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.

I liked this anime at the beginning. Revy was a lot of fun and the action sequences were good. But, then it went over the top, while completely neglecting the characters. More or less, this is the kind of show I used to watch as a child. Every few episodes mean one story and the stories only connection to each other are the main characters. Every story starts the way it starts and usually ends with Revy shooting her way out at the end. My problem with the show is that nothing really happens to the characters once Rock gets integrated into the team. The only one who changes a little is Rock. Other than that, little to none character development. There are many side characters there are many adventures, but there is no conclusion to the show as if it could go on like this forever.

I was tricked into this show after watching the pilot, and unfortunately spent the next 20 or so episodes grinding my teeth and hoping for things to get back to where they started. They did not. The basic premises of Black Lagoon is fairly exciting - a bland Tokyo office clerk gets mixed up with a bunch of modern day pirates, who gradually help him find his real self and enjoy life. Not a lot, but mixed with a neat amount of gore and sexuality it could have worked. Unfortunately the show's biggest problem is that never really figures out what it wants to be about. Themes such as coming of age, finding love, loss of innocence, brutality of crime and the hypocrisy of the modern world get tossed around, only to be abandoned yet again as the characters indulge in another outrageous prepubescent fantasy action sequence, ridiculous in its unbelievability. Don't get me wrong, I am all about silly. And all about realism. It's just that for me, the two don't ever work together in the same episode. Or the same show. I call this the "Gungrave Syndrome". It seems like the writers did not believe they can have a successful show that is based solely on real-life physics and multi-dimensional characters. So they throw the whole one-man-killing machine thing, evil vampire twins, blade throwing women, bullet splitting samurais etc. etc....I AM actually grateful there were no zombies. I mean if you are going to make an Anime about ridiculous gunfights right out start it up as one, and maybe place it in some alternative universe, or at least far far in the future. "Trigun" worked exactly because of that. And because it had characters. Black Lagoon has two - Revy and Rock, but they struggle between ridiculousness and determination in such a pathetic fashion that midway through the viewer finally abandons all hope that they will ever care if something happens with either of them. Unsurprisingly, nothing happens. The rest of the players are barely worth mentioning, because all they ever do is more of the same. Over, and over, and over again.All in all, the way I see it, this is a kiddie show disguised as an adult one. It could have worked, had they kept it simple and realistic, but a failed opportunity is all it is in its current form.

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.