Rousseau's Reviews

Black Lagoon (DUB)

Episode 1: The Black Lagoon





I think it was, "I say we kneecap this pussy," when I realized I was deeply, madly in love with Revy. It also was the moment that something inside me told me that this was a worthwhile show. I realize that's a selfish, nay, sophomoric conceit: "Hur dur they used the swear words, this is le awesomesauce." But there is something to be said for aggression. Just like in real life, it can be compelling, and demand you pay attention to it's wielder. Of course, if it is just aggression for aggression's sake, then it probably will get old fast and won't satisfy. But I don't think that's full case here as I think there's already a setup of intrigue--though I'll get to that later.

Black Lagoon appears to be the type of show to fill the (and my own) action-genre itch in a way I haven't seen in a while (albeit my Anime intake is admittedly limited). Based on the Manga by Rei Hiroe, and originally aired in 2006, and has just started airing on [adult swim] and produced by Madhouse, the same studio behind dozens of titles, many of which met acclaim in their runs, (Trigun, Metropolis, Animatrix, Redline, Summer Wars, Death Note, etc.) I have a lot of faith that this show will not disappoint.

We start the episode with a smattering of backstory-exposition from the main protagonist, Rock, about himself. It's all past tense, which lends to what is the present day, en media res beginning, with Rock being punched in the face. What that little bit of information about his bland city-dwelling corporate life tells us, is that it was one world, a past world, and it is no longer the one he finds himself in. By all accounts he, at this point at least, wishes he was still there, being an anonymous, uninspiring employee of Tokyo based ASAHI. He has this desire for the banal, even if he finds it a bit oppressive. We can't exactly blame him for this, since he finds himself at the whim of some rather brutish pirates. However, Rock, strikes me as a character that wants to not only be out of his predicament, but to very much massage himself into the boringness of a traditional, city dwelling, corporate life. He'll deal with the alienation of that kind of life, the nobodiness of it all, by becoming a boss, a "big" nobody. But nonetheless, he desires that nobodiness. And that's part of his psychology. He *is* a nobody: a random guy who finds himself in service to his company, and suddenly is thrust into this wrong-place-wrong-time, super-crazy, no-way situation.

Like Rock being thrown into this situation we are thrown into this story, as we get equally thrust into his present day, with Dutch punching him in the face and Revy threatening and swearing at him. From here things pick up, Dutch, Revy, and Benny the tech guy make their way off the ship, their job done, with Rock as hostage. He's specifically meant to barter Revy a *bonus.* However, this doesn't exactly work out to her favor. Dutch and Co. are in some contract with a party representing the Russian mafia that is angling blackmail against ASAHI. Dutch and Co. have secured the goods (a disk containing ASAHI's involvement helping rogue nation develop nuclear weapons), from Rock. Back at Asahi, however, they assign the mercenaries Extra Order to deal with the pirates by force, and it becomes fairly clear that Rock, again in the wrong place at the wrong time, is a sacrificial lamb, just a bit of collateral damage.

On the pirate ship, Revy is defending her hostage taking choice to Dutch, and while rather hotheaded, might be making a very wise observation that are being grossly underpayed. Dutch wisely separates himself and Rock from Revy, and while he explains a bit more about his operation (even if morally dubious), Rock feels a kind of trust towards Dutch. Honestly this says more about Dutch than Rock. Dutch's few moments of characterization show him as a peacemaker, leader, and uh, guy-who-puts-others-at-ease. I see the crew through the frame of a family, and it fits then that Dutch as the father figure has these paternalistic traits.

After a bit of traveling around the South China Sea, Dutch and Co. land on an island for the sole purpose of going to the Yellow Flag, a bar they are familiar with, and Rock is in with them. Despite Revy's earlier nuttiness towards Rock, it is implied with this invite that he is not a hostage in the traditional sense. No, rather it's more a formality, really. There's an uneasy friendliness developing here but it's fairly effortless. Dutch and Benny don't have any ill will towards Rock. It's just business, so why not have a good time together, in the meanwhile? Inside, Dutch gives out some more backstory, and Rock also is formally introduced to Benny (who apparently was hacker in Florida during college and pissed off the wrong people on both sides of the law). A funny exchange also takes place when Revy demands a drinking contest with Rock. There's a little bit of flirtation in her that confrontational. It's very slight, but positioning herself with her feet on Rock's seat was both a moment of playfulness as well as territory-marking. Revy is sure of herself, and it's that confidence that literally pours out of the character.

Fortunately for our heroes' livers, the contest is interrupted, (no sooner than Dutch hangs up with mysterious scarface Blondie) as Extra Order shows up to waste them. What happens next is a long action scene: an almost typical gunfight-in-a-bar... except for the fact that almost everyone dies--usually there's a bit more duck and cover for the scene's extras. There's also a meet-cute where Rock crawls and kind of mooshes his face up against Revy's thigh (foreshadowing?!?!). Rock laments that his safe life choices have mattered not as he finds himself in the middle of a gun battle. It's during this first major battle that Rock notes that Revy kind of digs killing (and not without flourish--she's very acrobatic and very talented with weapons of choice). He's turned off, but the mental note he makes is also clearly for us, the audience to ponder at. I imagine there's some sort of story to Revy we don't know yet. After Dutch and Co. make an escape where Rock decides, perhaps wisely that he has no other choice but then to tag along, he makes contact with one of his bosses, and he makes some kind of deal with him. It's very unclear if this is on the up and up, but Rock Is supposed to disappear into the South China Sea and he'll be promoted soon-- but my reading of the scene is that this is a thinly veiled way of saying, "Sorry, but you're about to die. Our bad. KTHXBY!" A second battle scene transpires soon after involving a battle chopper and the leader of the Extra Order team. Rock wants to jump ship and Revy pins him down, leading Rock to have a bit of an existential eruption, as he throws his gun. The scene and thus episode ends abruptly.

One of the things I like about this Anime (even if an adaptation), is that is violent, full of coarse language, and is a smidge suggestive. I don't doubt that there are well done mature content animes out there, but I imagine that they are fewer than not. Something stray I picked up is that there's definitely a strong American vibe I get in this. The wiki corroborates this, stating that the creator, in an interview said that the series was in part homage to Tarantino, the Cohen Brothers, James Ellroy, as well as Jon Woo. The stylyzed fighting, the general moodiness, and gritty feel all evidence that the influences came out.

I'm interested to see how the next episode plays out, and how exactly Dutch and Co. get out of this mess. But more so am I interested to see how Rock progresses and changes over the course of the series. And I want to see what is revealed about Revy. Also, who is this brutal, scarred blonde woman, and is she legit towards Dutch and Co.? What exactly did Benny do wrong in Florida? Does he have some major breakout scene, or is he an underwritten support character? Will Dutch fall prey to the "magic Negro" literary trope (he has already given our protagonist his nickname and approached something like sagely advice)? Does ASAHI get some form of retribution for their malfeasance and penchant for keeping poor company?

For all my questions though, I believe that as the series answers them, Revy may have the right of it: that this will be more entertaining than Hollywood would ever be.

Up next is Ep 2: Mangrove Heaven!

Oddbits:

The theme song is that vaguely industrial-rockish type thing a younger form of me loves. Red Faction by Mell and Kazuya Takase. [The sub listed the lyrics at bottom, that *were* sung in english, but were a little hard to follow. They were that sort of awkward yet humorous transliteration, that seemed to be getting at something I wasn't understanding-- still, not a bad song.] Mell retired from singing in 2013 due to an unspecified disease, according to the bastion of truthiness, wikipedia: sadface.

I watched the English sub after the dub, and while the script is essentially the same, word for word so in some cases, certain turns of phrase were used in the sub where some heavier swearing was used in the English Dub. (Though welding assholes shut was in both cuts). However, since I don't speak Japanese, I can't tell if that's how it was originally or just in the sub... Though a couple of Americanisms were used in the original air language, "Party time," "Ok Gentlemen," "Bacardi."

You might say Anime has a dime a dozen smokey nightscapes filled with shadowy figures and neon signs, but more often than not they do gorgeous things with color and light to set a hazy, blue-gray city night, and I have to say it works in setting up the slightly comedic bar scene. It's a few seconds long, but is a great little shot.

Mr. J texted me after watching the first episode and remarked that Revy was my kind of girl. He wasn't wrong.

There's also a stray shot of Revy cocking her gun between her legs. Both sexy and suggestive that she's a tomboy. Freud would love this stuff... even moreso when you figure in how this plays into the "girls with guns" genre.

**Crazy theory** Someone at Asahi and the Russian Mafia party are in cahoots and were always using the pirate crew to an expendable end. 

I certainly fell for the full credits tease, where we think a woman (ok, Revy) is slowly undressing to swim in the sea (a darker thought is that she is trying to kill herself), only to have it be revealed as a fully clothed (well relatively) Revy with a shotgun in her mouth. It's the kind of imagery that is both laughable and insanely jarring, and I had to hand it to the title sequence crew, that got me and my male-gaze.

Dutch should have reloaded somewhere....

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