Have they managed to make anonymous transactions actually work?
Yes, I believe they did. I think the rapid price increase after release was a reflection of people's desire for such a coin too. Not just your average altcoin pump.
the rapid increase of price after release was the power of super hype that began months ago + low initial inflation.... with the current inflaction is impossible to mantain the current price.... the price is going to fall alot more
The 'hype' had an actual basis, unlike most altcoins. I said nothing about the current price, or maintaining it.
People really want an anonymous, fungible cryptocurrency like this.
We all agreed about the Hype impact on the price, cos it doesn't make any sense for a coin that its only claim is anonymous but no real use yet, even not one dark net market has adopt it yet.
The first days (or even weeks) on exchange were nuts, and such prices doesn't only make sense because there isn't real use yet - that's the case for nearly all Cryptocurrency-and blockchain-projects when they start. It was a combination of hype and very very limited supply.
That said, it will need some time. And if there won't be bugs and catastrophes and if people are not concerned about the trusted setup Zcash may establish itself over time and also grow into real use-cases. But it's impossible to predict.