About this site
I am a loyal fan of historical fictions and Baccano! is one of my favorites in the genre. (Many would argue it to be categorized under fantasy, but I digress) When I tried to divert my attention from anime/manga shrines one day in autumn 2007, the idea of a Baccano! site was immediately born: I had a sudden urge to prove that plain text can be as beautiful and attractive as colorful graphics - though ironically, using visual means.
Motivation and inspiration aside, the actual construction of this site took a lot longer than originally planned. To start off, when I read The Rolling Bootlegs at a friend's house in 2004, I hardly expected Baccano! to grow into such a long series - The Rolling Bootlegs was rather complete by itself. As it turned out, re-digesting every existing Baccano! volume while jogging my own thoughts down proved to be a more tedious task than I thought. Not that I didn't enjoy reading the series all over again: re-confirmation of love should always be a pleasant matter.
I don't think Gun's & Roses will ever be a complete product. As long as Narita is willing to save an extra pen for his baby series, as long as there are still people talking about the wonder that is Baccano!, my spirit of keeping this site alive shall stay strong and proud.
Useless remarks aside, I hope you enjoy your stay at Gun's & Roses.
Gun's & Roses
As many of you must have noticed, this site was named after the opening theme song of Baccano! anime. Initially I had a couple alternatives along the lines of "commotion", "noises" and so on, but none of them had a positive and... pretty enough sound. Meanwhile, music producers of Baccano! did an excellent job naming its signature song after one of Baccano!'s core themes: roses for the beauty and guns for the unsightly - light and darkness are always beside each other in every human heart. Why not take a part of such a beautiful phrase as a site title then? Makes my life easy, at least.
Nevertheless, there's no guarantee that I won't ever change my mind. It takes more than patience and compatibility to keep up with a name these days.
Why Baccano?
While I worship Baccano! in countless ways, it's no easy task to make them into meaningful sentences.
Among the latest plot trends found in Japanese fictions, time slips are overused and alchemy is becoming way too popular after a certain anime went on air in 2004. (Or was it 2003?) But to find a light novel picturing the internationally depressed 1930s! I won't be surprised if anyone's taken back by such simple fact: it was also the main criticism Narita received upon his submission of The Rolling Bootlegs to Dengeki Novel Prize. In other words, Baccano! is a hit-or-miss scenario: either you decide to be deceived by its official synopsis and never touch any part of the series, or you're forever converted to a Narita Addict. Apparently this site exists to promote the latter by default.
If the core setting of Baccano! is based on one of the most uninspiring periods in human history, how did it grab the heart of a million in a short course of 5 years? First of all, you can't help but adore Baccano!'s optimistic tone about life in general. At a time when everyone else was angry with the world, where would you find the reason to live with a smile instead? Despite the somewhat horrifying figure of deaths that took place in Baccano! - with Mafia and delinquents occupying 3/4 of the cast and all - each loss would motivate you to think more seriously about the way one should live. With a hidden slogan of "heart over gold", Baccano! showed us an ideal world where materialism is no longer a prerequisite for happiness.
Given the type of characters running around the world of Baccano!, it's not hard to figure out why Narita can't emphasize much on the sad aspect of events. Even the "social outcasts" need a place to live! However, it is from the same "bad folks" that you'll be learning a great deal about humanity. What is love? What is friendship? Why shouldn't one let prejudice take part in his/her judgement? ... In Baccano!, many "cheesy life questions" are defined in a way that no longer sounded cheesy: you're constantly reminded of the fact that there's no clear boundary between right and wrong.
So what would be the best way to enjoy Baccano? Don't take the gruesome scenes seriously, remember every moment that made you happy, and laugh at anything that sounds or looks irrational by heart. (Like my own case with Claire Stanfield, all hands down) This is a story that will keep you interested no matter where you stand as a reader - one less worry for those who don't read novels for fear of too much descriptive details.