Review of Black Lagoon

Story: Black Lagoon is the brutal en-devours of a mercenary group of the same name revolving around a crew of four who accept work from the different mafia groups in the South China Sea region. That's all it is on a surface level, but however there's so much more to the story which is fleshed out by way of the characters and exploring their minds in depth, whether they're on just another run of the mill job or a life & death situation. Season 1 is mostly just scattered jobs giving time for the viewer to get comfortable with the crew, and slowly flesh outthe world around them with reoccurring resident side characters alike. With the exception of a few extended arcs of 2-3 episodes, the first season is pretty by the books in terms of plot. Season 2 however, changes the pace drastically. unfortunately, While the story-lines of the short arcs get much better and more complex, the show loses focus of certain characters towards the end of its run, which isn't all bad...but it does leave a bit to be desired. That said, I loved the season 2 plot-lines. They told some dark and brutal tales packed with great action and pacing and the ending felt satisfying.

Art: there's not much to say here. The animation is perfectly in line with 2006-9 quality artwork. I will say I really love the aesthetic of the city the crew called home. The constant shots of the faceless Buddhist statue as their boat rides into the harbor really set the tone for a lot of moments. The character designs are also really good and made all of the cast memorable, side characters or not. The action scenes are all flashy but at the same time smooth and comprehensible, and the 3D animation for vehicles and guns are all highly detailed. the background shots of bars shops and particularly the ocean all give an island vibe in the criminal underworld, which is exactly what it is.

Sound: At first I wasn't a fan of the opening, but as I kept watching I came to really enjoy it. It sets the tone perfectly and gets you pumped before a new episode. The attention to detail with the different gun sounds and the noise of chaos are all executed well, and the shows end credits track was one of my favorite things about it. The episode could wrap up a short arc on a high note, with all the characters getting home in one piece, but right before the credits come on, whether its a ominous shot or a dark depressing piece of dialogue the end track almost always completely changes the vibe of whatever's happening, making the end of every episode having a sense of dread and emptiness, which is one of the biggest undertones of the show and the main message it tries to push...I'm not going to explain further as that's something you have to understand from watching it. The OST is pretty tame in that it doesn't completely shift tones for every different moment, there are some uplifting tracks but they fall in line with the shows vibe and does not throw anything off. The action scenes all have kick-ass musical scores which should go without saying for this type of show. A side note I watched Black Lagoon in Dub and I feel this is the way to go. The voice acting is great and encapsulates the vibe the characters give off perfectly, specifically Revy.

Characters: The cast is by far the best thing about the show, the protagonist "Rock" is a perfectly relatable average Joe on the surface, but even early on you can tell there's something behind his eyes that makes him different, and I love how they stayed true to this by not changing his character completely despite the year time span of the show. You get a lot of great dialogue from him that subtly tells you whats going on in his mind, but its not just outright told to you. Revy is the female protagonist of the show, and the same applies to her except in her case being the opposite of Rock in terms of what kind of person they each are. She has the most scene-stealing moments and lines of the series, but her character is much more than just the "bad ass girl with the gun who curses a lot" which is what it may seem like on a surface level. The supporting cast as I said before is all great. whether its Eda the bad ass nun from the ripoff church or the intimidating leader of the Russian mob every side character, antagonist or not gets a moment to shine and each have a crazy bad ass or brutal moment of their own. The underlying tones and issues with society and certain people the show brings up are all explored through the characters and their dialogue with each other rather than the plot itself, sure some of it is situational, but you get the most just by seeing them in face to face conversations, or talking among themselves on how to deal with a sticky situation.

In conclusion I loved this show and thoroughly enjoyed every episode, most of what I said was vague and I didn't explore much plot specifics or character specifics because you should go into this show with an open mind and form your own opinion and know nothing about anything that happens. If you're reading this I hope you enjoyed my too long badly written review!