The characters are well defined, although I felt the focus given to the characters was rather strangely distributed Revy and Rock (the two main characters) aside, the rest of the Black Lagoon barely garnered any attention, and their involvement was so greatly reduced by the end of the series that you had to wonder why the show was even named after the group. The music is not something that impressed me there isn’t a lot of score music in the show (which is slightly refreshing given anime’s habbit of blasting violin and choir over every scene), and what it has is fitting, but not really memorable. The character designs are all attractive and original. It shines during the action scenes, which are very fluid and detailed, but overall has no real flaws other than the occasional lapse in consistency. The production values for the show are certainly excellent, some of the best to have come out of 2006. So Black Lagoon was a great change of pace a hollywood style action/adventure shoot ‘em up but with a darker and more thoughtful approach to themes and characters (as is often found in mature anime) - it’s a splendid mix. I found this refreshing because, typically, the only anime you are likely to find set in present-time reality are slice-of-life, revolving around dramatic or romantic themes. Although its depiction of battle features the usual problems of character shielding and the Stormtrooper effect, overall the show is very much grounded in reality, with no magic or science-fiction elements whatsoever. Typical action bases you could expect from hollywood, but which, for one reason or another, anime rarely delivers. From its premise to its execution, the show provides thrilling action sequences, from boat and car chases, to messy fisticuffs and bullet-spamming gunfights, the show covers all Generally, I tend to avoid those anime which are blatantly action-oriented, because an action anime series so often means that it will be generically shounen, or be some kind of absurd mecha-combat series very rarely can I find an action series which does not fall to those and other traps, and Black Lagoon is one of them. More realistic than certain other shows (cough Bleach cough), as in Black Lagoon people actually die (Ratchman, Torchweaver, Hansel and Gretel) at least.One word that keeps propelling itself to the forefront of my head when I go to describe this show is: ‘refreshing’. Though Angel Beats didn’t reveal its really, really, bad plot until the penultimate episode, I’m hoping that Black Lagoon will just cut to the chase and tell us, what’s /really/ going on.īlack Lagoon’s still somewhat unrealistic (why didn’t Chang chase after Hansel and Gretel? Surely he can run faster, especially if Gretel is holding a gun that’s larger than s/he is), but oh well. For Hansel and Gretel it’s the Italian mafia, and for Greenback Jane those bounty hunters (and that priest with the M60).
They have absolutely nothing in common, and you introduce characters in every one of them. Then, you have 3 episodes dealing with Greenback Jane.
First you have 3 episodes dealing with Hansel and Gretel. For Black Lagoon, it’s somewhat the same. In AB!, when they finished a main baddie, the team’d automatically go on to another baddie that was never introduced before (ahem programmer ahem). What could this sound like?Īngel Beats, obviously. Finally you have those one-time characters that you will NEVER, EVER SEE EVER AGAIN (Conan: every single case character, Black Lagoon: well… Ratchman?).Īnd finally, on top of those characters you have sectioned plotlines – for Conan, each case is a separate, unconnected plot and for Black Lagoon, each mission is a separate, unconnected plot. Then the secondary/recurring characters (for Conan it would the Black Organization, for Black Lagoon, Balalaika et al.). First the main characters that you hear of EVERY SINGLE EPISODE/CHAPTER. On top of that plot you have a metric shit-ton of characters. That’s why I said, the plot is really, really bad. It would have been “I WANT TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE” but he doesn’t. You have this really, really bad plot overfitting everything – In Conan’s case, “I WANT TO GET TALLER LOLOLOL” and in Black Lagoon… well, I really don’t know. Not that being a detective and BEING SOME BADASS GUY WIELDING DUAL PISTOLS ON A FREAKING TORPEDO SHIP have anything in common, but their plot-styles are the same. I was just thinking about what Black Lagoon reminded me of, and I realized – Detective Conan.