Baccano! is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. The series, often told from multiple points of view, is mostly set within a fictional United States during various time periods, most notably the Prohibition era. It focuses on various people, including alchemists, thieves, thugs, Mafiosi and Camorristi, who are unconnected to one another. After an immortality elixir is recreated in 1930 Manhattan, the characters begin to cross paths, setting off events that spiral further and further out of control. The first novel was released in February 2003 under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint, and as of March 2013, twenty novels have been released. The novels were adapted into a sixteen episode anime television series directed by Takahiro Omori and produced by Brain's Base and Aniplex. The first thirteen episodes were aired on WOWOW from July 26, 2007 to November 1, 2007; the final three were released direct-to-DVD. The series was also adapted into a two-volume manga, an adventure video game for the Nintendo DS and two drama CDs. An additional novel was released with the first drama CD and two gaiden novels were released in parts with the DVDs of the anime adaption.