Black Lagoon

"This is way more entertaining than Hollywood is ever going going to be!" truer words like that have barely been spoken in anime in my opinion, and with the shit that's out now, I'm inclined to believe them. STORY: Enter Rokuro Okajima, a typical meek japanese office worker of a large corperation who's the epitome of ordinary with a life so boring, bland, and not so envious with complains such as his boss kicking his ass, but his bleak life style comes to an end when a business trip cruise to South East Asia turns into hell as a group of modern day pirates take himhostage and gives him much more to complain about than just a kick to the bum. After a wild couple of bullet-filled days with said pirates, he decides to join up out of the feeling of excitement he experienced and the way his company has treated him like a worthless throw away and takes up the name, "Rock". Rock's fellow crewmates include Benny the mechanic, computer specialist, and researcher, Dutch the calm, easygoing leader, and Revy the merciless, sadistic, foul mouthed gunner who's skill is almost unparalleled, she also goes by the name of "Two hands" cause of how she normally uses two guns in gun fights, heck any kind of fight. The story of Black Lagoon is mostly episodic with a few arcs that normally last about three to four episodes, but the lack of on ongoing plot continues on towards the second season, yet it's no problem at all, though it would've been nice if there were some that involved more development of the main characters (Besides just Revy and Rock). The anime follows the gang as they try to complete jobs so they can earn a living, just like the main cast in Cowboy Bebop except these outlaws usually get their jobs done. And during their jobs they face against a wide array of foes including gangs, nazis, and several eccentric foes such as a nearly unstoppable maid, and allies like a taiwanese assassin, with the main cast in nearly endless gun fights. With most of their requests coming from Balalaika, a leader of a russian crime syndicate "Hotel Moscow." The anime has a some what crude and black sense of humor, with mostly excessive cursing and yells and screams such as "I'll rip you a new asshole!" But probably the funniest stuff is the insults, especially when Revy meets a certain assassin near the end of the anime, the insults bounce back at each other like a well written conversation. Truthfully the anime might have ended up becoming a mindless bullet hungry action anime, and ultimately making it another waste of potential along with many others that have stacked up in the pile, if not for the characters, specificly the interaction between them. Especially between Rock and Revy, through the daily dangers and learning about Revy's past that was full of unbearable hardships that bulids up to her character, Rock learns that his partners are almost the complete opposite of him, especially during one episode where the tension between he and Revy becomes so deadly guns are involved. These interactions are tense, nerve wrecking, and may just be much more entertaining to watch than the fights, which is unique for a heavy action such as this. But slowly and surely, Rock starts to become used to this new way of life he chose, and begins to fit in, yet still is faced with his decision, and is constantly asked, Is this world right for him? or is he simply just an outsider and nothing more? ANIMATION: Great animation, displaying exciting gun fights, and little still frames with an overall dark feel to the series. Good character designs being very diversed. The anime sometimes uses CG animation. but only during chase scenes in the vehicles, which thankfully doesn't look out of place that only the whiniest of nit pickers would complain about. SOUND: Noticeable background music that fits in with most of what's going on at the moment, especially with the ending theme which starts playing during the anime and it helps to indicate whenever an episode comes to an end, and really feels a perfect song that will make you think back to the episode you've watched, and it has like a mysterious yet calm feeling to it, then ending with a rock conclusion that reminds you what the anime is (mostly) about. The opening theme, Red faction, is an awesome theme, despite it being in engrish. The english dub is by Ocean (Known for the dub of Death Note and Inuyasha), and is a one of a kind dub where it would feel weird to listen to in japanese, all due to the overall setting of the series. But the stand out performance (Among a cast of great voice actors) is the voice actor of Revy, giving that crude attitude of Revy a great convincing performance and just makes every scene with her just entertaining to even just listen to. OVERALL: The Good: + Excellent characters and character interaction. + An incredible english dub that even makes the japanese audio seem out of place. + Good opening and ending theme music, good back ground music. Mixed: +/- Very violent and action oriented. / May be too violent for some. The Bad: - Lack of a continuing plot. - Not too much of character development. This anime just barely shy's away from getting a nine overall. Each form of media entertainment has their crap, with more so than others, but it's anime like this is the reason way I choose to stick with this media. And I guarantee you'll feel like a pansy if you watch something moe or fluffy after leaving the lagoon. *Quick word on season two* Season two is pretty much what I feared what Black Lagoon would mostly be about, absurdness with a penchant for wasting so many bullets that I'd feel sorry for the janitor who would try to clean it all up, but ends up getting killed by a stray bullet fired for no reason. Not that I'm trying to say that it isn't entertaining, but just not more of the same gun and smoke. 7/10 for season two.

- - - - - [ Black Lagoon Season 1 :: Ep-12 ] - - - - - - [ Intro ] - Black Lagoon. That's a name that easily caught my eye. After reading the brief review, I said "why not?". And so I found a great anime that would get me hooked for quite a long time! And it definitely deserves rewatch! On with the review! - [ Animation: Good quality and well-detailed -> 9 ] - Let's set things clear now. Black Lagoon (BL) has one of the best animations i've ever seen! If you pay attention to details, you will like BL. The animators haveinvested great effort in creating detailed backgrounds and characters. OMG! You can even see the demin texture on Revy's short sometimes! Now, another thing that amazed me is that both the characters and background are animated at the same time. I know, this sounds simple but no! These two are almost independent of each other but even them, you will see the characters interacting with the backgrounds in a number of ways. When the characters are being shot at, notice the number of bullet-holes on the walls increasing. Notice the gun smoke that dissipates when the characters walk. All these details make BL's animation great and lively. The character motions are smooth and natural, even during the very fast-paced action scenes. Even then, the background does not lose its details. On one scene on a ship, you can see the rivets as Revy is fighting! Quite a number of details to watch out for. The play on lights and atmosphere renders a great effect too. The animators definitely knew what they were doing. - [ Sound: Suits situations and fast-paced -> 9 ] - As usual, I don't pay much attention to sound. NOPE! Here, it got my full attention! The Opening (OP) and Ending (ED) credits music is very good, specially the OP. It really suits the mood of the series in my opinion. Now for the ending, you will notice that the music starts within the episode, starting at a very low hum to gradually attain its normal level as the episode ends. It's a superb blend. It's the first anime I know that uses this technique and I can say I'm impressed. It was a good idea. Next, the in-series music is nonetheless amazing! It really enlivens the scenes to their respective paces. In dramatic situations, you will get the appropriate music. In fast-paced scenes, expect hard rock or similar. It was a good choice of music for the series. For once, the sound of an anime caught my attention. I am looking foreward to a Black Lagoon OST. - [ Story: No real plotline ->7 ] - Story? Don't expect any in BL! There is none. BL is a collection of short stories, pieced together to show you the lives of the characters at a point in time. There is no plot, not even in the second season (Second Barrage) of Black Lagoon. However, the short stories are very good and definitely deserves watching if you enjoy action and gun-fights. They place the main characters in a variety of situations in which their work places them. I have not introduced the story yet! Sorry. So, Black Lagoon is about a man, Okajima Rokuro, who is entrusted the mission of delivering a data disk to some people by his company. The man is travelling on a ship when the latter is attacked by pirates (not really pirates but anyway..). After some time, we are told that the pirates are after the data disk carried by Rokuro. The pirates, a man-and-woman team will eventually get the disk, but also take Rokuro as hostage to get some ransom from his company. However, the data disk contains sensitive data about the company, and merceneries are sent after the pirates to destroy them. The demand for ransom is immediately ignored and Rokuro is considered dead. Here begins the life of Rock, formerly Rokuro, as a delivery agent on the Black Lagoon speedboat, together with gun-slinger Revy, captain Dutch and computer whiz Benny. As you can see, the plot is fairly interesting. You will soon see that delivering goods, specially illegal stuff, is not a safe business. Often, the characters are put in life-threatening situations and major gunfights resulting, specially with battle-maniac Revy around. Rock is sort of the negociator for Black Lagoon Company, negociating terms of business and often toning down conflicts. We are also presented with the clients of BLC, namely the Russian Mafia boss Miss Balalaika and Mr Chan, leader of the triads or even the Church of Violence. The short stories are definitely worth watching, and seldom offers time for boredom. Watch if you need something fast-paced and energetic. There were no nudity, although some exposure was shown. Violence? BL is filled of it. Bad language? Same. Humour? Yes. Crude jokes and black humour is there for you. So, it's not an anime for young people. - [ Characters: Development & Variety ->9 ] - This is where the fun lies in BL, the characters. Each of them is so very unique in their own way that you feel that they really possess emotions. They fight for their own causes, have their own motivations which sound very heroic or plausible. They have their own strengths and weaknesses and can each be liked or hated by the viewer. The main characters of BL are each well-developed, this being one of the great parts of BL. The main characters are: Revy: She is the gun of Lagoon Company who gets everybody out of trouble. Apparently she does not like Rock, but what she hates is his attitude. In fact, she will often go out of her way to help others and specially Rock. She is an expert when it comes to fighting techniques, who can single-handedly eliminate every enemy, armed with her twin-guns, Cutlass. Sometimes, she is so addicted to fights that she would go berserk. No one is spared then, not even her crew, as Rock saw for himself in an episode. Dutch: He is the captain of the Lagoon speedboat. Tactial, he never does things rashly. He seems to be African, something rare in Japanese animes. He is equally talented when it comes to guns. However, he prefers to avoid fights when possible. Benny: The computer genius of Lagoon. Not much is known about him. He never fights but is an expert getaway driver. Rock: The newest member of Lagoon. Although he never fights, he is an expert in negotiations and at pacifying Revy, often at the cost of blows! He always try to hold back Revy and has a strong sense of justice. He will try to protect anyone and everyone, something which exasperates Revy. Balalaika: The woman who controls Hotel Moscow. She was an ex-millitary and is very proficient when it comes to wars of any sort. She also commands a small army which often comes in play in BL. As you can see, the characters of BL are varied. You have to see for yourself to enjoy BL. I can't say more. - [ Value and Enjoyment: Very good -> 9 ] - If you want action, and specially fast-paced action, BL is for you. But since there is no real plot, many viewers will be turned away. I, for my part, really enjoyed BL and even rewatched the whole series a couple of times, just for the action and butt-kicking. It kinda pumps up the adrenalin, if you see what I mean. The series, being short, is easy to rewatch without severe boredom. The small stories furthur eliminate boredom, and plotholes. - [ Conclusion ] - If you are looking for something good to watch, check out Black Lagoon. If you like it, there is a second season with 12 episodes called Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage. The situation is nearly same for Second Barrage. It's not really a continuation but just more short stories. There is no ending to BL, and I don't even know if there would be a real story. Some people have been speculating that the real Black Lagoon has not yet started and that we were merely watching the prequel. That would be the longest prequel I've ever seen, with 24 episodes! :S I've got nothing more to say. Just go watch BL. The lack of a plotline made me give BL an overall 8. Apart from that, there are no major flaws. You won't regret it, in my opinion. And thanks for reading!

With a genre that deals with many action set-pieces, a show of this specific genre is usually bogged down into mindless entertainment territory with absolutely no substance to it at all. There have been in the past many action films and TV shows that have shown to become competent in the history of film-making, examples in mind are the works of John Woo, Michael Mann, and Quentin Tarantino. But what if I told you that there is an anime show that encompasses everything that is great about those three directors and succeeds on every possible level? The show in question is Black Lagoon, a showthat showcases a blend of mindless Hollywood action and juvenile humor in the best possible sense of the word juvenile. Black Lagoon's story mainly focuses on our four main characters and their adventures together through plot arcs that tie in through the chemistry that helps make them grow with each other. There isn't a deep, complex plot. It's about as cliché as any Seinen action show in the past decade. That may seem like a negative when you put it that way, but sometimes they are used to good effect when you have competent writing to flesh out your characters and set-pieces. Black Lagoon is a definite exception to this rule; it pulls off even the most ridiculous plot arcs that could easily be looked at with eye rolls and a laughable premise. One glorious example is just how dark and witty the dialogue writing is that it hits the mark on every scene it creates within the show's framework. It gives Black Lagoon a spark of creativity in its witty black humor that makes its unique personality deviate itself from other shows like it in terms of writing. It never gets old because it's not repetitive in how it's delivered by the characters sparingly and not done on almost every scene in each episode. It makes the jokes work more effectively with clarity and sensibility. When you talk about the characters in Black Lagoon, the one character you must acknowledge the most is the one and only Revy. She's the prototypical "girl with guns" character that spouts off adolescent language and a dark past that shadows over the overall tone of the show to not only become a dark comedy but a dark one altogether. So how is Revy different from any other female character in a "girls with guns" show? She does have similar characteristics that could be pointed out as being standard or generic to other characters like her. But it's because Revy is Black Lagoon. Her presence in the world of the show is very charismatic and alluring. It demands your attention by not only her design, which is by far one of the sexiest I've seen in a long time, but by her character background and her hilarious dialogue. As I said before about the writing, the writers give Revy a ton of material to shine on-screen when she goes into these well-put-together action scenes and her funny, snarky remarks at any of the characters. There is even a Tarantino kind of quality to her where she is this sick woman who only cares for money and violence. Still, she's also portrayed in a sympathetic light when she explains why her mentality is the way it is from her troubled past. They don't necessarily go in too much further this season, but it is a high starting point to a fantastic character. With Revy out of the way, the other characters may not have as much depth or even characterization as our larger-than-life heroine, but that certainly does not mean that they are wrong in any way, shape, or form. Our main hero, nicknamed Rock, does have some of the same levels of charisma as Revy, and how he doesn't come across as a weak-willed character as most characters of his archetype typically are. It isn't as if Revy's presence overshadows his own because he doesn't have much personality. Rock carries the show by himself quite well and even together with Revy. The chemistry between the two is unique in how they always are at odds because of how different they follow life. In the end, they still view each as part of a team, whether they want to or not. No scene involves them immediately becoming friends overnight, the show takes its time to build them up as a team that has to trust each other, or they might end up in a bad situation. It's written intelligently by this very fact. The two other people in the group, named Dutch and Benny, aren't given much to go around as complex characters, but this does not automatically make them evil characters. What little background they bring to the table for them is still much appreciated in how they even offer some great scenes with each other. The antagonists are hit and miss in how little depth some of them have when they seem. One, in particular, involves an army of Aryan neo-nazis that look more like fodder characters that don't get a lot of deep characterization. While I can forgive it, given how it's portrayed in an action show, it would've been more than it already was. The one that does hit the mark is a Roberta maid who is given some context for her intentions in being who she is. Despite her strange Terminator-like persona, the show handles it very well, which wasn't given much explanation. Then again, the show is nutty enough to let it pass as just another Black Lagoon style of logic put in for good measure. For the animation style that Madhouse put together back in their swell days, it still definitely holds up as a great visual treat. As I've mentioned in the beginning, the action scenes are done with absolutely fantastic visual flair and technicality inspired by John Woo's works. Although not perfectly seamless in how slick the characters move, it is spectacular to see how the animators put their hearts and souls to not cut any corners whatsoever in detailing every aspect of Revy and the rest of the environment on her sights gun. The violence and carnage in Black Lagoon are not necessarily as gory or blood-splattering as many would argue. There is no question that it celebrates its slaughter, but it's not done in a way that is so blatant or in-your-face that it gets tedious or loses its momentum in how effective each shot counts. Some do fit in that class, but for the most part, it handles its violence with admirable precision and intelligence that make every scene brimming with fascinating acts of carnage that is more exciting to watch than just rolling your eyes in boredom. There are even some neo-noir elements in the case of how it handles the violence and how it cuts immediately away from Revy shooting a man in the head at close range. The show has some great camera angles that make the scenes have a profound impact on them. The music is about what you would expect from an action show like Black Lagoon. Traditional rock and metal music that isn't very memorable to even try to buy an album for since it's just there to fill up the show's audio production and nothing more, not to mention the shooting and the characters shouting over the music doesn't help either. It does its job well to create a fun dark humorous vibe to the action scenes. However, the voice acting makes the dialogue spice up to new heights. I've only listened to the Japanese voice actors in Black Lagoon, and they all own their roles. The one to mention the rest is Megumi Toyoguchi, who does a helluva performance as Revy by giving her a tremendous sarcastic essence to her voice, making her so alluring and almost sexual. It fits the design of Revy so perfectly that Megumi almost becomes Revy just through her voice alone. Daisuke Namikawa, as usual, does an excellent job voicing Rock and doesn't seem like a novice compared to Megumi's performance, as do the rest of the cast members, with some that aren't noteworthy to discuss. Black Lagoon is about as silly and stupid as one could get out of an action show that would even make Steven Seagal blush. Not that Black Lagoon quality-wise is comparable to his films, just from a contextual point-of-view. Stupid is usually used to describe something without context or substance when relating a story or character in any medium, but if the show is self-aware of the fact that it is and takes advantage of this aspect. Some genuinely serious moments are found in Black Lagoon, even though they effectively achieve the dark tone that it is known for. Even with that said, it isn't out-of-place or distracting from the show's humor because the narrative's pacing is excellent. All of these make Black Lagoon easily one of the most entertaining and hard-hitting action anime. It treats its audience as grown adults and creates some of the most well-choreographed action courtesy of Madhouse, one terrible aiming lousy guy at a time. Grade: A

Black Lagoon is an action fan's dream come true, but those looking for characters and plot might be a bit turned off. As always, my reviews are spoiler free. I avoided this anime for the longest time, since I am generally not a fan of this kind of action series. After a year or so of procrastination, I finally got around to watching it. Here are my thoughts on the series as a whole (including Second Barrage and Roberta's Blood Trail OVAs, but not the odd Omake Spin off). Story - 5/10 Make no mistake about it: Black Lagoon is an action series through and through. It's gunfights galore,with some explosions and hand-to-hand combat thrown in to spice things up. All this action comes at the expense of an intricate and well thought out plot. I can forgive the show for this, however, since story telling is not its goal. The story of Black Lagoon (and sequel/OVAs) has two good things going for it, though. 1. The story may be simple, but it is still coherent. There are no huge gaps that you are expected to just accept. 2. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time, despite having no intellectual value whatsoever. With this in mind, come for the action, not the plot. Animation - 6/10 Black Lagoon does not have particularly great animation, but it doesn't really detract from the show. Colors are bland, character models are a bit simple while managing to be inconsistently drawn at points, and the gun models were often cringe-worthy. With that said, character movements are fluid throughout the action scenes (so most of the show), so I will give it a little extra credit there. Roberta's Blood Trail is slightly better done, in my opinion. Sound - 7/10 I loved the opening, Engrish and all. The gunfire was good as well, and the backing soundtrack matched it well. Characters - 5/10 This is another area that had to be sacrificed to make room for action. Few characters other than Rock, Revy, and Balalaika get more than a minute or two of development. Another contributing factor may be the large cast of characters that make up the show, not allowing any particular one to get much time on screen. This results in characters being pretty one dimensional, with the exception of the three mentioned above. Rock's character develops a bit over the series, but it is nothing to write home about. Revy and Balalaika have their pasts explained, which helps the viewer to better understand their actions, but neither develop at all over the course of the series. The only other notable characters are the Vampire Twins of Second Barrage. While I won't go into spoilers, they were some of the most interesting and tragic villains I've seen in a series of this nature. Enjoyment - 7/10 While I don't normally enjoy plotless action series, Black Lagoon was an exception. I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time, and watched episode after episode soaking up the shear fun and absurdity of it all. If I enjoyed it, it would be any true action fan's dream come true. If someone did not care as much for plot and characters as I do, this show could be much higher ranked for them. Any fan of action series should not hesitate to watch this series. Other Thoughts While I nearly always prefer watching a show raw or subbed, I can assure you that the dub for this series is superb (after the first few episodes, while the characters get into their roles). While the show has a lot of violence, it is seldom very graphic (there are a few exceptions). However, the profanity in the English dub is harsh and frequent. Omake has absolutely nothing to do with the series, and you can skip it without missing anything.

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