Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Black Lagoon
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14763 |
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How to use the word 
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Yeah that about sums it up and that was the short version. But does BL beat panty shot 'Aika' f? |
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bones2039
Posts: 103 |
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Black Lagoon is one of my favorites. When I loaned my copy of volume 1 out to a friend when he returned it, he refered to it as "A-Team on a boat."
I could really see Black Lagoon as a hollywood movie. |
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RoverTX
 Posts: 424 |
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The funny thing about their relationship is Rock almost fits all the criteria for being the innocent Moe girlfriend. The author even pokes fun of this in the manga's gag segment a number of times. What I really love about their relationship is they are basically keeping the other one alive, and each of them knows it. With out Rock, Revvy is bound to cross over a line and become a full fledge killing machine, and with out Revvy, Rock would be a lost little lamb ready for the slaughter. So even though they aren't really 'tender' or 'loving' with each other very much, when they are, like when she lights his cigarette in the back seat, it really leaves and impact on you how strangely on the edge these two characters are, and how strongly invested they have become in one another. It also leads to one of the saddest moments in the series, when Rock has gone home to try and see his parents one last time, and Revvy is waiting in the park, and she shows the kids how it looks when someone really dies. I took it as she wanted to die right then, because she felt so distant from Rock and his 'happy little family', and that she never had that, and could never share it with him, and fears that he might never come back. When he comes back and says, "No one was home." I kind of have always wondered if he was lying or not. Either way it shows what giant f***ing pussy cats they both are deep down. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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One thing to keep in mind about Revy and Rock's relationship is that it evolves, pretty much continuously. And not only that, both of *them* are changing, too. This makes things far more realistic (insofar as their relationship is concerned) than what you usually see in manga or anime.
Rock is changing and growing harder. Revy is changing and growing more... maybe not compassionate, but, hmm... less vicious? And, of course, they're gradually learning more about one another, not just as far as their pasts go, but their ways of thinking, just like what (usually) happens in a real relationship. IMO, it's the Rock-Revy dynamic that really makes this story work. In some ways, I liken it to Spice and Wolf, both in the way the two main characters play off one another, and the way their relationship is shown to progress in a pretty realistic manner. Anyhow, I do like Black Lagoon quite a bit and I'm glad to see the manga is progressing again. I'm interested in seeing how the story ends. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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With Revy, though, it's mostly a single-target compassion. She still hates all the people she hates just as much, she just likes Rock.
Though I guess I couldn't see Revy from the beginning of the story be as nice to the kids in the park in Japan. Especially since she didn't care much for Garcia. |
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victor viper
 Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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In my dreams, Quentin Tarantino makes a film adaptation of Black Lagoon. As Chrno2 pointed out, he's the only filmmaker I can imagine that could believably translate something like the boat-crashes-into-helicopter scene to film. Plus, his ability to mix black humor in with all the ultraviolence would go a long way. The only problem is I can't think of a single actress that could pull off Revy in live-action. Is there anyone in Hollywood who has enough of a badass streak plus enough acting talent to carry it off?
The way the liquor flows in Roanapur, I'd be kind of surprised if Rock and Revy never got it on. Although, I suspect Eda might be the more likely candidate here. |
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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"...possibly sociopathic"
I think you mean "definitely psychopathic". |
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DKL
 Posts: 1946 Location: California, USA |
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All things considering, I think it'd be better than his film adaptation of The Story of Catcher Freeman (for which he won the academy award for screenwriting). That said, my main exposure to this work is primarily through the anime. In particular, other than the OAV, I was very fond of Testuro Araki's (?) adaptation of the maid arc since there was a lot of neat little details there that wasn't in the manga (the buildup of Roberta's imposing presence in the first part (Araki somehow made her intimidating by just having her stand there), the depiction of South America and the romanticized vision of the Lovelace household... even that whole thing with the arm wrestling caught my eye). That said, as of the OAV, the series seems to have come to a surprising revelation: the craziest person in a gang of thieves and crooks is the meek Japanese business man (it gets so bad that even Revy begins to have her doubts about following Rock into the fire)... implying that, if you willingly put up with what Rock had to do in his previous life (waking up only to have your ass kicked by your boss every day), you would HAVE to be crazy. ANYWAY, yes... Can we have the OAVs now, Funimation? >_> |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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I found the quotation from Moto Hagio especially interesting, because I've realized that this kind of reversal of gender roles appeals to me. Looking back upon my favorite series, I have an undeniable fondness for female characters who have more aggressive, influential or independent roles in stories. I think that I might favor this because I don't especially identify with more than a ew traditional masculine roles, despite my impressive beard. Black Lagoon employees what is probably the crudest form of it as little defines Revy et al as female besides wearing cut-off jeans. That's not at all a bad thing as it is not necessary that somebody be bound at least partially or in some part to a gender and anything more sociologically complex would probably be out of place in Black Lagoon. Nevertheless, it's curious that if Revy, or any of the other warrior-women, were a man, her behavior and actions would need little change, but the manga would be less interesting. It's hard to have a character like Revy act in the role that she has, yet exhibit some conspicuously female behavior, outside of the usually unfortunate third act profession or revelation of weakness or vulnerability. The problem being, mind you, not the weakness or vulnerability per se, well-written characters generally have that, but that it often subverts or undermines the female character's accomplishments and dignity to aggrandize a male character or reassure the audience by making her non-threatening. Bodacious Space Pirates is interesting in this regard as Marika is a commanding, effective character, but doesn't manifest those characteristics in a typically masculine manner. (Eric Friedman has an interesting take on this) Then there are characters like Kino from Kino's Journey and Koko Hakmatyar from Jormungand whose manner, and appearance in Kino's case, are relatively genderless, which makes it a little interesting that Kino is sometimes mistaken for a boy. Maybe what I'm getting at is a difference between the functions of a role and the expression of it. In the case of Black Lagoon the roles carry their typical, which is to say masculine, expressions, but tend to be held by women. As impressive as Revy or Roberta are and even though I'm keen on this bitch-moe notion, such characters become oddly almost regressive at a certain point. The male analog to this seems rather uncommon. Probably owing to social stigmas. I couldn't even think of a good example off hand.
For my part, I thank mercy for Black Lagoon not doing this. I sometimes want to understand these things, but prefer them outside of the actual story, if at all. Within it they bore me and break my suspension of disbelief. It's a fight, damn you! Not a technical demonstration! (In this sense, my attitude toward action is a little like my attitude toward sexuality inasmuch as I don't like it to be so transparently directed toward the benefit of the audience) I do agree that the action can be hard to follow. This is especially bothersome for somebody like me who is 1) not especially bright in the first place and 2) not especially 'visual'. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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This makes me want to consider the anime actually. The action panels I saw here, I had some trouble following, I'm really picky when it comes to action in manga, where I think it's harder to get right, but in anime, it's usually harder to mess up (you practically have to give it to the Gundoh Musashi people before action becomes unwatchable), maybe because they have to physically draw the characters go from point A to point B instead of implying it, which can be more difficult.
Does the anime adapt arcs or something? I'm curious if the anime ending feels "complete" so to say. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9844 Location: Virginia |
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Both the manga and the anime do arcs, the anime puts them in slightly different order. The anime does feel complete at the end of the last arc, with the understanding that "life goes on" for the principal characters. We are currently awaiting the US release of the OAV that covers the volumes of the manga not in the original anime. The manga has just restarted after an extended hiatus.
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MellowMadman11
 Posts: 17 |
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There is a decent chance that we will get another full season, or at least another ova considering that the manga is starting up again.
Also, bitch moe sounds awesome! |
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