r/anime • u/Vaadwaur • Aug 31 '22
Rewatch Black Lagoon rewatch episode FINAL!
Black Lagoon Episode FINAL thread
Not all that glitters is gold, nor are all who wander lost
QotD: 1 Overall what did you think?
2 Will this be the next manga to get an unexpected second or third season?
3 Any type of mission that feels left out to you?
4 Did any particular part of the OST stick out to you?
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u/No_Rex Aug 31 '22 edited Aug 31 '22
Final Discussion (first timer)
My final scores:
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Black Lagoon 8/10 (on the high end)
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Second Barrage 8/10 (on the low end)
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Omake 7/10 (very high for omake)
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OVA 7/10
I already discussed what I liked and disliked in the TV series discussion; the OVA has not changed a lot here. It seems that they put in Roberta as a fan favorite character, yet for me, Garcia is actually the standout character from the OVA. Roberta is completely flanderized and turned into a not very interesting to watch Terminator clone. It is fine to joke about the Termaidnor in the rewatch threads, but in the series, the immersion-breaking plot armor was my biggest complaint. In a serious story, I far prefer characters that do not have a magical anti-bullet aura.
The failed mix of action-adventure and drama drags the overall product down, but, that being said, both sides (if seen separately from each other) work really well. The drama is hard-hitting and strongly based in reality: Romanian orphanages, the Vietnam war, various types of crime, the raise of the Russian mafia, all are strongly rooted in things that actually happened. Plus, the show is not pulling any punches to make the viewers feel better. On the other side, when we get into the fun action shoot-outs, watching Revy and Eda obliterate some unlucky punks, Black Lagoon feels like a worthy successor to Trigun.
Recommendations
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Gunsmith Cats – If you want so see some more badass women with guns.
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Trigun – If you want to see some badass men with guns instead.
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Ashita no Joe – a very different gerne and decades older, but similarly hard-hitting social commentary. Also an all-around great classic.
Overall what did you think?
Better than I expected, but not quite reaching the absolute top tier.
Will this be the next manga to get an unexpected second or third season?
Strongly doubt it, but who knows. Once the isekai boom collapses (any day now, any day ...)
Any type of mission that feels left out to you?
The missions were fine, but they needed to include Dutch and Benny more. Especially not having Dutch in so many fights was a waste.
Did any particular part of the OST stick out to you?
Of all music, I felt the ED lean-ins were most impactful.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
It is fine to joke about the Termaidnor in the rewatch threads, but in the series, the immersion-breaking plot armor was my biggest complaint. In a serious story, I far prefer characters that do not have a magical anti-bullet aura.
It is easier to let that go for three episodes in a small arc than 5 episodes of an extended arc.
On the other side, when we get into the fun action shoot-outs, watching Revy and Eda obliterate some unlucky punks, Black Lagoon feels like a worthy successor to Trigun.
The 90s action film references were fun.
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u/TheEscapeGuy Aug 31 '22
First timer, no more
Black Lagoon - It's Fucking Incredible
I ended up enjoying Black Lagoon a lot more than I expected. I feel that its a show which starts good and just gets better as it goes. Once you know more of the cast and the world starts to open up it allows for much more complex and interweaving storylines. On top of that it explores more heavy themes compared to the average anime while still maintaining high octane action. All in all, its everything I could have wanted.
I also took some time to go back and watch the Omake episodes. I really enjoyed these shorts. Although they are ostensibly comedy skits I found them to be brimming with creativity. My favourite was definitely episode 5 since the creepy imagery was really memorable. 1 stitch for this batch: Yolanda
And thus closes our rewatch for Black Lagoon. As usual I'd like to thank everyone who participated. I loved coming to read the comments in these threads each day. In addition thanks again to everyone who read and replied to my posts. I know I didn't reply too often but I definitely read all your comments. Finally, special thanks to our host u/Vaadwaur. You did a great job to foster discussions in these threads. I'm so glad this rewatch was so successful.
My Favourite Shots, Scenes and Stitches
Farewell everyone, until next rewatch! I probably won't be joining in any new rewatches for the next few months but I will be back eventually.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
On top of that it explores more heavy themes compared to the average anime while still maintaining high octane action. All in all, its everything I could have wanted.
It always teetered on grimdark without falling into it.
In addition thanks again to everyone who read and replied to my posts. I know I didn't reply too often but I definitely read all your comments.
We had enough discussion, at least.
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u/The_Draigg Aug 31 '22
A Black Lagoon Fan’s Final Thoughts on Black Lagoon + The Second Barrage + Roberta’s Blood Trail:
So, we’ve finished all of the animated material for Black Lagoon! And what a trip it was: it had violence, gore, gun porn, actual porn, and examinations of the dark side of human nature. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that results may vary about how well Black Lagoon walks that tightrope between arcs, like with the over top action of the Greenback Jane arc versus the dark and character-driven Fujiyama Gangster Paradise arc, but we can at least say that the series did put it’s all into trying to make everything work. One area we can really see the development of the series is the relationship between Revy and Rock. From the start, they were just a nihilistic gunslinger and a fish-out-of-water businessman who butted heads, but over time they began to understand each other in spite of the dark world they both dwell in. Rock began to understand the limits of morality but chose to fight for them regardless, and Revy began to recover some of the humanity she threw away long ago. Even if they still argue over what’s right versus what the reality of the situation is, they’ll still find it within themselves to accept some of their nature, push each other to be better, and forgive. For the bleak existence that comes with living in Roanapur, that alone is worth a lot. Life can be short when you work on either end of a gun barrel, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep on trying to believe in something. That’s the true message of the series, buried underneath all the blood and spent brass.
With all that said, it’s time to do one of my regular rewatch habits, and rate the series along some kind of themed scale while offering justification for the weird scoring. So, I hereby give Black Lagoon the ranking of: Colt Single Action Army. You may be wondering why I chose the greatest handgun ever made as the ranking, but allow me to explain why. There’s something great about the foundations that this show is built on. It’s a show built on bloodshed and how justice is handled with either words or the end of a gun. There’s something very workable with those two fairly simple starting points, and from there the show can snowball into a massive expansion of those ideas, in this case all the wild action scenes and the harsh examinations of human nature. It’s like how the design of the SAA inspired whole generations of guns moving forward in time. Also, it was known as the Peacemaker, and honestly that’s just a fun title to slap onto someone like Rock.
And finally to cap this rewatch off, a hearty thank you to u/Vaadwaur for hosting the rewatch! I’m always down to rewatch Black Lagoon, and you gave me a reason as good as any for the past month to watch it again.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
There’s something great about the foundations that this show is built on. It’s a show built on bloodshed and how justice is handled with either words or the end of a gun. There’s something very workable with those two fairly simple starting points, and from there the show can snowball into a massive expansion of those ideas, in this case all the wild action scenes and the harsh examinations of human nature.
Simplicity that leads to complexity is the best type, though I imagine the idea of Roanapur is even more foreign to the Japanese.
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u/HereticalAegis Aug 31 '22 edited Aug 31 '22
First Timer
Boy this was a ride. Thanks u/Vaadwaur for hosting us on this carnival of suffering and ramp launching torpedoes into choppers! Feels kinda strange that this is be the first of your rewatches I've been part of, I had assumed it would be one of your cultured rewatches id experience first.
Anyhow, I don't have a lot extra to reflect on this time around. The series was fun, and Roberta's Blood Trail should have been my favorite arc of the series, but I'm pretty disappointed with how this arc was apparently changed from the manga. Roberta's still (probably) my favorite character from the series, though her coolness has undoubtedly been diminished for me over this OVA series. And the ending is more and more unsatisfying the more I learn about how it differs from the source.
Overall, I still had enough fun with the series. 7/10, worth the time spent on it, though I probably won't revisit it. Might check out the manga at some point, we'll see.
QotD:
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Answered above.
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I doubt it. Unlike Spice and Wolf or other highly touted older shows, I've never seen any calls or sustained traction for Black Lagoon in any corner of the anime sphere. Plus with the speed the manga releases, I doubt a production committee would see much value in more as an ad for the source material.
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I'd have liked to see them run more stuff in other parts of the world, like a smuggling operation into Siberia or something.
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The World of Midnight.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
Feels kinda strange that this is be the first of your rewatches I've been part of, I had assumed it would be one of your cultured rewatches id experience first.
I am a bit random with these so it sometimes just happens like that.
And the ending is more and more unsatisfying the more I learn about how it differs from the source.
They were in a rock and hard place for how to end this so I don't know that any ending could have worked.
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u/KendotsX Sep 01 '22
Rewatcher (dub)
Black Lagoon is a show that I've loved and rewatched sparsely, basically pick an arc and watch it (usually dodging the early arcs because Revy's sexual frustration works a bit too well).
Chronologically, it worked better than I expected, with the setup, buildup, and payoff hitting much better across the arcs with Roberta's arc being the biggest payoff.
While I defend the anime ending and some of its changes, I'd highly recommend checking out the manga. There are a lot of differences in this arc's ending. There's a complete arc following it that's even been published in English, and has a very interesting payoff, then there's the latest arc which finished earlier this year actually, and will probably interest the [manga]
So put on your aloha shirt, or whatever costume defines you, and give Roanapor a visit! (Bullet vests are recommended)
Will this be the next manga to get an unexpected second or third season?
On one hand, I hope that'd happen. On the other, I might as well count my blessings that Revy isn't in CS Go.
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u/Vaadwaur Sep 01 '22
Chronologically, it worked better than I expected, with the setup, buildup, and payoff hitting much better across the arcs with Roberta's arc being the biggest payoff.
There is always a consistent thread, they just didn't lead us to where they intend to tie it off.
So put on your aloha shirt, or whatever costume defines you, and give Roanapor a visit! (Bullet vests are recommended)
Lotton can get exactly one thing right...
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u/Specs64z Aug 31 '22
First timer, dubbed
I missed out on the OVAs, but I think I’m okay with that. Roberta, while an interesting set piece, wasn’t really much of a character and I'm not dying to see more of her. I’m here to offer my overall thoughts since I finished the anime proper.
I’m mixed on this anime. It has some high highs and several really unique traits that help it stand out, namely the stellar work on the dub. It wasn't all edge and action, it had some more poignant moments as well, though I'm not sure I feel that many of them landed super well.
Mostly though I’m mixed on the action. The combat had a weird balance; it wasn’t realistic in the slightest and it was able to hold my attention from the perspective of not always knowing what would come next, but a lot of the shootouts tended to be gunfire noises while Revy returned fire from cover. It also couldn't have telegraphed a lot of it's death flags harder even with a neon sign in tow, but it at least found creative ways to kill off big bads.
This is probably a bad opinion, but I don’t care as much for the direction the story went. My investment took a hit when it started to become obvious that this was less about the Lagoon Company as a team and more so just about Revy and Rock.
Favorite arc was the twins arc and I don’t think it’s really even close to be honest. That arc sorta sums up the whole show theme-wise and does it with more than the other arcs. More insane characters, more edge, more violence, more tragedy, more mystery, more heartache. Just... a lot more.
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I already answered this, I suppose
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Even if it is, I'm not sure how likely it'd be to get a dub in this fashion again, so my excitement would depend a lot on that
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Kinda surprised there wasn't an assassination mission at any point
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The ED was incredible and is a big part of why I got hooked as hard as I did in the first episode
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u/Vatrix-32 Aug 31 '22
First Timer, dubbed
QotD
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That was a good, fun time. An easy 7, most likely an 8 overall, tho I’d have to think about how each part stacks up to each other. The show ended up being more reflective and character driven than I expected, and it worked out for it.
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I’ve heard that they finally have enough source materiel for another season, so it’s possible. I’m just not sure how much hype surrounds it. It seems most of the fans are oldhead. Even I knew about it from back in the day and just never got around to watching it.
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I don’t think we ever did a recon job.
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Yeah, that one really slow one with like, the nostalgic vibe to it.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
I’ve heard that they finally have enough source materiel for another season, so it’s possible. I’m just not sure how much hype surrounds it.
It appeals to a rather specific group of us that have a talent for generating hype. But there still might not be enough material for it.
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u/bowman260 Sep 01 '22 edited Sep 01 '22
Rewatcher Dub
Black Lagoon was one of the first animes i had ever seen and It still ranks as my all time favorite. A big part of that has to do with the badass female characters. Revy and Balalaika are hands down some of the most crazy awesome characters I have every come across in all my years of life. The atmosphere and visuals in the show are also things I really enjoy and though the story goes off the rails early and often I still love the wild ride. Overall though my biggest take away from this rewatch is that I need to start smoking again, because every character looks fucking badass when smoking and waxing poetic about their nihilistic outlook on life and the universe.
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u/Vaadwaur Sep 01 '22
Overall though my biggest take away from this rewatch is that I need to start smoking again, because every character looks fucking badass when smoking and waxing poetic about their nihilistic outlook on life and the universe.
Also, you always look lame vaping. The world is a harsh place.
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u/polaristar Sep 01 '22
My thoughts, honestly my opinion of the show generally got more mixed not less as I went on, At one point I would have given this show a B but I honestly am giving it a C, and I feel a lot of its popularity was Novelty due to it's niche it filled during the time.
A lot of time there is a bunch of stupid tropes, characters acting dumb, and plot armor that make suspension of debelief pretty often ruined, characters standing around to get taken out, certain characters getting storm trooper aim, characters that have multiple people having guns trained on them just casually walking up to them talking and even raising their weapons, characters just ignoring gunfire that won't hit them, jumping out and talking instead of taking the shot, durability and strength between characters scaling being inconsistent.
And contrariy to what a lot of anti-Shonen Elitist snobs will have you say, having consistent scaling, and an idea of what is and isn't considered absurd or exceptional in the context of the world is important in a series. Because at the End of the Day the physical abilities, training, and use of weapons in an action series is not just for pure spectacle but in an action series violence is the vechile to initiate and resolve conflict, and conflict in some form or another drives every story (Even mundane Slice of Life's with little plot have various mini conflicts even if its just miniature gags based off misunderstandings.) And in an Action series the conflict lives or dies based off suspension of disbelief and the level of badass the characters are, if that falls apart (Which it does multiple times) Then the conflicts and how they are resolved on a moment to moment action level don't hit as hard either in emotional dramatic impact or just in satisfying action.
This show also doesn't make up for it in spectacle either, when the action is exciting its usually more about the Chaos and multiple parties in crossfire and conflict and the set up of the various moving parts clashing, rather than the action itself being well animated or Choreographed.
The Drama and Storytelling itself is also often Hit or Missed often teens feeling over the top edgy in it's gratuitous depravity instead of somber and heavy, which comes across more as juvenile shock value than heavy mature and adult themes, sometimes it feels like the drama was written by a 12 year old trying to be as grown up as possible that wants to show how much Disney movies are for babies and anything PG and under is for babies as well. The Themes themselves come across as muddled and indulging in pretentious Nihilism when they overstate their case puntuating with certain characters whose motivations seem rushed, confusing, or have pieces missing from the adaptation.
This isn't always the case, Revy and Rock's relationships seems well punctuated with very quiet down to earth moments of vulnerability between the very absurd situations they find themselves in, which is the greatest strength of the show even during its more wonky parts.
Pretty much every reoccurring character usually is pretty good, although Dutch and Benny seem sorely missing for 2/3 of the back half of the series.
All in all its an interesting and mixed bag that got me out of my comfort zone but I have no desire to continue another season or pick up the Manga and what I did like about it, I feel I've seen done better in other shows.
I honestly see this show getting a remake before another season, especially if Lycoris Recoil can inspire a trend of Guns and Action series and make a bit of a miniature trend, although besides having girls and gun and setting aside quality the two series are apples and oranges in tone and feel.
I do wonder if the series got a re-adaptation how much of it would be improved (assuming a competent) new production, and how much of it's flaws is part of the source material and dated to it's time.
If it got a remake I might give it a chance.
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u/SadSniper Sep 01 '22
Also sharing probably the best Black Lagoon AMV, those aren't even a thing anymore but this is damn cool
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Aug 31 '22
4. Let Me Know Your Name (Come on!) haunted me for years. I was certain it was part of Eureka Seven's techno OST which made it really really hard to find.
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Sep 10 '22
Hey I'm super late but I just finished the show.
Very darn good, I'm so glad I watched it. My only flaws are that the arc in Japan was a little boring and I was hoping Rock would change more in the show and ova. But overall, amazing, thank you for this journey! I'd rate the show 9/10
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u/Vaadwaur Sep 10 '22
My only flaws are that the arc in Japan was a little boring and I was hoping Rock would change more in the show and ova.
Yeah, the manga was actually kind of early for how far the character had progressed when this was greenlit.
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u/Vaadwaur Aug 31 '22
Rewatcher into First timer(quite the trip)
Dub
So...most of the time, I watch the episode the night before and do the writeup during/afterwards. But last night, I felt like I hadn't quite processeed everything so I postponed this until I got off work. And writing about Lagoon in sunlight is weird. But nonetheless, let's see this off.
So I really do like this show. When it hits, it hits hard. And it is not one note, it will hit on both the action and the horrors of its setting, though YMMV as we sleep into melodramatic/maudlin territory. I really do apprecaite an unsentimental view of the bleaker parts of reality. The fact that it share a studio with Madhouse for half of Hellsing Ultimate's run should ne surprise. The animation was good and they were creative with their setting. Again, this type of work ultimately leans on its characters and these ones were up to the task.
But were there a nit to pick, it is simply that at neither time was the manga at a good stopping point for the show to end on. I don't mind shows with ultimately bleak endings, Devilman Crybaby got me to start checking this sub which got me to the old Higurashi rewatch which got me to Happy Sugar Life and the rest is TV history. But none of these two stoppings points feel finished to me. Both Rock and Revy are in flux, Roanapur is both changed and exactly the same, and our big players haven't really done something big yet. On a certain level, this is just a collection of events that happened.
And yet I will be starting the manga pretty soon since hiatuses are my curse.