Previous Post Black Lagoon 1-6

Yep, right in the money….

There has been some talk about this show being like Cowboy Bebop. I don’t know if that is appropriate, but what I can say is that for a shoot-em-up/blow-em-up show like Lagoon it has surprising subtlety. After nine episodes the two main character’s personalities have already been introduced and they are rolling along well. Lagoon actually used the first 6 or 7 episodes to introduce the two, Revy and Rock, but they did it in such an entertaining manner that I didn’t realize I was watching what amounted to plot filler for the first few hours I watched the series. I started watching after Shinsen-Subs had released nine episodes. If you haven’t started watching this yet, go to animesuki or bakaupdates and start now! No wait! Read the reset of the post first…whewww almost lost ya’.

One more thing, in the unlikely event that you didn’t know already. We have a Combat Meido! I get to check that one off my Black Lagoon wish list. I’m still waiting on bikini girls with machine guns, though I may give that one up if they give me something better. I have to admit, once I heard that Lagoon had a Combat Meido I immediately made up my mind to watch the series. What can I say, I’m easy like that.

She’s not looking at the cig.

Episode 7:

I stated in my last post that I was expecting the obligatory, “conflict, resolution, and acceptance between Revy and Rock.” Revy seemed to want to get rid of him soon after inviting him to join the group. I assumed they had to make up eventually, but possibly, she may shoot him, one or the other. I wasn’t disappointed because this episode was all about that. Revy was beginning to feel uncomfortable around Rock and wanted him to leave the Lagoon Co. Rock seems to just have an innate ability to get under Revy’s skin. The question is why he has that ability.

The attraction between the two of them is becoming more evident. What I see is that Rock’s personality is at odds with the people that Revy has been around for her entire life, so much so, that she distrusts him at first. Revy seems to be the type that distrust everyone. Her earlier monologs in the first six episodes indicate that she doesn’t believe that there are any real good people in the world, or there is no “justice” in the world (actually that’s from ep 8). For the most part, most see Rock as a push over; hence, no reason to distrust him. That’s the key aspect of why—I think—Revy has a problem with him. She wanted to trust him (in him?) when she first meets him, but her gut instinct was to push him away. Simply, Rock is a nice guy and that’s a strange thing to Revy. I believe that her “natural” reaction to him was the same as Dutch and Benny, which was to trust and accept him to an extent. Revy’s conditioned reaction was to not trust him and that was the rub. Her internal conflict caused her agitations because of the divergence between what she wanted to perceive and what she actually did perceive.

This episode ends after the two get into it at a public market. Predictably, Revy tries to blow Rock’s head off, but he shows a surprising amount of balls in defending himself. In the end the two take a nice little ride down the the Police Station. Listen to what Rock says, and you will understand his motivation. There is no subtext to his action, no hidden motive. Rock, is just that. He is there because that’s where he is…much like a rock.

Revy, on the other hand, is not as easily transparent. She is a layered character. She is the typical anime heroine in that she acts on her emotions without really understanding them. In that vein she is probably very much like the typical anime otaku viewer, but that’s for another Op Ed post. Revy constantly speaks about the state of the world, again “no justice.” In the end it is apparent that she isn’t trying to convince Rock or the viewer, but herself.

Crazy Combat Meido! I think that was a…lagoongasm???

Episode 8, 9:

The Lagoon Co picks up a “package” while dropping off some contraband in the < ?xml:namespace prefix = u1 />China Sea. The package turns out to be the only child of the noble family Loveless, which has fallen on some hard times and acquired some ill will from the Columbian Mafia. Their job is to drop the kid off with the Mafia. The Loveless’s sole servant Roberta is dispatched to bring the child back. That’s the basic backdrop to these two episodes.

Revy pretty much treats the kid like shit and smacks him around at every opportunity. She was peeved because the kid threw some food at her, and she didn’t get to shoot him before Rock stopped her. At any rate, she runs her mount and teases the little guy relentlessly. The child thinks that his maid will come and save him, and states that she is stronger than Revy (possibly the entire Lagoon Co). Of course, his faith in his family and maid is based love rather than their abilit to fight, he doesn’t realize his maid is a stone cold killer. Typical Revy goes into hysterical laughing from the comment. At one point she mockingly says that she wishes his maid would show up because she hadn’t been getting any use out of her guns.

While laughing at the kids comment she says something about Jesus “flying over Route 66 in a chopper;” for which, I was not able to come up with any definition. What’s it mean, got me.

I could see the bad karma being built up for her through the episode, she was asking for it. Something else of interest, I noticed that Revy always changes moods when she pulls out her guns. She has to change moods, I would even say, become a different person in order to kill. The trigger is when she removes her guns. She becomes stern and emotionless. It is only that Revy that says and believes the world is out to get her.

True to Lagoon form the maid does show up and in their brief encounter Revy gets knocked the fuck out by a missile. Literally knocked out, this happens about halfway through episode 9 and she spends the reset of the episode in dreamy land. The revelation that his maid is a T1000 shocks the child’s world. [I keep calling him kid/package/child because I can't remember his name, did they even mention it?] The kid was unaware that his maid was a killing machine so he is understandably frightened of her. He pleads with Rock to take him away. We end the episode with the Terminator car chase rip.

Best Sample video I could find in 5 min of searching (youtube.com)

If I haven’t said it before, I would like to say it now. Combat Meidos are my second favorite archetype next to killer lolis. Episode 8 and 9 are all about Roberta (the terminator) maid employed by the Loveless family. I don’t see them fleshing out her character too much since she only has to fill the role of killing machine and loving maid to “young master.” They actually refer to her as the terminator and a wild dog, but the terminator metaphor fits most appropriately. The last scene before the credits in episode 9 is ripped straight out of Terminator II Judgment Day. It’s the first scene when Sarah Conner is rescued from the mental hospital and the T1000 is chasing the getaway car. Even the way Roberta ran was taken from the T1000’s style, but I absolutely loved it.

Like a Rock…

“…Your head is there to move you around, so stand.” R.E.M