Black Lagoon – 1st Barrage Box Set
Label: MVM.
Release date: 13 Jul 2009
Certificate: 15
Discs: 3 (12 episodes).
Running time: 319 minutes approx
Video: 16.9 anamorphic
Sound: English 5.1, Japanese 2.0.
Subtitles: English
RRP: £29.99
Brief synopsis:
Lowly and unassuming office worker Rokuro Okajima thought it’d be a nice, easy business trip trading his boring desk in grey and dreary Tokyo for the crystal blue waves of the South China Seas. Little does he know that the ordinary looking CD-R he’s been tasked with transporting on his little business cruise is actually in somewhat high demand amongst the South East Asian criminal underworld. Quicker than he can say “One deckchair and margarita, please” he’s taken hostage by the Lagoon Company; a trio of sometimes pirates who are tasked with removing the disc from Rokuro’s possession and presenting it to the local branch of the Russian Mafia. When the deal goes sour – and both the pirates and their hostage find themselves the target of a group of vicious and well equipped mercenaries sent to destroy the data by any means necessary before it can fall into the wrong hands – captors and captive join forces in a desperate attempt to stay alive. So begins Rokuro’s new life as a member of the Lagoon Company with Dutch, the boss, ex-US Marine and Vietnam veteran; Benny, a technical genius on the run from both the FBI and the Mob; and Revy, their foul mouthed, short-tempered psychopathic weapons expert. How long a well-mannered, white-collar worker like him will survive in this crazy cut-throat world that is Roanapur, otherwise known as Thailand’s city of sin, is anyone’s guess.
Comments:
Every now and again we post up reviews of anime series that don’t really fit into Sci-Fi-London’s usual remit as they fall into neither the Sci-Fi or Fantasy categories. So what is it that earns them such a place on this fine site? Well mainly for one very simple reason, and Black Lagoon can count itself amongst these merry few, that being they’re just So. Damn. Cool.
Basically, this anime sooooooooo wants to be a Robert Rodriguez movie. It’s got the snappy dialogue, manic gunplay, incredibly violent and exciting action sequences, blatant sex appeal, plenty of foul language and one hell of a rockingly good soundtrack. Add in some meaty references to some of Hollywood’s finest action movies and a large dollop of John Woo and what you get is hard hitting anime which bursts out firing all barrels with it’s middle finger held squarely in the air screaming “F&*k you” all the way. Actually, I mentioned before in some of my previous reviews regarding this show about how I’ve never heard any other anime before turn the air quite so blue. Well to add to that I really can’t recall any other anime dub using the big “see you next Tuesday” either and, not only do the dub cast here manage to sneak it in, they managed to do it all within context and managed to keep it down to a 15 Certificate whilst doing it.
That’s not to say it’s all about the action as each of the main characters, and many of the supporting characters as well, have plenty of back story, mostly tragic, which is gradually being revealed as this series progresses. There’s also subtle questions about the meaning of existence harking back to writings by philosophers such as Sartre and Nietzsche but if you’re here for the action then don’t worry, they’re subtle and won’t get in the way of all the gunplay, of which there is shed-loads.
If you want an unapologetically graphic and brutal action anime purely for mature audiences with absolutely no fluffiness, magical girls or cutesy talking animals in sight then this is the one for you.
Extras:
Apart from the standard pair of trailers per disc, there’s also the original Japanese version of the opening title animation, a text-less version of the closing title animation, the original Japanese music video for the opening theme song and a rather interesting “Making of” featurette with the English language dub cast. The whole thing comes packaged in a nice, sturdy cardboard box and each of the DVD cases has reversible double-sided covers. The only downside I can see with this release is that the DVD cases themselves are full size rather than thin-pacs so the box set actually takes up more precious shelf space than the individually released DVD singles do.
Black Lagoon – 1st Barrage Box Set will be available on DVD from most high street and online retailers such as Amazon and Play from 13 Jul 2009. Black Lagoon – 2nd Barrage Box Set will be released the following month.
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue – Box Set
Label: MVM.
Release date: 27th July 2009
Certificate: 12
Discs: 6.
Running time: 620 minutes approx
Region: R2 PAL
Video: 4:3
Audio: Japanese or English
Subtitles: English.
RRP: £49.99
Brief synopsis:
In the future, global warming leaves most of the Earth’s surface deeply submerged under the ocean with the remains of the human population residing in massive floating cities linked to the last remaining pieces of land. Teenager Maia Mizuki has just been pick-pocketed, made homeless, had her application for governmental service rejected and finally been held hostage. All in all, her day is not looking at all like sunshine and buttercups. When she’s rescued by the members of Nereids, a local guns-for-hire organisation, a rescue pulled off by shooting both her and the hostage taker with a stun gun, Maia’s offered a job and a place to stay. Often dangerous but always exciting, working at the under-staffed and over-stretched Nereids takes Maia’s life in a whole new direction.
Extras:
None what-so-ever on the first four discs, a rather disappointing lacklustre Production Art Gallery on the firth disc and then, as if to make it all up to us, two complete and full length extra episodes on the sixth disc.
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue – Box Set will be available on DVD from most online and high street retailers from 27th July 2009. As usual, both Amazon and Play at heftily discounted prices.
Reviewer: Penfold