Black Lagoon, Episode 2 review | Everything Sounds Cooler in English.
I've never seen English be so cool.
Original Writer and Artist: Rei Hiroe
Publisher: Shogakukan
Anime adapted by: Studio Madhouse
Original run: April 9, 2006 – December 19, 2006
Episode 2, titled Mangrove Heaven, or alternatively, Everything Sounds Cooler in English, ザ パロディー.
Chicken Race.
Alpine Course.
Amen, Hallelujah, Peanut Butter.
F*cking C****t, censored because we’re in 2023 and not 2006, and Revy can afford to throw those hands.
Rock eats an uppercut, hits his head against the wall and has a moment of brilliance.
They’re in a Chicken Race against ancient bastards who fancy themselves Gunmen and so c’mon Dutch–Captain, the only way to live is to hydroplane the boat.
They’re on the Alpine Course; one Amen, a blasphemy and peanut butter after, they’re already on their next mission and Aloha-less Rock is less a boat mascot and more the primary negotiator as they’re robbing the S.S. Joan. That was all English, but some of that was English. Everyone with the Melanesian fever and Rock was no exception as he delivered his own epic one-liners throughout the episode.
So Rock is formally inducted into piracy and he’s as ready for it as an early start at Asahi’s. Finding out he was delivering the disc back to his old boss, busting his ass for the deals to be decided above him was par for the course. The fight against Extra Order was handmade for him to be involved as he tells the experienced Dutch, Benny and Revy he has a plan for how they’re going to survive this. It might have been the first time he heard Chicken Race but he was certainly going to use it. The use of English this episode felt like it was to create a cool vibe, and Rock is not cool.
Kageyama returns to his workplace as the hero. The mercenaries he hired are dead and ran up a huge bill for the weapons they wasted. He looks his former junior in the eyes and sees a different man. One unfit to be a manager anymore but masterminds the plot that saw the original thieves turn broker and middleman to their own crime. Kageyama likely saw what many viewers saw, a man who doesn’t know what he’s saying, but it certainly felt like he needed to say it anyways. I’m sorry to repeat it, but Rock had basically said to this group of experienced vets that they’re in a Chicken Race against ancient bastards who fancy themselves Gunmen and so c’mon Dutch–Captain, the only way to escape is to hydroplane the boat, but more than that the only way they’re making it out is to trust him.
Ignoring how quickly Rock underwent said change, Kageyama and his continued involvement post getting the disc imply his role within the story isn’t over. Rock’s association with Asahi and his old life can’t just be cut short with a one-liner, and while perhaps it was cool, and perhaps necessary to advance the story of Rock, the Pirate, there’s room for his nerve and morality to get truly tested. Kageyama takes the credit for getting the disc back, but I wonder how many board members know that the logistics of his plans were otherwise a huge failure. Scenes of Kageyama going, “Stocks…stocks,” perhaps a worry that Asahi’s might have since plummeted could cause him to tie up some loose ends. It means Rock might come face to face with people he knows, and not someone Revy can just blow up from a distance.
Guns aren’t for throwing, and the Neanderthals’ self-awareness probably wasn’t so advanced that they could so easily philosophise away the dark future waiting for them. Before, it was a necessary survival tactic when there was only one door open. Maybe he couldn’t have gone back to Japan, but he’s decided to be a pirate when for saving his crew’s lives they would’ve likely dropped him in a safe third country.
Rock’s role:
Rock’s role was the thinker of that situation. When you’re in this game you subscribe to certain rules. Some to make it enjoyable. Some because you have no choice. Some to make it worth it, and some to make the game predictable—habits are formed, bad ones. As seen in the case of E.O.’s “Captain”, it reduces his thinking down to something Rock can pattern match. A chicken race is understood in theory, but perhaps it took a complete newbie unbound by their rules to consider it in practice. With a flare and some luck, he takes on the lion's share of responsibility. Revy on invitation duty, Dutch on levers and with Benny running the numbers, Rock took it. The underrated voice-acting exchange of his “してやったぜ！” versus Captain’s “ファックしてやるぜ、ベビー！” coming to a head, appreciating Rock’s effort, the towel on his head when he awoke was a nice touch from the crew, and to hang with them as an equal, he needed at least that much.
Final thoughts:
E.O.’s Captain was a short-lived but likeable villain. Strangely reminding me of Avi from Snowfall, another thing I think fans of Black Lagoon might like. The sunset scene when Rock joins the crew feels like it’ll be iconic in my memory once the show’s over. All of them posing coolly as Rock walks over to a fading cutaway, “Alright, the camera’s gone,” they might say.
“Leaning against this wall hurts. Let’s go already.”
Very cool.
This post is the second in a series of reviews of Black Lagoon. If you’d like to be kept updated on any new reviews, please consider spicing up your inbox by clicking below.
It makes for a good change to “Is this you? IP: 192.168.0.1 has accessed your location from Tromsø, Norway.” Brighten things up with some anime instead.
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ファックしてやるぜ、ベビー！