"Only business, nothing personal".
Do you know that feeling when you are watching a TV show, or a movie, maybe and anime / manga, playing a videogame or reading a book, and those generic, boring characters that pretend to represent evil show up? In classic series, like Saint Seiya, where is common to contrast the light and the darkness by an stereotyped, greek representation of justice and evil, you can see that in every fight, every conversation. But, what if someone broke down that vision and put the 'bad ones' in the spotlight? The answer is Black Lagoon: The Second Barriage.
Seen from outside, Black Lagoon is just another action anime that doesn't have nothing more than random shooting scenes and boring, bland characters, with a predictable story and mediocre animation. Well, the one who thought that, couldn't be more wrong, because this second season has much to offer to the viewer. Not only tense moments but character development and a strong, dark and nihilistic philosophy that I personally loved.
To see this season and fully enjoy it, I recommend you to watch the first one previously, to understand why the characters act like they do and their relationships.
The story is really good, one of the strongest points in this anime along with the characters. I must admit that the dark atmosphere really catches me, like in Berserk or Evangelion, but it is not only dark but deep. Basically, everything developes around Revy Two Hands and Rock, the main characters that are part of an obviously ilegal delivery service called 'Lagoon'. We are allowed to see the crew in some jobs and how they live and react to some events in Roa Napra. Basically, we have three different arcs here: the Twins arc (which I personally consider to be a fucking masterpiece), the Fake Money arc (for me, the most mediocre), and the Japan War arc, which is pretty good too, and I personally enjoyed when I thought the series was going downhill. While I enjoyed the Fake Money arc, I felt it was like a bridge between the greatest parts, some filler that has more random action (but an interesting discover) than actual plot.
The Twins arc is one of the greatest I've seen in anime, not only because of the action (which is unbelievably good, with unpredictable plot twists) but of the strong realities shown there. We have a pair of twins that are in Roa Napra to kill Balalaika, hired by a random hooligan that I'd never seen or heard about in Black Lagoon. Revy and Eda, the nun of the Violent Church, want the reward for their head, so they pursue them through the city. When one of the twins finds Balalaika, she is shown merciless (when it was only a child, maybe 14yo or younger) and watches how it's killed without even blink. The other twin pays the Lagoon company to escort her to an island, only to find death in hands of a hitman hired by the Hotel Moscow.
This arc is told to show the viewers that life isn't easy, or, at least, isn't easy for everyone. Every day, some people go out to the street to kill, kidnap or steal. Maybe for money, like the Lagoon company, maybe for honor, like Balalaika and his army, or maybe for pleasure, like the twins. For them, every single day is a 'kill or be killed' reminder, whether they like it or not. Life is dark, hard and in the end, you may not be satisfyied with what you lived. But, in the other hand, there is more than meets the eye, because not everything has to be violent or a bloodthirst desire. There is love, human warm and confidence. Sadly, it finishes with a harsh reality: you can't save everyone, just live your life and try not to be involved in those things.
The Japan War arc is good too. Things like loyalty or ambition are put to the test, but I prefer not to spoil it, because is the longest one and I want everyone to take a look at it with their own eyes.
The animation and art are good, really good in the first chapters, but have a notable downgrade in the last three, to the point of be annoying sometimes. The final fight has serious budget problems.
The sound felt atmospheric and correct in every single moment. The op and the ed are the same as the first season, but they are equally awesome. I personally enjoy the ED, because it gives that lonely sensation, like if Revy was walking through a path of thorns, being hurt in every step she gives.
The reason why I enjoyed this season that much was because of Revy, Rock and Balalaika. While I think characters like Dutch, who is a charismatic and intelligent douche, capable of recognize Sartre quotes, are left apart in favor of those mented, I think it was a really good choice, because they are exploited to the maximum of their capabilities.
In the first season, Revy is shown like a cold woman, without any kind of human feeling but the most violent ones. Revy enjoys killing, shooting, drinking, smoking and earning money, but, how much of her personality is her 'real personality'? In this season, we see Revy much closer to Rock than previously, she is literally told to be 'his weapon', and has risked her life for him even if she textually refused. When Rock is in Japan, working as Balalaika's translator for the Yakuza, Revy seems to enjoy what a normal life is, and there is even a moment when Balalaika says something like "Two-Hands, don't even think in a life like this one", refering to a normal, safe routine. While other animes show us how cool is to be bad, how powerful a gun feels in your hands (like the sword in Vagabond), Black Lagoon goes a step further and actually puts the real weight shooting and killing has in Revy's mind.
Is the human born with the capacity of doing evil, or does he aprehend it through its life? It is told that Revy had a dark past, and some events conditioned her to have the life now owns, but even if she seems to enjoy the life she has, can't avoid to envy Rock's normal life and a place to go back.
Rock has some improvement too, but none close to Revy and Balalaika's. To me, Rock represents the person that can't choose between two antagonistic choices. He is told to be in the 'sunset', because walks through darkness and light at the same time, being able to choose the one he prefers when it suits. Rock has some badass moments when he has to discuss Balalaika even at risk of being killed by her. He discovers his own dark, even if he is thinking in the greater good. In the end, Revy desires what Rock has, and Rock discovers what Revy's mind is made of.
Balalaika was for sure a huge surprise for me, because in the first season it is shown like a strong woman, for sure, but with some moral values. Here, we discover that she is a cold hearted militar, ex Spetsnaz, that doesn't fool around. She has her own moral code, that is based in mutual comprehension and respect, but only for the men under her flag. They respect her, and far from having fear, they devoutly idolize her as a leader. This goddamned sexy russian woman doesn't kill for fun nor money, she does it because it has to be done.
I enjoyed this series, I really did. It was an incredible trip through some of the most dark and deep human desires: evil, greed, envy, lust, but also hope and comprehension, that are always present in our hearts.
Thanks, Lagoon company.
