Toon Zone Talkback - "Black Lagoon: Season 1": Excitement, Explosions, and Expletives

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Makayla H

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This is the talkback thread for "Black Lagoon: Season 1": Excitement, Explosions, and Expletives.


I spent way too much money on an LE edition of vol. 2 of this series, when the fate of the Geneon titles was still in doubt. I don't regret that much, except that now I'm enough of a Black Lagoon groupie that I might double-dip for the steelbook set, for space-saving reasons and the bonus disc.

And, with one more review of the Black Lagoon Second Barrage coming up, I think Black Lagoon may have set a record at Toon Zone News by being reviewed by four different people at four different times. I think only Cars has done better, with 3 theatrical reviews and 2 of the DVD.
 
This was a pretty good review. I really enjoy this series, and I do feel that the review gave it a fair description to suggest whether it was worth picking up or not, for both existing fans of the series, as well as the newcomers.

That said, I didn't agree with every single thing that the review said about the actual show itself, but I agree with a good deal of what was said, and I myself would personally recommend this series to any action-lovers out there. It does have a few deeper layers to its characters, which they can start to show every now and then, but its still primarily a series to watch for its insanely awesome over-the-top action, and I have to admit, I'm a huge sucker for over-the-top action sequences.
 
The 1st season is pretty good, but I felt it tried too hard to appeal to a "mainstream" audience at times. Many of the stories and situations were kind of like streamlined Hollywood action plots that you'd find out of 2nd rate Die Hard wannabes or those Jason Statham movies.

I thought the Roberta storyline was when the show started to get its footing, and in the second season it truly found its own niche when it started to mine such sources as Seijun Suzuki, Italian Giallo, old school Yakuza flicks and grungy/bizarre Asian and European exploitation films. So yes, the Tarantino comparison became a bit more apt later on, but with a distinctly Japanese flavour. After all, this anime is from a country that almost CREATED the "exploitation" genre--why copy Tarantino when the sources are right there in your own backyard? And when Black Lagoon realized that they were all the better for it.

As for the dub--watch out for Patricia Drake as Balalaika. She REALLY shines in season 2, and you can tell she's enjoying the freedom from all the "stereotypical mom/old bag" roles she's usually typecast as in anime.
 
I got this whole series for cheap during the Best Buy sale and this quickly became one of my favorites because of the gunfights and the dark humor and the little character moments. I could easily see Hollywood making a live action movie of Black Lagoon and not completely screw it up.

The second season bonus disc is awful. Just the OP with Japanese text, textless ERAB and Japanese trailers. No interviews or anything remotely interesting like with the first bonus disc.
 
Funny you say that because the "Hollywood" influences in BL kinda bore me. I got more into the B-movie, "exploitation" type influences than the Hollywood ones.
 
While I'd argue season 2 was better, due to the changing dynamic between Rock and Revy, as well as better story arcs, season 1 was awesome in its own regard. First of all, it held my attention right off the bat, so it deserves big credit for that. Some shows take a while to get going, or have a strong opening episode followed by some mediocre ones before things pick up again, but this stayed consistently engaging from beginning to end.

Second, we had some kickass, memorable scenes like Revy jumping out of the water to shoot her foes, the boat flying off the ramp, Revy's rampage on the boat, Revy vs. Roberta, and of course, the turning point in Rock/Revy's relationship: When Rock stanRAB up to her while on land. That scene sent chills down my spine when I first watched it; it was that good.

Third, I liked the transformation of Rock from a very reluctant prisoner to someone willing to work with his new crew. In season 2, he's already rather comfortable in the position (he should be; after all, he's been there a year!), so that aspect isn't as interesting. (Though he makes up for it in other ways, like the aforementioned Rock/Revy dynamic)

Odd bit of trivia: Black Lagoon was the first anime DVD I watched on my new HDTV when I moved into my new apartment. And even on the bigger screen, the image quality looked pretty respectable. So kudos to Geneon for that one.
 
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