Anime Review :: Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage

Director - Sunao Katabuchi
Language – English Dub
Run – 12 Episodes [2006]
Genre – Action. Modern Pirates. Boobs & Guns

The second installment of the Rei Hiroe-penned and Sunao Katabuchi-directed Black Lagoon series manages to pack equal parts Ranma 1/2-style goof-assery as well as a surprising amount of depth and thrills. This time around utilizing an ensemble cast of characters (most of whom only made brief appearances in season one) to even out the stories with a far greater focus on the lore and landscape of Roanapur Island.

The Second Barrage is broken down into three story arcs. Which, for the sake of naming, we’ll call "The Vampire Twins," "The Roanapur Counterfeiting Clusterfuck," and "Hotel Moscow Vs. Japan," each of which come with their own distinctive style and flow, with progressively more enjoyable results.

"The Vampire Twins" arc does little but builds the clout of Hotel Moscow, Roanapur’s resident Russian cartel, and in the process grabs two new tiny killing-machines straight out of the anime-invent-an-archetype hat. While the story itself packs a couple of decent Revy’d-up action sequences, it mostly seems tacked on to make better use of Balalaika (the boss of Hotel Moscow) and company who were underutilized in season one. It’s a slightly disorienting move to start a season with little focus on the main cast, but it’s one that pays off by the seasons conclusion.

"The Roanapur Counterfeiting Clusterfuck" is where the unbridled silliness comes in, bringing back most every head-hunter, C-character, and general bad-dude from season one, and throwing in a couple of even more ridiculous editions to boot. Think the parade-chase scene from Ranma ½: The Movie, only with more bullets and swearing. Every notable gangster (and a handful of faceless bullet catchers), as well as our old pal Shenhua ("Chinglish") winds up on the hunt for The Lagoon Company’s newest client. Wackiness ensues.

And, finally, we have "Hotel Moscow Vs. Japan," a massive (by Lagoon standards) six-episode arc that takes Revy, Rock (who’s gone almost unnoticed in the season by that point), and Balalaika to the land of the rising sun. Rock, who is there under Hotel Moscow’s employ as a Japanese translator, confronts his past and the life he found himself running from a year ago when he joined up with the Lagoon crew. Revy is there to protect Rock (who by this point she’s warmed to significantly), who has a nasty habit of almost always getting kidnapped, and is granted plenty of opportunities for fast-paced mayhem against floods of Yakuza and thugs. The story also lends wonderful insight into the relationship between Revy and Rock as well as a look into the human-esque side of Revy (without the obligatory “oh I’m sad. Here’s my entire backstory” give-away.) Plenty of tense build-up and pace yet to be seen from the series.

With the characters beginning to flourish, and Lagoon setting up more roots for the long haul (Season 3 is on the way,) Second Barrage is a clear departure from the "kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out" feel of season one, which plays slightly against it’s strengths, but does make some positive strides to lay the groundwork for more adventures to come.

For all the surprises that season two brings with it, the biggest is how comfortable it’s able to make itself as a semi-serious drama, giving Revy a chance to care for other people without falling into the clichéd world of "killers with a heart of gold" and Balalaika to prove herself quite the frightening motherfucker.


The gore is dialed up slightly and the dialogue isn't quite as slick, and while you won’t find nearly the amount of explosion-based payoffs, the story is far more focused and delivered with a much steadier hand.

While I started iffy on the series and wrote it off as a trite (but very enjoyable) action mess, over 24 episodes and whatever number of misadventures that amounts to, I'm now anxiously looking forward to meeting back up with Revy, Rock, and the crew in the next installment.