Black Lagoon – Anime First Impressions

When I heard there was an anime called “Black Lagoon” coming out, I figured it would be a horror. Y’know, like the “Creature from the Black Lagoon?” Anyway, I was really surprised when I actually watched the episode.

It turns out that Black Lagoon is really about a group of mercenaries! Okajima Rokuro is just a normal salaryman. His life (like most salarymens’) really sucks. While transporting some kind of super secret disc, he becomes a hostage to the mercenaries. Hmm… what’s worse, being a salaryman or hostage? I’d probably pick hostage myself.

The company that Rokuro (now nicknamed, “Rock”) works for pretty much abandons him, and sends a bunch of super elite soldiers to take out the mercenary group. At the end of the episode, Rock finally grows a backbone and tries taking down the enemy helicopter by throwing his gun at it. It doesn’t quite work.

So far, the story seems interesting enough. I think most Japanese salarymen would prefer being kidnapped by mercenaries than leading their dull lives. In a way, I think the anime lets salarymen everywhere live vicariously through Rock. I’m guessing he’ll end up being a regular member of the group (so is the name of the group “Black Lagoon?”).

I couldn’t help but think I’ve already seen this anime before (think Cowboy Bebop, but on a boat?). Still, I think the whole idea of Rock getting some good character development will make this anime more unique.

Character design is sorta split. And by split, I mean the males are pretty boring. As far as male characters, we have generic super strong black guy Dutch, blond nerd computer hacker Benny, and the aforementioned salaryman Rock. They’re all sorta just stock characters, in my opinion.

The real star of the show is Revy, the super hot chain-smoking gun-wielding babe. She kinda reminds me of Jo from Burst Angel. I’m kinda getting a tsunderekko vibe from Revy. I mean, at first she wants to kill Rock (and almost does), but I’m sure she’ll warm up to him! Or maybe she already has… There’s also a scar-faced chick that makes a few quick appearances in this episode. I think she’s the boss of the group.

The OP is a engrish-laced tune. Despite the fact that I can’t understand half of the words (I think they’re all in English), I like this song. It definitely breaks the pattern of J-Pop star singing the same predictable song over and over again. The ED is this orchestral type thing until the very end, when they bring out the death metal double bass drum pedals. WTF!? I didn’t include the ED because it was faded in with some dialogue.

Download the OP: “Red Fraction” by MELL

So far, Black Lagoon seems to be the only action anime worth watching this season. Hopefully Revy and the whole salaryman angle will make it stand out in the “mercenary group” genre of anime.