Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon is a masterful mix of Action, Gun fights, Lots of explosions and a bad ass soundtrack. The show follows Lagoon Company a delivery made up of modern day pirates who end up working with gangs and criminals to earn money the show has crisp and clean animations which is just a treat. The show also has a great list of characters. Rock the main protagonist at first is easy over look by all the other characters but slowly becomes more memorable as he adjusts to the life of a modern day pirate all in all he is a likable character. Revy the female protagonist she is Tough and she enjoys killing so the is the complete opposite of Rock although they get along well, Dutch the leader/Boss of Lagoon company and Benny the tech guy he is a non violent nice guy. So sub or dub I think all up the dub is more worth it not cutting to much and its kind of nice to see them all speak English is feels more natural. If your looking for a fun action packed, bloody, profanity filled anime with a good plot and great character development this will be the show for you.

Watched the English Dubbed. The anime revolves around a harbor city Ronanapur- center for drugs trade so we have the Triad,Italian mafia, South American drug lords , Russian mafia in the form of X-military paratroopers and of curse Uncle Sam in the form of CIA operatives. Our protagonist- The Black Lagoon company is a group of 4 doing the transportation/pirate/mercenaries business. Took me time to get the hang of the anime, the starting was too fast for me. Wasn't sure where they were going with the story, add the many American/pop culture reference, as a non-American i wasn't getting the hang of the dialogs.Ones the new recruit Rock settled in among the crew of Black Lagoon i really started enjoying. Ones i got the hang of the pace, i really started enjoying the dialogs. They are intelligent, funny and critical - very realistic. The main characters Rock and Revy change there attitude from having fun to being depressed, from being nice guys to being bad without remorse. Loved all the different characters and there are loads of them. This anime has many complicated bad-ass characters who have the presence of being the main protagonist. The detail going into each scene was awesome. One of the few animation were even the background seemed to be worked upon. Work was done on everything making them look very realistic and stylish. The Action is mind blowing and artistic. Its macho and all done by girls. Girls with balls of steel. Really enjoyed roberta's arc in the end,total bad-ass,although the last episode 29 was a bit of disappointment.

Will love some historical arcs on any of the elite citizen of Ronanapur.

When it comes to Japanese anime there is always a question what exactly given show is trying to achieve and what genre it fits in - one obviously can't watch most anime shows as entertainment for kids. Judging by western genre conventions "Black Lagoon" is closest to action movies from 90s or to franchises like "Transporter" or "Expendables". It is full of improbable and highly entertaining action sequences and awesome characters written entirely as Rule of Cool instantiations. The plot can be shallow and at times is only an excuse for staging another shootout. And the whole show can be really cheesy. But instead of coming from western action movie formulas much of this cheesiness is of Japanese origin. As a result, if someone is not accustomed to anime quirks (e.g. underage gender-ambiguous incestuous insane killer twins! I'm not kidding..) one may find them quite refreshing.

But there are some differences which in my opinion make "Black Lagoon" a little bit better than standard action flicks. Firstly, it's the overwhelming atmosphere of moral ambiguity which pervades the whole show - the anime doesn't try to whitewash actions of the protagonists, it portrays them essentially as villains fighting other villains. Likable villains, one must give them that, but villains anyway. And, in contrast to many other similar movies, protagonists are often not even slightly more ethical than their enemies. As a result antagonists of the show tend to be better developed and much more interesting than expected (aforementioned twins and certain yakuza clan particularly shine here).

The world of the show is dark, nihilistic place inhabited by violent beings, fighting for money in criminal underworld. It happens all the time in all kind of shows, but here the series is aware to some point of its own shallow nihilism and manages to criticize it. Quite a feat for an action series, I'd say.

The other strong point of Black Lagoon is the duo of its main characters - Revy and Rock. Revy seems to be walking "chick with guns" stereotype. It's quite easy to overlook certain degree of complexity behind her sheer awesomeness and battle prowess. Below the surface she is much more flawed than typical action anti-hero which definitely makes her that much more interesting. Rock, on the other hand, as a stranger in the world of wickedness who was put there by accident, acts as a link of a viewer to the series' dark underworld and represents fading ethical ideals which contrast starkly with the place he was thrown into. The relationship between the two and its development fuels much of the series. OK one can see it through as some kind of Japanese male yuppies' collective escape fantasy. But it's really interesting fantasy, contains some serious traps and it's not as trivial as one can think.

Speaking of fantasies - one massive pitfall of the show is strongly sexualized portrayal of Revy. I wouldn't mind if she was strongly sexualized sometimes or even on a regular basis - it would be somehow justified by her character. But she is sexualized virtually always. Maybe it's just me but I really can't stand mild erotic fantasies pressed upon my face all the time. It's all the more frustrating when you notice that show is actually quite restrained when it comes to gratuitous nudity. OK, restrained at least relative to its setting.

The other flaws - the story can be at times confusing and sometimes doesn't make much sense - it concerns especially the plot of the longest arc of the show (concerning certain Latin maidservant). Additionally, some characters and events cross the border of ridiculousness by too many steps. I'm personally inclined to forgive the latter, however.

If you like action-packed movies and series but you find them formulaic and boring and you can tolerate small amount of anime peculiarities "Black Lagoon" is the ideal show for you. Exoticness and reasonable depth in both characters' development and antagonists' portrayal will come as a bonus.

Watching an episode of Black Lagoon reminds me of an 1980s era action movie. There are fights, shootouts, car chases, explosions, and of course plenty of one-liners. Although the show's main aspiration is to be an action series, it has interesting characters and pretty good story lines, making it more than just a run of the mill action anime. The show is set in southeast Asia and centers around a mercenary group (Black Lagoon) whose members include the leader Dutch, mechanic Benny, Rokuro Okajima a.k.a. 'Rok' a businessman who gets shanghaied into Black Lagoon, and probably the best known, Revy, the group's best fighter who shoots up opponents with two pistols at once. Their ethics are of course flexible so they often take jobs from local criminal organizations, and unsurprisingly the Black Lagoon crew definitely qualify as 'anti-hero' types (except perhaps Rok). It could even be argued that they cross into outright 'bad-guy' territory from time to time. This is what makes this series interesting though, that the characters aren't trying to be good, and their only real code of conduct is their loyalty to each other and of course to turning a profit on their shady jobs (think Sam Peckinpah's Wild Bunch). As you may have guessed Black Lagoon is aimed squarely at an adult audience. There is occasional nudity (i.e. dancers in a topless bar), drug use, and killings and profanity are frequent. Although its concept may not be all that original, its execution is good, so if you like your action bloody and your 'anti-heroes' profane, Black Lagoon is definitely worth a look.

Black Lagoon is one of those action-packed Animes where the blood flows thick and red, the guns and explosions are loud and when somebody dies...they die hard!!!

Along the same lines as "Cowboy Bebop" but more grounded in reality than space, Black Lagoon's frequent pop-culture references help keep the show current and believable in a "this could be happening somewhere" kind of way!

For those of you who enjoy a good story/ plot, the story definitely is there and really is not all that complicated to follow. However, this show is definitely more about the action scenes as they are fast, hard and over-the-top which is great for any action-adrenaline junkie!

The story in a way is just a series of events which links together a whole lot of action scenes but it is the way it is all done which truly makes this anime show brilliant.

The characters are another great point to the show as it really delves into peoples relationships with each other and why it is that they act the way the do or have such a dark view of the world. The interesting thing is that there really is no "good guys" in Black Lagoon. The good guys are in a way just as bad as the bad guys yet still manage to gain sympathy and laughs from the viewer.

Which leads to another great thing about the show, the humour! Brilliant...though very dark, it is still very funny!!!

Each season is short (12 episodes) but each episode runs so well into the next that it is hard not to watch another one straight after just to see what happens next. Same can be said about season 2 as it pretty much just continues right from where season one left off. I don't know the exact details but I'm sure the show must have just been one season that was split into 2 possible for DVD release purposes but I'm not 100% sure of that fact.

I will say that season 2 does take the action to a whole 'nother level and it is a lot more brutal than in the first season. There is also more bad language and adult/sexual themes in season 2 which is great but maybe not for all, especially people who found the first season a little bit much.

All up a great action series for fans of Anime or just action in general.

I hear rumours of a third season on the horizon which I hope is true as I'll be happy to watch another 12 episodes (or more) of Black Lagoon just to get another healthy does of non-stop action, guns, babes and bullets!!!

"Don't bother me, the door is locked!"

• Luke: 11 (apparently).