 In a certain, twisted way, I love comparing a show's PR to the reality of the series itself. Black Lagoon's PR certainly wasn't short on self-praise, and to be fair the show did pick up some good reviews as something that's squarely aimed at an older audience, and proud of it. But that's all just hype - does the series live up to it..?
Rokuro Okajima's trip to the ocean's just turned sour - the ship he's on has just been attacked by mercenaries, and while they've agreed to let the passengers go, there's one exception: him. It seems he's carrying some important information (his company forgot to point that out to him, naturally), and one of their business rivals has decided it wants that information. But the mercenary group, the crew of the torpedo boat Black Lagoon, soon find out they may have taken on more than they can chew, while Rokuro's about to discover that he finds the mercenary life appealing...
Right. The Black Lagoon of the title isn't a place - it's the name of the torpedo boat that our anti-heroes use in their operations. At the start of the series, it has a crew of three - Revy, a rather cute woman who is very much into ultraviolence and really isn't someone you want to mess with (although there is some charm hidden under the hard surface. Very deeply hidden.), tech genius Benny, and leader of the pack Dutch, who brings a large dose of common sense to the group. The first episode also introduces Japanese salaryman Rokuro, who through a series of unfortunate happenings finds himself joining the crew of the Black Lagoon - they affectionately call him Rock, which he's clearly not as hard as. Truly. Together they take on any mission that pays well enough to make it worthwhile, with legality being entirely a fringe concern.
Putting the story to one side for a moment, it's worth talking about the show's presentation a bit. Visually, it's up there with the best of them - between a South Sea setting that gives opportunity for a number of diverse locations (and lets the animators cheat a little by using a plain seascape when the budget's tight, I suspect), and production studio Madhouse's usual gloss, it really looks the part. Weapons fans will love this, too, as there's an attention to detail put into the weaponry on show that borders on the obsessive - it's firearm fanservice, and no mistake.
That will have a lot of people drooling all over the show already, regardless of how good the plots actually are - and to be honest, story is initially Black Lagoon's Achilles heel. The opening three episodes are really nothing special - a two-part story to introduce Rock and work him into the crew, and one that revolves around an open-sea boat chase that shows off Revy's skills but otherwise is pure filler. The fourth episode, which jumps back and forward between the present day and the final days of World War II, has much more to it, though, and is an indicator that the series can do good stories - and it only gets better as the series goes on.
Even when it's just filler, Black Lagoon is far more fun than it has any right to be. The PR talks about it being...
"..a refreshingly intense blast of explosive action, graphic violence, snappy dialogue and weapon fetishism that would put John Woo to shame. And it's all backed by a louder than hell musical score to keep things rolling along."
...and you know, that description is just about right. At times, it's as shallow as hell, but it knows that, and positively revels in it - it's out to entertain simply by being something that you know that, in these politically-correct times, you really shouldn't enjoy. There are some scenes in there that in other shows would have me rolling my eyes and muttering "Yeah, right.." - but in this series, they fit right in. At other times, it's far more serious and gives the main characters an opportunity for self-examination, to explore what they've become through their misadventures - real opportunities for character development that aren't wasted.
Two arcs that are particularly worth paying attention to: the introduction of Roberta, the ex-mercenary maid who almost comes across as the evil twin of Mahoro in some ways (just without the flashes of fanservice), whose episodes feature all the action you could wish for, with both heavy firepower and more physical violence featuring heavily as she goes head-to-head with Revy. It's great fun to watch - mindless, sure, but that's the point. She's meant to be protecting Garcia, the heir of a wealthy South American family whose growing disdain at what his maid's turned into (he knew nothing of her mercenary past) adds a slight human element to the story, but that's just on the fringes of what's really a no-holds-barred slugfest. It's what Black Lagoon does best.
On the other side of the scale is Rock's return to Tokyo, which plays out over the final six episodes of the series. After more than a year in Roanapur, Rock heads back to Japan - although it's not for pleasure. It's business, and he's got Revy with him to help out. Crime syndicate Hotel Moscow is looking to expand a little, and with Rock knowing the country he's been called in to help grease the wheels a little bit. With their visit coinciding with Christmas and New Year, though, Revy takes mind to have a little harmless fun along the way - and Rock gets to see a whole new side of her personality. Not that trouble is ever far away - in this case, in the form of a chance meeting with a young girl, Yukio, and her bodyguard Gin - a pair who are similar to Rock and Revy in some ways, and about to be drawn into the firestorm that Hotel Moscow's new Japanese operation is about to cause.
This is the storyline in which Rock seems to learn the most about the unforgiving nature of the world around him. Thanks to the circumstances of their first meeting, Rock still sees Yukio as the helpless schoolgirl - left purely to her own devices, that would be the case, but she's been landed with the role of Yakuza clan leader - a clan that Balalaika and her Hotel Moscow have decided to bring down. With the "might" of her clan behind her she's actually quite intimidating, as Rock finds out after having rescued her. She's spectacularly unthankful for that, considering the situation she'd been in before Rock, Revy and Gin turned up, and that's the point where you have to think that Rock should have walked away.
But Rock seems to have something to prove, to show to the world that living in Roanapur and working for the Lagoon Company hasn't robbed him of humanity or compassion, and he insists on fighting his corner and trying to help the girl who really doesn't want his help - to the point where he challenges Balalaika, in what has to have been the most unwise move of his life. It's great stuff, the sort of story where you just don't want it to stop.
I have to admit, Black Lagoon's early PR didn't exactly set me alight - the way the show was described didn't give me any visions of a show that I'd enjoy or rush out to buy. Six volumes later, though, and I've been properly converted - despite what the PR tries to portray, it's not all about the violence, there's actually some good character work in there as Rock and those around him - Revy in particular - develop through the series into characters that you can connect to and care about, despite their morally iffy backgrounds. The action scenes are just icing on the cake, and work extremely well in that role. Overall, Black Lagoon is well worth getting. Recommended.
For full episode summaries and screenshots, check out our reviews of the individual releases:
» 1st Barrage, Volume 1
» 1st Barrage, Volume 2
» 1st Barrage, Volume 3
» 2nd Barrage, Volume 1
» 2nd Barrage, Volume 2
» 2nd Barrage, Volume 3
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