Black Lagoon

With a genre that deals with many action set-pieces, a show of this specific genre is usually bogged down into mindless entertainment territory with absolutely no substance to it at all. There have been in the past many action films and TV shows that have shown to become competent in the history of film-making, examples in mind are the works of John Woo, Michael Mann, and Quentin Tarantino. But what if I told you that there is an anime show that encompasses everything that is great about those three directors and succeeds on every possible level? The show in question is Black Lagoon, a show that showcases a blend of mindless Hollywood action and juvenile humor in the best possible sense of the word juvenile.

Black Lagoon's story mainly focuses on our four main characters and their adventures together through plot arcs that tie in through the chemistry that helps make them grow with each other. There isn't a deep, complex plot. It's about as cliché as any Seinen action show in the past decade. That may seem like a negative when you put it that way, but sometimes they are used to good effect when you have competent writing to flesh out your characters and set-pieces. Black Lagoon is a definite exception to this rule; it pulls off even the most ridiculous plot arcs that could easily be looked at with eye rolls and a laughable premise. One glorious example is just how dark and witty the dialogue writing is that it hits the mark on every scene it creates within the show's framework. It gives Black Lagoon a spark of creativity in its witty black humor that makes its unique personality deviate itself from other shows like it in terms of writing. It never gets old because it's not repetitive in how it's delivered by the characters sparingly and not done on almost every scene in each episode. It makes the jokes work more effectively with clarity and sensibility.

When you talk about the characters in Black Lagoon, the one character you must acknowledge the most is the one and only Revy. She's the prototypical "girl with guns" character that spouts off adolescent language and a dark past that shadows over the overall tone of the show to not only become a dark comedy but a dark one altogether. So how is Revy different from any other female character in a "girls with guns" show? She does have similar characteristics that could be pointed out as being standard or generic to other characters like her. But it's because Revy is Black Lagoon. Her presence in the world of the show is very charismatic and alluring. It demands your attention by not only her design, which is by far one of the sexiest I've seen in a long time, but by her character background and her hilarious dialogue. As I said before about the writing, the writers give Revy a ton of material to shine on-screen when she goes into these well-put-together action scenes and her funny, snarky remarks at any of the characters. There is even a Tarantino kind of quality to her where she is this sick woman who only cares for money and violence. Still, she's also portrayed in a sympathetic light when she explains why her mentality is the way it is from her troubled past. They don't necessarily go in too much further this season, but it is a high starting point to a fantastic character.

With Revy out of the way, the other characters may not have as much depth or even characterization as our larger-than-life heroine, but that certainly does not mean that they are wrong in any way, shape, or form. Our main hero, nicknamed Rock, does have some of the same levels of charisma as Revy, and how he doesn't come across as a weak-willed character as most characters of his archetype typically are. It isn't as if Revy's presence overshadows his own because he doesn't have much personality. Rock carries the show by himself quite well and even together with Revy. The chemistry between the two is unique in how they always are at odds because of how different they follow life. In the end, they still view each as part of a team, whether they want to or not. No scene involves them immediately becoming friends overnight, the show takes its time to build them up as a team that has to trust each other, or they might end up in a bad situation. It's written intelligently by this very fact. The two other people in the group, named Dutch and Benny, aren't given much to go around as complex characters, but this does not automatically make them evil characters. What little background they bring to the table for them is still much appreciated in how they even offer some great scenes with each other.

The antagonists are hit and miss in how little depth some of them have when they seem. One, in particular, involves an army of Aryan neo-nazis that look more like fodder characters that don't get a lot of deep characterization. While I can forgive it, given how it's portrayed in an action show, it would've been more than it already was. The one that does hit the mark is a Roberta maid who is given some context for her intentions in being who she is. Despite her strange Terminator-like persona, the show handles it very well, which wasn't given much explanation. Then again, the show is nutty enough to let it pass as just another Black Lagoon style of logic put in for good measure.

For the animation style that Madhouse put together back in their swell days, it still definitely holds up as a great visual treat. As I've mentioned in the beginning, the action scenes are done with absolutely fantastic visual flair and technicality inspired by John Woo's works. Although not perfectly seamless in how slick the characters move, it is spectacular to see how the animators put their hearts and souls to not cut any corners whatsoever in detailing every aspect of Revy and the rest of the environment on her sights gun. The violence and carnage in Black Lagoon are not necessarily as gory or blood-splattering as many would argue. There is no question that it celebrates its slaughter, but it's not done in a way that is so blatant or in-your-face that it gets tedious or loses its momentum in how effective each shot counts. Some do fit in that class, but for the most part, it handles its violence with admirable precision and intelligence that make every scene brimming with fascinating acts of carnage that is more exciting to watch than just rolling your eyes in boredom. There are even some neo-noir elements in the case of how it handles the violence and how it cuts immediately away from Revy shooting a man in the head at close range. The show has some great camera angles that make the scenes have a profound impact on them.

The music is about what you would expect from an action show like Black Lagoon. Traditional rock and metal music that isn't very memorable to even try to buy an album for since it's just there to fill up the show's audio production and nothing more, not to mention the shooting and the characters shouting over the music doesn't help either. It does its job well to create a fun dark humorous vibe to the action scenes. However, the voice acting makes the dialogue spice up to new heights. I've only listened to the Japanese voice actors in Black Lagoon, and they all own their roles. The one to mention the rest is Megumi Toyoguchi, who does a helluva performance as Revy by giving her a tremendous sarcastic essence to her voice, making her so alluring and almost sexual. It fits the design of Revy so perfectly that Megumi almost becomes Revy just through her voice alone. Daisuke Namikawa, as usual, does an excellent job voicing Rock and doesn't seem like a novice compared to Megumi's performance, as do the rest of the cast members, with some that aren't noteworthy to discuss.

Black Lagoon is about as silly and stupid as one could get out of an action show that would even make Steven Seagal blush. Not that Black Lagoon quality-wise is comparable to his films, just from a contextual point-of-view. Stupid is usually used to describe something without context or substance when relating a story or character in any medium, but if the show is self-aware of the fact that it is and takes advantage of this aspect. Some genuinely serious moments are found in Black Lagoon, even though they effectively achieve the dark tone that it is known for. Even with that said, it isn't out-of-place or distracting from the show's humor because the narrative's pacing is excellent. All of these make Black Lagoon easily one of the most entertaining and hard-hitting action anime. It treats its audience as grown adults and creates some of the most well-choreographed action courtesy of Madhouse, one terrible aiming lousy guy at a time.

Grade: A