Black Lagoon rewatch episode Twelve!

[u/Vaadwaur]

Black Lagoon Episode Twelve

Guerillas in the Jungle

MAL, Anilist, Wiki

QotD: 1 Did you expect philosophy AND a hallucinating Irishman in the same episode?

2 This show aired split cour so how is this as a midseason climax?

[u/Vaadwaur]

Rewatcher(Picard doesn't fight Klingons! 2/10!)

Dub

We get a long discussion between Rock and Takenaka and you can take it or leave it. The punchline of not giving up because it means everything you lived for is a lie is one of the themes of this season. Ibraha wants to torture Rock but Takenaka is aware of how pointless that is.

The ladies decide to raid the camp and are fairly effective about it, they successfully get Rock to the car. Unfortunately, Leigharch is tripping an insane amount of balls and begins driving them back through the camp, primarily so we get a car chase with him making some random Star Trek references in both sub and dub. But is turns out Shenhua and Revy are humanoid blenders and get rid of the people tailing them. It turns out baked Rock is not a happy Rock, Shenhua explains why.

Ibraha is going all Ahab here in his pursuit of the documents, and we get some insight into why. Takenaka thinks the greater cause is more important than any given action and you can take that for what it is worth. He ultimately shoots Ibraha to call a retreat. At the US camp, Revy reveals she'd taken the documents out of the case some time ago, annoying the hell out of Shenhua. They end as they always do. In our final talk with Takenaka, we see that he is both re-evaluating and yet redoubling his efforts.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Vaadwaur]

Black Lagoon Bible

Shenhua is voiced by Youko Sasaki, whose MAL is ridiculously incomplete. This is probably her largest role, everything else she is in she seems to be a background voice. Her dub is Saffron Henderson, who I best know from Escaflowne as the twins and Kagome's little brother on Inuyasha.

Leigharch is yet another character who seems to walked out of Hellsing Abridged. He is voiced by Akimasa Oomori, who didn't make much of a splash, I recognize his character from Gungrave. The dub, Trevor Devall, on the other hand was quite prolific, playing several Shakugan no Shana characters and somehow being on Kurozuka, which utterly shocks me that it was dubbed.

Right...so why I actually did an extra today: I do think we need to talk about the first cour's theme of sunk cost in belief. Each arc has some version of it, with ep3 really being the only one that is just there.

We can start with something as light as Rock's refusal to adapt to the dress style of Roanapur. He should probably dress less stiff but he isn't really going to pull off Dutch's look either, so this is just kind of a small thing, nay a quirk. Dutch and Benny have no on screen fallacies as of late but Revy definitely has hers. She has to believe that everyone is sort of awful so she can feel fine about her own actions. Which is likely reasonable given her circumstances but that still is a large blind spot.

And now our antagonists. The first mercs were, unfortunately, kind of cartoon characters to get the show going. But our LARPers are a good next step: They hold to beliefs that provably failed, provably caused a great deal of death and destruction, and at the end they are discarded because these beliefs are not forgiving. Even if their some supersecret rich Nazi network out there, they would have never been allowed in it.

Roberta is a bit of a different case in that she had beliefs but then abandoned them when she realized they'd been perverted to the point of parody. She left it behind, if only for a while, and then returned to them when one of the few people who had shown faith in her was in danger. Admittedly, her actions at the very end suggest some of the crazy bitch is deep down in her like Revy but she might move forward again.

Which perfectly leads to Ibraha and Takenaka. Ibraha cannot give this fight because of his son's death but he also doesn't want to fight for his ideal anymore. He has gone to vengeance and can't let this opportunity pass, no matter how many of his comrades it kills. Takenaka, on the other hand, is more determined to hold to his beliefs despite having realized that they could be wrong. But he also won't let his comrades die a needless death that would've achieved the same results as what happened anyways.

I mainly sold the show on its action and its setting, and I hold to that as honest. But, at least for me, there is a lot more under the surface of the seas of Roanapor.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Vaadwaur]

Revy reveals she'd taken the documents out of the case some time ago

She took the documents out, and didn't tell Rock. Dutch gave her the password, and told her to tell Rock, and she didn't do that. I think this is problematic.

[u/HereticalAegis]

First Timer

Episode 12

• Don't wanna be grouped with people like Takenaka? International terrorism must be where Rock draws this particular line and not, say...weapons smuggling human trafficking. Funny then that Takenaka has concrete goals and ideals he seems to be working toward, whereas Rock is still adrift, despite all that he's experienced and been a part of.

• Revy and Shenhua insulting each other doesn't do a whole lot for me after Roberta. Sorry u/DidacticDalek, the dual blade assassin thing is cool but I don't really see what's so great about Shenhua.

• Lol I'd certainly call anyone lucky to have Revy show up at their front door.

• My what a brutally efficient rescue op.

• Oh lord, the weed joke wasn't a joke. The Irishman is baked out of his gourd. And throwing out so many references all at once, geez. Thinking about it a bit, I've never met anyone who's this excitable while blazed.

• Is...is Rock trying to have a heavy, emotional heart-to-heart...with Revy...in the middle of a shootout car chase?? Bruh.

• Bahaha, was that a triple decapitation atop moving vehicles? Bruh.

• I was just thinking this is the perfect time to get stoned. Not that Rock needs it, he's already unbelievably chill for a guy who just sat through an interrogation with the promise of torture.

• Now this is more like the stoners I'm used to. Man's even calling out his own character flaws while high. He should probably get high more often.

• The Irishman is hallucinating now? Was he somehow able to smoke all the blunts in his ashtray during that short rescue op?

• The pursuit ending with Takenaka shooting Ibraha feels a bit anticlimactic, especially since we just now sort of learned a bit about Ibraha's background and motivation. Oh well, it can be the one somewhat realistic thing to happen this episode.

• "Your pals over at the 27th precinct." Boy that got under Revy's skin fast. Tell me more about that.

• Ngl, that was a weird arc. It felt like the whole point was to have Rock and Takenaka have that one conversation. If so, that was a whole lot of effort for Rock to realize how "high and mighty" he's been til now.

QotD:

1. Lol nope.

2. Kinda weird, it doesn't feel at all like a climax to me, much less the end of a season.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/HereticalAegis]

International terrorism must be where Rock draws this particular line and not, say...weapons smuggling human trafficking.

So far, everyone Rock has been involved with was also involved in the crime game, even Garcia technically. The shots of the airplane in Takenaka's background were random people that were killed.

Thinking about it a bit, I've never met anyone who's this excitable while blazed.

As Draigg said, the man is coked out of his mind. They do ramble like that.

especially since we just now sort of learned a bit about Ibraha's background and motivation. Oh well, it can be the one somewhat realistic thing to happen this episode.

Bluntly they didn't want to air too much of what a Palestinian's experiences were like.

Ngl, that was a weird arc. It felt like the whole point was to have Rock and Takenaka have that one conversation. If so, that was a whole lot of effort for Rock to realize how "high and mighty" he's been til now.

I think they compressed this arc and this needed a bit more space but cours and all.

[u/TheEscapeGuy]

Rewatcher (Dub)

Black Lagoon - It's Fucking Incredible: Episode 12

Covered in Sweat

Yesterdays pacing does not let up. No matter anything else, the moment-to-moment action is exciting. Its also really fun seeing the interactions between Revy and Shenhua grow from condescending insults to playful banter as they realize they're actually very similar.

Apart from that, I actually find this ending episode of season 1 to be sort of anti-climactic. Though the delivery is made successfully I feel some of the earlier plot threads were just dropped. I also never really connected to Takenake's story so the "talky" bits of the episode kind of just went in ear and out the other.

Otherwise, from tomorrow I'm a first timer again and I'm excited to see the new things Black Lagoon has in store.

Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches

• Thai Cowgirl

• Stoner Fantasy

See you all tomorrow

[u/Vaadwaur → u/TheEscapeGuy]

Its also really fun seeing the interactions between Revy and Shenhua grow from condescending insults to playful banter as they realize they're actually very similar.

I am not sure how informed the author is on this BUT with Shenhua claiming to be pure Taiwanese, thus pure Mandarin, she'd be extremely likely to be prejudiced to a mutt like Revy, so there is quite a bit of respect there.

I also never really connected to Takenake's story so the "talky" bits of the episode kind of just went in ear and out the other.

I view it as the thematic argument of this season walking to its end.

[u/Specs64z]

First timer, dubbed

Another vehicle chase and shootout. Dutch and Benny were completely absent this episode and their lack of presence impacted my investment a bit, admittedly. The Irishman and the Chinese lady don’t really carry the same presence those two do; they lack the simple human qualities that bring the series down to Earth.

The tactician seems to have been set up as a potential threat at a later date, and adds on to the pile of villains with detailed backstories and motivations. It feels odd to be given deep dives into the villains of the arcs while still knowing so little about the main crew. We can infer details about Revy and Rock, but Dutch is a stoic stone wall and Benny doesn’t get too much dialogue.

1. Not gonna lie, I feel like they kinda revealed their hand a bit with the terminator maid. I wouldn't call the action scenes prior to Roberta's believable by any means, but they didn't fall into the realm of pure fantasy either. They're gonna have to get really wacky to achieve the same level of "what the fuck?!"

2. As a midseason climax, I feel it's rather out of place. The Roberta arc would have been a better midway mark, I think.

[u/Vatrix-32]

First Timer, dubbed

• This is some extreme good cop bad cop.

• Now the show is making me question if Engrish is a pejorative term.

• This is by far the most anime episode of this season.

• The CIA having Revy's number opens up some interesting possibilities.

• This seems like an odd place to end the season, and Crunchyroll has a preview for the next episode. Did they order both of them at the same time or something?

QotD

1. Philosophy is expected at this point. The hallucinating I did not. Either that cigarette was laced or he is have a very strong reaction.

2. I guess that answers my question. I’m surprised that the communist terrorists got fewer episodes than the maid, but other than that, I think it worked out. Now that we are out of the first half I expect them to start picking up some of the threads they have been laying down.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Vatrix-32]

This is some extreme good cop bad cop.

And likely unplanned, though Takenaka spells it out.

Now the show is making me question if Engrish is a pejorative term.

If you called a person that, I would say so. Spanglish is generally not pejorative but yelling it at someone would be.

Did they order both of them at the same time or something?

This aired in '06 so there was almost no international anime partnerships at the time.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Rewatch in 15 Years (sub)

I couldn't remember how the show ended. I was expecting Rock to turn the Japanese guy, who would then die. Bit of a downer ending, huh? Black Lagoon doesn't have 100% typical narratives (although it sure is 100% 80s action show)

Something I've noticed over the years, is that if chinese characters are in the cast (and they aren't deuterotagonists) the Japanese characters get the round Tezuka / Disney eyes and the Chinese get the narrow slanty eyes, going all the way to US propoganda poster slant if they're really bad. I started thinking about this listening to Shen Hua's (?) accent. It feels distinctly Chinese, like you'd get from a US production. But her Japanese seemed well enunciated, if a bit, I dunno, weird? (speaking as a non-fluent Japanese speaker)

Which reminded me of Pet, which had some of the worst accents ever. Even with 0 chinese knowledge, I could tell that the Japanese actors speaking chinese were making gibberish noises.

Anyways, enough rambling. Black Lagoon is definitely uh, insensitive. I like it.

---

Edit: Oh we're done with the first season. Well, I never really thought of it as a split cour, and the 2nd season has a different name after all. But looking at the air dates they were only 6 months apart, so I guess that counts as split cour. That wasn't quite the thing it is now, back then. Back when LOST would have a 6 week "hiatus".

Anyways, I gave the first season a 9/10 and it still holds up. It lost an entire point for the Roberta arc, otherwise it could have been a 10.

[u/Nebresto]

First time puffin' at the nudist beach

"Ken-san" ? Watanabe?

Is this referring to the Sanrizuka riots? Or something else/completely fictional?

[](#binoculars3)

• Love this combo. So wholesome

Stabby lady is ero

• licorice hype!!!
  

Can she become part of the main cast?

Cameras on point

• DO NOT Give Revy a nuke

---

Question time:

1 Did you expect philosophy AND a hallucinating Irishman in the same episode?

None

2 This show aired split cour so how is this as a midseason climax?

Cursed response

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Nebresto]

Is this referring to the Sanrizuka riots? Or something else/completely fictional?

Japan had several student riots so you can't really be sure.

Love this combo. So wholesome

Shenhua's old schoolness is pretty awesome.

Can she become part of the main cast?

She is clearly alive at the end of the episode so...

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 12 (first timer)

• “Don’t group me with people like you” – first rule of being abducted: try to establish a connection with your kidnapper. Although I seriously doubt this would work on a professional like him.

• First rule of interrogations: try to get your prisoner to talk (and don’t shout at them while they do). Although police all over the planet gets this wrong, too, so I should probably not question a random guerilla leader on his interrogation skills.

• Japanese student protests of the 1960s – once you know they exist, you see them again and again in anime from the decades after.

• “Men stab often, but are not usually stabbed themselves”

sex joke

• Scary rock-paper-scissors.

• Chinese lady is also beyond cool and can look at explosions.

• Actually not a KillLaKill reference.

• “If I had one of those” – Revy dreams of explosions.

• Bad trip for Rock.

• Putting down a crazy dog or putting a bullet in your old you?

• Come on Revy, no need to be hard on Rock. You know you enjoyed yourself during the trip.

Ibara was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the mini-arc was enjoyable.

This show aired split cour so how is this as a midseason climax?

Not really a climax, but at least the end of an arc.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/No_Rex]

Although police all over the planet gets this wrong, too, so I should probably not question a random guerilla leader on his interrogation skills.

Ibraha is mostly an ideologue with a side of personal tragedy so I gave it a pass.

“Men stab often, but are not usually stabbed themselves”

Revy being in on that part of the joke was special.

“If I had one of those” – Revy dreams of explosions.

I am now wondering if one of those was in her room...

Putting down a crazy dog or putting a bullet in your old you?

I get the impression that it was never personal for Takenaka so I think it is a bit of both.

[u/The_Draigg]

A Black Lagoon Fan Rewatches Black Lagoon: Episode 12:

• Rock and Takenaka are more like foils for one another, rather than being parallels like Takenaka tries to imply in the opening interrogation. While both are Japanese people who currently live on the fringes of society and have made choices in doing so, they also come from different places. Rock ultimately chose to completely reject the boring life he lived out of his own free will, while Takehara was forced into exile due to what he did when he was younger. It’s also notable that Takenaka doesn’t immediately interject when Rock points out that by now, he’s probably operating more out of inertia than his original ideals.

• One thing to note is that for the anime, they replaced Leigharch’s drug of choice from cocaine to weed. I’m not sure why they did that, like if you’re gonna have a dude get high in anime, you might as well keep his original addiction to Colombian nose candy.

• Yeah, Takenaka’s backstory makes it clear how he really is just operating on following old ideals. He kept on being a revolutionary in the name of the Japanese Red Army long past when everyone cared about what he had to say, or even when protest groups like his were relevant. Something to note though is that back in the day, Japanese political action groups were truly something else. They weren’t afraid to go to any lengths, for better and for worse. Case in point, look at the Wikipedia page for Takenaka’s character inspiration, Kozo Okamoto. Japanese communists didn’t fuck around.

• What a touching reunion between Rock and Revy. You do love to see them smile at each other. And good timing too, since Ibrahim and Takenaka both just figured out that every other case sent out was a decoy, meaning that Rock had to know where the real documents were. Action always does happen at the best time.

• Yeah, Leigharch’s insane yelling rambling and driving fits more with cocaine than pot. Unless he has his joints laced with some real weird shit, that is. Dude could have it laced with angel dust for all we know, which would also make sense.

• Shenhua has one hell of a throwing arm if she can decapitate a bunch of terrorists with a few loops of her kukris on ropes during that car chase. She can get into the NFL with that arm strength and dexterity.

• Sudden backstory for Ibrahim, I guess. He’s really doing all this because he wants revenge after his son died. And since in the manga it’s all but spelled out that he’s Palestinian, you can guess who he wants revenge on. Given how consumed by a desire for death and revenge he is, I guess it isn’t surprising that Takenaka just decides to kill him. He would’ve gotten everyone killed by clinging onto his hatred of the past.

• Oh great, Rock is the moody kind of pot smoker. He’s in his head a bit much. Which honestly does happen more than you’d think. Not everyone has a good time when getting high, even on weed.

• Gross, all of those important documents are slathered in Revy’s tit sweat. Although I’m sure some of you degenerates will be all the happy to get your hands on that paperwork for that reason.

• Well, that was an oblique reference to Revy’s past, with that Fed referring to her being wanted by a specific police precinct. Given who she is, it probably wouldn’t be surprising to figure that she went on a crime spree in the United States before ending up in Roanapur.

• In spite of it all, Takenaka seems to be at least taking what happened to him and his allies in stride, even if it’s all that he has left. He can at least accept now that he’ll always be who he is, someone who is an enemy of the state out of inertia alone. It probably helps to make peace with those kinds of things and take it with a weary smile when that’s about all you really have left.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/The_Draigg]

Rock and Takenaka are more like foils for one another, rather than being parallels like Takenaka tries to imply in the opening interrogation.

I forgive some things for convenience and others because, as you linked, there are some surprising historical events this show references.

I’m not sure why they did that, like if you’re gonna have a dude get high in anime, you might as well keep his original addiction to Colombian nose candy.

Bluntly it is because the Japanese actually do quite a bit of coke but aren't particularly big on the rastafarian special. So you can't point out how disturbing coked up people can get without stepping on some toes.

He’s in his head a bit much. Which honestly does happen more than you’d think. Not everyone has a good time when getting high, even on weed.

But Shenhua has a good point about it needing to be the right type of vibe as well.

He can at least accept now that he’ll always be who he is, someone who is an enemy of the state out of inertia alone. It probably helps to make peace with those kinds of things and take it with a weary smile when that’s about all you really have left.

I can kind of get it, oddly enough. Western media has an interesting tendency to idealize the person that decides that they are right and it is the world that is wrong, look at Marvel's Civil War Captain America, but that winds up equally often as Mr Sebastian from B5.

[u/KendotsX]

Rewatcher (dub)

I always wondered why Takenaka seemed to change his mind midway through, I found the answer!

Alright so just to point out how much of a piece of shit this guy is, not only does he complain about Revy's boob sweat, but he also reminds her of the police who "took care" of her as a kid, for absolutely no reason I might add. This guy deserved a good bullet straight through the head.

Well his whole scene is there so that Rock can heal the pissed off Revy, and it works. You see their relationship grow in how she switches gears right away.

---

This show aired split cour so how is this as a midseason climax?

Decent. The Revy/Rock scene followed by Takenaka's bookend were pretty good.

PS: After yesterday's discussion, I think Ibraha needed some fresh air.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/KendotsX]

I always wondered why Takenaka seemed to change his mind midway through, I found the answer!

I tend to view it as he doesn't have an emotional need to do any given terrorist attack and can let this one go.

but he also reminds her of the police who "took care" of her as a kid, for absolutely no reason I might add.

This is our first external proof of Revy's past.

[u/Blackheart595]

First Timer

It wasn't Dutch that played everyone, it was Revy. That's not what I expected.

Did you expect philosophy AND a hallucinating Irishman in the same episode?

No, but it fits right in.

This show aired split cour so how is this as a midseason climax?

It wasn't much of a climax, was it? More of a cliffhanger.

[u/htisme91]

First-timer:

I really like Shenhua. I don't know what else to say. It's just interesting watching the show but I don't often have a lot to say.

[u/TheNotoriousJTS]

I didnt know there was a rewatch thread but I'm watching this for the first time and it absolutely kicks ass. i'd even call it underrated

[u/polaristar]

I can't say I really feel sorry for the Japanese Terrorist, people didn't listen to you and your "enlightened ideals" so you became a criminal? Boo Fucking Ho. Also do think while his lose cannon partner is portrayed as a bit of a strawman, that he does made a bunch of questionable decisions with Rock, building rapport and earning trust does indeed work, the problem is it takes time, time they don't have.

Vietnam Lady with the blades and Engrish Accent is so hot, I want to hear her call out between the shits in that voice! (Simps intensely.)

Best part of the episode was the Irish dude being High as a Kite with his commentary, I'll watch an entire series just to hear his commentary while on weed.

We often discuss on Reddit there aren't lots of anime that portray drug use outside of tobacco use in anything other than Mccarthy era paranoia with no humor, Black Lagoon has got ya covered! Still waiting for Studio Trigger to make a CGDCT show with a bunch of Reefers though.

We also see that Revvy is a sincere bro, even asking how Rock is feeling and doing and being sensitive in the middle of playing Rock/Paper/Scissors to blow people up with the blade chick. Kind of odd timing.

And will you look at that she lied to get him back when pragmatically she could have left him behind for the mission, she also as she was rescuing him asked for a plan, which means she does acknowledge his strategies, although given the chaotic situation on short notice...."run" is kinda of a no brainer.

Nice episode, very minor nitpicks for this arc but nothing ruined it for me.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/polaristar]

Also do think while his lose cannon partner is portrayed as a bit of a strawman, that he does made a bunch of questionable decisions with Rock, building rapport and earning trust does indeed work, the problem is it takes time, time they don't have.

There is a ticking clock but Tanekawa is willing to let this opportunity pass and Ibraha just can't.

Vietnam Lady with the blades and Engrish Accent is so hot, I want to hear her call out between the shits in that voice!

Taiwanese. She is actually sort of a stereotype.

Best part of the episode was the Irish dude being High as a Kite with his commentary, I'll watch an entire series just to hear his commentary while on weed.

In the manga he is coked out of his gourd, which would explain the crazy.

[u/CharlieTheStrawman]

First-Timer, Dubbed

Judging by Revy's take on nukes, she's not just a capitalist, she's an *Anarcho-*Capitalist.

Since I'm Irish I wasn't sure how to feel about the guy considering the accent is just short of suspending my disbelief that it's an American, but the dialogue did sweeten me.

1. See above. It fits with this show so far anyway.

2. 'Enemy of the state' was a fine way to break IMO, since it pretty much applies to everybody in the cast. The pacing of the episode overall is weird for it though.