Black Lagoon

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.

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.

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).

You can find Black Lagoon on Netflix and I'd easily recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good adult oriented anime. I've recently watched through episodes once more and I think even after almost 15 years it holds up perfectly.

The animation is really well done and I also enjoy the story lines a lot as well as the characters. The main cast is very likable even with their flaws. And quite often you can even feel sympathy for the antagonists.

Within the various stories you'll always find the dark themes of loss and tragedy. At the same time the show keeps it entertaining by adding amazing action scenes. They are quite often over the top in terms of what should be possible, but the show keeps it at a level where even though it is ridiculous it's still somewhat believable and also highly entertaining.

Most important lesson of this show - Don't mess with maids!

This reviewer does mainly standard movies/TV (check out my reviews) but after a friend tipped me to Steins Gate (now seen it twice top to bottom) I was sort of hooked on quality anime.

This is my second fave anime. I apply the same standards I apply to film/TV -- the production (writing, audio, effects) has to be good enough to make you feel you left behind your own life and draw you in to another world.

(See for example the short-lived series BANSHEE, currently my #1 pick in recent live action TV ... and they shut down the series because they wanted to, not because the ratings were weak).

Black Lagoon makes me feel, like the character Rock, I left my world behind. The animation is to die for, the character are unforgettable (love the MAID!) and the dialog in the English dub is sassy.

Highly recommended.