Black Lagoon

[Foggle]

This shit is FANTASTIC.  Best animu I've seen in a long time, by far.  I don't have much time available at the moment (my home is under fire from the Russian mafia), so I won't write a long description.  But, trust me, it's awesome.  Anyone else seen it?

[Poey]

I have all of the DVDs that have been released... it actually seems pretty mediocre to me. It has lots of potential to me but honestly it just doesn't do it.

[ElricJC]

I'm halfway through the first series, and so far it is interesting enough, but doesn't seem to have a cohesive story line - it's a lot of explosions, chases, and yet another violent gun-girl who can't button her pants (personal peeve, it's almost like the punk gun-girl uniform).  I've been told the ending is rather abrupt and character development drops off as the series goes on, but I'll wait and see myself.  Can't get too excited though, since it was Geneon and we won't be seeing the second barrage any time soon.  I see discs 1-3 are available, and that seems to be the whole first season, but finding them is hard.  I'll see how the first series wraps up, but I dunno.

[Poey]

It doesn't wrap up. It even has scenes from the next episode and whatnot after the last episode of the series.

[Foggle]

I liken it to, say, Firefly or Star Trek, where there's definitely an underlying story,  though it really isn't too important, and it's more episodic (though there are story arcs and whatnot).  It feels almost like a Western-made show to me, which is maybe why some people (you guys?) don't like it.  Personally, I love the explosive action, the rampant dark comedy, and the above-average animation.  While there isn't much development, I find the characters to be pretty interesting also.

It doesn't wrap up. It even has scenes from the next episode and whatnot after the last episode of the series.

Because of series 2. D:

And if you mean the last episode of series 2, once they make more manga chapters, they're going to release a third one.  They don't want to kill it with fillers, after all.

[ElricJC]

I didn't say I didn't like it, but I am uncertain about it.  Being episodic is all well and good, but I like character development.  I'm up to Ep. 10, and more was done there between Revy and Rock, which was good, but then Roberta shows up and, well, it's like I've seen that movie before .

Anyway so far I'm rating it above average, and I like dark characters and gallows humor, but while the manga keeps going (and I hear it will be published by our friends at Viz as of August 12 of this year), I just hope there is more in the Second Barrage to build on.  Hopefully this Colombian arc is wrapped up to, but I might be interested enough to check out the manga too.

[Poey]

It's not the western-ness of it, it's the shallowness. Like I said, it had potential to be awesome but it never took it deep enough into the story development/story layers.

Also, I haven't seen season 2 as it has not been released yet.

[Foggle]

When you really think about it, most anime are extremely shallow.  Hell, live action shows and western 'toons, too.  A lot are shallower than this one.

But hell, I have no problem with people not liking BURAKKU RAGUN.  Considering what it is, I probably shouldn't have expected a positive response.

[Poey]

^^ Right... that's why I'm picky with anime and tv/movies in general.

[Foggle]

^^ Right... that's why I'm picky with anime and tv/movies in general.

I'd say I'm pretty picky too, but I really enjoyed this series.  So maybe not as picky.

[Foggle]

Didn't see your post before, haha. >_>

I didn't say I didn't like it, but I am uncertain about it.  Being episodic is all well and good, but I like character development.  I'm up to Ep. 10, and more was done there between Revy and Rock, which was good, but then Roberta shows up and, well, it's like I've seen that movie before .

Anyway so far I'm rating it above average, and I like dark characters and gallows humor, but while the manga keeps going (and I hear it will be published by our friends at Viz as of August 12 of this year), I just hope there is more in the Second Barrage to build on.  Hopefully this Colombian arc is wrapped up to, but I might be interested enough to check out the manga too.

Yeah, there's very little character development, but I liked what was there.  Episodes 11 and 12 were very good, IMO.  I haven't started The Second Barrage yet, so I don't know if it's up to par with, better than, or worse than, the first season.

The manga is just like the anime, but the anime is better because the action is animated.  I have heard that once there's more manga content, a third season will be made.  Perhaps we can hope for a good plot and some more character development in that one, eh?

[Poey]

If there is, I suspect this would be a great great anime.

I do love the animation. There's a lot of detail that tells me they knew what they were doing (ie. fingers kept OFF the triggers of the guns unless they were ready to fire).

[Foggle]

Yeah, the series is great in a lot of ways, and not so great in a lot of others.  Like you say, it could use a bit extra to make it truly amazing, but I still love it, even in its current state.

[ElricJC]

I do love the animation. There's a lot of detail that tells me they knew what they were doing (ie. fingers kept OFF the triggers of the guns unless they were ready to fire).

Yeah, I noticed that too, which was good to see.  The animation is very good, and quite a lot of attention to detail is there, but often times such detailed stories are so focused on those little details that they miss what they are doing - telling a story with engaging characters.

I am about to finish the first season, and this far I will give the first series an 8/10, B-

Animation:  10 - exceptionally well done all around
Sound/Music:  9 - very high, with a great OP and other music as needed.  I looked up the full OP song from MELL, and I love it, plus some of her other work.
Characters: 7 - enough characterization to prevent them from being two dimensional (in a story sense that is )
Story: 6.5 - there is little holding it together until 3/4 of the way through, but this rating is probationary at most since the story goes on.  Seeing how the threads woven in the first series appear later on may raise or lower this.
Character designs:  8/10 - for an action anime, there is nothing overly outlandish - no weird purple or neon green hair, a diverse line-up of characters.  Some things, such as the aforementioned SPGG (Standard Punk Gun Girl) uniform still apply, but surprisingly, and thankfully, there is little fan service from the female lead (compared to many anime of this type, like a certain gun-themed anime with a dour, serious, violent gun-toting, non-pants-buttoning main female character that shall remain nameless [grrr]).  What there is is sparse so as not to wear down on most normal viewers.

My conclusion, I might buy it, but there are others series I would collect first.

Edit:  I am now into the second season, so we'll see what else changes, but the switchover is seemless - I can't even consider the 1st season a "season" - there was no real break in the story, no cliffhanger, no temporary stopping point, just more show.  Oh, the Taiwanese lady was freakin hilarious!

[Foggle]

I am about to finish the first season, and this far I will give the first series an 8/10, B-

I love your review, all your points are good, and I agree with most of it.  I'd probably give the series a 9, though.

like a certain gun-themed anime with a dour, serious, violent gun-toting, non-pants-buttoning main female character that shall remain nameless [grrr]

What series is this? O_o