Review of Black Lagoon

I watched the first few episodes of this anime and couldn't get into it. It was only recently that I picked it up again and finished it on a single sitting. All I can say is that I loved it. It mainly takes place in a city named Roanapura, where the baddest of the bad come to drink, party, and spend their loot on some hookers and blow. -Story- [7] The story was a bit of a hit and miss for me. It revolves around the crew of Lagoon Company, more so a Japanese salaryman that gets kidnapped by the crew and later joins them. They area group of pirates/mercenaries that are given missions that usually lead to dangerous tasks and becomes a fight to stay alive. What I didn't like about the story was that it left me asking questions that really seems should be answered, I won't get into detail in order to make it spoiler-free. But one major flaw in this anime would be the lack of progression in the storyline.

-Art/Sound- [10] - [9]
The production value of this anime was incredible. The fights were very well executed, from the gunfights to hand-to-hand combat.There isn't much to criticize about the art style or the sounds in this anime, it was fantastically done and really fit the gloomy setting of Roanapura. Oh and great opening!

-Character- [10]
This anime had an abundance of colorful characters. My favorite character was Balalaika, it was what made me watch this until the end. I wanted to know how she got into power, her past (burn marks), and the story behind Roanapura and its major powers: Hotel Moscow and the Hong Kong Triads. They somewhat explain the stories of the characters, but it left me wanting more. It seems to be the lacking feature of this anime, it constantly keeps the viewers wondering. They would go into a character but leave out a crucial information in what seems to be an attempt in keeping the character seem protective of its past. This is done in a lot of anime and I have no problem with this, but in this one; it seems as though every character has a dark past and remains in the dark since none of them is really explored.

-Enjoyment- [10]
Although there are some crucial flaws in this anime, like not describing their very well created characters, or the fact that it doesn't have a main plot, I still very much enjoyed this anime. The action covers up everything that lacks from character development to story telling. The humor in this anime is pretty dark, for instance playing rock paper scissors to decide which one can kill first, or the poor bartender who gets his bar blown up every time the infamous Lagoon Company visits. I found it incredibly humorous huehue.

-Overall- [9]
This is my current favorite anime, so why did I give it a 9/10? This anime has a really slow start, in the manga it starts with Rock already in the crew while in the anime Rock is kidnapped then joins the crew. They should have did it like the manga, it wasn't necessary at all and kind of boring. But get past that and you're in one hell of a ride.

Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage 10/10

Honestly this is where it started getting good. A little bit more character development and a sense of direction into the story. The characters start showing their true colors and you become immersed in the hell hole that is Roanapura.

Black Lagoon OVA: Roberta's Blood Trail 6/10

After I finished the series I was genuinely sad and wanted to see more of Ronanapura and Miss Balalaika's reign of terror. I'm not one to watch OVAs but this one I had to. Roberta's Blood Trail left me with nothing but disappointment, it was nothing that I wanted from the series, although some interesting characters make a reappearance. This one I would say is for the die hard fans out there. It isn't very long (5 episodes) so you can still watch it if you want, but don't expect much from it.