Anime Review: Black Lagoon, Season 1
Girls, guns, and pirates. What more do you want?
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Girls, guns, and pirates. What more do you want?
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Anime Review: Black Lagoon, Season 1
- Thread starter KValentine
- Start date
Nicely done, Tom. Nicely done indeed. You got to review one of my favourite series, to boot. As you've heard, second season actually breaks away from the formula in some very interesting ways. Give it a shot if you enjoyed this one.
I noticed that you switched between the opinion that the females are cardboard cut-out eyecandy and strong characters with real depth several times throughout the article.
Other than that, very nice. I liked this series alot.
Other than that, very nice. I liked this series alot.
Season 2 is hard to judge. Black Lagoon is at it's best with witty one-liners amidst explosions and all around goofy craziness and the bulk of season 2 is very much not that. It does have the Greenback Jane arc which is by far my favorite plot in the series. But, it's sandwiched between two dark and sombre arcs that, while still good, aren't nearly as entertaining as most of season one.
Interestingly, I found that the dark and somber arcs presented more character progression than most of the traditional Black Lagoon arcs, making them equally entertaining for me. I have a soft spot for the dark and brutal. Not that I didn't love the Greenback Jane arc; it was like a Who's Who of sub-par villainy!Silk_Sk said:
This was a decent review. I think that you covered most of the things I'd point out about the series. I saw the character development as stronger than you did. But then, I've seen both seasons. In season two there is a growing, subtle chemistry between Revy and Rock, which is done very well.
I'd contend your point about the females in the show being "strong" since I honestly feel like the female side of the cast was customized to be "[character stereotype] + boobs". Roberta and the two from the Church of Violence stuck out like sore thumbs when it came to this; I sat back and said "Okay, an emotionally hardened guerilla...just in a maid outfit. Nice gimmick" or "Former American intelligence agent now a 'Catholic'...plenty of fap material there". I'll give as much to say that the backstories of the females are convincing enough to give credit to their current characterizations and are justified in that, it's just that the gender thing is rendered moot by that point. A male character could have taken their place and it'd be relatively the same character...just without boobs. I guess all I'm saying is gender-specific points when it comes to Black Lagoon are hardly noteworthy except for getting "those kinds" of fans to watch it.
However, there IS a great deal of subtlety to the show that you scratched the surface of. If I recall, the highlight of characterization was the scene in the sub when Rock was going on about how they shouldn't steal some war medals from the dead and Revy countered with something along the lines of "They're just things, Rock. They only have as much value as we give them". That was a powerful philosophical argument though it may not have seemed it at the time; Revy is alluding heavily to Jean-Paul Sartre there, and the whole show is packed with subtle existentialism.
But anyway, I'm sure most people don't watch Black Lagoon to think and I kind of feel like Hiroe is just making reference to that stuff viscerally. It's nice to imagine the show isn't "about" the action and zaniness, but considering how ham-handedly the characterization plays out it's hard to doubt. It's probably best not to get the "thinky" crowd lured in under false pretenses...
Still, I liked it. Succinct and fun with some light humor. Keep it up.
However, there IS a great deal of subtlety to the show that you scratched the surface of. If I recall, the highlight of characterization was the scene in the sub when Rock was going on about how they shouldn't steal some war medals from the dead and Revy countered with something along the lines of "They're just things, Rock. They only have as much value as we give them". That was a powerful philosophical argument though it may not have seemed it at the time; Revy is alluding heavily to Jean-Paul Sartre there, and the whole show is packed with subtle existentialism.
But anyway, I'm sure most people don't watch Black Lagoon to think and I kind of feel like Hiroe is just making reference to that stuff viscerally. It's nice to imagine the show isn't "about" the action and zaniness, but considering how ham-handedly the characterization plays out it's hard to doubt. It's probably best not to get the "thinky" crowd lured in under false pretenses...
Still, I liked it. Succinct and fun with some light humor. Keep it up.
church of violence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9o9Sd5Ps9I
one of the coolest things that I have ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9o9Sd5Ps9I
one of the coolest things that I have ever seen.
I'm all for characterization. They certainly didn't leave that out in either of season 2's serious arcs and I applaud them for it. But the first arc was a bit too creepy for my taste with not nearly enough of Revy swearing and shooting people in the balls. Instead it was mostly everyone running and hiding from Balalaika. The third arc was one long tag-team pity-fest between Rock and a loli and left out Dutch and Benny altogether. On top of that its main villain was grossly unsatisfying. I'm not saying it didn't have good points. But, they were outweighed by too drastic a deviation from the series' regular tone.RollForInitiative said:
Started watching Black Lagoon season 1 last week and found it mediocre. I don't know what, but something about it seemed repetitive and I didn't really come to get hooked on it.
It seems like a bad attempt to copy certain parts of Cowboy Bebop...
I guess I'll finish the last two episodes of S1 and try out Season 2.
It seems like a bad attempt to copy certain parts of Cowboy Bebop...
I guess I'll finish the last two episodes of S1 and try out Season 2.
Black Lagoon is really underrated. At times it does seem like the characters aren't exactly groundbreaking, but it's much like a well done romantic comedy. Even if you know the end result, getting there is most of the fun anyway. And Black lagoon is lots of fun and is filled with refreshing dialogue.
I don't know if Black Lagoon is underrated.
But then I don't really pay attention to the popular opinion of Anime or Manga.
Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good.
Back on topic, I liked Black Lagoon quite a bit.
It's not one of my favourite Animes, but it's worth it to watch both series.
The review was quite well done.
I don't think including more detail about this series would be helpful.
It would most likely end up spoiling too much.
But then I don't really pay attention to the popular opinion of Anime or Manga.
Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good.
Back on topic, I liked Black Lagoon quite a bit.
It's not one of my favourite Animes, but it's worth it to watch both series.
The review was quite well done.
I don't think including more detail about this series would be helpful.
It would most likely end up spoiling too much.