The “Baccano” of Pulp Fiction: Omake

This was my original first chapter for “The ‘Baccano’ of Pulp Fiction,” detailing how both Baccano! and Pulp Fiction are descendants of pulp magazines. I’m pleased with how a lot of it turned out, but I ultimately made the decision to cut it for two reasons. The first is that I’m not an expert on either pulp magazines or the light novel industry as a whole, and most of the comparisons I made are generalizations pulled from Wikipedia research. I would’ve needed to put in more detailed research to reach a point where I was fully happy with the section. Of course, that would’ve taken more time than I was dedicated to giving it, considering the second and more important reason I pulled it: it just doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the piece thematically

The original idea was to compare the works of Quentin Tarantino and Ryohgo Narita as a whole, but I found that focusing on Baccano! and Pulp Fiction worked best as the two works had thematic and structural parallels rather than just stylistic ones. In digging into those works more deeply, I discovered just how much both works owed to the legacy of pulp magazines and included a segment in the main post about it. However, as the post ultimately focuses on the idea of chaos and coincidence present in the works, it ultimately just ended up being a tangent that distracted from the overall thesis.

So I’m presenting it here instead. The segment itself is still a bit unpolished (again, one of the reasons I cut it), but I was really happy with how a lot of it turned out, especially with the image I managed to find. Black Mask was the crime pulp that Pulp Fiction was almost named for, and I managed to find a cover that is at least close enough to Pulp Fiction‘s poster to evoke recognition, but that includes costumed criminals and a story about someone who “wouldn’t die.” Ha! They managed two unintentional Baccano! references on one cover!

Anyway, here’s the original “Chapter 1” of “The ‘Baccano‘ of Pulp Fiction.” I hope you enjoy it!

The “Baccano” of Pulp Fiction

“Hey, Isaac?”
“What’s that, Miria my dear?”
“What do you suppose they call the Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?”
“Hmm…well, Miria, I believe they’d call it a Royale with Cheese!”
“Wow! Is that because of the metric system?”
“That’s exactly right, Miria! Because of the metric system!”

“Baccano” is an Italian word translating roughly to “raucous noise” or “crazy ruckus.” It implies loud chaos and confusion, and that’s exactly the sort of story delivered in Ryohgo Narita’s series of light novels titled Baccano!, as well as in the anime of the same name. However, it’s also the type of story delivered by Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction.