies and dreams and is way too disrespectful to the person who is giving her a place to sleep while she fights with her dad. I think she’s an enjoyable and interesting character but an awful person. I really disliked how the anime handled her first episode. The constant shots of her boobs and ass made me so uncomfortable, especially seeing how that kind of outfit is actually pretty typical hot weather wear in Australia. It became a bit better in the following episodes but I still despise it. Overall, I’d still call the anime adaptation a good one, though. It succeeded in making Katou feel more like a boring heroine than the novel and manga did and I still love the café scene in episode 2. I won’t be covering the second season in this section anymore because AnimeLab doesn’t have access to it and I mostly only watch things using AnimeLab these days. In any case, I’m interested to see where the story goes from here.

Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? 1 by Okina Baba:

Well, this book was certainly a struggle to read. Most of the book is written in a stream-of-conscious writing style, meaning that 90% of the volume is purely narration. It’s a hard style for me, both to write and read but I think it works well here due to the protagonist’s personality being incredibly fun. But my attention did wander quite a bit while I was reading and I struggled with deciphering the skill names in Japanese. I also found the S chapters that occur after every few main chapters to be unnecessary. One of the things that can really kill my enjoyment of a story is knowing something before the protagonist does. I like to experience the story and world along with the protagonist and it’s frustrating when something important is revealed to the reader long before it’s revealed to the protagonist. This is not the most irritating example of it but I think the manga was right in skipping these chapters. It keeps you in suspense for longer. While I certainly enjoyed this volume I may continue the story through the manga instead of the light novel. The visuals in the manga are hilarious and really added to my enjoyment of the series and I don’t think I’m interested enough in the story to be annoyed with the slow pace of the manga.

This series is currently being released in English by Yen-Press as So I’m a Spider, So What? so pick it up if the series interests you.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 5 by Fumiaki Maruto:

Definitely my favorite volume so far. It was incredibly interesting to the point where I stayed up late just to finish it. It also included a lot of my favorite elements of the Koisuru Metronome spin-off: a conflict the centred on writing issues, information on how to improve writing and Utaha being really interesting and complex. All that was missing was Mayu. In any case, I think what I want this series to do is to challenge it’s own genre and tropes. It’s a great romcom but it’s not much more than that yet.

Bishoujo Sakka to Mezasu Million Selleraaaaaaaa!! 1 by Takeru Kusakabe:

Honestly, I’m not 100% sure why I bought this book. I think I was looking for something easy to read at the time and this ranked in KonoRano 2018. Anyhow, this is written by the author of Noucome, which I remember as a series with an alright premise that got old fast but had good girls. Million Seller isn’t much different. The protagonist is a guy who becomes an editor and wants to be able to be put in charge of a series that can sell a million copies but gets put in charge of light novel series, which don’t sell as much. So he gets put in charge of two ladies, one who’s a high school student and another who’s an office lady. And it’s… fine. The characters are likeable and I was impressed that the author made the characters distinct enough that if you were to pick out a random page from the volume, you’d be able to tell who was talking to who by looking at how they speak. The thing is, the series doesn’t stand out. If want a romcom with a harem, there are better ones and it’s really not that informative on the light novel industry. There are some funny interactions but I’d only recommend it if you really liked Noucome’s sense of humour or are looking for some easy light novels to read to improve your Japanese. I won’t be reading the second volume.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 6 by Fumiaki Maruto:

This was a really satisfying volume in terms of what it did for the plot and Eriri’s character. And, like vol. 5, every time I finished a chapter, I wanted to hurry on to the next. Iori continues to be a delight and Izumi has really grown on me. I’m excited to see what these characters do next.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata F.D. by Fumiaki Maruto:

Going into this, I knew that it wouldn’t have much to do with the main story but I ended up wishing that it had even less to do with the main story. All it is is a bunch of short stories taking place in between chapters of the main light novel that were previously published in magazine + an interview with Maruto and Misaki (the illustrator for the series) that is really hard to read on an iPad. I thought it would be a bunch of non-canon icharabu scenes between Tomoya and the heroines but there wasn’t much of that at all. Furthermore, Sayuri, who appears on the cover, doesn’t actually appear in the volume and I get the feeling that she’s only on there because Misaki created an amazing character design that wasn’t able to get shown off in vol. 6. Interestingly, some of these stories appear in other versions of the story; I recognized some of them because similar scenes appeared in the anime and Koisuru Metronome. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had read it while I was reading the main volumes but I really don’t think it’s worth buying unless you’re a diehard fan of the series and want to know everything about the characters. This volume did make it clear how much Maruto has grown as a writer though; the first few stories were written the earliest and felt really jarring to read and definitely felt more like the type of writing that would be used in a galge but the later stories were much better.

Baccano! The Rolling Bootlegs by Ryohgo Narita

Note: I read this in English a few years ago and loved it and the anime was one of the first that I saw and I loved that so reading this volume in Japanese has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

As much as I enjoy the Baccano! series, this volume has never been one of my favourites. Even in the anime, I tended to zone out during these parts. But I did enjoy it more this time around. Narita really knows how to set the scene and make you really absorbed into it. The thing that surprised me the most about rereading this was Ennis. I remember that I used to find her really boring but I LOVED her here. She’s a genuinely interesting character and her scenes with Miria and Isaac were my favorite part of the volume and I loved the scenes that were narrated by her. My favorite thing about Baccano has always been the lack of a true protagonist and that’s certainly true here. Firo’s probably the closest to it in this volume but you could definitely argue that the protagonist is Maiza and Isaac and Miria have always been so iconic that they’ve always felt like the protagonists to me. That being said, I found the scenes revolving around the Gandor siblings and Dallas to be really boring and I can see why someone might not enjoy a series that has this many characters to follow. I’m looking forward to reading the 1931 arc, in any case.

This series is currently being published by Yen-Press as Baccano! so pick it up if the series interests you.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata 7 by Fumiaki Maruto

Well, this was certainly an emotional volume. It starts off seeming like it’s going to be pretty cute valentines day volume but it becomes an emotionally taxing one by the end. But I didn’t mind it too much. The drama elements worked for me and I was so shocked by the first epilogue that I thought my eyes would pop out of my head! Indeed, like the previous volumes, I set off to read one chapter and was half-way done with the volume before I knew it! One thing that Maruto does really well in this series is balancing the heroines. I still think that end girl could be either Katou or Eriri at this point and, if not for Koisuru Metronome’s existence, I would say that Utaha still has a chance too. And part of me is still holding out for a surprise yuri ending with Eriri and Katou. Their relationship is so well written that I can’t help but wonder whether Maruto just really wants to write a yuri novel but hasn’t for whatever reason. This volume marks the end of the manga adaptation (though it looks like they also adapted the GS side novels so I’ll probably talk about that at some point) and it was a good manga adaptation. I think the adaptations of the first 4 volumes were not great but 5-7 have been adapted really well so I’d recommend it.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Girls Side by Fumiaki Maruto

The volume is split into two parts. The first part focuses on how Utaha and Eriri first met and it’s an amusing side story and definitely worth the read if you’re a fan of those two. The second scenario’s premise is more spoilery as it focuses on events that the reader heard about but didn’t see in vol. 7. While this volume isn’t required reading to understand the main plot, I still thought it was worth reading and would recommend it to most Saekano fans, especially those who like Utaha and Eriri. As for the manga, it only adapts this volume and it’s a 1:1 adaptation so no complaints from me.

Assassins Pride 1 by Kei Amagi

If I were to describe this volume in one word it would be ‘weird’. It has weird pacing in that most of the chapters could have been made into their own volume though I suspect that the reason for the fast pace is because the writer wanted to grab the readers’ attentions straight away. It has a weird protagonist because I can’t read him at all. I can never tell when he’s acting and when he’s being genuine. Finally, the future volumes look weird. From this volume and the covers of future volumes I assumed that this series would have a central OTP with possibly a slight harem element but the colour illustrations for the future volumes make it seem like it’s going to become an ecchi lolicon harem series so I don’t know what to think so I’m approaching this series with cautions and won’t be buying volume 2 until the anime comes out so that I can find out whether this series will go in that direction or not. As for the volume itself. It was fairly interesting and held my attention when I was reading but I would have preferred a slower pace. That said, I enjoyed the manga a lot. The illustrations in it are really something and the pacing is much better so even if I don’t end up continuing the light novel, I’ll likely be reading the manga anyway.

#Saekano #Kumo desu ga nani ka #So I'm a spider so what #Bishoujo Sakka to Mezasu Million Selleraaaaaaaa #Baccano #Assassins Pride #Light Novels #Reviews #Reading log #Kei Amagi #Fujimi Fantasia Bunko #Fumiaki Maruto #Ryohgo Narita #Dengeki Bunko #Takeru Kusakabe #Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko #Okina Baba #Kadokawa Books

4 notes · View notes

suikosagas · 7 years

Text

Thinking about buying some of the Baccano light novels right now... How different are they from the anime. I hold the anime in high regard, but no spoilers if events are different, or if there's some new characters, etc.

#baccano!

5 notes · View notes

agallimaufryofoddments · 2 years

Conversation

One does not mass-produce Elmers

Fermet: *witnesses The Inquisition shatter Huey's world*

Fermet: Wow, have I found my calling: imploding innocents. Yes. My hobby henceforth consists of cultivating Huey candidates for this purpose.

Fermet: *is smiled at by Elmer*

Fermet: ANTICHRIST BEGONE! Never have I known fear and repulsion such as this! Clearly the only reasonable course of action to prevent future Elmers is not to let razed cults lie, but to instead personally supervise the cult and its production of child suffering from now on.

Fermet: I refuse to believe that Elmer is anything other than an anomaly. A freak once-in-a-millennium incident. Epoch. Lifetime. The cult printing another Elmer is statistically unlikely.

Fermet: Have YOU ever heard of two Antichrists? You have? La la la can't hear you

Fermet: ...but, since my lifetime is now eternal, I'd better Elmerproof the future as much as possible.

#Baccano!#Baccano #Lebreau Fermet Viralesque #Elmer C. Albatross #Baccano! Spoilers #Baccano! Light Novel Spoilers #forgot my tag again #this will be reblogged with a follow-up for a bit of actual thoughts

16 notes · View notes

mad049 · 7 years

Text

Slight Baccano Spoilers?

Rewatching Baccano after reading the light novels that are out (Vol. 1-4) I noticed there seems to be a focus on making Firo seem nicer. Like cutting out comments and changing how they got the Elixir from Issac and Miria instead of Firo stealing from Barns for being rude to him.

#Baccano #baccano!#firo prochainezo #light novels #was it to make him more "main character-ish #I like book Firo better

22 notes · View notes

isaacdian · 4 years

Note

hope you don't mind me asking, do you have any Isaac and Miria headcanons? i'd love to read some from you. you appear to have a good grasp on the characters, and great love for them. :)

aw thank you so much for the ask, sure thing!

some of these will probably get into theory territory as well, because i’ve had the novels sitting in my mind for years now, and there are a few details i’d like to mention (beware of baccano light novel spoilers, just in case).

this could get a bit long, so you can read it below the cut:

i’ll write my headcanons/thoughts in no particular order. more people might have come to similar conclusions, but i don’t think i’ve seen any posts or had any discussions with anyone regarding these (at least in depth), so!

- i like to think that miria and isaac ran away from their then (seemingly) unhappy lives after they got to interact with each other for quite a while, and not spontaneously upon meeting for the first time.

there isn’t much evidence to back this up beyond some characters commenting that they “were probably runaways” or that “maybe they eloped”, so they might have escaped together on the spot, since we already know they can be very impulsive. however, i get this feeling that their bond took some time to develop, and i’d love to see some of their interactions as isaac dian —and— miria harvent before they ever became isaac & miria, if that makes sense.

i doubt they met too long before their string of robberies, though? this is such a weirdly specific and probably meaningless thing to pinpoint, but in 1935 miria asks isaac if he’s ever been to the circus, and he responds that he does remember animals, but he doesn’t remember if that was the circus or the zoo. this hardly means anything, but their circumstances overall don’t really make me think that they’ve known each other since they were too young.

- whatever optimism and general exhilaration regarding life isaac has is innate. on the other hand, miria has mostly acquired her own sense of hopefulness over time, with isaac’s help.

miria is a 100% confirmed literal ray of sunshine and this indisputable. it just hasn’t/doesn’t always come to her as effortlessly as it may seem. bloody to fair isaac and miria magic show color page.png

this is somewhat related to the next one (and also the last point i’ll mention at the end of this post):

- when isaac gets arrested and he and miria get separated in 1934, they’re both having an equally hard time dealing with this.

okay this one is like. obvious ksjksk. but i wanted to talk about how they deal with this situation, because at first glance it looks like miria got the shortest end of the stick here. and in a way, that might be true! i’ve already mentioned that miria herself has been shown thinking about how much isaac helped her to be happy, and narita has been deliberately vague regarding the nature of their silliness, on top of hinting at the possibility of their shenanigans being a kind of mechanism to escape the harsh realities of life from the rolling bootlegs (very first novel), if i recall correctly.

(btw:

i recall that somewhere in the 1935 arc, graham starts talking with the usual “let me tell you a sad, sad story” prelude. however, isaac and miria are upset by this, and they tell him that he shouldn’t tell sad stories, because if you do it, your happiness will run away. meanwhile, this part in cloudy to rainy living rent free in my head:

i have to laugh..........)

that being said, i couldn’t help but feel like isaac was having an equally bad time, even if he displayed it in a different and not so blatant way. while i was rereading the novels after i got to buy the official english release, i felt very strongly that something was definitely wrong about their separation, which, again, is obvious to us readers and to the characters who know isaac & miria. but it extends beyond that. there was this general feeling of knowing that whoever came across an unaccompanied isaac would magically feel like there was something missing. i don’t know how else to explain this. he’s still full of energy and optimism and he’s fueled by his desire to reunite with miria, but every time he’s shown hesitating or doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion while thinking about a frivolous topic, it hits you like “oh... right” (firo didn’t help much on that last front, either, so miria and isaac must have had to discuss what exactly happens to fellas who don’t believe in fairies after their reunion... lol)

in short, he needs miria just as much as she needs him. this is something i’ve seen other people mention as well: isaac might be the “force” factor in their relationship, but that force won’t amount to much without miria’s “direction”, and viceversa. the lift each other up, and they keep each other grounded, too.

i’m also remembering isaac and sham’s conversation and just. there’s a self-esteem/confidence factor in there. Fun Game of Spot the Difference

and this is getting ridiculously long, so i’ll spare you from having to read my dumb thots about isaac’s (possibly real) fear of miria not liking him, as the narrator implies, which i subconsciously ended up linking to that one impossibly crack ending in the ds game, where you pick the option of him not knowing frankenstein’s monster’s real name, so miria leaves him after realizing how “cheap and uncool” he is LMAO

- isaac’s father might have been an academic of some sort, as well as a stern man who disapproved of his son’s flighty and childish tendencies.

???????? besides miria’s implied tragic backstory, the most we know about both of their pasts is that isaac comes from a wealthy family with whom he seems to have a bad relationship with, so even though i’ve tried to work out other details (his parents’ provenance for instance?) i can’t really elaborate on this. even if isaac’s knowledge on the topic is pretty scrambled (to put it nicely lol), he knows a lot about “the orient” as he puts it, and the “dian” surname is pretty unique so who knows!👀 i’ve only mentioned his father because isaac, too, has only mentioned his "old man” twice so far in the novels, if i’m not mistaken. in my opinion, it also speaks volumes how flustered isaac got when molsa apologized to him, because it was the first time someone older than him has done this. and this is pretty arbitrary, but if isaac started robbing and getting into trouble before he and miria even met and/or before he got kicked out/ran away from home, that whole deal about “being used to dealing with policemen” (in the unofficial translation i read back in the day it was something along the lines of “this isn’t my first time being interrogated by the police”) in 1934 would make sense, i guess, considering that miria didn’t realize what was going on at the moment even though she’s a fairly perceptive person.

anyways it’s too bad we don’t know that much about miria on this front, also!! i get the vague feeling that she might have also come from a wealthy family (probably not a good environment, though), since in 1935 it’s mentioned that the closest they’ve ever gotten to working/having a job was when they were digging for gold, apparently. that’s why i can’t really think of anything too specific regarding miria’s past and upbringing... i have a feeling that she might have felt alone, trapped and/or overwhelmed. let’s just hope that when she said her bruises would heal up fine with ice in 1935 it had nothing to do with this “i should have died” business :(((

- even though isaac and miria love their friends and would do anything for them, they aren’t particularly attached to anyone (or any place) besides each other.

this is more of an observation than a headcanon, but i find it really interesting: they would definitely do anything for their friends, and they do enjoy life very intensely, but that’s precisely why they don’t seem to be fixed in one singular spot? basically, i feel like they’re the personification of “home is where the heart is” taken to the extreme. they could go anywhere and do anything as long as they have each other, and they will never make any attempts to actively do things that make it easier to label their relationship, such as getting married, which is heavily implied by firo (i think) in 2002 bullet garden (i think!!). that’s also part of the reason why i’m sure they’d never find themselves commiting to things like taking care of a pet, or a child; it’s more like they instantly “adopt” everyone they run into, as if they’ve always been friends, even if they won’t meet again for months, years, or ever again. anyway, isaac and miria are extremely good and they are literally going to be happy together forever and ever! they don’t need to prove that.

that doesn’t mean they’re not sentimental, though! i like to think that they keep some meaningful objects that remind them of fond memories of their friends. and this is hardly canon because it shows up in the anime And in a background at that, but shoutout to the rocking toy horse in their california mine lol.

- miria knew about her own immortality (as well as isaac’s) before the 2000s.

THIS IS PROBABLY MY SPICIEST TAKE and i tried to back it up in the next point of this list. i still keep thinking i’m reading too much, into this but

i can’t stop thinking about the implications, folks

which brings us to:

- miria is smarter than isaac is and actually has a fairly good idea of when he’s making stuff up, but is happy to let him take the lead.

i won’t deny that isaac and miria dedicate a huge chunk of their day to doing moronic stuff, and they are pretty dumb, but i feel like people don’t give them enough credit for how perceptive they are. even though that’s true of the two of them, i feel like this mostly applies to miria.

among other things, we’ve learned that she knows ronny isn’t human and has supernatural powers (wow), which is why she comes to him for help after isaac’s arrest. she’s very good at paying attention to small details, such as the kind of programs ennis watches on tv, or chané’s feelings, when the two talk in 1934. miria also “really knows her way around japanese” and has been shown to --apparently?-- multiply large numbers in her head in 1935... while isaac was talking about how good of an idea it would be to use the martingale betting system. not to mention how isaac stated he “doesn’t know how to count money” earlier in this arc. my god ksdjgjks. i want to know what’s up with this, if anything.

so, yeah! there’s probably more stuff that i could mention, but i am exhausted lol. thank you for your patience anon, i have no idea how long this has been sitting in my inbox. always happy to get baccano questions <3 i apologize for any typos/errors and the like.

bonus headcanon: miria grabs ennis with one hand and chané with her other hand and they go out with their arms linked and excited and they learn more about having fun, as friends do. no printer just fax

#Anonymous #baccano #headcanon

6 notes · View notes

nightowlqueen · 6 years

Photo

#Baccano!#Claire Stanfield #Jacuzzi Splot #My Gifs #Spoilers #Light Novel Spoilers

246 notes · View notes

alexischarrison-blog · 7 years

Text

In Modern Animation, Baccano! Tales of Power and Machiavellian Principles

While writing about the movie, The Godfather, and thinking about Machiavelli, I was reminded of a very close example I could talk about that takes a lot of elements of both The Godfather and from Machiavellian principles. This is my favorite animated show, or anime, Baccano!.

(An artwork depicting some of the characters from the three different simultaneous storylines that are displayed within the show.)

This animated series originated as a series of light novels in 2003 under the same name, written by Ryohgo Narita. Light novels, are short Japanese novels that usually contain a few illustrations in them. The first few light novels were made into an anime in 2008 by the studio Brain’s Base. The series has also been dubbed for the US by Funimation. (Who did an amazing job with the dub in my opinion, and is just as good or better than the original Japanese cast.) The title: Baccano! is Italian, and translates to “turmoil” or “ruckus” which is a very fitting name once you get into it. To summarize the series up, (this in now way does the show justice at all btw), the story revolves mostly around three storylines, all taking place at different times, yet are presented together in the show alongside each other. Each storyline intertwines with the other through the characters. Throw characters with immortality into the mix and you get absolute craziness, or turmoil, as the name suggests. Well that’s all very confusing, but I promise that it all works together quite well, better than I thought something like this ever could. The non-linear way of storytelling is off-putting at first, but I quite like the unique style it has, and it gets easier to understand with each re-watching. If anything, I recommend the series for its masterful dynamic of characters and storytelling in a way that most stories would frown upon. Just the opening animation sequence introduces most of the important characters and makes me excited to watch what each of them will get up to in each episode. (Also, that jazz! The sountrack is absolutely godly.)

youtube

The series reminds me of The Godfather, in that part of it is set in 1920’s prohibition America, (New York specifically), and that a good portion of the story revolves around the mafia and another similar crime group, the cammora. This series is probably one of the most well known depictions of the cammora crime group in popular culture. Anyway, the animation itself is flawless at depicting the fights and displays of violence associated with mafia crime groups.

Here’s just some of the fun ones. (In which I realized that Firo (the guy in green) is the one beating up guys in each gif. He certainly has a knack to get himself in situtations.) By the way, the anime itself is quite violent, so I wouldn’t recommend it to the faint of heart.

As in The Godfather, the crime families in Baccano! must keep their power and influence, often times through violence. As this is prohibition era America, the way they make their living is through the illegal trade of alcohol. (Unlike The Godfather and the trade of drugs.) The law of the underground is very Machiavellian and ruthless.

By far the most Machiavellian character in the entire show would be Vino/Claire Stanfield or as he is most commonly known, The Rail Tracer.

This itself is a bit of a spoiler, but I have to spoil it in order to explain. In the opening sequence around 0:50, when the liquor bottle is dropped into the hands of the conductor, is the subtle and really well done introduction of Claire in the opening, marking him as an important character, without spoiling his identity. (Just one of the masterful decisions that make this anime my favorite.) Anyway, the Rail Tracer is introduced in the show as a myth of a terrifying monster that hunts down trains and makes the people on them disappear. (From the The Grand Punk Railroad, 1931 segments of the show). It is later revealed that one of the conductors (initially introduced as just “the young conductor” in the earlier episodes), is the legendary assassin, Vino (the italian word for wine: named this because of the way he kills his enemies… ruthlessly and quite messily). He is also the background to the “Rail Tracer” myth. Intelligent, crafty, and very dangerous, this character is a favorite of mine, because of his complex simplicity. What he believes is that he is basically the God of the world (solipsism) and that he can’t die, because if he did, the world would cease to exist. Therefore, his tactics and way of killing (his way of keeping power), are simply, in his mind, the way to preserve the world as it is. What makes him Machiavellian at his core are his morals. As it is revealed later by another character, even though he is an assassin, that he has a clear set of morals that he abides by, mercy towards certain people being one of them. The scene where he explains his philosophy (also listen to how amazing a job the voice actors did):

youtube

“So what if I’d spare him, to my mind it’s the certainty in myself that I possess which allows me to have that kind of mercy or compassion... So remember this, mercy and compassion are virtues that only the strong are privileged to possess, and I, am strong.” To me this little quote just screams Machiavelli. Also this guy is just so sure of himself and charismatic, it’s hard not to find some respect for him somewhere, which all in all just makes him an even more Machiavellian character.

I mean, come on, just look at the guy. He has all the makings of a Machiavellian prince in my book. On top of that, even though he’s some crazy assassin, he still manages to come off as human, which is extraordinary characterization in my opinion.

youtube

My absolute favorite character from the series would be Chane Laforet, who comes with a tragic backstory of her own.

I’ll be brief on this, but her father manipulated her into believing and following his every word, which is pretty ruthless and Machiavellian in itself.

Lastly, i just want to say that the soundtrack for this anime is amazing and highly worth checking out if you like jazz and swing style music. Some favorites of mine:

youtube

This song really embodies the whirlwind like atmosphere of the entire show. Plays during a lot of the fight scenes and just scenes of general craziness.

youtube

This song is definitely one of my favorites. It manages to sound sad, serene, and then later unnerving and urgent, all while maintaining motifs of the main theme throughout. It also helps that it’s basically the theme of both Chane and Claire, my two favorite characters.

https://youtu.be/tDJ30O81d70

Lastly is this song (Tumblr won’t let me post more than 5 videos straight to my post), conveys a serene feeling and a satisfaction along with it. It plays in the last episode, really bringing the show together and closing it off well while still leaving it open-ended. Really good end to a great series.

It’s really violent and not for everyone, but I would highly recommend it, and I encourage everyone to check it out, it’s really a masterpiece.

#baccano #baccano!#claire stanfield #machiavelli #history post #related to the godfather

21 notes · View notes