Just when Revy and the Lagoon Company had thought they’d
seen it all, a woman dressed like a house maid arrives to reclaim their current
cargo, Garcia Lovelace. How do Dutch,
Rock and Benny hope to survive a killer of killers who clearly isn’t human after
all the beatings she takes? The answer
is their own killer of killers who
clearly isn’t human as well…Revy. It’s a
showdown of epic proportions that will leave it’s mark on Roanapur for
sure. But peace and quiet is not in the
cards even when that’s done when Mr. Chang and the Triad hire the Lagoon
Company for another job…one that will pit them against their most dangerous
adversary and make Rock begin to question his new life in this violence ridden
world he calls home.
“Jimi Hendrix is calling me back. He got my message. He wants me to defeat the Klingon’s ASAP!!!” How often do you get to hear an Irish Stoner
spout such ridiculous but amazingly awesome dialogue in an Anime? And that’s just one of the many treats
featured in this episodes that make up the final round of the first season of
Black Lagoon. It doesn’t feel much like
a season ender but the addition of Terminator maids, leggy Asian beauty with
giant machete’s and Irish Stoner Getaway Drivers more than make up for that
fault.
Let’s start with the story arc begun last week. Ah Roberta.
Who would’ve thought some creator would find it in their infinite
imagination to make a lovely Lolita a weapon of mass death and
destruction? But from her calm and cool
demeanor to curtsying in her skirt to unveil almost a dozen pin pulled
grenades, the girl leaves the strongest impression of secondary characters in
this series next to Balialika. And while
there were quite a few Terminator jokes and puns thrown her way, you cant argue
that Ahnuld’s legendary cyborg assassin would be who comes to mind seeing what
Roberta can do. Super fast, able to
dodge bullet and escape car crashes with nary a scratch, one would think that
the Lagoon Company was in real trouble this time. The fact that she almost manages to rip Dutch
out of his car during a car chase should be enough to send shivers down anyones
spine. But then we get to the main
event, surely a showdown that would have made for the perfect season closer:
Revy vs. Roberta. This is possibly one
of the best made up matches of all time as these two proved nearly unbeatable
equals: Roberta puts a bullet in Revy’s arm, Revy puts a bullet in one of
Roberta’s guns. And just when you think
it couldn’t get any more epic, Balialika shows up to quell the duel and sort
things out with her own brand of cold negotiation. Revy and Roberta may be the ultimate killers,
but Balialika is still the top dog of Roanapur, so bad ass she doesn’t need to
fire off a shot herself to get her way.
Still it was nice enough to allow Revy and Roberta to settle their
match, resulting in a knock out fight to the finish, fight club style that ends
in…you know what probably best I don’t say hehe.
Oh and if you’re curious, yes there is also story here as
well. Garcia has an understandable
reaction to seeing his kind hearted caretaker go all Commando on Revy and her
team. Balialika’s backstory is spoken of
a little bit and with it, the origins of Hotel Moscow itself. Even Robertas history is covered a bit. The action may dwarf it at times, but
character is never forgotten and given the time it deserves to balance out
episodes almost perfectly.
If I did have to think of one downside to this set of
episodes and also the season as a whole, it’s that this is where the season
should have ended. The two part episode
that follows this clash of beauty, bullets and blood has plenty of fun moments
but it never feels as grand as Roberta’s time in Roanapur. We get one last story to close out Season One
though. We get some fun new characters
added to the mix: the Triad’s Chow Yun Fat inspired Mr. Chang, Rock’s
intellectual and moral questioning equal Takenaka, Asian knife wielding beauty
with legs Shenhua and her Irish stoner partner Leigharch. And the story does give way to Takenaka
opening to door to Rock questioning the life he has chosen with the Lagoon Company. But I could have easily seen this taking
place before the Revy and Roberta showdown without loss of momentum or timeline
confusion. Still it is a fun little
detour and it’s Leigharch’s hilariously mind wacked state that gives way to the
quote I used to open this review, so there are merits for sure. Also it’s nice to see Revy come back for Rock
after he’s captured by Takenaka. Sure
she’s says it’s for the job but you can tell it’s for deeper reasons:
friendship isn’t exactly a term Revy would have in her vocabulary.
At the close of Black Lagoon’s first season, you want to
jump right into Season Two: The Second Barrage and with good reason. The show is just too much fun to accept that
it is over for now. Action, girls with
guns, hilariously over the top flights of fancy and some deep character moments
and story, it does not get any more perfectly balanced than this show. Hell if I had to really give it any real
negatives it would be the finale. There
was no real build up towards anything monumental, though at the same time it
glimpsed at possible bigger plotlines to come.
It just feels like a book marking, a place holder until the next
season…a next season I would love to watch right now. But I have other commitments for the Anime
Corner for the rest of 2014. But rest
assured Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage will see it’s review next year
(probably after Outlaw Star and Escaflowne, maybe even in between, still TBD).
And let me tell ya, if you enjoyed the first season…you
ain’t seen nothing yet ;)
Black Lagoon Season 1 gets an 8.5/10
See ya next week for the start of some stand alone
reviews. It’s all movies til the end of
2014…except maybe not next week as I take a look at a series that has been
released as a full length feature, requested by a friend, I tackle the Rooster
Teeth hit, RWBY.
No comments:
Post a Comment