(L) Black Lagoon: Season One

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Zeni

Like similar events hasn't already happened.

True. No one is saying that relationships of that sort are totally impossible in Black Lagoon, but what I meant was that scenes along the lines of "OMG! she confessed to him during V-day" or "Rock stealing Revy's underwear (may the gods have mercy on his soul if he did...)" haven't been happening. And I'm sure the mangaka knows that the appeal of his story primarily lies somewhere else. But then again, who knows right? We'll see, though I wouldn't really be that worried about something as drastic as this happening.

Originally Posted by Zeni

The show's got good potential but it lacks in realism, and what makes it worse is the only thing everyone seems to be worried about is who to pair up with who. Frankly it's getting old for me.

First, as you can already tell by now, this isn't one of those truly realistic shows. Second, I kind of relate a bit, since I had a similar feeling everytime I visited the F/sn threads at one point.

[SinsI]

To me, the least realistic thing in this show is not the boats shooting torpedoes in mid-air and not women jumping 3 meters and killing 20 mercenaries on their own without taking a scratch. It is the fact that crucial to a multi-billion company Nuclear data plans gets send via a courier without decent guard and without crack-proof cryptography protection(actually, for transportation you can easily make an unbreakable cryptography - just XOR it with the key of equal size and send that key only after confirmation of safe arrival - it would be impossible to crack).

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by philip72

Well Dang!

I hoped we'd see the obligatory onsen episode, with grab from behind comparisons between the girls, and a nosebleed for Rock.

O-oo-o-oo! How bout they have a secret mission and Revy has to dress in glasses and maido.

Balalaika in nekkomimi and gothloli, perhaps?

I'd pay good coin to see that omake.

There's no service like fanservice.

I can't believe you forgot to mention the obligatory beach episode. Oh wait...

[Trax]

No hotspring episode then? Awww... Levi and Balalaika would steal the show.

I like both of those characters, similar in some ways yet very different in other ways.

After paying more attention to the opening and ending I noticed that they almost exclusively contained Levi. Now does that mean that the main story will revolve around her, or is she just used as an attention grabber since she's a gun toting babe? Also noticed in ep3 how she had this tragic look about her when she was finally finished fighting, a huge contrast with her expression during the fight. She probably realizes something has broken within her, like Rock comments.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Gryff

Quite frankly I'm beginning to get disillusioned with Black Lagoon.
All these pirates and not one parot or Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I demand some good old pirate talk.

Well there was that bird in ep. 3 yelling among other things ,"I'll kill you!".

Every time Revy is on screen there is some fanservice, esp. with her shorts.

[Aidan]

Originally Posted by philip72

to dress in glasses and maido.

If we're lucky they'll show the mad dog maid with glasses from hell, I've heard nothing but good scary things about her.

[Psychoray]

Question:

Spoiler:

So, i've read Rock and Revy don't hook up, but there is some kind of chemistry between them. My question is: Will Revy hook up with/sleep with/seduce/etc some other guy later on the show. (Question for the manga readers.)

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Psychoray

Question:

Spoiler:

So far? No. Haven't seen anything beyond volume 5 though.

[molitar]

Like similar events hasn't already happened. Anyway I'm not at all saying that Revy wouldn't make a good match for Rock (gag) but it seems the dork going all bad ass just isn't working for me, he still seems like a dork, and the fact that the other member's of the group is falling for it makes it even worse. The show's got good potential but it lacks in realism, and what makes it worse is the only thing everyone seems to be worried about is who to pair up with who. Frankly it's getting old for me.

What a laugh! The guy has had his own company tell him he's dead.. than try to kill him. And going badass doesn't happen in a day but the adrenaline of the survival and the freedom of the style of life they live appealed to him who was a straight arrow white collar worker that was working a job he did not like. They know he is adjusting but it was his idea that saved their lives literally, which means he has a head on his shoulders and that can come in useful it saved their lives once and what happens once can happen again.

Secondly on the torpedo comment. Shows how much you know about a torpedo to make that declaration...

When the torpedo is projected from a ship or boat into the water a lever is thrown back, admitting air into the engines causing the propellers to revolve and drive the torpedo ahead. It is desirable that a certain depth under water should be maintained.

projected into the water is the keyword here.. Now the torpedo is on the side of the boat it doesn't get dropped sideways into the water it was designed to be propelled into the water. Secondly a torpedo is designed to be propelled into the water while moving! Would be pretty useless to have to stop a boat, aim than fire.. you would be a sitting duck. So that gives a good indication how far and fast that the torpedo is propelled into the water. I thought they did a good indication of this when they did the side cut view the one torpedo barely made it to the front of the copter and the other fell short.

Now here's an interesting site on a little of the capabilities of a torpedo boat. Torpedo Boat Look at the impressive speed of that boat that is a little over 50 knots = 57.6 mph so at that speed you could jump a boat. You have to remember these are not propeller driven boats at all. Hollywood itself has jumped boats but depending on the type of boat many require a v notch in the ramp to do it. Well they knew they were going to die and it was the only chance they had so they put their all into it.

Now on her not getting hurt in the combat yes that part is unbelievable but what kind of show would it be if one of the main characters were to die so soon? Any show be it anime or movie if it requires alot of shooting is either going to have to be the shortest lived show in history or be another Rambo. Well it is a show and I rather have a rambo than a dead hero and the show over in just a few episodes.

[physics223]

Originally Posted by Gryff

Quite frankly I'm beginning to get disillusioned with Black Lagoon.
All these pirates and not one parot or Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I demand some good old pirate talk.

At least Black Lagoon is what it is. It doesn't obfuscate the viewers on a cool plot or anything, or doesn't show mainly a character that doesn't even show herself for more than half of the series. That's what I like about Black Lagoon - it's not pretentious (unlike Ergo >_<).

[MrProphet]

Well, episode 5 was somewhat boring, just as its prequel.

To make it short: Rock and Revy get the picture, Neo-Nazis storm the U-boat, steal the picture and escape. It was actually quite refreshing to see Black Lagoon not 'win' at the end of the day.

The highlight of the episode is a depressing discussion between Rock and Revy among the corpses on the boat. Rock waffles about life and death, while Revy lectures him in really creepy manner about death equalling money. It was quite interesting how they subtly examine Revy's personality. It's obvious that the little flashbacks of the deserted street we see are the flashbacks to Revy's past (the OP also hints at it).

If the 'pay-off' you are expecting for a typical Black Lagoon episode is the flash-bang Revy-kicking-ass action, then you're going to be sorely disappointed. But I thought the episode was rather intriguing, opening up another layer of Revy's weird personality. It would be interesting to see where this leads (although, it's possible to guess even now: some traumatizing event in the childhood is the most likely thing).

[Psychoray]

Originally Posted by kujoe

Spoiler:

So far? No. Haven't seen anything beyond volume 5 though.

Yay. Thanks

[SinsI]

some traumatizing event in the childhood is the most likely thing

make that the whole childhood gone to hell - not just a single event, but constant - war, poverty, crime or similar circumstances - and I think that would be the answer.

[kari-no-sugata]

I liked the little talk with Levi and Rock too.

Spoiler for goes something like this...:

Levi has gotten a little sack of loot, but Rock finds the picture the captain had of his family - he feels the stuff should belong to people like that.

Levi starts her bit holding up a skull and some Nazi meddles, and says they're just "things" (ie they hold absolutely no emotional attachment to her). Things can be sold for money and money is power - and freedom. Rock asks if money is a "god" to Levi half-way through this, but she certainly doesn't seem obsessed with money (or power) or anything like that. Seems she hates being poor (equals "weak" for her) and doesn't believe in anything. I couldn't easily follow all her words, but it sounds like she was living close to death as a child (I don't think there was any one particular incident in her childhood).

And of course, Levi doesn't want any do-gooder crap from Rock. If he gets annoying, she tells him she'll kill him.

Sounds like Levi is far from warming up to Rock (and her preview voice-over suggests that as well).

[oJo]

from ep5

Spoiler:

I didn't know Levi's a chinese.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by oJo

from ep5

Spoiler:

I didn't know Levi's a chinese.

From the website, she's American but of Chinese ethnicity.

[chucky]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

If the 'pay-off' you are expecting for a typical Black Lagoon episode is the flash-bang Revy-kicking-ass action, then you're going to be sorely disappointed. But I thought the episode was rather intriguing, opening up another layer of Revy's weird personality. It would be interesting to see where this leads (although, it's possible to guess even now: some traumatizing event in the childhood is the most likely thing).

Or, if anyone have a chance to read the manga, he/she will find prolly after vol 1. of the manga, action has ceded to be the focus.

[grss1982]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

From the website, she's American but of Chinese ethnicity.

Just Like Master Sgt. Melissa Mao from FMP, eh?

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by grss1982

Just Like Master Sgt. Melissa Mao from FMP, eh?

Yup, exactly, though I do recall that Revy was of mixed descent, although that is not immediately obvious by her appearance. The language issue in the manga is, as you might imagine, somewhat befuddled, but later on the mangaka stresses the fact that Revy's primary language is English (very fluent American English), and that she doesn't know a word of Japanese (hence she's been conversing with Rock all this time in English).

Whether Revy knows Chinese, and in what dialect, is uncertain.

Edit: A quick remark before I continue to reflect on episodes 4 and 5 in depth: The missiles launched by the Neo Nazis at Dutch's ship are indeed TOWs, as Benny cries out in warning. Fiber-optic wire guided anti-tank missiles, mounted on jeeps, infantry fighting vehicles like the M2 Bradley, and helicopters though the US has long since transitioned to Hellfires. The TOW is the most widely used and most produced anti-tank missile in existence.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...s/tow-pics.htm

In addition, the Iron Cross which Revy was looking for was actually a Knight's Cross, a fare more rare medal, and not just an Knight's cross with oak leaves, but as she later held it up, was a Knight's cross with oak leaves and swords, of which only 159 (according to Wikipedia) were ever awarded, in addition to Yamamoto Isoroku, who was an honorary recipient. In other words, this fictional U-boat captain must've been quite the submarine ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RK_EK_mit_ol_sw.png

Out of curiosity, I also tried to find out how much Knight's Crosses would be worth today: One site specializing in German medals sold a regular Knight's Cross (the lowest/plainest of the Knight's cross order, some 7900 awarded) for $10,000. There were several other Knight's Crosses available, with going rate of average $10,000 dollars. If one does the math, (some 300,000 Iron Cross 1st classes awarded, costing roughly $450 dollars on average) assuming any surviving authentic Knight's Crosses with Oak Leaves and Swords are available for sale... oh I dunno, several hundred thousand, half a million dollars maybe? More if the original owner was famous and could be certified as such.

http://www.leisuregalleries.com/KC65cased.html

[kari-no-sugata]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

In addition, the Iron Cross which Revy was looking for was actually a Knight's Cross, a fare more rare medal, and not just an Knight's cross with oak leaves, but as she later held it up, was a Knight's cross with oak leaves and swords, of which only 159 (according to Wikipedia) were ever awarded, in addition to Yamamoto Isoroku, who was an honorary recipient. In other words, this fictional U-boat captain must've been quite the submarine ace.

I guess that's why he was chosen for the special mission...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RK_EK_mit_ol_sw.png

Out of curiosity, I also tried to find out how much Knight's Crosses would be worth today: One site specializing in German medals sold a regular Knight's Cross (the lowest/plainest of the Knight's cross order, some 7900 awarded) for $10,000. There were several other Knight's Crosses available, with going rate of average $10,000 dollars. If one does the math, (some 300,000 Iron Cross 1st classes awarded, costing roughly $450 dollars on average) assuming any surviving authentic Knight's Crosses with Oak Leaves and Swords are available for sale... oh I dunno, several hundred thousand, half a million dollars maybe? More if the original owner was famous and could be certified as such.

http://www.leisuregalleries.com/KC65cased.html

Wow...

I wonder if Levi has managed to keep her swag bag... I didn't notice when I first watched the ep and I haven't re-watched it completely...