Review of Black Lagoon

**SUMMARIZED REVIEW** STORY [4/10]- The truth is I do not feel that the selling point of the show is the story. There really is no overarching narrative and each episode really could be watched by itself and It would make sense. This can be good and bad, but for me it hurt the story in the sense that while the stories of each job taken by the crew were good by themselves. There were no greater stakes, No overarching narrative, No mystery or anything close. ART[8/10]- Grimy and dark while also be very clear and legible. The drawn cities actually felt like real cities. The shops,food stands, street vendor were all done extremely well and give a lot of life to these cities which makes them feel more like ecosystems the characters are existing in rather than just a backdrop for the story.

SOUND [4/10]- No song made me feel like I needed to look it up because it was so good. The voice acting was passable but really nothing special.

CHARACTER [9/10]- Overall the characters to me were really good, and the amount of depth they squeezed into twelve episodes was really great.

ENJOYMENT [10/10]- There wasn't one second I wasn't enjoying my time watching this show and I recommend it to anyone , this is obviously a classic and one of the greats in many aspects in my opinion.

OVERALL [7/10]- A juggernaut of early anime in my opinion, and it didn't do it with story but instead with art, setting and characters.
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FULL REVIEW

STORY [4/10] The truth is I do not feel that the selling point of the show is the story. There really is no overarching narrative and each episode really could be watched by itself and It would make sense. This can be good and bad, but for me it hurt the story in the sense that while the stories of each job taken by the crew were good by themselves. There were no greater stakes, No overarching narrative, No mystery or anything close. This reminds me of how shows used to be made because a lot of people were not able to see all the episodes or would miss one and they didn't want the viewer to be lost , but looking back from a time were we can watch everything at once...the story meanders and stumbles through till the end ....not to mention the end feels abrupt and sloppily done, meaning there really was no concise ending. The story was not my favorite part of this show.
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ART[8/10]Wow, I really loved the art style for this show; Grimy and dark while also be very clear and legible. The drawn cities actually felt like real cities. The shops, food stands, street vendor were all done extremely well and give a lot of life to these cities which makes them feel more like ecosystems the characters are existing in rather than just a backdrop for the story. It really makes our characters feel part of the world rather than the main focus and I believe this is all due to the detail in the art style. Obviously the art style is from a different time so you will be able to tell its older but the truth is for me it never detracted from my enjoyment.
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SOUND [4/10]- for me the soundtrack isn't much to write home about . The outro soundtrack wasn't much of a soundtrack at all and I wished they had picked something different but this is all opinion as I have run into people who loved the soundtrack. The truth is for me it didn't do much for the story and No song made me feel like I needed to look it up because it was so good. The voice acting was passable but really nothing special.
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CHARACTER [9/10] For me this was the greatest part of the show and honestly Revy is Bae. Rokurou and Revy have such a good relationship and what I really enjoy is that they both have their very obvious strength and weaknesses. Revy is a badass and can hang with the most degenerate killers around but has almost no people skill, while "Rok" is almost the exact opposite ( having no combat skills and really only have his interpersonal skills to get him through) In the beginning this causes conflict between them but they obviously grow to see each other as more than just crew members. The captain "dutch" is just a really calm and collected leader, Im sad they didnt explore more of his backstory but he really seems like the stoic and quiet type so it made sense that he held things close to the belt and he was a good character overall. Another surprising thing is how good the side characters are ( the criminal bosses) they all had their own unique personality and they really became very important to a lot of episodes in the show. Overall the characters to me were really good, and the amount of depth they squeezed into twelve episodes was really great.
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ENJOYMENT [10/10]- I really liked this show and I have always loved pirate shows so its not surprising to me. I loved the characters and binged this show in one sitting , I just wanted to see more of the crew together and I was genuinely sad when it ended. There wasnt one second I wasnt enjoying my time watching this show and I recommend it to anyone , this is obviously a classic and one of the greats in many aspects in my opinion.
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OVERALL [7/10] A juggernaut of early anime in my opinion, and it didn't do it with story but instead with art, setting and characters. For me it was truly impressive how engrossed I was with the crew even lacking the overarching story and depth I normally look for. I was so impressed by these aspects of the show that I honestly have no issue calling this show a classic and one that no anime fan should go without seeing.