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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Baccano! DVD 3
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JackCox
 Posts: 386 |
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I have to profoundly disagree with your assessment on Jerry Jewell's performance as Claire, he certainly caught my attention. Every time his character was on screen he made my heart pound, and I was spooked as to what he might do next.
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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I'm guessing this refers to his English voice actor, and not the character? Not a huge issue for me since I love the Japanese voice cast (listened to English dubbed episodes online and thought it was really well done, but I still prefer the original), but it would stink if you meant the character, since he's my absolute 100% favorite.  Though come to think of it, much of the reason he is my favorite doesn't show up until the final 4 episodes, so...
By the way, kudos for giving a spoiler in your plot description that was supposed to be a huge surprise in the 9th episode... 
Setting that aside though... yes, these are a great set of episodes. 11-12 especially, with the train-top fight scene. *sigh* I may crack down and buy this all ASAP rather than waiting for a box set... (edited for typo) Last edited by vashfanatic on Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:55 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
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I've always thought that Baccano! is a great example of an adaptation done right. While I've never read the novels myself, I can tell that a lot of thought was dedicated to creating these characters and inserting them into the setting. The script has just taken that source material and runs with it in very interesting ways, all for the better in my book, doing a wonderful job of making their particular gimmicks work amidst the seeming chronological insanity of the storytelling.
Good review...which reminds me that I really do need to check out the dub at some point. But it's not going to surprise anyone, or so I would hope, for me to say that Claire was quite enjoyable to see in action and that his crazy worldview didn't bother me in the slightest. It's, however, certainly very true that Ladd was always quite entertaining in his own special way. Not that I have anything at all against the likes of Isaac and Miria, of course not, but they're...different. 
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daedelus
 Posts: 743 Location: Texas City, TX (ajd: 6/11/05) |
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I absolutely love Baccano!
Volume 3 has definitely reached new heights in graphic violence. However, what I found most disturbing was the bloodcurdling scream Czeslaw lets out off screen during a particular occurrence. I commend Maxey Whitehead for pulling that off. I think that after I watch volume 4, I'm going to turn right around and marathon the whole series for full effect. Oh, and for those who think being immortal would be great, this volume makes you think again. Not dying does not mean you feel no pain. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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I agree. I loved his psychotic rant, it showed that while Claire may have a bit more of a moral restraint on who he decides to kill, he's definitely even crazier than Ladd. And yeah, I think the dub is spectacular. Aside from FMA and Beck, I think it's FUNi's best so far. |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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I also thought Jerry Jewell turned out a good performance, and I didn't mind the verbose nature of Claire either. The calm, collected psycho was a nice counterpoint for Ladd. spoiler[Oh, and it was awesome finding out he was the Rail Tracer.] Very well done.
If you liked Czes' scream, wait until you hear Nice's in volume 4 (suffice to say it explains her burns). I'm also tempted to watch the whole series over again in marathon. The volume-by-volume experience has its own advantages though, given Baccano's penchant for cliffhangers ('course that's only effective the first time through). As for the pains of immortality, I think of that as a flight risk. If you have to pay a short-term price for a long-term benefit, so be it. spoiler[On the other hand, you might end up like Dallas...ugh.] Anyway, superb show all the way through. Great dub, great story, great characters, great visuals. I really hope a second season is somewhere down the tracks (there is more source material, isn't there?). |
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Kalessin
 Posts: 931 |
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I'd have to agree with those that are disagreeing about Jerry Jewel. He did a fine job as Claire. I can understand why it might get a bit tedious when starts describing his views on life, but that's definitely a character issue as opposed to the actor, and I think that it worked just fine in any case.
In fact, I don't think that I have a complaint about anyone in the English cast. They all did a fantastic job. And if you're someone who's ever on the fence about whether to watch a show subbed or dubbed, this is definitely one to watch dubbed. Having the authentic accents and slang brings a lot to the series and makes it work that much better. I also have to say that the commentary was fun. No, commentaries aren't always the most interesting thing on the planet, but I, for one, am very glad that Funimation has taken to including them on most of their releases now. I think that they're a great extra to have. Your mileage may very on them though, I suppose. IIRC, in this one, one of the things that they discussed was how there was an internet rumor floating around that Jerry Jewel was dead (when of course he was just fine). It was rather funny. In any case, Baccano continues to be great. I have all four volumes now and have been rewatching the series. It makes so much more sense on the second viewing - and you catch so many more interesting tidbits as well. A great series. About my only complaint is its high level of violence, but I'm not quite sure how they could have toned that down without seriously changing the series. It's just too integral to what's going on - what with all the gangsters and all. |
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Kalessin
Posts: 931 |
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I believe that this series took the first three or four novels from the series and mixed them together (I believe that the story is told more or less chronologically in the novels - as opposed to hopping around like the anime). There are definitely more novels beyond that (14 total and counting according to wikipedia). However, given how at the end of volume 4, they were talking about how it's better to spoiler[imagine the rest of the story yourself] and how much they rearranged the novels that they adapted, I'm not at all sure that they're going to be looking to do another season. I don't believe that Baccano has any kind of overarching plot or anything like that, so if you keep going, there's always the problem of when to stop. And given how much they played with time in this anime, I'm not sure they could pull off something quite the same even by adapting further novels. So, there is more source material, but my guess is that they don't intend to adapt it. I'd love it if they did, and I hope that they do so, but I don't get the feeling that they're going to. Still, we'll have to wait and see. |
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neocloud9
 Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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Hear, hear! This is one of the most polished, most effective and most hilarious dubs I've ever heard! Definitely one that shouldn't be passed up, even by fans of the original Japanese performers. |
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Myaow
 Posts: 1068 |
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I'd heard Baccano! getting pumped as a terrifying, ultra-gory splatterfest before I watched it, but the show intrigued me so much that I went into it anyway, in spite of being the wussiest wuss that ever wussed. The first two volumes had me confused, since aside from one or two flying fingers, it was pretty much just shoot-and-reel gunfights from beginning to end.
And then there was episode nine. Ah, Ladd. Ah, Claire. Ah, Czes. I actually had the opposite dilemma as the reviewer in regards to Claire-- I thought he was an awesome character, but every time he was onscreen I had to cover my face! As to the dub, I was a bit disappointed by the way that so many actors' performances were compromised as they tried to act and maintain a fake accent at the same time. I eventually got used to most of the American characters that I had a problem with, but the foreign characters would usually yank me right out of the story to say "ack, that's bad". I really love whoever that new guy is who did Ladd Russo, though. His Ladd is really different, but a blast to listen to. |
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Aaack ~ so behind on anime-watching!
I still have volumes 2 and 3 unopened! Maybe I'll remedy that tonight ... |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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Really fun show but the violence involving Rail Tracer is strong enough to dissuade me every time I get the urge to rewatch this one :\
Still, the entire time I was watching Baccano, it was screaming "watch me in English!" so I would like to give the dub a try... just dunno if I want to sit through some of those scenes again... |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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There are some partial fan translations online if you want to preview them (they're not very polished in their style), and the books jump around a little; for example, the first one opens with a series of brief introductory scenes out of context for different characters, then jumps to an epilogue in the late 90s, tells the story following characters, which means it often has to backtrack, and then ends with a second epilogue, so that the whole book is more or less a story being told to by one character to another. The anime just took things one step further - and it was a truly inventive way of managing to get three books into one series. And technically it covers the four books... sort of. The first book, "Rolling Bootlegs" is the 1930 storyline, "The Grand Punk Railroad" makes up the 1931 storyline and was in two (short) volumes making it books 2-3, and the 1932 storyline tells only part of book 4, "Drugs and The Dominos." Bits of background and scenes from other books filter in as well (such as the character spoiler[Graham Specter]).
As I said above, translations online exist, but are very incomplete and though accurate lack a degree of smooth readability. I hope that with the release of light novels such Vampire Hunter D, the Twelve Kingdoms, and Haruhi Suzumiya, we might get an official release of these stateside, especially if the anime does well enough. So those of you who think you should just get by with fansubs, remember: sales can affect the release of other material as well! Otherwise... does anyone know how to buy books straight from Japan?  ;
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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Yeah, I'm definitely interested in reading the novels sometime. The anime answers all the big questions it raises, except for a scene in episode 1 spoiler[where an unknown blond-haired woman with a spear is in a room with a bunch of the main characters]. From what I've heard, reading the novels will shed light on this scene.
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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Not to mention spoiler[who was Claire in New York to kill]? Or spoiler[how did Dallas get out of his fate worse than death]? Or just getting to see spoiler[Ladd making it to Alcatraz to meet Huey (I mean, he has to, right?)]. I want to read these soooo bad! |
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