Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
engine_no7
late to the party by several years, but if you're looking for a series that's more mature relative to usual anime and for something that's a nice mix of discussions about morality, action, and dark humor, then black lagoon is a must-watch.
i remember binging the entire first season in one sitting-- the action had drawn me in by that much (especially that scene where rock made the boat fly). but by the second season, the show took a more introspective turn (which i don't mind, by the way) and started digging more into matters of morality. like the reference to sartre within the show, people are like dice in that we throw ourselves in the direction of our choosing-- that, as paradoxical as it is, we are bound to freedom.
but this, then, begs the question: how free are we, when we are an…
Read at the sourcelia_wings
Black Lagoon's strengths remain mostly the same: It has (mostly) strong narratives and interesting things to say both about its world and ours. The character side, however, takes a tumble. with the core of Rock's character in particular being called into focus only to be resolved in very confusing fashion. The show has also learned the habit of using fanservice as a motif to represent its women being vulnerable or incompetent, which felt super gross and malicious. It's by and large the same anime, but marred by distractions.
Worth watching if you enjoyed the first season and are willing to put up with (or don't care about) the aforementioned wrinkles.
Read at the sourceSquare_Eyed
The best gun-action anime out there. Despite what some may think at first, Black Lagoon isn’t just action. It’s also a deep psychological story about a man thrown into an immoral world—where there is no true good or evil, only shades of gray. A world that tests and reshapes his very soul.
The fights are intense and well-directed, making the series really engaging. Despite its mature, emotional, and serious tone, it doesn’t always take itself too seriously—it balances things with humor and a laid-back, sarcastic attitude.
What fascinates me most is watching an ordinary, law-abiding citizen get thrown into a world of criminals and mercenaries—and witnessing his struggle to hold onto his integrity and moral beliefs. At first, those values just begin to crack… but over time, they break apart…
Read at the sourcejoemaamah
Maybe I've just been unlucky, but I've been on this streak of animes where the first season was decent enough, but the second season was a gigantic pile of dog droppings. I'm glad to say my slump has been ended. I like this season even better than I liked season 1.
The artwork has the same stark, edgy style and the characters are the same. New characters are well done. There definitely was an uptick in the animation, especially in the non-action scenes. There's more 3D renderings. But they are mostly well blended in, not obtrusive at all.
Lots of character development this season. Revy becomes more understandable. Rock shows he has some testicles. But the side characters really get much better treatment. I loved what they did with Balalaika and her back story. Dutch, Bennie, the Black L…
Read at the sourcexTerrieR
ENGLISH
History: 14/20
Black Lagoon tells its story from the perspective of Rock. While it’s not groundbreaking, it’s compelling enough. The series follows Indian Ocean pirates who work for the mafia, featuring various arcs like the Nazi treasure hunt, Roberta the maid, and the Japan arc.
It’s a good story overall but doesn’t particularly excel in any single area.
Animation: 17/20
Personally, I prefer this type of animation that avoids excessive special effects or flashy visuals. The art style, color tones, and character designs are solid. However, there are some minor issues, such as animating background characters or distant elements, but they don’t detract significantly from the overall experience.
Sound: 18/20
Initially, I watched the first season with subtitles, but later I rewatch…
Read at the sourceBlueEmbers
This is one of those shows age well with time - its a continuation of the first season, but boasting improved animation, deeper character dives, and thicker plot concepts. More importantly, it demonstrates what animation had lost over the last two decades. Now its more about meaningless noise and isekai bs that says nothing about our own world, and that isn't to say it says much about thier own worlds. That aside, here's why BL S2 is superior, even to today and going beyond nostalgia.
The first two episodes are pretty poignant. Beyond the absurdity of children being serial killers - it is more relevant now than ever considering the ongoing scale of despicable and foul things that society does to vulnerable children. It's so relevant that when I turn away from this show, they talk about TH…
Read at the sourceUncool_Slut
This is a review of both seasons.
"𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣"
Who would have imagined that a show about philosophy would turn into a stereotypical crime drama? Murder, guns, and mafia battles. To be honest, it was a little unsettling to watch a shoot-em-up action movie confront both itself and the audience. The show disregards morality, but unlike most shows, it does it directly in our faces rather than using the tactic of "Oh, it's just the enemy." Bloodbaths go beyond what is considered "ethical" in Hollywood. But maybe they were supposed to be served like this. A little too spicy. It does feel nice to see such stylized violence tho.
The characters were incredibly intriguing; they resisted the need to just be philosophical…
Read at the sourcewhiteflame55
Throughout the season, though other people are the targets of various actions, it seems like the chief goal is to put Rock through the ringer. That's not true for the second arc, which is mainly about the fluidity of enemies and allies when it comes to business of headhunting and bodyguarding, a high octane fight fest that is still probably the weakest of the trio. The first arc tests Rock with the realities behind what seem to be inhuman opponents, who are in reality just an incredibly damaged pair of kids. The third arc tests both his own resolve to stay at the edge between the world he was in before joining Lagoon and the world they occupy, as well as watching someone else transition between those worlds and struggling with the reality that someone could make that choice. Both of the la…
Read at the sourcebergars
Black Lagoon isn't something that strives to make an impact on the viewer, it's an action, international themed story about mafia and strange villains that are too strong to exist, and that's okay.
The story tried new things, exploring the disturbing moral dilemmas of the twins, the fun aspects of the dollar girl, and questioning the goals of the protagonist in the last arc. I enjoyed each arc in varying degrees, but not everything works. Mostly, this feels much more wacky, much more contrived and stupid for its own good. It nudged the action into impossibility to the point where people might as well have some sort of superpower. Characters split bullets after being shot, people enter rooms full of gunners, with a sword, and they win. The series takes itself seriously, too, since it tries…
Read at the sourceDmAnimeguy
This show was probably one of the first big anime shows that i watched that really made me dive in to the world of anime. What a show it was. Gangsters, sex, guns and some serious adult themes made this show something that was thrilling to watch and something that you really need to prepared for.
The show takes a serious look at the world of a gun for hire and also takes you in to this world head first. while you are freaking out the characters show off how their calm and cool through all these messed up situations. One thing to alway remember when watching this show is that each one of these characters are SO COMPLEX, each one of them have a background story that resulted in them begin who they are and where they are. even the side characters are super deep, i definitly recommend multipl…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Please note this review covers both TV seasons of the Black Lagoon anime. The anime is set within the crime-infested harbor city of Ronapour in Thailand with the series mainly focused on the mercenary/ pirate group known as Lagoon Company, who are hired by the many criminal organizations of the city to smuggle, transport, and acquire items.
Black Lagoon strikes up a nice balance of gritty action, black comedy, and drama dabbling into the various missions and criminals that make up the crime-infested world of Ronapour. The series is divided up into a series of arcs lasting anywhere from 2-6 episodes that involve the members of Lagoon Company taking up a job and getting into some sort of violent conflict with other criminals throughout said job. The story arcs either lean more heavily on bl…
Read at the sourcelxcydarkness
I started watching Black Lagoon because I was interested in watching animes with guns - my type.
I got really disappointed, nothing is realistic anymore and not explained to you.
Animations are amazing, Revy and others still look great. Fight were awesome and still interesting.
Soundtrack is still the same thing from first season. Same OP and slow, tacky ED. I really enjoyed watching Revy beat others up, but this season was a huge let down.
I wouldn't really recommend watching this season, but if you are interested in fights (which were well done), you should try watching it but not expect too much.
Read at the sourceICenturyI
Reviews if you don't have time.
*SPOILER-FREE*
If there was a show with such an iconic, badass, female protagonist, the name “Black Lagoon” comes up. It is a manga adaptation with powerhouse studio Madhouse animating it, and what a treat they gave to the already fans of the show that read the manga.
As expected, the animation is great. The fights scenes are fluid and exciting, the movements and choreographies are well executed, and the weapons and guns are well designed and animated. The art-style is kind of unique and really helps with the dark and harsh scenes that surround the characters. It also has some moments where the good animation makes that more intense or memorable. Unfortunately, I still think that it could have been better animation or more complex sequences throughout, esp…
Read at the sourcelullabymahjong
I don't think the second season of Black Lagoon is better than the first. Rather, I think it's worse than the first. The author has lots of good ideas, but the execution of them is rather lacking. Many people here say the second half of this season was the highlight, but I have to disagree, it was an arc that outstayed its welcome and barely delivered enough character development for all the time it took. The young mistress wasn't a good character at all, and served as a perfect example of weak storytelling. High school girl holding a gun, deep right? Really makes you think? She wasn't even the only kid with a gun this season.
The biggest strength of Black Lagoon was its setting, the city of Roanapur, and the uneasy camaraderie between all the violent criminals and mercenaries that lived…
Read at the sourceCrewCONTROL
Black Lagoon The Second Barrage is the second season of Black Lagoon and is definitely a lot more story-driven and action-heavy. The episodes follow the same formula as the first season and still hit really hard but the last six episodes are where shit gets REALLY crazy. They go for a more story-related path that works really well and concludes beautifully. Rock in this season is still how he was in the last season, still trying to live his new life but at the end, he realizes he can’t change people and learns to accept life in Ronanapar as it is. Revy is also pretty similar in this season; she looks at Rock as someone she wants to be, but she realizes that will never happen because of her past. People like her can’t change who they’ve become.
Read at the sourceResting_Bonfire
The sequel has become much darker compared to the predecessor, especially since you can finally see a run in the plot.
The problem is still the tension. The part with the "mysterious" killers at the beginning was quickly spanked by the reveal and you could hardly get anything out of it. The finale was also chewed and dragged out. Despite a few surprising scenes, there was nothing worth mentioning. Such a thing hardly sticks in your head afterwards.
In terms of genre, music and animation, not much has changed, in terms of the same level. Although the "comedy" genre should actually be dropped for me, since this season was clearly dark and offered no humor.
story
As I said, the plot finally followed something. The episodes became more connected. However, it remained that tension could h…
Read at the sourceNyo_Desu
Ahhhhhhh...I knew this season was gonna be better than the last...let's go:
Story:
Just as good, if not better than Season 1's (yeah, I'm gonna be saying that a lot I'll bet in this review). They're a bit more outlandish (certainly with the first arc) than the ones in Season 1. Spekaing of the first ARC, it was a little longer than I kinda wanted it to be, but otherwise it was fine...kinda weird though. Bottom line, the stories are engaging, well-paced, and very enjoyable, loved it.
Art:
Well...not much has necessarily changed in this department, everything still looks good in terms of characters, environments, and the animation itself (ESPECIALLY with the action scenes and the new things they did to make some of the characters' eyes look scarier [with Revy and Balalaika in particular] l…
Read at the sourceDanTheMan2150AD
My review of the whole series:
I basically owe everything to this series. It reignited my love of anime, proved English dubs could kick just as much arse as a sub, make me laugh, cry, be left horrified and encapsulated all at the same time. One of the most perfect anime’s ever created, while the manga is still ongoing, part of me still yearns for that announcement... new episodes are being made. The entire cast are extremely likeable, the animation quality is through the roof and Madhouse once again show they handle every aspect of a show with care and respect. Revy to this day has never left my top 10 female characters spot and I can only summarise she never will.
Read at the sourcestmwg01
Quick take: The second barrage covers three arcs that are much more interesting than anything in the first season, in my opinion. If you liked the first season, you’ll find the second much more enjoyable.
The arcs of BL: The Second Barrage can be split into three; Ep. 1-3, Ep. 4-6, and Ep. 7-end. Each story is linked by the growth in the characters’ relationships and personality.
Once again, it’s within the characters where Black Lagoon really shines. Putting aside the brilliant side characters like the Vampire Twins, the main characters Rock, Revy, Dutch and Benny are all incredibly well thought out and executed. Revy’s longing for a simple life once held by Rock stands in contrast to her reality. Similarly, Rock’s desire to have a life filled with adventure stands in contrast to his mo…
Read at the sourceTactician
"The Second Barrage" pretty much picks up right where the first installment left off. Still on the same Roanapur, with similar indulgences that one should expect if you watched the first installment. I won't spoil anything but I will say that the show remains very dark. There was a curve thrown in though. I thought back to it when I finished the season and I said to myself "I don't know if it was a subtle hint planted on purpose or was it actually just one of those things that happened to go hand in hand with one another"
I'm 99% sure I am over thinking that but regardless Rock and Revy end up taking a trip away from Roanapur. Rock has to help Balalaika with some things and in the process Revy goes with him to keep him safe. This excursion, not being one filled with pleasure in a paradise…
Read at the source
