Black Lagoon Anime DVD Review

Anime DVD Review: Black Lagoon

Reviewed by: Krista

Stumble It!

Title: Black Lagoon
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 100 min
MSRP: $29.98
Ratio: 1.77:1
Region: 1
Release Date: 5/22/2007

Overall Rating:

Content:

My Rating:

Based on the manga by Rei Hiroe, Black Lagoon is a high profile, 24 episode anime series split into two seasons. I've never read the manga, so I knew nothing going into this anime, but was pleasantly surprised at the high quality animation and voice acting.

Rokuro Okajima lives the life of a typical Japanese business man. He writes reports, goes on business trips, and, in general, does whatever his superiors ask of him. Little does he know just how much his life would change when pirates hijack the ship he is on, steal top secret information from his company, and take him hostage.

The pirates that take Okajima hostage are members of an operation called Lagoon, based in Thailand and headed by a burly, black man named Dutch (aka Black Lagoon). Initially, Dutch has two crew members. Revy is a spunky, trash talking, young woman who had a difficult childhood. Now, she's the crew's gunman and is better than the Noir girls at killing without taking a scratch. Benny, on the other hand, is a laid back computer geek who left university life in Florida after causing issues with the FBI and other organizations. Together, the three make money running odd jobs for anyone who's willing to pay them.

Okajima soon realizes that being taken hostage is a change at a second life, one far removed from his yuppie yet subservient lifestyle in Tokyo. When his boss asks him to sacrifice himself so that the data he's carrying is never made public, Okajima quickly realizes he's playing a game of survival where he's the pawn. Tired of always taking orders from others, Okajima decides to regain control of his life once and for all and join up with the crew as Rock.

Rock soon learns how dangerous life can be on the open seas but the rush of adrenaline that adventure brings with it makes him feel more alive than he's ever been. During the day, the crew spends their time in shady towns looking for work or doing jobs for their main client Balalaika, a powerful Russian mafia leader who pays well but isn't well liked on the underground crime scene. Their work consists of anything from making deliveries to recovering lost antiques from the depths of the ocean floor.

After four episodes, I thought that the story had potential, but it didn't pick up momentum as quickly as it could have. These initial episodes primarily introduce the characters and show us a snapshot of daily life as a Lagoon member - which so far consists of a major shoot 'em up in each episode.

One of the most interesting thing to watch has been Rock's gradual transformation from whiny business man to pirate. By episode four, he's still wearing traditional business suits and ties, which annoys Revy to no end. She's already purchased more laid back clothes for him, including a Hawaiian shirt he refuses to wear.

Madhouse has done a phenomenal job with the animation. The characters are drawn realistically. Backgrounds are highly detailed and characters in the background will occasionally move. Scenes vary widely from fast paced gun battles to open water and underground scenes to town life.

The voice acting is excellent as well.