Review of Black Lagoon

Black lagoon was my second anime and even though i have seen plenty anime it remains one of my favorites in the action gender anime category. I will keep this as short as i can but i will also try to explain the reasons this anime is one of those few hidden gems out there. As we all know anime about pirates do not come by so often other than the neverending One Piece, and one that puts the cutthroat and ruthless life of a pirate under the magnifying glass is even rarer, if not, nonexistent. Black Lagoon is an exception that vividly exemplifies thisperspective and it presents in raw fashion a lawless world full of people in their most depraved state. Violence and bloodshed mostly in the form of gunfights are plentiful in this show, and they are executed with style that is reminiscent to action films of the 90′s. At the same time, the show adeptly juxtaposes sleek action sequences with moments of deliberate character development, an aspect commonly neglected in most action shows. The balance of action and drama makes itself one of Madhouse‘s modern classics and perhaps a common reference of its respective genre.

It would be fair enough to say that Black Lagoon‘s most conspicuous trait is its action sequences. The show is heavily featured with scenes of flying bullets, blood splatting and stuff being blown up, all of which are fast and furious. They may be gratuitous occasionally, but for most of the times, these scenes serve an important purpose: apart from them being riveting and exhilarating to watch, they also illustrate how brutal the world is and explicitly show how the corruption of the human psyche drives people towards resorting to morally questionable actions. For one, Revy’s penchant for killing people coldbloodedly and out of delight is the outcome of her tragic childhood, and the same goes for the rest of the cast, their actions being the consequence of their motivations and not-so-pleasant personal stories.
While many of the audience would remember this show for the action, what’s more fundamental is the core, which is the motley cast. Black Lagoon is a carnival of badass cast with unique traits: there are the gunslingers, the mafia, the triads, the war veterans, the government agents, the Nazis and others with their deadly weapon of choice. And of course, the beauty of the show is at its peak when they all come together and let their weapons do the talking. However, underneath all that lies in-depth character development and chemistry; in particular, the relationship between Revy and Rock takes center stage continually as the Lagoon company takes on various jobs. The two characters experience friction between them from time to time because of their polar differences, but ironically their differences are what keeps each other’s sanity intact and bring them closer. This invisible bond between them is what makes a normal scene such as sharing a lighted cigarette special.

Between One Piece and Black Lagoon, the latter is like this more adult, more cynical and more in-your-face big brother of the former; if One Piece reitinerates the power of friendship to overcome all odds, Black Lagoon begs to differ by saying that friendship means nothing in the face of vice and gore. Madhouse shows how an action series is done by presenting to the audience one of the most daring seinen productions in its résumé.

Story: well to be honest the story wasnt really special. Almost all the time you will see the lagoon company accepting some kind of work which always leads to violence or revy saving rocks ass. Nether the less i liked it so i give it a 8

Art: For anime made almost 10 years ago the animation is great. All the characters are well drawn and unique and all the fighting scenes were nicely detailed. I give it a 9.

Sound: The oppening was amazing and i am glad that the kept it in the second one as well. The battle music was also excellent especially when revy draw her bad boys out and hell was about to rain down it was hard to focus on the fight while headbanging to that music. I give it a 9

Characters: Arguably the strongest part in black lagoon. Every single one of the characters in this anime were freaking bad asses (yes rock too in his own way). I mean look at revy, balalaika, Roberta etc. 10 without a doudt.

Enjoyment: A crap ton of gun fighting through out the anime from the first episode to the last. A crap ton of bad ass characters. If you like guns you will definetely love this. 9

Overall: This anime was very enjoyable due to the endless action it has, but thats it. If you are a person that likes good plots and an actual story i am sorry my friend but this anime is not for you. All the other people who like hot chicks gun fighting in every freaking episode, who like blood violence gore and endless calibers and mags, well what are you waiting for? 9