Black Lagoon

Reviewed by Sean McDonald
June 23, 2006

Director: Sunao Katabuchi Publisher: Geneon Genre: Action Age Rating: Adult (violence, sexual references,drug and alcohol use) Website: Click Here Review Rating: 8 out of 10

Okajima is a regular businessman who works in Tokyo . Nothing really exciting ever really happens to him and his normal day usually consists of being kicked around by his supervisor and coming up with cover-ups for his bosses or clients excessive drinking. His life pretty much sucked. One day, Okajima was given the task to deliver a package to a tropical island some where in the sea of China . What Okajima didn't know, was that the package that he had to deliver was a disk. Inside of the disk were a country's plans to gain nuclear capabilities. The Russian mafia soon catches wind of the dangerous info on the disk and they send in a group of highly trained mercenaries to retrieve it. Levi, Benny, and Dutch are 3 mercenaries for hire; each one with very specialized skills. Levi is a well trained sharpshooter and arms specialist. Dutch is knowledgeable about the pirating trade and good at strategic planning and Benny is the computer wiz. They decide that if they kidnap Okajima as well as retrieve the disk, they could earn some extra cash on the side by requesting a ransom. Things didn't turn out the way the Levi, Benny, and Dutch planned and Okajima ends up being targeted by a group of assassins hired by the same company that Okajima works for. Engulfed in confusion and betrayal Okajima decides to join Dutch and his gang and helps them escape the assassins. After the ordeal, Okajima ditches his old name and begins using the nick name given to him by Dutch, “Rock.”

It seemed as if this anime was made in the similar style of Cowboy Bebop, with action and comedy at the same time. The fight scenes were done very well, especially the parts when Levi went on a gunman's rampage. The story for this anime really caught my attention and it didn't take to long to get into. The characters personalities and relationship with one another was perfect for the type of life style they all lived. The opening theme done by the group MELL as well as the soundtrack composition by Edison really fit the anime.

I gave Black Lagoon a High Evolution Rating because the fight scenes alone were awesome. You'll also really like the character design and artwork portrayed in this anime. The storyline will keep you on your toes and will never get boring. The series is currently airing in Japan and hopefully will release soon in the US .