"Black Lagoon" (2006) "Burakku ragûn" (original title), TV series 2006-

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

8 April 2006 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

A deadly homecoming!

Plot:

A Japanese businessman, captured by modern-day pirates, is written off and left for dead by his company. Tired of the corporate life, he opts to stick with the mercenaries that kidnapped him, becoming part of their gang.

Plot Keywords:

Japanese Businessman | Soviet Afghanistan War | Mafia | Criminal Profiler | 1990s

Cast

Megumi Toyoguchi	...	Revy (29 episodes, 2006-2011)
Daisuke Namikawa	...	Rock (29 episodes, 2006-2011)
Youichi Nishijima	...	Fritz Stanford / ... (26 episodes, 2006-2011)
Maryke Hendrikse	...	Revy / ... (25 episodes, 2006-2010)
Brad Swaile	...	Rock (25 episodes, 2006-2010)
Hiroaki Hirata	...	Benny (22 episodes, 2006-2011)
Tsutomu Isobe	...	Dutch (22 episodes, 2006-2011)
Tôru Nara	...	Okazaki / ... (21 episodes, 2006)
Brian Drummond	...	Benny / ... (21 episodes, 2006-2010)
Yuichi Nakamura	...	Hanada / ... (20 episodes, 2006)
Dean Redman	...	Dutch (19 episodes, 2006-2010)
Mami Koyama	...	Balalaika (18 episodes, 2006-2011)
Kenta Miyake	...	Gardner / ... (17 episodes, 2006-2011)
Patricia Drake	...	Balalaika (17 episodes, 2006-2010)
Trevor Devall	...	Mr. Chang / ... (13 episodes, 2006-2010)
Mark Acheson	...	Boris / ... (13 episodes, 2006)
Taiten Kusunoki	...	Boris (12 episodes, 2006)

Series Directed by
Sunao Katabuchi		(5 episodes, 2010-2011)

Series Writing credits
Rei Hiroe		(29 episodes, 2006-2011)
Sunao Katabuchi		(29 episodes, 2006-2011)

Series Produced by
Satoshi Fujii	....	producer (29 episodes, 2006-2011)

Series Original Music by
Edison		(29 episodes, 2006-2011)

Series Art Department
Ryôsuke Nakamura	....	storyboard artist (29 episodes, 2006-2011)

Series Animation Department
Jamie Vickers	....	key animator (3 episodes, 2006)

Series Other crew
James Corrigall	....	voice director: english version (23 episodes, 2006)

Production Companies

• Black Lagoon Committee
• Geneon Entertainment
• Geneon Entertainment
• Mad House
• Shogakukan

Distributors

• AT-X (2008) (Japan) (TV)
• Chiba TV (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• FUNimation Entertainment (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Geneon Entertainment (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Geneon Entertainment (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Gunma Television (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• KBS Kyoto (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• Nagoya Broadcasting Network (NBN) (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• Sun TV (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• TV Saitama (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• Television Kanagawa (TVK) (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• Tochigi Television (2006) (Japan) (TV)
• Tokyo MX TV (2006) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Artist Management Office Inc.  music production
• Atelier BWCA  background art
• DR Movie  animation finishing
• DR Movie  inbetween animation
• Dr Tokyo  photography
• Geneon Entertainment  music production
• Geneon Entertainment  soundtrack
• Orange  cg photography
• Q-Tec  on-line editing facility
• Sound Box  sound effects
• Toei Audio Visual Art Center (TAVAC)  post-production sound services

Also Known As:

"Burakku ragûn" - Japan (original title)
"Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail" - International (English title) (third season title)
"Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage" - International (English title) (second season title)

Runtime:

Japan:25 min (24 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English | Spanish | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:M (some episodes) | Canada:18+ (TV rating) | Australia:MA (some episodes) | UK:15 (season 1) | New Zealand:M (DVD volume 1) | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (VHS/DVD rating) | UK:18 (season 2)

Company:

Black Lagoon Committee

Trivia:

Revy's guns are modified Beretta Model 92F's, nicknamed "Cutlass" because of the skull-and-crossed-swords symbol on the handgrips.

Quotes:

Dutch:[to Luak] You just hit a dead end. Seems you were the one destined to dance the cha-cha with some hot lead.

Soundtrack:

The World of Midnight

Fun anime action

Watching an episode of Black Lagoon reminds me of an 1980s era action movie. There are fights, shootouts, car chases, explosions, and of course plenty of one-liners. Although the show's main aspiration is to be an action series, it has interesting characters and pretty good story lines, making it more than just a run of the mill action anime. The show is set in southeast Asia and centers around a mercenary group (Black Lagoon) whose members include the leader Dutch, mechanic Benny, Rokuro Okajima a.k.a. 'Rok' a businessman who gets shanghaied into Black Lagoon, and probably the best known, Revy, the group's best fighter who shoots up opponents with two pistols at once. Their ethics are of course flexible so they often take jobs from local criminal organizations, and unsurprisingly the Black Lagoon crew definitely qualify as 'anti-hero' types (except perhaps Rok). It could even be argued that they cross into outright 'bad-guy' territory from time to time. This is what makes this series interesting though, that the characters aren't trying to be good, and their only real code of conduct is their loyalty to each other and of course to turning a profit on their shady jobs (think Sam Peckinpah's Wild Bunch). As you may have guessed Black Lagoon is aimed squarely at an adult audience. There is occasional nudity (i.e. dancers in a topless bar), drug use, and killings and profanity are frequent. Although its concept may not be all that original, its execution is good, so if you like your action bloody and your 'anti-heroes' profane, Black Lagoon is definitely worth a look.