Review of Black Lagoon

I got more than I expected from this anime. I didn't think it would have moments as 'dark' as it did, but each one I can think of had something that pulled me out of the situation. The gothic incestial loli killer twins. The silent, unexpectedly cute cleaner who swings a chainsaw around. The pale (South American) maid in a french style uniform. And who could forget the 5 episode season finale where the writher couldn't resist including a Japanese high school girls. They even found a way to undress her and make her the head of group of Yakuza. What I'm getting at is thatthe serious tone the show plays with is undermined by these anime tropes. Obviously this is an anime and the creator(s) have every right to use them. But I find myself questions if that made the stories any better. And if they were going to take artistic liberties, they could've used more creative character designs, instead of stereotypes.

I can't say I was too surprised considering how Revy is portrayed on every piece of promotional material. I suppose if it had been a silly then everything I mentioned would be easy too overlook and typical of the medium. But all the philosophizing that the characters do shows that the show really wants to be more, its just not confident to try without cheap visual gimmicks.