Review of Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon is one of the most illogical pieces of fiction I've ever seen. An action, Hollywood movie that doesn't give a fuck against whatever you think guns or humans are supposed to work like. And I like it. Story 6.5/10 The story feels fairly simple, episodic in nature, based onto a "Job of the month" formula that's too short to be ending in the 12th episode mark. The main characters are everything in this little adventure, since we don't really get a compelling narrative. A guy manages to get pulled out of a dead-end job that'll never give anything worth living for. He decides to startworking with his captors, who don't seem like that bad of a crowd. The group of unhinged people that give a normal guy a strange, Stockholm syndrome refuge to live in, to be somebody. Now, loads of what I don't like is the melodrama put into the second to last arc. I could've worked, but it felt extremely fake by over blowing it.

Characters 7.5/10
Not every character managed to grab me, since we still don't get enough content about each of them, but the focus on just the main duo manages to do more than enough to engage me. Since every character positions itself on a line, with one end being normal, the other, a total psychotic lunatic. The main duo being on opposite ends becomes the whole anime. Pull and shove, connect and disconnect, can't deny that I was expecting some kind of weird romance from a 2000s anime like this. I love that there wasn't a romance with somebody that clearly couldn't have one. Rock doesn't need love, just like Revi, they just need somebody to confirm what they've done to be where they are. An all around, it's pretty fun how they develop and fight from comedically to seriously.

Animation 9/10
The animation department is where it really changed my perspective. You expect the first episode to have great animation, like a pilot, or a promotional piece. Many adult centric anime today don't have the most particularly great animation, but since this one has some censorship, and the public could've been broader, it seems to have enough fate to have great, fluid, brutal, and explosive animation, even for today's standards. This one definitely stands the test of time.

Voice Acting 7/10
It works, doesn't stand out, it's just okay, even if overdramatic at times by some characters, but I liked it. There isn't much to say other than how much Revi stands out as the force and focus of the entire series. How could she not? She's the poster child.

Enjoyment 6/10
I couldn't get totally into it. This is the category where it's a personal gripe, not a hit towards the series itself. It doesn't take itself too seriously, until it does, and fails for me. The moments I got into it are entirely Revi and Rock, something that goes away in the second half for a bigger focus on the bombastic, on bigger dilemmas that felt forced and contrived. Nothing felt as personal, or as well written as that little moment on the submarine arc, or the restaurant scenes, and I wish it could've been more like that. The biggest problem is probably suspension of disbelief. I can't for the life of me turn off my brain and accept that these people can gun down so many others without rhyme or reason, without strategy, and with every other human being, being the stupidest existence on earth.

Overall 7.2
Good for many people as an action series that doesn't care about logic. I enjoyed the early parts, but the latter suffers from the shift in focus from character, to explosions. I can recommend it, but not say that I loved it a lot myself.