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A funny thing about Western anime fans is that most of them don't realise that the shows they watch are not aimed at them. The average audience age for Naruto and Bleach is around four years younger in Japan than it is here, and great as they are the characters are harder to identify with when you're older. Black Lagoon is something a bit different. Last time round we were left on tenterhooks
as Revy and Rock searched a sunken World War 2 U-Boat for a painting they had
been tasked with salvaging. However, they aren't the only ones after it.
A well-financed Neo-Nazi group had also arrived to take the paintings, and they
journey to the stricken sub unaware that the Lagoon Company is already there.
Dutch doesn't have much time for those who cross his crew, and he has even less
when they're white supremacists. The Lagoon Company are in line for an
explosive confrontation, but it's not only Nazis they have to deal with.
Arms dealers, the mafia and psychotic ex-mercenaries are all crossing their path
one way or another, and with such issues to deal with the crew can ill-afford
dissent in their own ranks. However, that's what they have when Revy
starts to take issue with Rock, and a borderline psychotic with an itchy trigger
finger is the last person you want to lose it in a crisis. Revy will need
to sort out her differences with Rock, but she may not have much time. A
hostage delivery to the Columbian mafia is not quite what it seems, the crew's
young cargo is the son of a rival mafia boss who has fallen on hard times.
He can't afford to hire mercenaries to rescue his son, so he sends his maid.
She seems innocent enough, but appearances can be deceiving... |
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I quite enjoyed the first volume of Black Lagoon, yes it was morally dubious wish-fulfilment for bored office workers unhappy with their dull job, but as a bored office worker unhappy with my dull job it held some guilty appeal. This time round it's even better, and it's interesting to see how the writers have made Rock's white-collar skills useful to his compatriots. In the first volume there seemed to be little explanation for him being there, but in this volume he is given more chances to prove himself. His negotiation skills come in |
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useful when trying to buy weapons for their next mission, he uses his admin skills to tally shipments and his insider knowledge of his company's business dealings to assess if a hostage is telling the truth about his father's company. However, his calm usefulness puts him at odds with the impetuous Revy, especially after he confronts her over her looting from the long-dead U-Boat sailors. This sends her into a rage that only Dutch can snap her out of, and Rock has his work cut out if he is to settle the problem she has with him once and for all. It's cool to see some character
focus, particularly as this kind of series can get bogged down in
action. Through their interactions you learn more about Revy and
Rock, whilst Dutch remains his enigmatic self and Benny fades from the
action even more. In fact it's a shame that Benny has kind of
become the fifth wheel, and in this volume he's little more than a side
character. However, the creators know what the viewers want - they
want to see the everyman and the super-sexy femme-fatale develop and
grow closer, so that's what they get. In fact Black Lagoon's
best aspect is that it knows what it's audience wants, and it delivers
it. |
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Black Lagoon vol 2 packs in more action move clichés than a Van Damme box set. It drags out the entire entourage of action movie villains, managing to squeeze Nazis, South American drug cartels, Russian mafia and seemingly indestructible mercenaries into just four episodes. There's explosions, action, OTT gunplay and swearing scattered throughout like confetti, plus tough guy mercenaries and sexy but tough women. It's like the distilled essence of 1980's action films has been injected into a modern anime and mixed with |
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great animation and music. The voice acting is great, particularly in the English dub which gets away with adding a load of swearing in simply because of the type of series Black Lagoon is. The action set-pieces are superb and the stories are often a bit cleverer than you expect, particularly the U-Boat storyline, The only problem is the fact that Benny is pretty much anonymous, and once again the disc leaves us hanging half way through a story. There are a few moments of comedy and drama to break things up, but first and foremost Black Lagoon is an action series, and a damn good one at that. I will admit that in places it's clichéd and in others a bit ludicrous, but it's also extremely entertaining. It is designed to appeal to a twenty-something male audience, but there are a lot of strong female characters in it - particularly the ruthless mafia boss Balalaika - that give it a slightly more universal appeal. At the end of the day it's got some decent stories, but it's not really going to win any awards for intelligence. Instead it wins out through a combination of excitement and sheer retro-action appeal. The characters are generally good, if occasionally underused, and the series has been wise to expand on Revy and Rock whilst keeping Dutch enigmatic. Black Lagoon continues to be one of the best actioners of the year so far, and it's unashamed adult focus is refreshing in the UK's teen-dominated market. Great stuff. Extras: A bit of a drop from vol 1, this time we get a clean opening sequence and a short Japanese advert for the opening song CD join the usual trailers. Disappointing. Ratings Feature:
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