"Burakku ragûn" (2006) TV series

Director:

Sunao Katabuchi

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

8 April 2006 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | 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 | CIA Agent | Helicopter | Vietnam Veteran | Terrorist Group

Cast

Megumi Toyoguchi	...	Revy (11 episodes, 2006)
Daisuke Namikawa	...	Rock (11 episodes, 2006)
Tsutomu Isobe	...	Dutch (11 episodes, 2006)
Hiroaki Hirata	...	Benny (11 episodes, 2006)
Louis Chirillo	...	Chin (11 episodes, 2006)
Ross Douglas	...	Kageyama (11 episodes, 2006)
Patricia Drake	...	Balalaika (11 episodes, 2006)
Brian Drummond	...	Benny (11 episodes, 2006)
Maryke Hendrikse	...	Revy (11 episodes, 2006)
Richard Newman	...	Ratchman (11 episodes, 2006)
Dean Redman	...	Dutch (11 episodes, 2006)
Brad Swaile	...	Rock (11 episodes, 2006)
Mami Koyama	...	Balalaika (6 episodes, 2006)
Michie Tomizawa	...	Roberta (6 episodes, 2006)
Jôji Nakata	...	Kageyama (Japanese) / ... (5 episodes, 2006)

Also Known As:

Black Lagoon (International: English 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

Certification:

USA:TV-MA | Australia:M | Canada:18+ (TV rating) | Australia:MA (DVD volume 2) | UK:15

Company:

Black Lagoon Committee

Trivia:

Dutch is a Vietnam veteran and makes frequent references to battles and tactics used in the war.

Quotes:

Balalaika: [Rock hands phone to Dutch] Hi there, Dutch! I hear you went on a wild goose chase, and you got stuck playing games with Mr. Chin
Dutch: Who told you about that?
Balalaika: [Chin is strapped to a bomb in his apartment] He told me himself. Let’s just say he's a bit too loud to organize any kind of conspiracy. He was blabbing away to just about everyone in town. even the dead would have known what was happening. anyways... we'll make sure nothing like this happens again. It was a real pain for you, wasn't it?
Dutch: No, I wouldn't say that. It wasn't even enough to give me a headache.
[...]

Soundtrack:

Preach Headz Addiction

The genius is in the details

Brilliant details all through the series; beautifully rendered animation with clever and sometimes surprising features, solidly crafted characters, excellent dialog with unforgettable lines. The story itself isn't so sophisticated, so what you're watching is really a series of vignettes about a group of personalities, much like Cowboy Bebop. And like Cowboy Bebop, they're likable, watchable, entertaining personalities, so this works for the title quite well.

Revy is at once simple and mysterious, Rock is easy to sympathize with. These are the most plausible characters, the rest are slightly less so; just how many mobsters and mercenaries can have a heart of gold, anyway?

Good pacing and rhythm, keeps the action rolling, makes you always look forward to the next episode.