Black Lagoon

Definitely not what I expected. At a high level, the story follows a jaded Japanese businessman as he abandons his old world to become a courier/pirate with the people who kidnapped him. I say that, but really that's not true. Shortly after the plot kicks off, the story settles into a rhythm and changes from that initial idea, instead focusing on the crew as a whole as it engages in various episodic scenarios. Rock quickly finds his place as part of the crew, despite his relative newness to the occupation. Eventually he stops feeling like a protagonist and becomes just another part of the cast; the focus is often elsewhere. These scenarios are generally interesting and fun, pitting the crew against dangerous people and roping them into deeper trouble the more they go.

I wouldn't say the plot is quite episodic, but generally once one problem is resolved, the next episode pops the crew over to some new group of unrelated people with some other problem to solve, so you get a similar experience; there's no overall plot really, just a series of unrelated jobs. Personally i don't usually care for episodic plots, but it works alright for this anime, and in a way reinforces the theme of not getting attached in this line of work. There's just a lot of loose ends; for example, early on there's a plot device of a cd containing nuclear designs that is never relevant again after that episode. This is not an anime to watch if you're looking for a overarching narrative.

I think the characters are really well done, and when the show chooses to spend time on them they're fun to watch. Rock starts out as this mellow businessman but quickly starts to assert himself and shows that his cool and level-headed thinking is a boon to the crew. Revy's past is pretty interesting, especially how self-aware she is of it and the person it's turned her into, and her tendencies to play the part of the tormented heroine when it suits her is even called out and I love that, because that's a realistic way that people handle being a bad person that you don't see too often. Dutch and especially Benny don't get much focus, but when they're on screen they have great chemistry with the crew and their various criminal associates. It's fun watching them talk and cajole around.

My only wish is that the show spent more time and dug a little deeper into its characters. It seems clear that the show is more focused on the scenarios and criminal organizations than the main cast once they're established, with most of the screentime going to big gunfights and providing characterization to the villains and allies surrounding them. It's not necessarily a bad thing if you enjoy those aspects, but I just enjoyed the main cast a lot and wish there was a little more development between them than the 'business as usual' banter that fills the rest of the show. Most of the bond between Revy and Rock, for example, seems to just happen gradually or off-camera after a certain point. On the other hand, the baddies get unusually deep characterization and should be applauded for that. Considering how fast some of them die, it definitely helps prevent them from becoming forgetable.

It's Madhouse, so of course the animation is good. Not a lot of 'wow' shows but everything is fluid and cleanly drawn, and the art style is also refreshing. Everyone has this certain heft to them that make them feel a bit more grounded than your more typical anime characters.

The only thing I can't quite wrap my head around is the ||Plot-armored terminator maid and Dragonball-Z-like fight between her and Revy towards the end of the season. For a show that seemed to go out of it's way to be a fairly grounded and realistic show about south-china pirates, it feels pretty out of place to me. Maybe I can chalk it up to being a product of the 2000's, dunno.||

Curious to see how things develop in the second season. Overall it was a fun action flick that didn't overstay it's welcome.