#gunsgunsguns

I´m so happy I picked up the Black Lagoon Manga again, I had almost forgotten how good that story is^^ It´s been some years since I started the manga and it stood forgotten in my bookshelf, never to be touched again if it weren´t for the fact that I was bored out of my mind and decided to give the anime a chance..

It´s honestly a shame I forgot about Black Lagoon, because it has so many elements that I love not only about the manga but also the anime.

The Prota, Rock: a normal businessman, leading the life of an ordinary japanese citizen, who gets dragged into the criminal life of the lagoon company and the city of Roanapur. He´s intelligent, but he´s not fit for combat and has to rely on others to protect him. He´s good as an interpreter,  at negotiations and all the things a businessman is good at and he shows his value in what the usual criminals lack. And he tries to stay good at heart and helps those who are in need of assitance, but he can´t bring them out alive every time and it shows how he still has to learn and adapt to the world around that doesn´t play by the usual rules of society. But he´s getting the hang of it, slowly but steadily. Just hope, he´ll stay in the twilight^^

The Women: Starting with Revy. She´s a crazy, gun-loving and rude woman, who doesn´t need much reason to kill someone. Those atributes are usually ones that turn me off about characters - especially female ones - but so far I still like her. Not just because her backstory, but also because she shows other sides of her character. She cares in protecting the ones the cares for, she is intelligent and she can keep her cool when it´s necessary (most of the time). I just can´t bring myself to not like her.

Overall, the women in this series are mostly the toughest, strongest and scariest characters and I love them. 

Balaleika being the captain of fearsome russian soldiers, who are all men, but who respect her so much they would go anywhere with her. She´s cold, calculating but treats them as her family and the trust between her and her men is admiring. She´s the leader and none of them ever questions her position.

Roberta - I know she´s totally off the charts, but you gotta admire how she makes everyone in the whole series afraid of a maid. Totally mad, stopping for nothing, clawing her way through every obstacle with sheer willpower and inhuman physical strength driven by pure loyality. This woman is so f*cking intense in everything she does. Let´s hope she´ll never come back xD

Jane. Yes, I know she´s terribly irritating and is getting on everyones nerves with her short temper if something doesn´t go the way she wants it, but at the same time she´s kinda hilarious. Well, she´s also a computer nerd, knows her shit, is kind of an perfectionist, but has a naiveté to her that is biting her in the ass in the criminal world. 

Yea, I admit I like the women very much xD I dunno if I just haven´t read enough mangas (or stories in general), but usually I find it hard to find the female characters appealing^^

And I honestly can´t complain about the lack of romantic interaction.The romance is mostly so subtle you can easily ignore it. I like it staying in the background. Well, exception is the Jane & Benny relationship xD (I believe I have read too many romance stories with stupid crushes, jealousy & and all that)

Besides that, the manga may have a huge load of gunfights, but it also has a good story with characters that don´t need to achive greater firepower, but (slow) chara developement. That being said, I´m excited to finally get to know more about Dutch´s past that is beginning to show in the newest arc and how it will affect the crew. (Note: the opponents is a team of 5 women ;D)

I can also recommend the anime, it´s well done, I even like the english dub better than the japanes version^^ Really, you gotta hear them swear and the different accents they have xD Also the anime is really close to the manga, which I appreciate very much.