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Baccano! Light Novel #1
The Rolling Bootlegs
New York, 1931. The manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited by law, but behind this prohibition, organized crime flourishes-so, too, do bank robbers, bootleggers, assassins, and homunculi. Some want money, some are chasing the secret to immortality, and others just want to have a really good time. You know what they say, though: You can't always get what you want.
207 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2003
105 people are currently reading
1266 people want to read
About the author
Ryohgo Narita
348 books383 followersRyohgo Narita (成田 良悟, Narita Ryōgo) is a Japanese light novelist. He won the Gold Prize in the 9th Dengeki Novel Prize for Baccano!, which was made into a TV anime in 2007.[1] His series Durarara!! was also made into a TV anime, which began airing January 2010
There are two traits found in most of Narita's works:
* Narita writes extremely fast, one volume a month if he wishes - with tons of spelling errors and missing words as a tradeoff. The editors like to leave them sometimes just for fun, though.
* His work titles often have an exclamation mark at the end (i.e. Baccano!, Vamp!, Durarara!!, etc.).
Kanji names: 成田 良悟 & 成田良悟.
There are two traits found in most of Narita's works:
* Narita writes extremely fast, one volume a month if he wishes - with tons of spelling errors and missing words as a tradeoff. The editors like to leave them sometimes just for fun, though.
* His work titles often have an exclamation mark at the end (i.e. Baccano!, Vamp!, Durarara!!, etc.).
Kanji names: 成田 良悟 & 成田良悟.
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April 25, 2023
It’s America in the prohibition era, with organized crime flourishing. When a criminal steals a box of alcohol bottles, he finds out the bottles contains an immortality elixir instead. While it could be considered a lucky find, it is actually a magnet for trouble.
As a huge fan of the anime, this one was a no-brainer for me. One of the largest complaints I’ve heard about the anime is that there are too many plot thread mixed together. That’s fair criticism. And, I have great news for those people: at the start of the original novels, we focus on only one major plot thread. Which means we’re also introduced to less characters, making it easier to follow the story and fall in love all over again with the characters.
Firo and Ennis are at the heart of this story. Though it’s the comic relief duo of Isaac and Miria that steals the show here for me, especially since they truly embody the main theme of this story. They show Ennis in their hilarious own way that, no matter how bad of a person you think you are, it’s never too late to become a better person. And Szilard is such a great antagonist.
As a huge fan of the anime, this one was a no-brainer for me. One of the largest complaints I’ve heard about the anime is that there are too many plot thread mixed together. That’s fair criticism. And, I have great news for those people: at the start of the original novels, we focus on only one major plot thread. Which means we’re also introduced to less characters, making it easier to follow the story and fall in love all over again with the characters.
Firo and Ennis are at the heart of this story. Though it’s the comic relief duo of Isaac and Miria that steals the show here for me, especially since they truly embody the main theme of this story. They show Ennis in their hilarious own way that, no matter how bad of a person you think you are, it’s never too late to become a better person. And Szilard is such a great antagonist.
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May 9, 2016Yen Press's first translated entry in the Baccano! series is the most fun I've had at the movies in a while.
I came to the series through its (brilliant, hilarious) anime adaptation, which interpolates a handful of different Baccano! light novels into one phenomenal mosaic. This volume corresponds to the 1930 arc of the anime—the events surrounding Firo's elevation to Camorra executive—without losing any of the kinetic, good-natured gangster charm that so endeared the series to me.
Baccano! wastes no time—in maybe ten pages we're rolling (bootlegs) with different timelines, settings, colorful characters, alchemy, demons, and gangland fantasia. It's good clean mobster fun, full-on glorious expropriation of tommy guns, speakeasies, corrupt cops, and all the Untouchable tropes; if you know New York's early 20th century history intimately, if you're an expert in the '30s mafia, if you can conjure the feeling of the city under Prohibition instantly to mind, don't come to this expecting that. We're reading self-conscious pulp, and it's glorious.
The Yen Press translation does not try to hide the fact that it *is* a translation, which I appreciate, even though some artifacts of this approach will seem weird to Western readers. I really like, for example, the preservation of 'blank' lines of dialogue (characters saying '...' or similar) to represent a silent beat.
This approach also means the translation preserves the author's other, less desirable thumbprints—for example, Narita veers gender essentialist in this volume a handful of times, leaving unforced errors of description largely invisible in the anime adaptation, which features more female characters. (e.g. "On hearing Miria's cry, Lia looked pleased. The two women smiled like children, and it naturally brightened the mood at the tables.") There's an open question as to whether this sort of stuff should be removed from a text in translation. I tend to err on the side of 'leave it in,' figuring that readers should know, as much as possible, the nature of a text they're reading in translation—including its weaknesses.
(That said, the gender presentations are, by no means, all weird. Isaac and Miria's relationship is great, and I *love* an aspect of two leads' marriage revealed in the final epilogue.)
(Yes, 'final epilogue' has meaning here. Roll with it.)
All in all—*incredibly* fun. Five out of five tommy guns.
I came to the series through its (brilliant, hilarious) anime adaptation, which interpolates a handful of different Baccano! light novels into one phenomenal mosaic. This volume corresponds to the 1930 arc of the anime—the events surrounding Firo's elevation to Camorra executive—without losing any of the kinetic, good-natured gangster charm that so endeared the series to me.
Baccano! wastes no time—in maybe ten pages we're rolling (bootlegs) with different timelines, settings, colorful characters, alchemy, demons, and gangland fantasia. It's good clean mobster fun, full-on glorious expropriation of tommy guns, speakeasies, corrupt cops, and all the Untouchable tropes; if you know New York's early 20th century history intimately, if you're an expert in the '30s mafia, if you can conjure the feeling of the city under Prohibition instantly to mind, don't come to this expecting that. We're reading self-conscious pulp, and it's glorious.
The Yen Press translation does not try to hide the fact that it *is* a translation, which I appreciate, even though some artifacts of this approach will seem weird to Western readers. I really like, for example, the preservation of 'blank' lines of dialogue (characters saying '...' or similar) to represent a silent beat.
This approach also means the translation preserves the author's other, less desirable thumbprints—for example, Narita veers gender essentialist in this volume a handful of times, leaving unforced errors of description largely invisible in the anime adaptation, which features more female characters. (e.g. "On hearing Miria's cry, Lia looked pleased. The two women smiled like children, and it naturally brightened the mood at the tables.") There's an open question as to whether this sort of stuff should be removed from a text in translation. I tend to err on the side of 'leave it in,' figuring that readers should know, as much as possible, the nature of a text they're reading in translation—including its weaknesses.
(That said, the gender presentations are, by no means, all weird. Isaac and Miria's relationship is great, and I *love* an aspect of two leads' marriage revealed in the final epilogue.)
(Yes, 'final epilogue' has meaning here. Roll with it.)
All in all—*incredibly* fun. Five out of five tommy guns.
May 15, 2015
Baccano! - 1930: The Rolling Bootlegs
Don't let anybody tell you there's no future in a life of crime, because some rackets can last forever. But we'll get around to all that immorality jazz later. A mafia turf war is raging on the mean streets of the Big Apple, a place where regular jacks bounce between backdoor speakeasies and the breadline. But this caper isn't about a simple gangland brawl. It's about hoods who can't seem to die proper after catching a bullet or five between the eyes. Sadistic hit-men and their dames, mad bombers making a bang, monsters going bump and soul sucking alchemists bootlegging an elixir that can grant a man eternal life.
Just remember, Baccano! isn't about beginnings and ends. It's about the twists and turns, bub. There may be one event but there are as many stories as there are people involved. Paths don't cross in this story - they collide. Every Dick and Jane plays the lead and it's going to be a bumpy ride.
The best part of this story is the collection of characters that are present. There is no single main character in this series, often switching between different characters. A good reader can catch all the various details that connect all the characters. Everyone is distinguishable both personality-wise and visually. The same events are retold by various characters without becoming dull. It's amazing how even the slightest little concidence that seemed so uninportant can be a major connection among the multiple characters.
Don't let anybody tell you there's no future in a life of crime, because some rackets can last forever. But we'll get around to all that immorality jazz later. A mafia turf war is raging on the mean streets of the Big Apple, a place where regular jacks bounce between backdoor speakeasies and the breadline. But this caper isn't about a simple gangland brawl. It's about hoods who can't seem to die proper after catching a bullet or five between the eyes. Sadistic hit-men and their dames, mad bombers making a bang, monsters going bump and soul sucking alchemists bootlegging an elixir that can grant a man eternal life.
Just remember, Baccano! isn't about beginnings and ends. It's about the twists and turns, bub. There may be one event but there are as many stories as there are people involved. Paths don't cross in this story - they collide. Every Dick and Jane plays the lead and it's going to be a bumpy ride.
The best part of this story is the collection of characters that are present. There is no single main character in this series, often switching between different characters. A good reader can catch all the various details that connect all the characters. Everyone is distinguishable both personality-wise and visually. The same events are retold by various characters without becoming dull. It's amazing how even the slightest little concidence that seemed so uninportant can be a major connection among the multiple characters.
February 20, 2013
This book is so absolutely amazing!
I watched the anime first on Netflix, and absolutely fell in love with the storyline and all of the characters. I was so sad when it ended! When I discovered that the anime was based off of a light novel, I became determined to read it! I was so dissapointed when I found out that the light novels weren't sold in English, but then I found a site where they had translated the novels themselves (thank you so much, you beautiful people) and my hopes were renewed.
Let me jut say this: Baccano is simply amazing. It blew me away with it's amazing story line and diverse characters and... just pretty much everything about it. I love how the writing switches around, following different characters as it goes along. The ending is great too--having watched the anime I already knew what happened (at least, assuming that things stayed along the same lines), but the very end, when they're back in 2002, that was just awesome. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time I was reading it! I cannot believe how much I was grinning. I looked pretty insane, but that just shows you how amazing the story is! I recommend this to anyone, and I really hope it is given the widespread popularity it deserves so that it is sold in English and I can buy a copy!
I watched the anime first on Netflix, and absolutely fell in love with the storyline and all of the characters. I was so sad when it ended! When I discovered that the anime was based off of a light novel, I became determined to read it! I was so dissapointed when I found out that the light novels weren't sold in English, but then I found a site where they had translated the novels themselves (thank you so much, you beautiful people) and my hopes were renewed.
Let me jut say this: Baccano is simply amazing. It blew me away with it's amazing story line and diverse characters and... just pretty much everything about it. I love how the writing switches around, following different characters as it goes along. The ending is great too--having watched the anime I already knew what happened (at least, assuming that things stayed along the same lines), but the very end, when they're back in 2002, that was just awesome. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time I was reading it! I cannot believe how much I was grinning. I looked pretty insane, but that just shows you how amazing the story is! I recommend this to anyone, and I really hope it is given the widespread popularity it deserves so that it is sold in English and I can buy a copy!
March 31, 2017
The anime adaptation of Baccano was released in 2007 and promptly picked up by Funimation for an English release. It was very well received by the American critics and by most anime fans (I know it was one of my favorites the year it was released). It was pretty much what would happen if Quentin Tarantino had made an anime. It was a funny, violent, non-linear and still well paced with interesting characters. As the anime was based on book series started in 2003, it seems like a no-brainer that it would get an English release, right?
Well fast-forward to 2016, when yes, we finally did get an English release. Why the long delay? Almost ten years have passed since the anime's release (and at the time I write this, we will hit the ten year anniversary in a few months and only three of the books have been released), what changed for us to finally get this long delayed release? Well, a few things. Back in 2007, Manga was doing fairly well in the US, but light novels were pretty much unheard of, which thanks to Yen Press and a few other companies is no longer the case (I remember being quite shocked when the Haruhi Suzumiya series was translated as it really was a rarity at the time to see a light novel). That said, even after light novels started hitting the US, Baccano’s time had passed. The anime had been years ago, and demand just wasn’t that high…
Then the author Ryōgo Narita had another big hit in the form of Durarara and interest in his work once again grew in the US. Yen Press decided to take advantage of this and release one of his older works here as well… and from me there was much rejoicing.
As I said, I was a huge fan of the anime when it came out, and that has not changed (I still put it in my top 10 anime list) and finally getting the books here is a big treat. The novel follows one of three main plots of the anime (the one focusing on Firo). I won’t go into the plot here, as it is nearly impossible to do so without spoilers… all that can be said is that it focuses on some mafia figures in the 1930s in New York encountering a rivalry that’s been going on far longer than their organization has been around.
The book is just like the anime, practically scene for scene. The humor is still there, the clever aspects and the silly. It’s all good fun, but disappointingly, one of the few situations where I prefer the adaptation. The anime had a manic glee about it; throwing you into the chaos and making you figure it out as you went along. The novel is very straight forward, explaining everything as it goes along, making a much more simplistic story. Not a terrible thing, but it loses some of the charm that the show presented (or, which this is the first version, I guess the show managed to create much of that charm). It also doesn’t help that this story, while being an essential first step to the Baccano world, was also the least interesting to me in the anime.
Now, I don’t want this to be a series of complaints. The series as a whole is very clever, and the characters are extremely entertaining. While not the greatest literary achievement, Baccano still comes with a solid recommendation for fans of the show (or fans of light novels in general). For others though, that recommendation may be more cautious.
Well fast-forward to 2016, when yes, we finally did get an English release. Why the long delay? Almost ten years have passed since the anime's release (and at the time I write this, we will hit the ten year anniversary in a few months and only three of the books have been released), what changed for us to finally get this long delayed release? Well, a few things. Back in 2007, Manga was doing fairly well in the US, but light novels were pretty much unheard of, which thanks to Yen Press and a few other companies is no longer the case (I remember being quite shocked when the Haruhi Suzumiya series was translated as it really was a rarity at the time to see a light novel). That said, even after light novels started hitting the US, Baccano’s time had passed. The anime had been years ago, and demand just wasn’t that high…
Then the author Ryōgo Narita had another big hit in the form of Durarara and interest in his work once again grew in the US. Yen Press decided to take advantage of this and release one of his older works here as well… and from me there was much rejoicing.
As I said, I was a huge fan of the anime when it came out, and that has not changed (I still put it in my top 10 anime list) and finally getting the books here is a big treat. The novel follows one of three main plots of the anime (the one focusing on Firo). I won’t go into the plot here, as it is nearly impossible to do so without spoilers… all that can be said is that it focuses on some mafia figures in the 1930s in New York encountering a rivalry that’s been going on far longer than their organization has been around.
The book is just like the anime, practically scene for scene. The humor is still there, the clever aspects and the silly. It’s all good fun, but disappointingly, one of the few situations where I prefer the adaptation. The anime had a manic glee about it; throwing you into the chaos and making you figure it out as you went along. The novel is very straight forward, explaining everything as it goes along, making a much more simplistic story. Not a terrible thing, but it loses some of the charm that the show presented (or, which this is the first version, I guess the show managed to create much of that charm). It also doesn’t help that this story, while being an essential first step to the Baccano world, was also the least interesting to me in the anime.
Now, I don’t want this to be a series of complaints. The series as a whole is very clever, and the characters are extremely entertaining. While not the greatest literary achievement, Baccano still comes with a solid recommendation for fans of the show (or fans of light novels in general). For others though, that recommendation may be more cautious.
December 15, 2016
First time I watched the anime was three years ago. I was bored and wanting to watch something different than the usual anime. It turned out this one blew my mind. When I found out this was based on light novel, I decided to find it but apparently there wasn't any English version. I found the fanbased translation but at that time the translation was still scattered here and there so I ended up not reading it. However after few years, the fanbased translation had managed to finish several volumes. This one is the first.
Unlike the anime, which jumps through several time lines and combines several volumes in one season, the book follows more chronological time frame. There were some flashbacks but not as confusing - yet amazing - as the anime was. This book tells the event that occurs in 1930, when more of the characters gained their immortality. It was nice to get to know the characters deeper than they were shown on anime. I got a better insight on Luck Gandor - my favorite character from 1930 timeline - and of course the crazy duo: Isaac and Miria. Luck in the anime seemed like a person with no emotion, but here, it was seen that he actually has it but he suppressed it. Firo in the anime is more like a happy go lucky kid despite his incredible efficiency in fighting. However this book provides more insight to his past and why he is the way he is.
In short, this is one hell of a great story. I wish there will be season 2 for baccano so we can see what happens after the Flying Pussyfoot train incident.
Unlike the anime, which jumps through several time lines and combines several volumes in one season, the book follows more chronological time frame. There were some flashbacks but not as confusing - yet amazing - as the anime was. This book tells the event that occurs in 1930, when more of the characters gained their immortality. It was nice to get to know the characters deeper than they were shown on anime. I got a better insight on Luck Gandor - my favorite character from 1930 timeline - and of course the crazy duo: Isaac and Miria. Luck in the anime seemed like a person with no emotion, but here, it was seen that he actually has it but he suppressed it. Firo in the anime is more like a happy go lucky kid despite his incredible efficiency in fighting. However this book provides more insight to his past and why he is the way he is.
In short, this is one hell of a great story. I wish there will be season 2 for baccano so we can see what happens after the Flying Pussyfoot train incident.
June 28, 2020
I love stories with multiple characters whose story intertwines together.
Baccano has two funny characters -Mirria and Isaac- but the story has a dark bakground that I love.
I forgot about the anime so, even if I remember the characters, I completely forgot about the story. I liked to remember it.
Baccano has two funny characters -Mirria and Isaac- but the story has a dark bakground that I love.
I forgot about the anime so, even if I remember the characters, I completely forgot about the story. I liked to remember it.
January 31, 2017
I love Ryohgo Narita's writing style. Like Durarara, you have lots of separate stories meeting up in the climax. The only problem I have with this book is Yen Press's idea to release it as a hardback. Japanese light novels are meant to be cheap, disposable entertainment.
October 17, 2020
It's been 13 years and I'm still angry that this series never got the traction that it deserved. Please give this series a chance if it sounds interesting to you, the storyline is admittedly hard to follow to begin with in both the novel and the anime but it's well worth it, this has been a PSA :D
May 7, 2025
I definitely bias about this but loved it just as much as I loved the anime
December 17, 2020
I started reading this light novel because I didn’t want to watch the anime. (Yeah, I’m that lazy). I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever, but this story surprised me! I read it in one sitting, and even though the plot seems conclusive, I definitely want to continue the series. Maybe I’ll watch the anime later.
February 22, 2013
I have for a while now been telling myself that I wouldn't like Baccano! but Boy, Was I Wrong!
The smooth jump between well made characters makes it a pure pleasure ride with both action and comical situations.
I end this with the note that Isaac and Miria are awesome.
The smooth jump between well made characters makes it a pure pleasure ride with both action and comical situations.
I end this with the note that Isaac and Miria are awesome.
June 25, 2020
Of course, the two of them had arbitrarily convinced themselves that children had starved simply because they'd stolen chocolate, so it really was more like a joke than anything. Once you knew that, you might even begin to think their very existence was a joke.That's pretty much all there is to say about Isaac and Miria.
Without whom, the whole Baccano stories wouldn't quite be as colourful as they are.
Aside from this, I don't really know what to say about this book. I mean, there's a reason I'm having trouble reading things after watching any kind of "visual" adaptation from it. It's not that I don't enjoy it (and in this case I really didn't as it was fun to go all over this whole thing for the third time) but sometimes I don't really know if I like it because I know already that the story is good or because it actually is. 🤔
Oh well.
Let's just say that the story is great and the characters are interesting. Although, you kinda only scratch the surface with this first book as it introduces quite a lot of characters. Let's not forget that Isaac and Miria are hilariously stupid.
The fact that it keeps jumping from one to another can be a bit confusing but that's also what makes the story (a bit like Urasawa's works in a way). And it's even better at it in the anime as it also mixes in what I believe will be volumes 2 and 3. (Highly recommending the anime btw.)
There may be just one thing that I was a bit disappointed in, and that's the illustrations. Or rather the choice of illustrations, as I believe some better key moments could have been selected to make the whole thing better.
Anyway, I should be reading these next volumes soon enough and be able to articulate my thoughts better on these.
March 27, 2023
oh baccano! i will always love you and the rolling bootlegs is a perfect introduction to narita's light novel series that completely owns my ass.
anyway when i first watched the anime in like... 2010 and read fan translations of the rolling bootlegs in 2013 it changed me as a person, and in addition to being an excellent and very chaotic story it's so nice to have an official translation/copy of this series now.
of course, it's a translation (and it never really hides the fact it's a translation) and it reads much choppier than most novels, but this is more or less what i expect from light novels.
anyway when i first watched the anime in like... 2010 and read fan translations of the rolling bootlegs in 2013 it changed me as a person, and in addition to being an excellent and very chaotic story it's so nice to have an official translation/copy of this series now.
of course, it's a translation (and it never really hides the fact it's a translation) and it reads much choppier than most novels, but this is more or less what i expect from light novels.
May 12, 2018
I am so excited that I now have roughly 1340 light novels, a bunch of manga, and an anime series yet to go with these people and/or in this world. SO. EXCITED.
July 8, 2022
life changing experience
August 10, 2019
Highly anticipated read ever since I finished the anime. I absolutely adored the anime and when I heard it was all based on these light novels I had to get my hands on em. 9+ years later I am not disappointed, loved how the story still flows perfectly, the action is all there, and of course the characters are shining through.
June 7, 2025
I forgot that LNs are
1) (mediocrely) translated works
2) written for middle schoolers 😭
1) (mediocrely) translated works
2) written for middle schoolers 😭
May 12, 2020
The more I read of this series, and this is my fourth book, even if it is the first that was published (I got this one last time I was in Japan) the more I feel this series is kind of a lost opportunity, something that could be, even if not a masterpiece, at least highly entertaining. As it turns out, it is easy to read, it has interesting (even if way over the top, sometimes just way way way too over the top) characters but it is all quite messy and the world construction, even if also simple, is also quite messy, all over the place.
There are a lot of threads going on here. We are in New York in the 30s, the prohibition, dry law, era. We have a member of the camorra, the camorra here being something cool and even naive, far from the real camorra. We have other members of the camorra. We have lots of members of gangs. We have a couple of silly thieves. We have a driver. And the person for whom this driver works. This person being an immortal. The driver being a homunculus. One of the leaders of one of the camorra groups being also an immortal. The immortals having to do with some alchemists that invoked a demon some 200 years ago who gave them a drink that made them immortals. One of the immortals having made a new drink that makes you impossible to die but of old age, and working with a bunch of non-immortal but unkillable bunch of men to make a drink that makes you really immortal. Oh, and immortals can kill each other Christopher Lambert-style (ok, not with swords, but 'there can only be one').
Anyway... All threads start in different places of the city, and all start to crisscross, once, twice, many times, characters meeting characters that meet characters, all kind of things happening. However the 'magic' of the immortals is not really used much, more of a 'gangster' book than a fantasy one, with the alchemists and immortals thrown into the mix it seems to add some color to the story.
Narita's writing style has evolved as the series has advanced, but here it is still a little bit simple, repeating many sentences, and going back over and over some plot points or situations (not that in later books it changes much in that respect, but it becomes more fluent, more streamlined). It is also of the 'easy to read' variety, meaning that you will find sounds stretched for whole sentences. The characters, as said, are entertaining, and also full of color, but it feels that they are over the top just for the sake of it, their behavior too silly to make much sense.
You may enjoy this series, but go with low expectations if you are expecting deep fantasy or a well developed plot.
The best: Narita knows how to create silly characters; some surprising depth to the inner world of a couple of the characters; things happen fast
The worst: it is messy, way more than in other volumes in the series; the story is way too simple and things happen 'too' fast; it feels this would work better as a manga or anime (I have to watch the anime) than as a book
Alternatives: light novels there are thousands out there, many with the same shortcomings than this one (and they also share a lot of shortcomings around gender and sexual topics but that is for another day); but if you want to read something similar you have, again, heaps of options: other books in this series, other light novels like "ソードアート・オンライン オルタナティブ クローバーズ・リグレット"; not light novels but similar 'in spirit', like Miyabe Miyuki's "ソロモンの偽証" or Onda's "六番目の小夜子"; and older, but also quite good (even if it ends being a little bit repetitive): Edogawa's series "少年探偵団" or Jirô Osaragi's "ゆうれい船".
5/10
(Japanese)
There are a lot of threads going on here. We are in New York in the 30s, the prohibition, dry law, era. We have a member of the camorra, the camorra here being something cool and even naive, far from the real camorra. We have other members of the camorra. We have lots of members of gangs. We have a couple of silly thieves. We have a driver. And the person for whom this driver works. This person being an immortal. The driver being a homunculus. One of the leaders of one of the camorra groups being also an immortal. The immortals having to do with some alchemists that invoked a demon some 200 years ago who gave them a drink that made them immortals. One of the immortals having made a new drink that makes you impossible to die but of old age, and working with a bunch of non-immortal but unkillable bunch of men to make a drink that makes you really immortal. Oh, and immortals can kill each other Christopher Lambert-style (ok, not with swords, but 'there can only be one').
Anyway... All threads start in different places of the city, and all start to crisscross, once, twice, many times, characters meeting characters that meet characters, all kind of things happening. However the 'magic' of the immortals is not really used much, more of a 'gangster' book than a fantasy one, with the alchemists and immortals thrown into the mix it seems to add some color to the story.
Narita's writing style has evolved as the series has advanced, but here it is still a little bit simple, repeating many sentences, and going back over and over some plot points or situations (not that in later books it changes much in that respect, but it becomes more fluent, more streamlined). It is also of the 'easy to read' variety, meaning that you will find sounds stretched for whole sentences. The characters, as said, are entertaining, and also full of color, but it feels that they are over the top just for the sake of it, their behavior too silly to make much sense.
You may enjoy this series, but go with low expectations if you are expecting deep fantasy or a well developed plot.
The best: Narita knows how to create silly characters; some surprising depth to the inner world of a couple of the characters; things happen fast
The worst: it is messy, way more than in other volumes in the series; the story is way too simple and things happen 'too' fast; it feels this would work better as a manga or anime (I have to watch the anime) than as a book
Alternatives: light novels there are thousands out there, many with the same shortcomings than this one (and they also share a lot of shortcomings around gender and sexual topics but that is for another day); but if you want to read something similar you have, again, heaps of options: other books in this series, other light novels like "ソードアート・オンライン オルタナティブ クローバーズ・リグレット"; not light novels but similar 'in spirit', like Miyabe Miyuki's "ソロモンの偽証" or Onda's "六番目の小夜子"; and older, but also quite good (even if it ends being a little bit repetitive): Edogawa's series "少年探偵団" or Jirô Osaragi's "ゆうれい船".
5/10
(Japanese)
May 18, 2017
In the year 2002, a Japanese man has won a trip to New York, and he’s having a terrible time. A bunch of teens mugged him and took his most prized possession, his camera. If he wants to get it back, he’ll have to talk to a member of the Camorra (an Italian crime syndicate). Luckily, the man he speaks to is in a good and talkative mood, and boy does he have a story to tell. It starts in 1711, when an alchemist and his comrades summoned a demon who gifted the alchemist with the knowledge of how to make the elixir of immortality, and continues to New York in 1930.
In 1930, a young man named Firo has just been promoted to executive in the Martillo Family, a Camorra group. At that very same time, two cheerful and energetic thieves named Isaac and Miria have just arrived in the city, determined to right their past wrongs by doing only good deeds. Of course, they have a rather odd notion of what constitutes a “good deed.” And at the same time as all of that, an immortal old man named Szilard is being driven to a meeting by Ennis, his artificially created human servant. Szilard has spent the centuries since he became immortal trying to determine the recipe for the elixir of immortality, and it looks like he might have finally achieved his goal. Unfortunately, a fire makes things more complicated, and the two surviving bottles of the perfected elixir go missing.
Ennis has to track the bottles down or risk getting killed by Szilard. Of course, they just happen to look like regular wine, it’s the Prohibition era, and there are two different Camorra groups, a couple idiot thieves, some thugs, and several FBI agents in the area, so her job isn’t going to be easy.
My first exposure to this series was via the anime, which was confusing, violent, high-energy, and lots of fun. One of the reasons it was so confusing was because it didn’t entirely follow a linear timeline. Viewers would be shown events from 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1711, all mixed together. I have since learned that this is because the anime adapted events from the first three novels. Although this first volume in the series jumped around between the various prominent characters and their storylines, it at least stayed rooted in 1930 (with a few brief glimpses of 2002 and 1711).
Although the more linear storytelling was nice, I’d still advise most English-language Baccano! newbies to start with the anime. The only reason I might tell someone to start with the books instead is if 1) they absolutely needed more linear storytelling and/or 2) they couldn’t stand Baccano’s on-screen gore and violence. While this novel was a lot of fun and contained several bits of information that fans of the anime will love, the writing/translation was...not very good.
The book was very heavy on dialogue, which was probably a good thing, since the issues with the writing/translation were most noticeable in the narrative parts. The phrasing often seemed stilted, and there were times when I wondered how accurate the translation was, because certain statements contradicted each other. For example:
I think that this is referring to the way the immortals could “eat” each other - the only way an immortal (the true immortals, anyway) could die was by being absorbed by another immortal. However, the phrasing is strange. Another contradiction:
Umm… Liquor is actually quite flammable. And then there was just plain awkward writing, like this:
Seina’s what? I’m pretty sure it’s referring to Seina’s falling body, but the sentence structure made it seem like it was referring to something like “the falling Seina’s gun.”
In addition to awkward writing, the book committed the crime of being a historical novel with, at best, vague and handwavy descriptions. One of the things I had been hoping the Baccano! novels would include was interesting period details. There were a few, here and there, but not nearly as many as I had expected. Instead, more of the focus was on the action and dialogue. On the plus side, that probably contributed to this being a very quick read.
As awkward as the writing/translation was, it somehow never leached the fun out of the overall story. I still enjoyed this combination of Prohibition era setting, goofballs and deadly criminals, and immortality-granting wine. I could remember the end result of the two missing bottles of wine, but I couldn’t remember how they got to where they needed to be, so it was fun trying to keep track of them. Also, it was surprisingly nice to see these characters again. I haven’t seen Baccano! in a few years, and this book made me think that a rewatch might be a good idea.
If I had to pick favorite characters from the anime, I’d probably go with Isaac, Miria, and Claire/Vino. I still found Isaac and Miria to be delightful in this book, but one thing that surprised me was how much I liked and felt sympathy for Ennis. I couldn’t recall her making much of an impression on me when I saw the anime. I think the book might have included details about her history that weren’t included in the anime, but it’s been so long I can’t be sure.
Eh, I should probably wrap this up. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would, although I’d hesitate to recommend it to Baccano! newbies - try the anime first. If you’ve seen and enjoyed the anime, it’s definitely worth giving this book a shot, if only for the extra character information.
Extras:
There's a 3-page afterword written by the author. Also, these aren't exactly extras, but the book includes several black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages of color illustrations (or 6, depending on how you're counting). Unfortunately, the color illustrations have text on them that needs to be read, and it's a bit hard on the eyes.
The illustrations were nice enough - often a better way to get an idea of what a particular character was supposed to look like than any of the descriptions in the text, if there were any. However, I did note one possible historical inaccuracy. One of the illustrations showed a 1930 New York cop. I googled their uniforms, and I think Enami might have gone with a more modern uniform design than was appropriate.
Rating Note:
I gave this a 3.5-star rating on LibraryThing and Booklikes and opted to round up to 4 stars for Goodreads.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
In 1930, a young man named Firo has just been promoted to executive in the Martillo Family, a Camorra group. At that very same time, two cheerful and energetic thieves named Isaac and Miria have just arrived in the city, determined to right their past wrongs by doing only good deeds. Of course, they have a rather odd notion of what constitutes a “good deed.” And at the same time as all of that, an immortal old man named Szilard is being driven to a meeting by Ennis, his artificially created human servant. Szilard has spent the centuries since he became immortal trying to determine the recipe for the elixir of immortality, and it looks like he might have finally achieved his goal. Unfortunately, a fire makes things more complicated, and the two surviving bottles of the perfected elixir go missing.
Ennis has to track the bottles down or risk getting killed by Szilard. Of course, they just happen to look like regular wine, it’s the Prohibition era, and there are two different Camorra groups, a couple idiot thieves, some thugs, and several FBI agents in the area, so her job isn’t going to be easy.
My first exposure to this series was via the anime, which was confusing, violent, high-energy, and lots of fun. One of the reasons it was so confusing was because it didn’t entirely follow a linear timeline. Viewers would be shown events from 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1711, all mixed together. I have since learned that this is because the anime adapted events from the first three novels. Although this first volume in the series jumped around between the various prominent characters and their storylines, it at least stayed rooted in 1930 (with a few brief glimpses of 2002 and 1711).
Although the more linear storytelling was nice, I’d still advise most English-language Baccano! newbies to start with the anime. The only reason I might tell someone to start with the books instead is if 1) they absolutely needed more linear storytelling and/or 2) they couldn’t stand Baccano’s on-screen gore and violence. While this novel was a lot of fun and contained several bits of information that fans of the anime will love, the writing/translation was...not very good.
The book was very heavy on dialogue, which was probably a good thing, since the issues with the writing/translation were most noticeable in the narrative parts. The phrasing often seemed stilted, and there were times when I wondered how accurate the translation was, because certain statements contradicted each other. For example:
“They couldn’t die from injuries or illness. As long as they didn’t age, they could rely on regenerating even if they fell into boiling lava.
However… The exception was that they could be killed with ease.” (50)
I think that this is referring to the way the immortals could “eat” each other - the only way an immortal (the true immortals, anyway) could die was by being absorbed by another immortal. However, the phrasing is strange. Another contradiction:
“Why? Why did this have to happen now? Why a conflagration now of all times?!
There was nothing here that was flammable!
The liquor… I must haul out the liquor…” (57)
Umm… Liquor is actually quite flammable. And then there was just plain awkward writing, like this:
“In the instant he stood, frozen, the muzzle of a gun appeared from behind the falling Seina’s.” (163)
Seina’s what? I’m pretty sure it’s referring to Seina’s falling body, but the sentence structure made it seem like it was referring to something like “the falling Seina’s gun.”
In addition to awkward writing, the book committed the crime of being a historical novel with, at best, vague and handwavy descriptions. One of the things I had been hoping the Baccano! novels would include was interesting period details. There were a few, here and there, but not nearly as many as I had expected. Instead, more of the focus was on the action and dialogue. On the plus side, that probably contributed to this being a very quick read.
As awkward as the writing/translation was, it somehow never leached the fun out of the overall story. I still enjoyed this combination of Prohibition era setting, goofballs and deadly criminals, and immortality-granting wine. I could remember the end result of the two missing bottles of wine, but I couldn’t remember how they got to where they needed to be, so it was fun trying to keep track of them. Also, it was surprisingly nice to see these characters again. I haven’t seen Baccano! in a few years, and this book made me think that a rewatch might be a good idea.
If I had to pick favorite characters from the anime, I’d probably go with Isaac, Miria, and Claire/Vino. I still found Isaac and Miria to be delightful in this book, but one thing that surprised me was how much I liked and felt sympathy for Ennis. I couldn’t recall her making much of an impression on me when I saw the anime. I think the book might have included details about her history that weren’t included in the anime, but it’s been so long I can’t be sure.
Eh, I should probably wrap this up. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected I would, although I’d hesitate to recommend it to Baccano! newbies - try the anime first. If you’ve seen and enjoyed the anime, it’s definitely worth giving this book a shot, if only for the extra character information.
Extras:
There's a 3-page afterword written by the author. Also, these aren't exactly extras, but the book includes several black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages of color illustrations (or 6, depending on how you're counting). Unfortunately, the color illustrations have text on them that needs to be read, and it's a bit hard on the eyes.
The illustrations were nice enough - often a better way to get an idea of what a particular character was supposed to look like than any of the descriptions in the text, if there were any. However, I did note one possible historical inaccuracy. One of the illustrations showed a 1930 New York cop. I googled their uniforms, and I think Enami might have gone with a more modern uniform design than was appropriate.
Rating Note:
I gave this a 3.5-star rating on LibraryThing and Booklikes and opted to round up to 4 stars for Goodreads.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
December 20, 2016
If you're unfamiliar with Baccano, it combines an historically appropriate prohibition era America with a tinge of the fantastical. If you read or watched Durarara, you'll feel at home here. If that premise alone intrigues you, I implore you to stop reading this review, and go pick up a copy of this book or watch the anime if you can find a copy at your local library.
The book starts us off with an unnamed frame character, a man from Japan visiting New York. This is I believe not in the anime version of the story, this character being replaced I guess by Carol in that production. Anyways, the only hiccup may be in the transition between this present day era (2002), to the 1700s, and then to our story inside the frame which is 1930s New York. I'm not sure how this will all play to the average reader. I know the anime moved some stuff out of order fantastically to build you up to revelations about the past, whereas here you're shifting quickly through times at the get go, getting all the info you need for this volume.
Once we get to 1930 we're meeting new characters left and right. I really liked that they included an art insert with character actions taking place prior to their first scene in the book, being detailed in both text and drawings. Just really sets you up well to learn about the characters a bit before you're thrown into this chaotic tale.
The story itself, which I'm familiar with from the show, is great. Due to the format, you do get more perspective regarding character thoughts and motivations that the show didn't make clear. It's a little weird to see my favorite characters from the show, who, while gangsters, were presented as benevolent characters, here playing Russian Roulette, making someone sleep with the fishes. They just feel a little more like the mobsters they are here, though not too graphic for the most part (book gets a 13+ age recommendation on the back).
This was one of my favorite anime series. I'm disappointed it isn't available to stream online anymore, but now we have the books to catch up on. It's probably best to wait on reading the next volume until part 3 is out (which should be December 2016 I think).
The book starts us off with an unnamed frame character, a man from Japan visiting New York. This is I believe not in the anime version of the story, this character being replaced I guess by Carol in that production. Anyways, the only hiccup may be in the transition between this present day era (2002), to the 1700s, and then to our story inside the frame which is 1930s New York. I'm not sure how this will all play to the average reader. I know the anime moved some stuff out of order fantastically to build you up to revelations about the past, whereas here you're shifting quickly through times at the get go, getting all the info you need for this volume.
Once we get to 1930 we're meeting new characters left and right. I really liked that they included an art insert with character actions taking place prior to their first scene in the book, being detailed in both text and drawings. Just really sets you up well to learn about the characters a bit before you're thrown into this chaotic tale.
The story itself, which I'm familiar with from the show, is great. Due to the format, you do get more perspective regarding character thoughts and motivations that the show didn't make clear. It's a little weird to see my favorite characters from the show, who, while gangsters, were presented as benevolent characters, here playing Russian Roulette, making someone sleep with the fishes. They just feel a little more like the mobsters they are here, though not too graphic for the most part (book gets a 13+ age recommendation on the back).
This was one of my favorite anime series. I'm disappointed it isn't available to stream online anymore, but now we have the books to catch up on. It's probably best to wait on reading the next volume until part 3 is out (which should be December 2016 I think).
January 30, 2015
I was first introduced to this series through the exquisite anime series, and it was really wonderful to get more in-depth information about the world and the characters through the novel. The frame-story device told from the POV of the unnamed Japanese tourist was a bit jarring at first , but I think it worked out pretty well in the end. The story is lively and fast-paced, a little bit confusing when it came to switching point of view, but overall very easy to read and to follow. I especially liked how it went inside the characters heads to reveal more about their motivations and personalities, especially with Ennis, who speaks sparsely but is really a very thoughtful character. The mixture of the more fantastical-alchemical background with the American gangster genre makes it really interesting!
To be honest I’m not sure if I can judge the novels alone since I’ve already watched the anime and have carried over my impressions and expectations for the characters from there, but I do think that some things did translate over a lot better into a visual medium. Isaac and Miria, for example, were just as wonderful as the plucky comic relief in the books, but I personally think they are just written for visual humor as well.
Out of necessity there is a basic level of verisimilitude when sticking to some historical facts and details of the time period, I’m not an expert on prohibition-era crime syndicates. There are plenty of liberties taken, with history and with the laws of physics–but hey, this is a universe that includes immortals and homunculi and at least one otherworldly figure, so everything works together just fine to make an extremely stylized, fashionable, if violent, world.
To be honest I’m not sure if I can judge the novels alone since I’ve already watched the anime and have carried over my impressions and expectations for the characters from there, but I do think that some things did translate over a lot better into a visual medium. Isaac and Miria, for example, were just as wonderful as the plucky comic relief in the books, but I personally think they are just written for visual humor as well.
Out of necessity there is a basic level of verisimilitude when sticking to some historical facts and details of the time period, I’m not an expert on prohibition-era crime syndicates. There are plenty of liberties taken, with history and with the laws of physics–but hey, this is a universe that includes immortals and homunculi and at least one otherworldly figure, so everything works together just fine to make an extremely stylized, fashionable, if violent, world.
October 16, 2016
You know, sometimes chaotic is good.
I was first introduced to Baccano via it's amazing, Tarantino-like anime adaptation. This first novel was great, too, but I don't think it matched the anime's quality. But, I guess I should stop comparing and just talk about the novel. It's chaotic, but I think it works. The characters are all memorable, especially Isaac and Miria, the strange duo of thieves that made me actually laugh out loud multiple times throughout the book. The only real problem I had with the novel was that it just wasn't as enthralling as some other novels I've read recently.
Overall, if you're looking for a lighthearted crime caper novel, definitely pick this up, because it's very entertaining and crazy, but still cool and cunning in it's writing.
I was first introduced to Baccano via it's amazing, Tarantino-like anime adaptation. This first novel was great, too, but I don't think it matched the anime's quality. But, I guess I should stop comparing and just talk about the novel. It's chaotic, but I think it works. The characters are all memorable, especially Isaac and Miria, the strange duo of thieves that made me actually laugh out loud multiple times throughout the book. The only real problem I had with the novel was that it just wasn't as enthralling as some other novels I've read recently.
Overall, if you're looking for a lighthearted crime caper novel, definitely pick this up, because it's very entertaining and crazy, but still cool and cunning in it's writing.
Read
July 12, 2013Read it after finishing and enjoying the anime, and as a result didn't go through each phrase carefully, thus it seems a little unfair to give it a rating, especially when the plots of the two are completely tangled now for me. But fun read, just like the anime. Glad I've watched the anime already though, since I think it might be hard to follow otherwise.
September 9, 2024
I’ve loved the Baccano anime for years and I’m so excited to finally start reading the source material. The framework for telling the story was so well done. I love the characters and the setting. I would have liked the story to be a tad longer and the transition was clunky at times. However, I love this story and can’t wait to see where the other books go with it.
May 19, 2022
2,5 stars
This book is a hard one to rate. I enjoyed reading it, but there are A LOT of problems with it.
For a book set in America, there's a lot of prejudice against Americans in it. I'm not sure how this gets translated, but I found it pretty jarring in the original Japanese version. I don't know how often I read "well, Americans aren't usually polite, but I was surprised by just how much" or "despite Americans not being polite, this one was." ""You should be more polite to me" I'm never polite." There's a very obvious "only the Japanese characters are polite/expected to be polite, everyone else either isn't, or it's surprising and needs to be mentioned more than once."
And then there's the fact that the Japanese immigrant character is said to speak perfect English while the Chinese immigrant is said to speak with an accent.
There is also a weirdly large amount of Japanese culture in this book, set in 1940s America. Traditional stories get mentioned, traditional clothing, every mean character speaks Japanese (because there's one Japanese person who taught everyone else) to the point that another Japanese character is surprised they speak Japanese among themselves despite living in America and being Americans/Italians. It makes NO sense. This book doesn't feel like it's set in America, but rather in Japan, except the people have non-Japanese names.
On the point of the names, not all of them make much sense. Like Berga (which is a last name, but used as a first, yes, I did fact check this. I could find one case of it being used as a first name for girls in Finland). And there's a lot of nicknames that don't make sense when considering the names. Like Keith being shortened to Ki-brother. No English speaking person would shorten Keith to Ki. It's already one syllable, why?
It just reads as if the author has no idea of what other countries are like.
There's also a touch of misogyny, which isn't uncommon for mafia books (the same can be said about The Godfather for example). However, it didn't feel like the characters were misogynistic, it felt like the author was. We have a total of three women in this book. One, the Chinese waitress who speaks with an accent and cooks who is barely in it. Two, Ennis, who basically does whatever her boss tells her and literally has no personality of her own. Three, Miria, who is coupled with Isaac, and probably the most fleshed out woman in this book, despite 90% of her lines being exact copies of what Isaac just said. She constantly repeats him. There are, however, the other 10% of her lines, which show she's actually the smartest of the two. The narrator is completely dismissive of the both of them, though. Having a witty, sarcastic narrator can be fun, but if it's only directed at two characters, constantly calling them stupid, yet not commenting on any of the other characters, it feels weird. And it's not just the narrator but other characters also describe them as looking stupid, all the time.
The women are also all described as small and childlike, all the time. Ennis has the fighting knowledge of a martial arts expert, or so we are told, but when push comes to shove...
手首が男性のものより細かった為、割と簡単に止めることがてきた
Translation by me: Because her wrist was thinner than that of a man, it was pretty easy to stop her blow.
... Because what use is it to know martial arts if you have a woman's body, amiright?
The plot is extremely predictable. Now, this might be because I watched the anime about 10 years ago. It might be because it's just not that clever. "Plot twists" can be seen from miles away. We start with a prologue followed by an epilogue, which is interesting but really is just chronologically later than the rest, but the beginning of the story in the literal sense. In this epilogue we meet a Japanese traveler who is in America, and meets someone who speaks Japanese who then tells him a story, which is this whole book.
Having the narrator being one of the characters in the book gives us some issues like; how does he know what other characters thought and felt, and what they did when he wasn't there? It gets somewhat explained and somewhat not.
This book is also filled with coincidence after coincidence after coincidence. Everything happens because it's convenient for the plot.
The strength of this book lies in its characters. And there are a lot of them, which makes this book feel a bit confusing at first. I especially liked all the scenes with Firo, which were by far my favourite parts of the book.
Despite all my complaints, I actually enjoyed reading this book. It was easy to read, and decently written (except for the setting which feels like it's just Japan). The art in the book is nice enough, but never seems to be of important scenes, which feels like a missed opportunity. A lot of this book feels like a missed opportunity, actually. This could have been really good, but suffers from prejudice and lack of research.
This book is a hard one to rate. I enjoyed reading it, but there are A LOT of problems with it.
For a book set in America, there's a lot of prejudice against Americans in it. I'm not sure how this gets translated, but I found it pretty jarring in the original Japanese version. I don't know how often I read "well, Americans aren't usually polite, but I was surprised by just how much" or "despite Americans not being polite, this one was." ""You should be more polite to me" I'm never polite." There's a very obvious "only the Japanese characters are polite/expected to be polite, everyone else either isn't, or it's surprising and needs to be mentioned more than once."
And then there's the fact that the Japanese immigrant character is said to speak perfect English while the Chinese immigrant is said to speak with an accent.
There is also a weirdly large amount of Japanese culture in this book, set in 1940s America. Traditional stories get mentioned, traditional clothing, every mean character speaks Japanese (because there's one Japanese person who taught everyone else) to the point that another Japanese character is surprised they speak Japanese among themselves despite living in America and being Americans/Italians. It makes NO sense. This book doesn't feel like it's set in America, but rather in Japan, except the people have non-Japanese names.
On the point of the names, not all of them make much sense. Like Berga (which is a last name, but used as a first, yes, I did fact check this. I could find one case of it being used as a first name for girls in Finland). And there's a lot of nicknames that don't make sense when considering the names. Like Keith being shortened to Ki-brother. No English speaking person would shorten Keith to Ki. It's already one syllable, why?
It just reads as if the author has no idea of what other countries are like.
There's also a touch of misogyny, which isn't uncommon for mafia books (the same can be said about The Godfather for example). However, it didn't feel like the characters were misogynistic, it felt like the author was. We have a total of three women in this book. One, the Chinese waitress who speaks with an accent and cooks who is barely in it. Two, Ennis, who basically does whatever her boss tells her and literally has no personality of her own. Three, Miria, who is coupled with Isaac, and probably the most fleshed out woman in this book, despite 90% of her lines being exact copies of what Isaac just said. She constantly repeats him. There are, however, the other 10% of her lines, which show she's actually the smartest of the two. The narrator is completely dismissive of the both of them, though. Having a witty, sarcastic narrator can be fun, but if it's only directed at two characters, constantly calling them stupid, yet not commenting on any of the other characters, it feels weird. And it's not just the narrator but other characters also describe them as looking stupid, all the time.
The women are also all described as small and childlike, all the time. Ennis has the fighting knowledge of a martial arts expert, or so we are told, but when push comes to shove...
手首が男性のものより細かった為、割と簡単に止めることがてきた
Translation by me: Because her wrist was thinner than that of a man, it was pretty easy to stop her blow.
... Because what use is it to know martial arts if you have a woman's body, amiright?
The plot is extremely predictable. Now, this might be because I watched the anime about 10 years ago. It might be because it's just not that clever. "Plot twists" can be seen from miles away. We start with a prologue followed by an epilogue, which is interesting but really is just chronologically later than the rest, but the beginning of the story in the literal sense. In this epilogue we meet a Japanese traveler who is in America, and meets someone who speaks Japanese who then tells him a story, which is this whole book.
Having the narrator being one of the characters in the book gives us some issues like; how does he know what other characters thought and felt, and what they did when he wasn't there? It gets somewhat explained and somewhat not.
This book is also filled with coincidence after coincidence after coincidence. Everything happens because it's convenient for the plot.
The strength of this book lies in its characters. And there are a lot of them, which makes this book feel a bit confusing at first. I especially liked all the scenes with Firo, which were by far my favourite parts of the book.
Despite all my complaints, I actually enjoyed reading this book. It was easy to read, and decently written (except for the setting which feels like it's just Japan). The art in the book is nice enough, but never seems to be of important scenes, which feels like a missed opportunity. A lot of this book feels like a missed opportunity, actually. This could have been really good, but suffers from prejudice and lack of research.
June 25, 2013
Despite the short length, the characters are established well. Enjoyable read.
Want to read
August 19, 2013it's a light novel?
Well, I did not know that...
I can't believe they condensed such a long light novel series into a 13 episode anime
Well, I did not know that...
I can't believe they condensed such a long light novel series into a 13 episode anime
Want to read
August 19, 2016I HAVE WAITED YEARS FOR THIS AND MY FRIEND JUST TOLD ME ABOUT IT AND IT CAME OUT IN MAY OH MY GOD YES YES YES YES
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