Black Lagoon Volume 1

I’m a little tongue-tied here. How does one explain the sheer action-packed awesomeness that is contained within Black Lagoon? The back of the book does it pretty well: “Four hardcore heroes, one high-speed torpedo boat, TEN THOUSAND BULLETS!” If there’s anything that’s the most accurate, it’s that last phrase.

Black Lagoon follows the story of a ragtag group of mercenaries that’ll do anything to get paid – though really they insist they’re a simple delivery service. However, deliveries can get a little dangerous when you enter the Underworld and work with the Russian Mafia, Columbian drug cartels, Chinese triads, murderers, thieves, and every other kind of unscrupulous folk. Taking place primarily in the high seas of Southeast Asia, there’s never a peaceful moment aboard the Black Lagoon… and if there is, you know something’s bound to go wrong.

I’ve said it before, but comedy is always what really ropes me into a series if it’s in a genre I’m not particularly prone to. You could say I’ve got the general “girly” taste, and stick to things that usually take place in high schools or the random off-kilter comedies that have little to do with anything. Black Lagoon is honestly more sheer gun-toting action than anything else, but it does have a ring of unusual humor to it. I do have to mention, though, the INCREDIBLE amounts of profanity. Parents, this is not something you want your kids reading if you abhor foul language. That being said, I honestly can’t believe that something like this was shrink-wrapped over foul language when overly gory stuff like the last three manga I reviewed isn’t. America’s standards will always be weird to me.

Putting aside the regular and casual droppings of the “F-bomb” every other sentence, Black Lagoon puts a very diverse group of individuals together on one tiny little vessel and forces them to play nice (well, not really). Dutch, the brains of the operation, is intelligent, though not afraid to crack some skulls when necessary. Benny, the ship’s operator, you admittedly see very little of in the first issue, but seems the most laid back (until someone messes with his gear). Revy “Two-Hand” is the most vicious of the lot, and if you’re dumb enough to provoke her into a gun-fight, well… you deserve the painful death you’ve got coming. Lastly, there’s Rock, the hapless Japanese salary man who inadvertently got dragged into this whole mess, but eventually becomes part of the crew as the most personable and charismatic they’ve got (even if he’s a bit of a coward).

I’ve heard there’s a very excellent animated series out there for this particular title, and honestly, I can see why – reading through this, I found the storytelling to be very animated. I could see the gunfights playing out, and I could hear the character’s voices ringing in my head despite never having seen the anime. It leaps off the page and into your imagination and just runs wild… and before I knew it, I was out of material to read. While the characters are left all too mysterious by the end of the first volume, it really only leaves me wanting more – despite the lack of information or backstory, they don’t feel two dimensional. While there doesn’t appear to be one particular over-arching plot, I still want to see the group go on more jobs to see how they get into (and out of) trouble.

Black Lagoon wasn’t really what I thought it would be. But I’m very pleased with what it is – it’s a bit like Cowboy Bebop, only taken to a much, much more adult level. While I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone below the age of 18, it’s a good, engaging read for any mature manga aficionado. Also, any series that can work in the phrase “Amen Hallelujah Peanut Butter” and make it work gets a gold star in my book.