Well friends, it’s the first day of Baccanovember over on Tumblr. It’s also the 10 year anniversary of the 2007 Baccano! adaptation, the original 13 episode airing of which came to an end back in the beginning of November 2007.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to write up a guide detailing the differences between the 2007 anime adaptation and the source material it adapted. I’ve been writing about this in various comments over the years, and figured this was a good opportunity to consolidate the information.
While this post was originally shared on /Baccano, I thought I should also share it here on /anime since I figured you guys might also find it useful. It's meant for those who are not deeply involved with Baccano! beyond the anime but are curious to learn more.
TL;DR: The anime is an excellently directed show that deserves to be commended, and the plot changes do not negate its quality. However, it is worth knowing what it changes from the novel and how deep those changes run, which I aim to showcase below. Both the anime and the novels, along with the other media adaptations (manga, NDS game, drama CDs) are a rewarding experience and I cannot recommend them enough.

OUTLINE OF GUIDE

• Intro to Material: what the anime adapts + database links
• Spoiler-free Zone: List of characters missing from or reduced to cameos in the anime + basic statement on differences
• Spoiler Zone: In-depth overview of main plot/timeline differences
• Discussion of where you can read episode-by-episode differences which have more detailed comparisons

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

If you’re asking yourself, “Why trust Rev?” I am the admin of the Baccano! Wiki and a mod of /Baccano, and have been engaging with both the anime and the source material or years. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes, so I apologize for any misinformation in the post. Please let me know if you spot any so I can correct them!

Introduction to Material

Links: ANN | MAL | AniP | Kitsu | AniDB
The original thirteen episode run of the 2007 anime adaptation adapted the first four novels of the Baccano! light novel series, which as of November 1, 2017 is twenty-two light novels long. The 23rd novel has been delayed due to health reasons on Narita's part. In other words, the anime adapts less than a fifth of the series at its current length.
If you want to get into the novels, you should start with volume one (The Rolling Bootlegs) and progress in publishing order. As this guide will demonstrate, the changes made in the anime are too significant for you to be able to jump in at volume five without major comprehension snags.
The three major timelines in the Baccano! anime are as follows: ^{* Credit to the following three photo edits goes to JelloApocalypse and his abridged series.}
November 1930 timeline | The Thousand-Year Drink | Adapted from Light Novel #1: Martillo Family associate Firo Prochainezo is set to be promoted to executive. Meanwhile, a certain elixir nears completion and a gang of hooligans and a nonsensical thief duo are swept into the mess. Original events take place over two days and one night, but the anime condenses them into one day and one night. As a result, several events are switched around/altered chronologically. Other events are also changed or cut out entirely.
December 30-31, 1931 | Dangers on a Train | Adapted from LNs#2-3: Tells the story of a transcontinental luxury express hijacked by three independent factions simultaneously en route. And what's this about the Rail Tracer...? Most changes are directly related to the characters that are cut from the timeline in the anime. However, the anime also leaves out plenty of scenes for the sake of mystery.
Dec 1931-Jan 1932 | Finding Dallas | Adapted from LN#4: Largely concerned with the Runorata-Gandor feud reaching a boiling point and the search for the missing Dallas Genoard. The most egregiously changed timeline in the anime, with it completely deviating from the fourth novel. For instance, Dallas is not the MacGuffin of the novel: a bag/case of a new potent drug prototype is.
OVAS + Other: The anime also adapts certain scenes from the fifth novel 2001 The Children of Bottle, including the 1711 content and certain discussion dialogue for scenes in the OVAs that HIGHLY deviate from the original scenes. The main story of the OVAs is connected to the 14th novel, which was an expanded version of the gaiden novel that was released alongside the first drama CD in 2006 (before the anime aired). There are definitely differences between the OVAs and the 14th novel, and major differences between the OVAs and the 5th novel.

Characters cut out of the anime or reduced to cameos

1930

• Unnamed Photographer (used as framing device of novel in 2002)
• Bobby Splot, Troy, Tall, Humpty (in 2002 scenes)
• Jorgi (Gandors' former finances manager)
• Edward Noah; Bill Sullivan (left); Donald Brown (same img; right) (reduced to cameos)
• Police Superintendent Veld (Edward's superior with a...secret)

1931

• Jack (Member of Jacuzzi's gang that is supposed to be part of their group on the train; cameos in Eps 01 and 15)
• Mr. Turner (racist and xenophobic First-Class passenger connected to a certain character's past)
• Doctor Fred (WWI military doctor who treats injured on train regardless of faction)
• Chef Gregoire (head chef of kitchen and also connected to another character's past)
• Upham (Lemur. The mustached Lemur in E11 replaces him)
• Nader Schasschule (Lemur who stages a failed coup against Goose)
• Who (Ladd's childhood friend; note that he actually appears in the anime but is never named. He's also characterized a little differently)
• (passenger who bought tickets off the Dolce owners, aka the couple who don't get on the train in E02)
• (second stowaway)

1931/1932

• Begg Garott (immortal who cameos in Episode 07)
• Henry (Daily Days info broker. Note that Nicholas Wayne in the anime is a composite character of LN characters Nicholas Wayne and Henry. All the sly and not-so-nice elements of anime-Nicholas are really from Henry)
• Roy Maddock (Scottish drug addict who is embroiled with Eve and Runoratas)
• Edith (Roy's girlfriend who is determined to save him from himself; waitress at the Gandors' jazz hall)
• Kate Gandor (Keith's wife)
• Nicola Cassetti (Gandor capo)
• Maria Barcelito, Alkins, Raz Smith (various assassins)

Characters characterized/motivated differently in the anime

• Manfred Beriam (wants to become immortal in anime; hates immortals in novels)
• Bartolo Runorata (lying about Dallas and trying to find him in anime; not trying to find him in novel or become immortal)
• Eve Genoard (nicer in anime, less of LN-Eve's internal struggle)
• Nicholas Wayne (see 1932 section)
• Firo Prochainezo (sort of: he's nicer in the anime whereas he's more blunt, negative, and callous generally in the novels)
• Luck Gandor (1932)

Spoiler-Zone: In-Depth Look

I may have been writing about this topic for some time, but I still had to pause and think about how to handle this section. How much detail should I go into? What changes should I include, and what should I leave out in lieu of the ep-by-ep discussion?
Well, considering that this guide is first and foremost meant to be a broad overview of the differences rather than a nitty-gritty breakdown, I'm going to try and focus on on the main plot changes and the hugest consequential scene changes. Again, for nitty-gritty changes, stick around for the discussion of episode-by-episode changes in the next section. For now, the order of this section is as follows: 1711; 1930; 1931; 1931-1932; 2001; OVAs.

1711

Okay, most light novel fans will point out the accents in the dub as...suspect. First off, Victor is an Englishman who was exiled from England for his anti-slavery/racism rhetoric. He should thus have an English accent, not...whatever the dub gave him. Eric Vale gives Huey an overhanded French accent. Putting the questionability of his accent's authenticity aside, we don't actually know if Huey came from a French village. Plus, Huey studied in Italy for at least six years.
Similarly, we don't know what geographical region Elmer comes from (he's described as looking 'northern European' at the very least), so him having an English accent is presumably ADR Director Tyler Walker making a judgement call on his name (probably did the same with Huey and Sylvie). Also, Elmer spent at least five years in Spain and then six more years in Italy in his youth.
Putting accents aside, here are some major changes:
Rules for Immortals: The rules for immortals are the same except for one crucial difference. In the anime, immortals can transfer information to other immortals by placing their right hand on the other's forehead. NOT THE CASE in the novels. In the novels, immortals can only transmit info to their linked homunculi via their left hand.
As an example, in the anime, Maiza shares half of the knowledge of the Grand Panacea with Gretto by transferring it via his hand. Szilard witnesses this, and then deliberately devours Gretto to receive that information. In the novel Maiza simply tells Gretto half of the recipe before thinking better of it. Szilard learns half of the recipe through eavesdropping, just like that, and then tries to devour Maiza in his bed to get the full recipe...only to mistake a sleeping Gretto for Maiza and accidentally devour him instead.
Another major point: Maiza talking about the man whom he, his father, and grandfather never saw age in the episode is a very weird scene because the man he is referencing is actually Dalton Strauss - a man whom Maiza studied alchemy under for four years (1707-1711) and shouldn't be referring to so distantly. In general, the scene is a huge question mark fo light novel fans.

Nov 1930

If you'll recall, the 1930 timeline condenses the events of two days and one night into one day and one night. This really messes with the chronology of events. The elixir's chain of custody is radically different, for one thing. Let's try and address this in an easy-to-digest manner.
First, I want to bring up the E01 scene with Firo and the beggar. In the anime, it clearly takes place after Firo becomes immortal – but in the novels, it takes place BEFORE. Firo knocks out the beggar, Assistant Inspector Edward shows up and reveals he was basically using Firo as bait to nab the beggar, and Maiza shows up to take Firo hat-shopping.
The thing is, the beggar is also crucially important to the 1930 timeline in one other aspect: the day before, he had murdered the blender who was responsible for perfecting Szilard's elixir (Barnes isn't actually making the elixirs in the novels). If he hadn't done that, then Szilard would have simply shown up the next day to devour the blender and harvest his knowledge of the recipe. The entire course of Baccano!'s history would have been altered.
It's also worthy to note that the beggar became a mugger only after Dallas and his goons coincidentally beat him up earlier that month. If they hadn't done that, he might not have turned to murdering, and thus might not have killed the blender and changed the course of history.
Anyway, the order of events is like this: Firo/Edward scenehat shoppingfireFiro rescuing Barnes. Now, in the LNs, Firo is actually carrying four bottles of alcohol with him for the party. While everyone else is down for the count, Firo sneaks a peek at Barnes' bottles and decides to switch out his liquor for Barnes. He replaces the elixir in Barnes' bottles with his regular alcohol and fills his bottles with the elixir...BAM and here we have the chain of custody completely different from the anime.
LN chain: Elixir moves from BarnesFiroParty. Anime: BarnesDallasGandorsDallasI&MParty.
So in the novels, the crate that constantly changes hands is carrying normal alcohol. This is connected to the altering of the chronology: Dallas and co. do kill Mike and the other Gandors during the Martillos' party...which Isaac and Miria depart from early, run into Dallas' group, and then rob the crate from them. The next day, they decide to drop off the liquor at the Alveare as a thank you gift to the Martillos for hosting them. THIS is when spying Ennis spots Maiza, and leaves to alert Szilard of Maiza's location.
On the way back, they run into Edward at the Coraggioso and learn of the Gandor men's deaths. They assume that Dallas' group were Gandors and that they killed them, and they then realize that the stolen liquor might wrongly implicate the Martillos as the ones responsible for the crime. Horrified, they head back to the Alveare to warn the Martillos of what's going on (so right now the Gandor bros are heading to the Alveare to talk to the Martillos about their men's deaths, and Szilard is heading to the Alveare to devour Maiza).
On the way to the Alveare, I&M come across Dallas' group carrying machine guns and talking about how they're going to get Ennis back. Miria thinks they must have broken out of jail (I&M never realize that Dallas' group was the one they stole the crate from; Dallas' group never realizes it either) for revenge, and she and Isaac run off to find and hotwire a car to take on the goons with. Of course, the car they find is Szilard's car.
Thus, the confrontation between Szilard and Maiza happens the day after the party, during lunchtime. Firo is PRESENT for this, and Maiza orders him to flee and tell Molsa (who along with Yaguruma and Ronny is not present) what's going on. Szilard tries to gun down Firo, but Maiza dives in front of the gun and blocks all of the bullets with his body.
Firo is immediately attacked by Ennis when he leaves (by the way, he wasn't looking for her to return her cufflink in the novels. She doesn't lose it. He followed her basically because he found her attractive). Bill, Donald, and Edward show up at the Alveare because of reports of gunshots, and Bill and Donald (who are part of the BOI's immortals department) confirm Szilard's death. Isaac and Miria think they're here to arrest the Martillos, and fire off guns and run away in order to lead the normal police officers away from the site. Like in the anime, they toss the Genoard fortune to passersby.
Oh, and Maiza also asks Firo to devour him in the alleyway. To my eternal fury, that doesn't make it into the anime.
That's the general breakdown of the major plot changes. There are various minor changes, and several LN scenes are either truncated (like Firo's induction ritual) or deleted entirely in the anime. All of the scenes with Edward are cut, of course (including the scene where he, Bill, and Donald confront Szilard's coterie of old men), and obviously the 2002 wraparound novel scenes are also cut.

Dec 30-31 1931

This is the timeline that's adapted the most faithfully by the anime, with most of the major changes falling into two categories: changes resulting from important major characters being cut from the anime; and general scenes that are deleted either for time's sake or for the sake of maintaining the established mystery. In this case, the main mystery is the identity of the Rail Tracer in the anime; since the anime doesn't reveal his identity until E09, it has to cut out a LOT of his PoV scenes in the novels as a result.
(We spend a fair amount of time in Claire's perspective in the novels, learning that he's crawling under the cars to switch off the car's electricity so he can kill people in darkness; that he's constantly returning to the conductors' compartment to perform the necessary scheduled light signals [that's why he appears near the compartment more than once in the anime], his opinion of Rachel, etc.)
Before we get to the main changes (i.e. from character cuts), it's worth noting that the anime's implication that Beriam knows about/is interested in Czes' explosives is not a novel thing. Also, Nice speaks super politely to everyone except Jacuzzi, and the train's engineers are a pair of elderly brothers who are hard of hearing. Hence why they don't catch on to all the gunfire and explosions for hours, and when they do Claire shows up and claims there's a horseback posse chasing them and they'd better not slow down no matter what.
Let's review our cut characters: Jack is the third gang member accompanying Jacuzzi and Nice on the train alongside Nick and Donny; Doctor Fred is a ex-WWI military doctor and passenger on the train. He earns Ladd's favor and uses Ladd's compartment to treat the train's injured regardless of faction at Ladd's invitation; Mr. Turner is an ass of a First-Class passenger from Rachel's past; Chef Gregoire is the head chef of the kitchen and a former colleague of Claire's from his circus days...
...Upham is a timid Lemur whom the anime replaces with a mustached man; Nader Schasschule is another Lemur who doesn't make it onto the train thanks to him staging a failed coup against Goose Perkins the day before; ...and then the two surprise characters and .
...I'll get to the last two, trust me.
Jack's biggest thing in the novels is that he is captured along with Nick by the Lemures, and when Ladd shows up and learns his name is Jack, assaults him solely to find out whether or not all Jacks are good boxers (yes, this was a pre-established point of interest for him). Once they're rescued Donny ends up dumping him in a random second class compartment...which turns out to be Ladd's compartment, which by this point Fred is now using at his invitation.
Ladd had run into Fred earlier, see, and recognized that Fred had the eyes of a man who wants to die. Ladd isn't too good with men like Fred (though women of this vein are exactly Ladd's type), and he ended up telling Fred to use his compartment. I should note that Fred (introduced as the Grey Magician) is actually the novel's red herring for Maiza's old friend (i.e. Czes) like Rachel is the red herring for Claire.
So Who and Lua show up in the compartment, and after some initial confusion Who assists Fred in treating Jack. Oh - Who is Ladd's childhood friend, and the White Suit who was captured along with Lua by the Lemures). Now, Claire actually happens upon the compartment (from where he is clinging to the outside window), and, when Lua notices him, is surprised that she isn't strongly reacting to him at all.
When Lua realizes that Ladd is going up against the Red Shadow from outside the window, she inwardly freaks out because she realizes that Ladd cannot beat him (she has weirdly accurate intuition). Fred recognizes the new life in her eyes and encourages her to act on it - and thus is the reason for why she ends up climbing onto the roof of the train later.
Moving on to Turner... Turner is the railroad executive responsible for a ten-year-old train accident for which he pushed the blame onto Rachel's father. He has no idea who Rachel is, but when she spots him on the train she is instantly full of hate. Now, Turner raises a scene in the dining car after the Ladd vs Lemures assault: he hurls racist and xenophobic epithets at Jon (Irish) and Fang (Half-Chinese) and is all around a humungous ass, until Isaac and Miria finally snap and rain hell and fury down upon him. Gregoire orders Jon and Fang to throw Turner out, and they do so with relish.
Turner wanders the corridors with increasing fear until he runs into , who's calling himself 'Victor Talbot' (yes, that Victor) and stowed away in the compartment that would have been Jacques-Rosé's had he decided not to get on the train in time (Jacques-Rosé and Rosetta are two more characters worth knowing about. If you know about those two, you are really goddamn deep into Baccano! lore).
, who spends a lot of the time on the train slinking around and looking for Czes, offers his protection services to Turner and leads him through the corridors. The two of them come across the corpse of the White Suit who preyed on Mary, and takes the corpse's rifle and hands it to Turner before abandoning him. Turner becomes increasingly paranoid, and when he comes across Rachel (who is resting due to her gunshot injury - which is in her thigh in the novels, not her ankle), prepares to shoot her for the sake of shooting anyone.
She reveals her identity after a heated confrontation, and then shouts for the Rail Tracer (who has been eavesdropping) to kill her before Turner can. Claire instead dislocates Turner's shoulders, but doesn't kill him at Rachel's request. He ends up giving Rachel a bloody half-torn ticket, which is the reason why the police later don't arrest her on grounds of, you know, stowing away. He also says that if he hadn't met Chané he may have fallen a little bit in love with Rachel.
Remember Upham? Upham is supposed to be the Lemur who runs away from Ladd after he ambushes the Lemures after his first fight with Chané. Upham ends up nabbed by Jacuzzi and Donny, who interrogate him for info on the Lemures before leaving him tied up in a freight hold. Upham is discovered and freed by , whom he then stabs out of fear and thus learns of . ( is on the train because he's heard that Szilard is back in New York and wants to find him).
The two of them decide to check out the conductors' compartment, where they discover the corpses of the Lemur and Dune. shows up and stabs Upham, who stabs back. prepares to kill Upham (because Upham has witnessed true self), but steps in to take the blade instead. He tries to drag off the train, tries to drag him down with him, but Upham pulls up in the nick of time.
Then Claire shows up and chastises Upham and for being in the conductors' compartment. He notices Upham's wound and is about to ask what happened when Chané's knife pierces through the wall and nicks his ear, and he climbs back up onto the roof...where of course he finds Chané and Ladd having their second confrontation.
Ah! That reminds me - the anime implies that Huey and Chané have some sort of telepathic connection, which is 100% not the case no way no how in the novels. The birds that appear during the Huey<->Chané scenes are likely a reference to Hilton, a novel character.
On the presence of and on the train...it was first hinted at in LN#12 (publ. 2007), revealed in the NDS game (2008), and then confirmed in LN#14. I don't know for sure if the gaiden novel included them or not.
Bonus soundbite of laughing in the NDS game! (It's an external recording from a fan; I wanted to extract the audio directly from the rom, but unfortunately the software is not compatible with my OS and I can't get Wine to cooperate with me).
Oh right...after Claire reunites with the Gandor bros, he and Berga end up brawling (which they tend to do) on the street. Keith watches on and, with the Runorata-Gandor feud in mind, thinks that this will be the last peaceful time they have for a while.
Czes also reunites with Begg that day - now, do you remember that he came to New York to devour Maiza after receiving a letter from him? Well, he had also received a letter from Begg, too - Begg is working for the Runoratas, and he's the one who arranged to buy Czes' explosives off him. Czes had planned on devouring him as well upon arrival.
Of course, Jacuzzi's gang stealing the explosives means that Czes is worried the Runoratas will come after him in retaliation - but Begg reveals that the money for the explosives came out of his own pocket and Czes has nothing to fear. Czes (who was looked after by Begg in the 1700s after he was orphaned) is naturally feeling pretty guilty for having planned to devour Begg at this familiar display of Begg's kindness towards him.

Dec 1931-Jan 1932

By far the most drastically changed plotline from the fourth novel to the point where it becomes a completely different plot.
In the anime, Gustavo is trying to muscle in on Gandor and Martillo turf like he is in the novels - though what the anime leaves out is that he's specifically trying to muscle in on the Manhattan drug market. Relevant to this is that Keith abhors drugs and prohibits drug trade on Gandor turf. Now, anime-Bartolo lies to Gustavo that Dallas has blackmail material on Gustavo for the deaths of Raymond and Jeffrey Genoard, which prompts Gustavo's search for Dallas.
This is obviously a lie on Bartolo's part since Dallas is at this point in time currently drowning in a riverbed - but in the novels, Bartolo doesn't lie in the first place since he has no interest in finding Dallas at all. He DOES NOT want to become immortal in the novels, just as Beriam actively hates immortals in the novels and is also not involved in the search for Dallas. The only person searching for news about Dallas is Eve, whom Elean actually tells the truth to about Dallas' fate rather than lying like he does in the anime.
What the Runoratas are actually searching for in the novels is a case containing Begg's powerful new drug prototype, which was stolen in transit by a very high Roy Maddock. Roy, once he comes down from his high and realizes what he's done, is understandably terrified of Runorata retaliation. Edith, despite an earlier argument with Roy, essentially rolls up her sleeves and prepares to dig Roy out of the hole he's found himself in.
Roy goes to the Daily Days for info, and Henry suggests that he use Eve as a shield against the Runoratas (in the anime, this becomes Nicholas suggesting that Gustavo use Eve as bait). Roy meets Eve at her place, the two of them go to Keith's house and meet his wife Kate, and then they are kidnapped by Claire in disguise and taken to the Daily Days.
Whoops, nearly started summarizing the entire book. Er, basically everything comes to a head when Gustavo leads a raid of the Daily Days headquarters in order to kill the Gandor bros. DDays evacuated in advance. Claire brings Eve and Roy to the DDays because he's working on Gustavo's orders. It turns out that Keith and Bartolo made an agreement in which the DDays operation would lead to Gustavo's downfall, because Bartolo is sick of Gustavo's crap.
Gustavo's hired assassins fight Claire, and Gustavo tries to kill Eve. Luck saves her and has a viciously brutal fight with Gustavo, in which he suffers plenty of injuries but also shoots Gustavo six times in the chest, etc. When Eve learns that Gustavo really was responsible for killing her father and brother, she raises a gun and tries to shoot him. No, seriously. Luck blocks the shot with his hand, and then stabs Gustavo in the throat with the jagged bone of his severed hand. Then he passes out. Gustavo survives, by the way.
Begg comes across Roy, whose hypersensitivity to drugs fascinates him. He holds a gun to Edith's hand and asks Roy to inject himself with the new drug prototype (which will kill him) so Begg can observe how he reacts (and the happiness the drug will give him). Roy makes Begg promise to not kill Edith, and injects himself with the drug to fulfill the deal. Then he smashes a window and uses the glass to slit his wrist, so that Begg won't get what he wants.
Begg, angry but also genuinely wanting to help Roy, tells Edith to get Roy to a hospital. He shoots himself in the head to give her the chance to escape during the regeneration process.
As you can see, the anime is almost completely different plotwise. The most basic reason I can fathom is that the 4th novel introduces several new characters that aren't in the 1930 and 1931 timelines. Staff probably wanted the anime to feel more self-contained and tightly interwoven, and stuck to using characters whom the viewer already knew.
Oh yeah, I'd like to also say that the bookshop scene in the anime with Firo and Luck is sort of a composite of two novel scenes: a scene in which Berga is gambling at the casino Firo manages and Firo complains about Berga potentially endangering Martillo turf considering that the Runoratas and Gandors are feuding; and the bookshop scene in which Luck is alone when the Runoratas kill him. He dies by having his throat slit rather than via a hit-and-run.
Yep, Firo offers to help out in the Runorata-Gandor feud in the anime, whereas he actively does not do that in the novels. See this. Like I said, anime-Firo is nicer than LN-Firo.
This also reminds me to talk about Eve's characterization changes. In later novels Eve seems to have softened into anime-Eve, but Eve in Vols 1 and 4 is...different. She honestly dislikes Dallas to some extent and recognizes that even if he's nice to her he's still kind of a terrible guy. She's also more conflicted about her faith than you might think, and angry at herself for having prayed all this time out of indecision and passiveness.
Perceiving her own selfishness, indecisiveness, and passiveness is what spurs Eve to act instead of pray in 1932 and run away from home to deal with things. When she hears how Gustavo unrepentantly killed her father and brother (I believe she also learns that her family was actually involved in the drug business, which horrifies her), she is filled with absolute hate and unforgiveness that drives her to raise that gun and shoot.
Luck obviously is not about to let her become a murderer, hence him blocking the bullet with his own gun. He later gives Eve a map to Dallas' location.

2001

The scene with Isaac and Miria...well, first of all - they're not stealing cell phones in the novel, (there's no guarantee they're back to thieving in 2001 anyway, considering that Isaac decides to give up his life of crime in 1934). They're also not wearing those groovy outfits, though through a series of misremembering about Japanese and Buddhist mythology they end up deciding to sew 108 bells onto their clothes (54 each) to symbolize their rebirth.

OVAs

Comparisons here are drawn from the fifth and fourteenth light novels, not the gaiden novel.
In this case a lot of scenes are fabricated and downright opposite to what happens in the anime. Like Graham's and Ladd's first meeting. It is SO antipodal to the novel scene - see, in the anime, their first meeting is antagonistic whereas their novel meeting is nothing of the sort. Ladd comes across some men roughing up Graham and takes them all on in a fight. Graham is so dazzled by the logic that Ladd spouts that he then and there swears to follow Ladd. See? Not antagonistic in the slightest. I'm NOT happy with the anime changing that.
Now, Sylvie is not present during the dominos party. She also does not reunite with Elmer in 1932: their reunion scene borrows dialogue from the fifth volume but is otherwise made up. They don't actually reunite until
As for Huey and Elmer's reunion scene, some of its dialogue is borrowed from Huey internally monologuing in LN#6 (in which he asks an absent Elmer what he would think of Chané). However, Huey and Elmer actually still have yet to reunite as of 2002 - they haven't seen each other since 1711.
Elmer and Ronny's conversation appears to be anime original, but it's delightful regardless.
Oh, that reminds me - Gustav and Carol's rainbow conversation is supposed to actually take place in 1934.
Firo also doesn't knock over the dominos in 1932. He does do that in 1933, but it's not accidental.
There are various other differences in the OVAs, including how Rachel is supposed to actually be wearing a dress when she meets with Czes and dines with Claire (which she does in the Alveare), Jacuzzi doesn't actually recognize Claire as the Rail Tracer in the novels, it's a random delinquent whom Graham hits, not Nick...
...Actually, speaking of, the anime does explain why Jacuzzi's gang is now living in the Genoard manor on Millionaires' Row, but in a very rushed and offhand manner. So, Jon and Fang are informed by Gregoire that as a result of the gov't covering up the FPF incident they're all being fired. Since Gregoire recognizes their skill, he decides to use a connection of his to recommend them for jobs as private bartender and chef to Eve. He then gives them 100 servings of stew, which they take to the clinic where Jacuzzi is recovering...
...A clinic that happens to be operated by Fred. Raz Smith, Roy Maddock, and Jack are convalescing there alongside Jacuzzi at the same time, and Upham receives treatment for his wound there. Elmer also shows up after Upham leaves to ask about Szilard. (Jack's the white-haired guy who clambers onto Jacuzzi's bed in the anime).
So Jacuzzi's gang pours into the clinic to eat the stew, and Nice and Nick drop their bowls in shock when Chané enters the room. They didn't know beforehand that the retrieval team pulled her out, unlike in the anime.
Ah, right - Jon basically asked Eve if she wouldn't mind if some of his friends lived in the manor to help look after it as pseudo-housekeepers, and she agreed. Of course, he neglected to mention how many of them there were or that they were criminals.
Nearly forgot! The reason for why Jacuzzi got a tattoo is also different. In the anime he gets it so that he'll stand out as much as Nice, facially speaking. In the novels, he recognizes that Nice is terrified that she'll never be able to recognize anyone again (her remaining eye was injured and has terrible vision) and thus gets the tattoo so that she'll always be able to recognize him no matter what. Both reasons are good, but I prefer the novel one.

Episode-by-Episode Differences: Where to Find Them

Two options, here. The first option I present to you is the Baccano! Wiki: after months of on and off work I have finally revamped all sixteen episode articles, which included rewriting all 16 full recaps, adding recap and preview summaries, and, most importantly, adding sections recounting the anime/source material differences in each episode. I'm not done with adding screenshots to the last four episodes but the recaps and differences sections are basically ready to go. You can access them here.)
I should say that I didn't include every single minor detail, and that I am most definitely fallible and may have gotten information wrong or left information out. I can only apologize if I have, and if you notice, ask that you correct or add the info as needed.
Speaking of getting information wrong, I also wrote episodic write-ups for the 2017 and 2016 /anime Baccano! rewatches. My write-ups for the 2017 rewatch are a deliberate improvement upon the 2016 write-ups, in which I did more than once misremember information and leave out important other information. Please keep that in mind should you choose to read my 2016 write-ups.
The differences noted in the write-ups are less thorough than the wiki versions.
I know that this is insanely long and I apologize for that. I don't know if anyone will actually read this/read this all the way, but I hope that it can prove useful to at least one person. If you're interested in reading the source material or knowing more about the series, /Baccano now has a wiki with a FAQ, links to the official translations, a reading order (published not chronological for the love of God), and some resources. You might find it a good starting place.
Whew. I was worried I wouldn't get this out in time, since last night I was performing in a Samhuinn celebration and didn't come back home from the second after party until ten AM thanks to a kind stranger who was out walking her dogs. Spent the last few hours doing a lot of writing, though the planning for this guide started a few weeks in advance.
Once again, happy Baccanovember and happy 10 year anniversary of the anime adaptation! Here's a drawing Shinta Fujimoto (mangaka of the 2015 Baccano! manga adaptation) did of LN characters Gabriel and Juliano for Halloween yesterday.

Well friends, it’s the first day of Baccanovember over on Tumblr. It’s also the 10 year anniversary of the 2007 Baccano! adaptation, the original 13 episode airing of which came to an end back in the beginning of November 2007.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to write up a guide detailing the differences between the 2007 anime adaptation and the source material it adapted. I’ve been writing about this in various comments over the years, and figured this was a good opportunity to consolidate the information.
This guide has been crossposted to /anime and crossposted to /LightNovels. The guide is meant for those who are not deeply involved with Baccano! beyond the anime but are curious to learn more.
TL;DR: The anime is an excellently directed show that deserves to be commended, and the plot changes do not negate its quality. However, it is worth knowing what it changes from the novel and how deep those changes run, which I aim to showcase below. Both the anime and the novels, along with the other media adaptations (manga, NDS game, drama CDs) are a rewarding experience and I cannot recommend them enough.

OUTLINE OF GUIDE

• Intro to Material: what the anime adapts + database links
• Spoiler-free Zone: List of characters missing from or reduced to cameos in the anime + basic statement on differences
• Spoiler Zone: In-depth overview of main plot/timeline differences
• Discussion of where you can read episode-by-episode differences which have more detailed comparisons

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

If you’re asking yourself, “Why trust Rev?” I am the admin of the Baccano! Wiki and a mod of /Baccano, and have been engaging with both the anime and the source material for years. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes, so I apologize for any misinformation in the post. Please let me know if you spot any so I can correct them!

Introduction to Material

Links: ANN | MAL | AniP | Kitsu | AniDB
The original thirteen episode run of the 2007 anime adaptation adapted the first four novels of the Baccano! light novel series, which as of November 1, 2017 is twenty-two light novels long. The 23rd novel has been delayed due to health reasons on Narita's part. In other words, the anime adapts less than a fifth of the series at its current length. The OVAs (episodes 14-16), meanwhile, are linked to the gaiden novel from 2006 (which eventually turned into the fourteenth LN) with echoes of #5 and #6 in certain scenes.
If you want to get into the novels, you should start with volume one (The Rolling Bootlegs) and progress in publishing order. As this guide will demonstrate, the changes made in the anime are too significant for you to be able to jump in at volume five without major comprehension snags.
The three major timelines in the Baccano! anime are as follows: ^{* Credit to the following three photo edits goes to JelloApocalypse and his abridged series.}
November 1930 timeline | The Thousand-Year Drink | Adapted from Light Novel #1: Martillo Family associate Firo Prochainezo is set to be promoted to executive. Meanwhile, a certain elixir nears completion and a gang of hooligans and a nonsensical thief duo are swept into the mess. Original events take place over two days and one night, but the anime condenses them into one day and one night. As a result, several events are switched around/altered chronologically. Other events are also changed or cut out entirely.
December 30-31, 1931 | Dangers on a Train | Adapted from LNs#2-3: Tells the story of a transcontinental luxury express hijacked by three independent factions simultaneously en route. And what's this about the Rail Tracer...? Most changes are directly related to the characters that are cut from the timeline in the anime. However, the anime also leaves out plenty of scenes for the sake of mystery.
Dec 1931-Jan 1932 | Finding Dallas | Adapted from LN#4: Largely concerned with the Runorata-Gandor feud reaching a boiling point and the search for the missing Dallas Genoard. The most egregiously changed timeline in the anime, with it completely deviating from the fourth novel. For instance, Dallas is not the MacGuffin of the novel: a bag/case of a new potent drug prototype is.
OVAS + Other: The anime also adapts certain scenes from the fifth novel 2001 The Children of Bottle, including the 1711 content and certain discussion dialogue for scenes in the OVAs that HIGHLY deviate from the original scenes. The main story of the OVAs is connected to the 14th novel, which was an expanded version of the gaiden novel that was released alongside the first drama CD in 2006 (before the anime aired). There are definitely differences between the OVAs and the 14th novel, and major differences between the OVAs and the 5th novel.

Characters cut out of the anime or reduced to cameos

1930

• Unnamed Photographer (used as framing device of novel in 2002)
• Bobby Splot, Troy, Tall, Humpty (in 2002 scenes)
• Jorgi (Gandors' former finances manager)
• Edward Noah; Bill Sullivan (left); Donald Brown (same img; right) (reduced to cameos)
• Police Superintendent Veld (Edward's superior with a...secret)

1931

• Jack (Member of Jacuzzi's gang that is supposed to be part of their group on the train; cameos in Eps 01 and 15)
• Mr. Turner (racist and xenophobic First-Class passenger connected to a certain character's past)
• Doctor Fred (WWI military doctor who treats injured on train regardless of faction)
• Chef Gregoire (head chef of kitchen and also connected to 's past)
• Upham (Lemur. The mustached Lemur in E11 replaces him)
• Nader Schasschule (Lemur who stages a failed coup against Goose)
• Who (Ladd's childhood friend; note that he actually appears in the anime but is never named. He's also characterized a little differently)
• (passenger who bought tickets off the Dolce owners, aka the couple who don't get on the train in E02)
• (second stowaway)

1931/1932

• Begg Garott (immortal who cameos in Episode 07)
• Henry (Daily Days info broker. Note that Nicholas Wayne in the anime is a composite character of LN characters Nicholas Wayne and Henry. All the sly and not-so-nice elements of anime-Nicholas are really from Henry)
• Roy Maddock (Scottish drug addict who is embroiled with Eve and Runoratas)
• Edith (Roy's girlfriend who is determined to save him from himself; waitress at the Gandors' jazz hall)
• Kate Gandor (Keith's wife)
• Nicola Cassetti (Gandor capo)
• Maria Barcelito, Alkins, Raz Smith (various assassins)

Characters characterized/motivated differently in the anime

• Manfred Beriam (wants to become immortal in anime; hates immortals in novels)
• Bartolo Runorata (lying about Dallas and trying to find him in anime; not trying to find him in novel or become immortal)
• Eve Genoard (nicer in anime, less of LN-Eve's internal struggle)
• Nicholas Wayne (see 1932 section)
• Firo Prochainezo (sort of: he's nicer in the anime whereas he's more blunt, negative, and callous generally in the novels)
• Luck Gandor

Spoiler-Zone: In-Depth Look

I may have been writing about this topic for some time, but I still had to pause and think about how to handle this section. How much detail should I go into? What changes should I include, and what should I leave out in lieu of the ep-by-ep discussion?
Well, considering that this guide is first and foremost meant to be a broad overview of the differences rather than a nitty-gritty breakdown, I'm going to try and focus on on the main plot changes and the hugest consequential scene changes. Again, for nitty-gritty changes, stick around for the discussion of episode-by-episode changes in the next section. For now, the order of this section is as follows: 1711; 1930; 1931; 1931-1932; 2001; OVAs.

1711

Okay, most light novel fans will point out the accents in the dub as...suspect. First off, Victor is an Englishman who was exiled from England for his anti-slavery/racism rhetoric. He should thus have an English accent, not...whatever the dub gave him. Eric Vale gives Huey an overhanded French accent. Putting the questionability of his accent's authenticity aside, we don't actually know if Huey came from a French village. Plus, Huey studied in Italy for at least six years.
Similarly, we don't know what geographical region Elmer comes from (he's described as looking 'northern European' at the very least), so him having an English accent is presumably ADR Director Tyler Walker making a judgement call on his name (probably did the same with Huey and Sylvie). Also, Elmer spent at least five years in Spain and then six more years in Italy in his youth.
Putting accents aside, here are some major changes:
Rules for Immortals: The rules for immortals are the same except for one crucial difference. In the anime, immortals can transfer information to other immortals by placing their right hand on the other's forehead. NOT THE CASE in the novels. In the novels, immortals can only transmit info to their linked homunculi via their left hand.
As an example, in the anime, Maiza shares half of the knowledge of the Grand Panacea with Gretto by transferring it via his hand. Szilard witnesses this, and then deliberately devours Gretto to receive that information. In the novel Maiza simply tells Gretto half of the recipe before thinking better of it. Szilard learns half of the recipe through eavesdropping, just like that, and then tries to devour Maiza in his bed to get the full recipe...only to mistake a sleeping Gretto for Maiza and accidentally devour him instead.
Another major point: Maiza talking about the man whom he, his father, and grandfather never saw age in the episode is a very weird scene because the man he is referencing is actually Dalton Strauss - a man whom Maiza studied alchemy under for four years (1707-1711) and shouldn't be referring to so distantly. In general, the scene is a huge question mark for light novel fans.

Nov 1930

If you'll recall, the 1930 timeline condenses the events of two days and one night into one day and one night. This really messes with the chronology of events. The elixir's chain of custody is radically different, for one thing. Let's try and address this in an easy-to-digest manner.
First, I want to bring up the E01 scene with Firo and the beggar. In the anime, it clearly takes place after Firo becomes immortal – but in the novels, it takes place BEFORE. Firo knocks out the beggar, Assistant Inspector Edward shows up and reveals he was basically using Firo as bait to nab the beggar, and Maiza shows up to take Firo hat-shopping.
The thing is, the beggar is also crucially important to the 1930 timeline in one other aspect: the day before, he had murdered the blender who was responsible for perfecting Szilard's elixir (Barnes isn't actually making the elixirs in the novels). If he hadn't done that, then Szilard would have simply shown up the next day to devour the blender and harvest his knowledge of the recipe. The entire course of Baccano!'s history would have been altered.
It's also worthy to note that the beggar became a mugger only after Dallas and his goons coincidentally beat him up earlier that month. If they hadn't done that, he might not have turned to murdering, and thus might not have killed the blender and changed the course of history.
Anyway, the order of events is like this: Firo/Edward scenehat shoppingfireFiro rescuing Barnes. Now, in the LNs, Firo is actually carrying four bottles of alcohol with him for the party. While everyone else is down for the count, Firo sneaks a peek at Barnes' bottles and decides to switch out his liquor for Barnes. He replaces the elixir in Barnes' bottles with his regular alcohol and fills his bottles with the elixir...BAM and here we have the chain of custody completely different from the anime.
LN chain: Elixir moves from BarnesFiroParty. Anime: BarnesDallasGandorsDallasI&MParty.
So in the novels, the crate that constantly changes hands is carrying normal alcohol. This is connected to the altering of the chronology: Dallas and co. do kill Mike and the other Gandors during the Martillos' party...which Isaac and Miria depart from early, run into Dallas' group, and then rob the crate from them. The next day, they decide to drop off the liquor at the Alveare as a thank you gift to the Martillos for hosting them. THIS is when spying Ennis spots Maiza, and leaves to alert Szilard of Maiza's location.
On the way back, they run into Edward at the Coraggioso and learn of the Gandor men's deaths. They assume that Dallas' group were Gandors and that they killed them, and they then realize that the stolen liquor might wrongly implicate the Martillos as the ones responsible for the crime. Horrified, they head back to the Alveare to warn the Martillos of what's going on (so right now the Gandor bros are heading to the Alveare to talk to the Martillos about their men's deaths, and Szilard is heading to the Alveare to devour Maiza).
On the way to the Alveare, I&M come across Dallas' group carrying machine guns and talking about how they're going to get Ennis back. Miria thinks they must have broken out of jail (I&M never realize that Dallas' group was the one they stole the crate from; Dallas' group never realizes it either) for revenge, and she and Isaac run off to find and hotwire a car to take on the goons with. Of course, the car they find is Szilard's car.
Thus, the confrontation between Szilard and Maiza happens the day after the party, during lunchtime. Firo is PRESENT for this, and Maiza orders him to flee and tell Molsa (who along with Yaguruma and Ronny is not present) what's going on. Szilard tries to gun down Firo, but Maiza dives in front of the gun and blocks all of the bullets with his body.
Firo is immediately attacked by Ennis when he leaves (by the way, he wasn't looking for her to return her cufflink in the novels. She doesn't lose it. He followed her basically because he found her attractive). Bill, Donald, and Edward show up at the Alveare because of reports of gunshots, and Bill and Donald (who are part of the BOI's immortals department) confirm Szilard's death. Isaac and Miria think they're here to arrest the Martillos, and fire off guns and run away in order to lead the normal police officers away from the site. Like in the anime, they toss the Genoard fortune to passersby.
Oh, and Maiza also asks Firo to devour him in the alleyway. To my eternal fury, that doesn't make it into the anime.
That's the general breakdown of the major plot changes. There are various minor changes, and several LN scenes are either truncated (like Firo's induction ritual) or deleted entirely in the anime. All of the scenes with Edward are cut, of course (including the scene where he, Bill, and Donald confront Szilard's coterie of old men), and obviously the 2002 wraparound novel scenes are also cut.

Dec 30-31 1931

This is the timeline that's adapted the most faithfully by the anime, with most of the major changes falling into two categories: changes resulting from important major characters being cut from the anime; and general scenes that are deleted either for time's sake or for the sake of maintaining the established mystery. In this case, the main mystery is the identity of the Rail Tracer in the anime; since the anime doesn't reveal his identity until E09, it has to cut out a LOT of his PoV scenes in the novels as a result.
(We spend a fair amount of time in Claire's perspective in the novels, learning that he's crawling under the cars to switch off the car's electricity so he can kill people in darkness; that he's constantly returning to the conductors' compartment to perform the necessary scheduled light signals [that's why he appears near the compartment more than once in the anime], his opinion of Rachel, etc.)
Before we get to the main changes (i.e. from character cuts), it's worth noting that the anime's implication that Beriam knows about/is interested in Czes' explosives is not a novel thing. Also, Nice speaks super politely to everyone except Jacuzzi, and the train's engineers are a pair of elderly brothers who are hard of hearing. Hence why they don't catch on to all the gunfire and explosions for hours, and when they do Claire shows up and claims there's a horseback posse chasing them and they'd better not slow down no matter what.
Let's review our cut characters: Jack is the third gang member accompanying Jacuzzi and Nice on the train alongside Nick and Donny; Doctor Fred is a ex-WWI military doctor and passenger on the train. He earns Ladd's favor and uses Ladd's compartment to treat the train's injured regardless of faction at Ladd's invitation; Mr. Turner is an ass of a First-Class passenger from Rachel's past; Chef Gregoire is the head chef of the kitchen and a former colleague of Claire's from his circus days...
...Upham is a timid Lemur whom the anime replaces with a mustached man; Nader Schasschule is another Lemur who doesn't make it onto the train thanks to him staging a failed coup against Goose Perkins the day before; ...and then the two surprise characters and .
...I'll get to the last two, trust me.
Jack's biggest thing in the novels is that he is captured along with Nick by the Lemures, and when Ladd shows up and learns his name is Jack, assaults him solely to find out whether or not all Jacks are good boxers (yes, this was a pre-established point of interest for him). Once they're rescued Donny ends up dumping him in a random second class compartment...which turns out to be Ladd's compartment, which by this point Fred is now using at his invitation.
Ladd had run into Fred earlier, see, and recognized that Fred had the eyes of a man who wants to die. Ladd isn't too good with men like Fred (though women of this vein are exactly Ladd's type), and he ended up telling Fred to use his compartment. I should note that Fred (introduced as the Grey Magician) is actually the novel's red herring for Maiza's old friend (i.e. Czes) like Rachel is the red herring for Claire.
So Who and Lua show up in the compartment, and after some initial confusion Who assists Fred in treating Jack. Oh - Who is Ladd's childhood friend, and the White Suit who was captured along with Lua by the Lemures). Now, Claire actually happens upon the compartment (from where he is clinging to the outside window), and, when Lua notices him, is surprised that she isn't strongly reacting to him at all.
When Lua realizes that Ladd is going up against the Red Shadow from outside the window, she inwardly freaks out because she realizes that Ladd cannot beat him (she has weirdly accurate intuition). Fred recognizes the new life in her eyes and encourages her to act on it - and thus is the reason for why she ends up climbing onto the roof of the train later.
Moving on to Turner... Turner is the railroad executive responsible for a ten-year-old train accident for which he pushed the blame onto Rachel's father. He has no idea who Rachel is, but when she spots him on the train she is instantly full of hate. Now, Turner raises a scene in the dining car after the Ladd vs Lemures assault: he hurls racist and xenophobic epithets at Jon (Irish) and Fang (Half-Chinese) and is all around a humungous ass, until Isaac and Miria finally snap and rain hell and fury down upon him. Gregoire orders Jon and Fang to throw Turner out, and they do so with relish.
Turner wanders the corridors with increasing fear until he runs into , who's calling himself 'Victor Talbot' (yes, that Victor) and stowed away in the compartment that would have been Jacques-Rosé's had he decided not to get on the train in time (Jacques-Rosé and Rosetta are two more characters worth knowing about. If you know about those two, you are really goddamn deep into Baccano! lore).
, who spends a lot of the time on the train slinking around and looking for Czes, offers his protection services to Turner and leads him through the corridors. The two of them come across the corpse of the White Suit who preyed on Mary, and takes the corpse's rifle and hands it to Turner before abandoning him. Turner becomes increasingly paranoid, and when he comes across Rachel (who is resting due to her gunshot injury - which is in her thigh in the novels, not her ankle), prepares to shoot her for the sake of shooting anyone.
She reveals her identity after a heated confrontation, and then shouts for the Rail Tracer (who has been eavesdropping) to kill her before Turner can. Claire instead dislocates Turner's shoulders, but doesn't kill him at Rachel's request. He ends up giving Rachel a bloody half-torn ticket, which is the reason why the police later don't arrest her on grounds of, you know, stowing away. He also says that if he hadn't met Chané he may have fallen a little bit in love with Rachel.
Remember Upham? Upham is supposed to be the Lemur who runs away from Ladd after he ambushes the Lemures after his first fight with Chané. Upham ends up nabbed by Jacuzzi and Donny, who interrogate him for info on the Lemures before leaving him tied up in a freight hold. Upham is discovered and freed by , whom he then stabs out of fear and thus learns of . ( is on the train because he's heard that Szilard is back in New York and wants to find him).
The two of them decide to check out the conductors' compartment, where they discover the corpses of the Lemur and Dune. shows up and stabs Upham, who stabs back. prepares to kill Upham (because Upham has witnessed true self), but steps in to take the blade instead. He tries to drag off the train, tries to drag him down with him, but Upham pulls up in the nick of time.
Then Claire shows up and chastises Upham and for being in the conductors' compartment. He notices Upham's wound and is about to ask what happened when Chané's knife pierces through the wall and nicks his ear, and he climbs back up onto the roof...where of course he finds Chané and Ladd having their second confrontation.
Ah! That reminds me - the anime implies that Huey and Chané have some sort of telepathic connection, which is 100% not the case no way no how in the novels. The birds that appear during the Huey<->Chané scenes are likely a reference to Hilton, a novel character.
On the presence of and on the train...it was first hinted at in LN#12 (publ. 2007), revealed in the NDS game (2008), and then confirmed in LN#14. I don't know for sure if the gaiden novel included them or not.
Bonus soundbite of laughing in the NDS game! (It's an external recording from a fan; I wanted to extract the audio directly from the rom, but unfortunately the software is not compatible with my OS and I can't get Wine to cooperate with me).
Oh right...after Claire reunites with the Gandor bros, he and Berga end up brawling (which they tend to do) on the street. Keith watches on and, with the Runorata-Gandor feud in mind, thinks that this will be the last peaceful time they have for a while.
Czes also reunites with Begg that day - now, do you remember that he came to New York to devour Maiza after receiving a letter from him? Well, he had also received a letter from Begg, too - Begg is working for the Runoratas, and he's the one who arranged to buy Czes' explosives off him. Czes had planned on devouring him as well upon arrival.
Of course, Jacuzzi's gang stealing the explosives means that Czes is worried the Runoratas will come after him in retaliation - but Begg reveals that the money for the explosives came out of his own pocket and Czes has nothing to fear. Czes (who was looked after by Begg in the 1700s after he was orphaned) is naturally feeling pretty guilty for having planned to devour Begg at this familiar display of Begg's kindness towards him.

Dec 1931-Jan 1932

By far the most drastically changed plotline from the fourth novel to the point where it becomes a completely different plot.
In the anime, Gustavo is trying to muscle in on Gandor and Martillo turf like he is in the novels - though what the anime leaves out is that he's specifically trying to muscle in on the Manhattan drug market. Relevant to this is that Keith abhors drugs and prohibits drug trade on Gandor turf. Now, anime-Bartolo lies to Gustavo that Dallas has blackmail material on Gustavo for the deaths of Raymond and Jeffrey Genoard, which prompts Gustavo's search for Dallas.
This is obviously a lie on Bartolo's part since Dallas is at this point in time currently drowning in a riverbed - but in the novels, Bartolo doesn't lie in the first place since he has no interest in finding Dallas at all. He DOES NOT want to become immortal in the novels, just as Beriam actively hates immortals in the novels and is also not involved in the search for Dallas. The only person searching for news about Dallas is Eve, whom Elean actually tells the truth to about Dallas' fate rather than lying like he does in the anime.
What the Runoratas are actually searching for in the novels is a case containing Begg's powerful new drug prototype, which was stolen in transit by a very high Roy Maddock. Roy, once he comes down from his high and realizes what he's done, is understandably terrified of Runorata retaliation. Edith, despite an earlier argument with Roy, essentially rolls up her sleeves and prepares to dig Roy out of the hole he's found himself in.
Roy goes to the Daily Days for info, and Henry suggests that he use Eve as a shield against the Runoratas (in the anime, this becomes Nicholas suggesting that Gustavo use Eve as bait). Roy meets Eve at her place, the two of them go to Keith's house and meet his wife Kate, and then they are kidnapped by Claire in disguise and taken to the Daily Days.
Whoops, nearly started summarizing the entire book. Er, basically everything comes to a head when Gustavo leads a raid of the Daily Days headquarters in order to kill the Gandor bros. DDays evacuated in advance. Claire brings Eve and Roy to the DDays because he's working on Gustavo's orders. It turns out that Keith and Bartolo made an agreement in which the DDays operation would lead to Gustavo's downfall, because Bartolo is sick of Gustavo's crap.
Gustavo's hired assassins fight Claire, and Gustavo tries to kill Eve. Luck saves her and has a viciously brutal fight with Gustavo, in which he suffers plenty of injuries but also shoots Gustavo six times in the chest, etc. When Eve learns that Gustavo really was responsible for killing her father and brother, she raises a gun and tries to shoot him. No, seriously. Luck blocks the shot with his hand, and then stabs Gustavo in the throat with the jagged bone of his severed hand. Then he passes out. Gustavo survives, by the way.
Begg comes across Roy, whose hypersensitivity to drugs fascinates him. He holds a gun to Edith's hand and asks Roy to inject himself with the new drug prototype (which will kill him) so Begg can observe how he reacts (and the happiness the drug will give him). Roy makes Begg promise to not kill Edith, and injects himself with the drug to fulfill the deal. Then he smashes a window and uses the glass to slit his wrist, so that Begg won't get what he wants.
Begg, angry but also genuinely wanting to help Roy, tells Edith to get Roy to a hospital. He shoots himself in the head to give her the chance to escape during the regeneration process.
As you can see, the anime is almost completely different plotwise. The most basic reason I can fathom is that the 4th novel introduces several new characters that aren't in the 1930 and 1931 timelines. Staff probably wanted the anime to feel more self-contained and tightly interwoven, and stuck to using characters whom the viewer already knew.
Oh yeah, I'd like to also say that the bookshop scene in the anime with Firo and Luck is sort of a composite of two novel scenes: a scene in which Berga is gambling at the casino Firo manages and Firo complains about Berga potentially endangering Martillo turf considering that the Runoratas and Gandors are feuding; and the bookshop scene in which Luck is alone when the Runoratas kill him. He dies by having his throat slit rather than via a hit-and-run.
Yep, Firo offers to help out in the Runorata-Gandor feud in the anime, whereas he actively does not do that in the novels. See this. Like I said, anime-Firo is nicer than LN-Firo.
This also reminds me to talk about Eve's characterization changes. In later novels Eve seems to have softened into anime-Eve, but Eve in Vols 1 and 4 is...different. She honestly dislikes Dallas to some extent and recognizes that even if he's nice to her he's still kind of a terrible guy. She's also more conflicted about her faith than you might think, and angry at herself for having prayed all this time out of indecision and passiveness.
Perceiving her own selfishness, indecisiveness, and passiveness is what spurs Eve to act instead of pray in 1932 and run away from home to deal with things. When she hears how Gustavo unrepentantly killed her father and brother (I believe she also learns that her family was actually involved in the drug business, which horrifies her), she is filled with absolute hate and unforgiveness that drives her to raise that gun and shoot.
Luck obviously is not about to let her become a murderer, hence him blocking the bullet with his own gun. He later gives Eve a map to Dallas' location.

2001

The scene with Isaac and Miria...well, first of all - they're not stealing cell phones in the novel, (there's no guarantee they're back to thieving in 2001 anyway, considering that Isaac decides to give up his life of crime in 1934). They're also not wearing those groovy outfits, though through a series of misremembering about Japanese and Buddhist mythology they end up deciding to sew 108 bells onto their clothes (54 each) to symbolize their rebirth.

OVAs

Comparisons here are drawn from the fifth and fourteenth light novels, not the gaiden novel.
In this case a lot of scenes are fabricated and downright opposite to what happens in the anime. Like Graham's and Ladd's first meeting. It is SO antipodal to the novel scene - see, in the anime, their first meeting is antagonistic whereas their novel meeting is nothing of the sort. Ladd comes across some men roughing up Graham and takes them all on in a fight. Graham is so dazzled by the logic that Ladd spouts that he then and there swears to follow Ladd. See? Not antagonistic in the slightest. I'm NOT happy with the anime changing that.
Now, Sylvie is not present during the dominos party. She also does not reunite with Elmer in 1932: their reunion scene borrows dialogue from the fifth volume but is otherwise made up. They don't actually reunite until
As for Huey and Elmer's reunion scene, some of its dialogue is borrowed from Huey internally monologuing in LN#6 (in which he asks an absent Elmer what he would think of Chané). However, Huey and Elmer actually still have yet to reunite as of 2002 - they haven't seen each other since 1711.
Elmer and Ronny's conversation appears to be anime original, but it's delightful regardless.
Oh, that reminds me - Gustav and Carol's rainbow conversation is supposed to actually take place in 1934.
Firo also doesn't knock over the dominos in 1932. He does do that in 1933, but it's not accidental.
There are various other differences in the OVAs, including how Rachel is supposed to actually be wearing a dress when she meets with Czes and dines with Claire (which she does in the Alveare), Jacuzzi doesn't actually recognize Claire as the Rail Tracer in the novels, it's a random delinquent whom Graham hits, not Nick...
...Actually, speaking of, the anime does explain why Jacuzzi's gang is now living in the Genoard manor on Millionaires' Row, but in a very rushed and offhand manner. So, Jon and Fang are informed by Gregoire that as a result of the gov't covering up the FPF incident they're all being fired. Since Gregoire recognizes their skill, he decides to use a connection of his to recommend them for jobs as private bartender and chef to Eve. He then gives them 100 servings of stew, which they take to the clinic where Jacuzzi is recovering...
...A clinic that happens to be operated by Fred. Raz Smith, Roy Maddock, and Jack are convalescing there alongside Jacuzzi at the same time, and Upham receives treatment for his wound there. Elmer also shows up after Upham leaves to ask about Szilard. (Jack's the white-haired guy who clambers onto Jacuzzi's bed in the anime).
So Jacuzzi's gang pours into the clinic to eat the stew, and Nice and Nick drop their bowls in shock when Chané enters the room. They didn't know beforehand that the retrieval team pulled her out, unlike in the anime.
Ah, right - Jon basically asked Eve if she wouldn't mind if some of his friends lived in the manor to help look after it as pseudo-housekeepers, and she agreed. Of course, he neglected to mention how many of them there were or that they were criminals.
Nearly forgot! The reason for why Jacuzzi got a tattoo is also different. In the anime he gets it so that he'll stand out as much as Nice, facially speaking. In the novels, he recognizes that Nice is terrified that she'll never be able to recognize anyone again (her remaining eye was injured and has terrible vision) and thus gets the tattoo so that she'll always be able to recognize him no matter what. Both reasons are good, but I prefer the novel one.

Episode-by-Episode Differences: Where to Find Them

Two options, here. The first option I present to you is the Baccano! Wiki: after months of on and off work I have finally revamped all sixteen episode articles, which included rewriting all 16 full recaps, adding recap and preview summaries, and, most importantly, adding sections recounting the anime/source material differences in each episode. I'm not done with adding screenshots to the last four episodes but the recaps and differences sections are basically ready to go. You can access them here.)
I should say that I didn't include every single minor detail, and that I am most definitely fallible and may have gotten information wrong or left information out. I can only apologize if I have, and if you notice, ask that you correct or add the info as needed.
Speaking of getting information wrong, I also wrote episodic write-ups for the 2017 and 2016 /anime Baccano! rewatches. My write-ups for the 2017 rewatch are a deliberate improvement upon the 2016 write-ups, in which I did more than once misremember information and leave out important other information. Please keep that in mind should you choose to read my 2016 write-ups.
The differences noted in the write-ups are less thorough than the wiki versions.
I know that this is insanely long and I apologize for that. I don't know if anyone will actually read this/read this all the way, but I hope that it can prove useful to at least one person. If you're interested in reading the source material or knowing more about the series, /Baccano now has a wiki with a FAQ, links to the official translations, a reading order (published not chronological for the love of God), and some resources. You might find it a good starting place.
Whew. I was worried I wouldn't get this out in time, since last night I was performing in a Samhuinn celebration and didn't come back home from the second after party until ten AM thanks to a kind stranger who was out walking her dogs. Spent the last few hours doing a lot of writing, though the planning for this guide started a few weeks in advance.
Once again, happy Baccanovember and happy 10 year anniversary of the anime adaptation! Here's a drawing Shinta Fujimoto (mangaka of the 2015 Baccano! manga adaptation) did of LN characters Gabriel and Juliano for Halloween yesterday.

^{Original Prompt}
Seventy years ago, while excavating an ancient site thought to be the final resting place of an old, forgotten, but powerful ruler of his time, my team and I came across several ancient rooms and pieces of equipment that had stood the test of time. Within days of digging most of the relics out, and stabilising the rooms that could've collapsed, we were besieged by media outlets from across the globe and numerous museums, historians, and private collectors who all wanted in on what we found.
While we ensured none of the details had been told to any of them, we had ensured that we were correct in the identification of the various items recovered. By reading the ancient manuscripts carved in the walls, as well as reviewing our own notes of what we knew of this ruler, we were able to identify a few key relics that should be able to be found: First, an ancient blade, said to be so sharp that it could cleave the heavens in twaine; Second, a book, with so much knowledge within it that it would make Thoth jealous of the power, and last, a coin, which holds the power to crush the universe, or save it from impending doom.
While we were able to recover the blade, whose name - Judgement's Edge - was engraved in the hilt, the book was not to be found, and the coin was doubted to even exist, despite the various other treasures we recovered. Regarding the blade, we found it in a remarkable condition, and when a worker went to pick it up, it cut into his hand simply by touching the edge, and as such we don't doubt it has some form of power sealed within, allowing to remain sharp after countless years. We had decided to keep it with us in the event that we would need to further study it, and continued our excavation. As we got deeper and deeper, we came across a giant library of sorts, that despite being in the conditions it was, had stood the test of time.
Immediately we got to work looking for the before mentioned book, which we soon learned was called the Well of Knowledge due to its ability to know all there is, and it was eventually recovered. After dusting it down, we chose to read through it, looking for anything that could relate to the elusive fate controlling coin.
After we struggled to read through the articles in the book regarding this strange item, we managed to learn where to dig in order for us to locate it. This coin, called the Gambler's Fate, would be able to either eradicate a world or even universe ending threat from existence if it landed on heads, but were it to land on tails, the universe would collapse and be born anew, without the species that flipped it, and it would be left within the earth of a new intelligent species' planet for them to find.
Deciding that we didn't want to risk it, we chose not flip it. As it doesn't count as a 'flip' should you drop it, according to the Well, we were able to afford some peace of mind regarding such a powerful item.
Immediately, I called for a council to discuss these relics. Only my two most trusted friends, who were also my inner circle for assistance in managing our archaeology sites and documenting of relics, were present. We spent several hours debating what we were going to do with the relics, until we eventually settled on confiding in the Well. Within its musty pages stated that to ensure the safest method of protecting the relics was to enact a ritual to bind them to eachother, and to ourselves.
As if on impulse, we began the process. We spent several weeks preparing, learning all we could from the Well to complete it. In order to stop these relics from being in corrupt or evil hands, we were to bind our souls to them and then use our blood to bond the items as one. They were to be useless if they were used by themselves, and could only be used if gathered, and the spell broke. Thankfully, this meant that the museums and the collectors who had approached us soon lost interest, and we finished our excavation unimpeded.
Unfortunately, 70 years later, was when our planet was attacked. By now, me and my archaeology team were long since disbanded. We went our separate ways, remaining friends but swearing to never come together unless a threat to us all became apparent. Unfortunately, when the planet was attacked, and humanity was on the brink of being annihilated, it became difficult for us to come together and use our magical relics.
Last I checked, Matt, the protector of the Well, was in a retirement home, and turned his small room into a quaint library that he and his children adored, and Martha, who was in charge of Judgement's Edge, was engaged in HEMA practice, and managed to win several tournaments despite her age and rather fragile body. Myself? I made a living as an avid gambler in casinos. It's a joke within the local casino that I'm secretly Irish, since I keep winning most of the time, and ironically have the worst luck in almost all other aspects of life apart from gambling and archaeology.
But now that the world is under siege, it's time for us to finally come back together. We had to use our relics from a time long lost to save this planet. Whatever's attacking us will regret pulling us out of retirement. But first I need my afternoon nap.