Black Lagoon

First of all, I want to make one thing clear. This show is fantastic, but it's definitely NOT for everyone. If you can't handle over-the-top ultra-violence, common sense dictates you won't like this show very much. I have a couple of friends that fall into that category and since I wouldn't recommend this show to any of them, I can't recommend it to you either. However, if you do like some gore in your anime, you've hit the jackpot by stumbling across this amazing gem.

Black Lagoon explores the harsh reality of the world we live in. It’s not fantasy or sci-fi, in fact, it doesn’t feel fictional at all. I can legitimately see this story happening in real life, so I kind of feel bad for finding it so entertaining. It's no surprise it's maintained such an enduring reputation, even after all these years. Even regarding the base premise, the show presents something fresh and exciting as it follows a rag-tag group of smugglers that terrorize the southern Asian coasts, offering plenty of unique villains to cross with.

Black Lagoon opens in the middle of the action, with the protagonist Rokuro Okajima aka "Rock" stranded on a boat with two guns in his face. Having been snagged as the courier middleman in a backroom deal of his uncaring corporate overlords, Rock finds himself marooned in the south China sea, hitching a ride with pirates as his old company hires mercenaries to retrieve his cargo at all costs. Therefore, Rock quickly realizes his company intends to leave him for dead. Upon seeing a kind of mad freedom in the way his new pirate acquaintances live their lives, he ultimately decides to stay with his former captors. And so Rock joins their captain Dutch, the mechanic Bennie, and the psychotic gunman “Two-Hands” Revy on their gritty adventures, stealing loot and transporting contraband and occasionally running up against some less than savory individuals of the criminal underworld.

Black Lagoon plays out as a series of multi-episode arcs, whether it be a heist or a gang war, or even a death-match between Revy and a terminator-esque housemaid named Roberta. No, I'm not kidding about that. The crew also comes across a ship full of actual Neo-Nazis at one point too. Things are never simple for the Lagoon company as you'll soon see, since basically every job they take inevitably devolves into a complete shit-show. Though Black Lagoon is full of details alluding to the various characters' tragic pasts and grudges, violent absurdity tends to be a prominent trait of the show's run. How much you'll enjoy this material will ride very heavily on your appreciation for over-the-top ultra-violence as I mentioned at the beginning of the review.

If you do enjoy that sort of stuff, Black Lagoon is insanely good at it. The show will occasionally build up an action duel in a way that feels a little drawn out, but most of the time scenes charge forward at breakneck speed, varying perspectives and introducing new variables and keeping the audience from ever getting bored. Stories here aren't just a series of direct battles - there are thrilling escapes, high-stakes negotiations, well-laid traps, and all manner of other compelling turns. From the settings to the villains involved to the narrative structure, Black Lagoon rarely uses any dramatic trick twice.

Personally, my favorite aspect of the show is definitely the love-hate dynamic between Revy and Rock. Ever since the very beginning of the show, Revy has always been portrayed as a ruthless and sadistic killer, with little to no conscience to stop her from making poor decisions. Rock, on the other hand, was always a bleeding heart, who ultimately still cares about others despite the hardships he's forced to deal with over the course of the series. Because of this, Rock is forced play the role as mediator whenever Revy goes off the rails, much to her displeasure. Rock's overwhelming urge to find a diplomatic approach to any given crisis is why Revy can't stop herself from trying to kill him every five minutes. Eventually, their relationship grows and they obtain a mutual respect and admiration for one another and that journey is truly fascinating to watch.

Overall, this show is an easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys some good old-fashioned gore, and even offers some fun for those who just love to watch a thrilling adventure in the making. By the end, I can safely say that I was firmly on board with the whole production. If wild action is your scene, Black Lagoon is more than worthy of your time.