I'm pretty sure that many people give violent shows high ratings because of a subconscious feeling that violent = mature. I'm also pretty sure that many anime producers think that the greater the contrast between different aspects of anime, the greater the effect. They create bouncy jazz soundtracks, invite famous seiyuus, and even draw the smallest details of the ceiling in the first class dining-car, and all that just for the sake of contrast between that and the heavy, unpleasant story.
I did make great efforts to at least understand those characters with their REASONS or DARK PAST, but those reasons and pasts were not reasonable and dark enough to convince me. Maybe because the characters spent much more time punching, biting, shooting and devouring each other, and when not - threatening to do so or discussing all of these, than actually thinking, reminiscing or dreaming. And while immortality certainly brings up questions of the meaning of life, physical and psychological pain, I don't think I gained any insights into these topics thanks to 'Baccano'.
People who don't know much about anime use duck typing. Yes, they are absolutely wrong in thinking anime multiplies violence or inspires suicidal thoughts. But if an anime constantly drowns the viewers in blood and has little food for thought, than what else can we think? It's a violent anime with little meaning.
The most disappointing thing is that 'Baccano' was just this close to be good. The characters could have been so likeable, the story could have been so interesting, if only there were enough time for the characters and the story. Yes, you probably need to avoid shoving such an amount of characters into a one-season anime and then spending half of that season on meticulous depicting cruel fighting and its results. Especially when clearly half of the characters were repeating each other.
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