Title: Baccano Vol. 3
Author: Ryohgo Narita (Story), Shinta Fujimoto (Art), Katsumi Inami (Characters)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Genre: Action, Mystery, Fantasy
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
The Story
The final volume of Baccano is here and it was a pretty interesting ending. In short, complete and total chaos broke down as is the case with Nartia’s stories. After members of the Gandors were murdered by Dallas’ rogue group, they aimed to get back the wine that was stolen from them by Isaac and Miria. It was quite hilarious how the two of them managed to steal the wine, though! During Firo’s promotional celebration, Isaac accidentally gets shot in the toe while he was upstairs above the Martillo’s hideout. They bring him down and have them celebrate with them. They give them a jar of honey as a gift so when Isaac and Miria steal the wine, they bring it to the Martillos as a reciprocal gift.
This is the catalyst that leads to all-out chaos. Ennis spies Maiza while searching for Dallas’ group. She reports it to Szlizard who then takes Ennis with him to the Martillos’ hideout. Szlizard decides that now is the time to eat Maiza and gain his knowledge, but Dallas’ group shows up with machines guns but the Gandor brothers also make an appearance. While Maiza and Szlizard do battle inside, Firo tries to protect Ennis from Dallas’ group only to have the Gandors come and shoot all three of them. Ennis tells them it’s futile as they are all immortals as well.
Maiza and Szlizard’s battle spills to the outside in the alley where everything is happening. I won’t spoil the ending but let’s just say that the wine ended up in the right hands at the right time and the ending reflects that pretty well. I was a bit surprised at the ending because I didn’t expect the outcome that happened but reflecting back on how it ended, I can say that it was the best choice to make! All-in-all, the story of this volume was wrapped up nicely but there’s one little nuance about it that kept getting teased and never got confirmed.
Firo x Ennis anyone? I wanted confirmation rather than implication there!! They’re just too damn cute together!
Characters
Firo grew into a fine main character. He took his oath upon promotion without hesitation and resilience. He even showed his mettle when he opted to protect Ennis without knowing anything. Maybe because it’s the fact that he’s dumb (and even admits it) that it allows him to be that brave. Being orphaned can make you think that everything you’re experiencing now is simply on borrowed time so what does it matter what happens to you? Perhaps this is how Firo sees it or I’m looking too deep into it and it’s just the simple fact that he is dumb!
Maiza received some late development in this volume in the aftermath of his battle with Szlizard. I won’t go into it to avoid spoilers; however, during his battle, we finally learn why Maiza never wanted to share the immortality recipe with anyone. It was all part of the demon’s system that took advantage of a human’s greed. He felt that the demon was right in the fact that immortals will eventually crave other immortal’s knowledge and just continuously eat each other until there was only one left standing. Imagine you’re an immortal and you wanted to know if the one you loved truly loved you back. The only way to know for sure would be to eat them. It would be an endless cycle and Maiza didn’t want to be the one to unleash that upon the world. That speaks volumes about his character and just what kind of person he is.
Ennis also got to experience some emotions for the first time. When Firo tells her she’s cute, it was the first time she had ever heard that from anyone. She got used to be Szlizard’s tool that she couldn’t comprehend emotions like that but Firo changed it all for her. He gave a glimpse of what it was like to feel human. You could definitely tell there was a bond forming between the two of them and as I said in the Story section, I was really hoping for some confirmation when it came to their relationship. Especially since it is the end of the series. You would like to have some solid knowledge that she would be in good hands from here on out, even though it was implied.
Final Thoughts
Much like Narita’s stories, every story told in this series came together at a crossroads. It’s amazing how he continuously builds these different worlds within a common realm and have them intersect. He really makes it look so easy but I can imagine that stories like these take careful planning and consideration which make me appreciate them more. As an author myself, I can only hope to reach this level when crafting my own stories.
From beginning to end, Baccano was simply a classic slice-of-life meets supernatural tale. I highly enjoyed the mafia theme alongside the intrigue of the immortality wine. While wine and demons do sway the story to the supernatural side, the baseline story is a classic mafia tale. I love mafia stories which are why The Godfather trilogy, The Untouchables, The Sopranos and even the anime 91 Days are among some of my favorite stories. Baccano certainly adds a nice twist to your tried-and-true mafia tale but it’s because Narita takes that supernatural twist that makes it stand out and be enjoyable at the same time.
If you haven’t checked out Baccano yet, this series gets my recommendation. In fact, check out Durarara!! as well as the tale told with that series is quite a bit longer but it contains all the great premises you’ll find in Baccano (from a storytelling aspect) and cranks it up to 11!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
