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Black Lagoon   
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Description

Type
Manga

Related Series

Associated Names
Đầm Đen
Чёрная Лагуна
البحيرة السوداء
ब्ल्याक लगुन
จรชนพันธุ์เดือด
ブラックラグーン
ブラック・ラグーン
企业佣兵
黑礁
블랙 라군

Groups Scanlating
MangaStream
Anonymous Spore
Akatsuki Manga
ACF Team
More...

Latest Release(s)
v.13 c.114 by ACF Team about 1 year ago
v.13 c.113 by ACF Team about 1 year ago
v.13 c.112 by ACF Team over 2 years ago
Search for all releases of this series

Status
in Country of Origin
13 Volumes (Ongoing)

Completely Scanlated?
No

Anime Start/End Chapter
Starts at Vol 1, Chap 0 (S1) / Vol 6, Chap 44 (OVA)
Ends at Vol 6, Chap 43 (S2) / Vol 9, Chap 76 (OVA)

User Reviews
N/A

Forum
14 topics, 104 posts
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User Rating
Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (754 votes)
Bayesian Average: 8.51 / 10.0
10
 
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Last Updated
February 6th 2024, 3:12am


Genre

Categories

Category Recommendations

Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year
2002

Original Publisher

Serialized In (magazine)
Sunday GX (Shogakukan)

Licensed (in English)
Yes

English Publisher
Viz (12 Volumes - Ongoing)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly Pos #488 increased(+159)
Monthly Pos #1178 decreased(-129)
3 Month Pos #1298 increased(+178)
6 Month Pos #1516 increased(+40)
Year Pos #1684 increased(+53)

List Stats
On 3735 reading lists
On 1513 wish lists
On 144 completed lists
On 177 unfinished lists
On 547 custom lists

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User Comments  [ Order by usefulness ]
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Mixed  
by panos
May 28th, 2021, 6:40am
Rating: 7.5  / 10.0
Pros:Black lagoon is one of these stories with very interesting characters, each with their own quirks. Rock is sitting in the middle of his past life and new one. Many times blaming himself with guilt if things don't turn out 100% his way. He may not openly show it but later chapters have long dialogues about his decisions, his new way of life and what resulted. Revy has her times sometimes putting Rock on the right path and sometimes being supported by him. She gradually starts letting go of her past and anger and partially change, making decisions she would normally wouldn't. They are a very interesting duo because they look like polar opposites. There are very interesting philosophical quotes from the characters and the train of thought seems very convinving and well thought.
The cons:Sometimes I really cannot follow what is going on. First chapters were straightforward and very easy to follow. But since the Tokyo arc it gets more and more confusing. Many opposing parties on each arc, confusing and not clear intentions regarding plot, abbreviation after abbreviation without proper explanation or a glossary. Maybe the translation I read was bad or maybe the author doesn't put that much effort anymore. For example in one panel words such as Kanun, Besa and LMBA are used and no freaking clue what any of these mean. It could be so simple if trying not to act smart all the time but it has gotten frustrating trying to follow the plot. There is too much information and the presentation is not in the slightest easy to follow. It is a solid read but not very enjoyable due to these faults. It could be much better if it fixed these aspects. Also I like the anime more because it has very nice atmosphere, blend of music and the action is better presented on an anime format than in manga.

... Last updated on May 29th, 2021, 9:37pm
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Action movie franchise in manga format  
by Seregosa
September 27th, 2018, 4:26pm
Rating: 6.0  / 10.0
Okay, let's get this long review started, some good parts, some bad parts and whatever else. The short of it all, though, is that this is pretty much just an action movie franchise in manga format with some small additional parts. It doesn't truly have any real main character, at least not like in many other stuff where you have "THE" main character, rock is too irrelevant and shows up too little for that. Some light comedy along with some super censored "gore"... Well, that's about what you'd get here, it's good enough to read without getting bored. Now onto the long one:

Something I always found annoying is characters that live within an inch of death but has no motivation whatsoever to get stronger. It's good that the main character actually develops his personality and gets affected by his environment, slowly turning into someone more used to the lawlessness and deaths along with becoming more and more insane until he pretty much becomes like everyone else, but I am absolutely f*cking fed up with his idiocy. Guns? Nah, let's not use that when firefights happen every day and I'm on the brink of death 24/7! Martial arts of some kind? Nah, let's go on being a weak salaryman whose only good trait is that he's pretty good at talking(when it's convenient, of course) and has guts along with being relatively good at making up tactics.

I mean, which even remotely sane person would deny himself the use of firearms and combat training when you're close to death every day and would've died hundreds of times already if not for being the mc? It's about as logical as trying to become a professional painter but denying yourself all the tools you need to practice or trying to survive after being stranded in the wilderness but refusing to use makeshift weapons because you don't like having to kill for food or not eating food/resources you can get your hand on simply because you "don't like the taste/look". You'll f*cking eat it and you'll like it, it's as simple as that unless you want to die, but clearly this mc must be suicidal or just retarded in some ways.

I can't say I'm fond of him at all, he's one of the least likable characters in this manga, especially later on when he starts feeling more like a typical low-level villain, the type who'd get killed in a few chapters as he's all full of himself but can't back it up(it all works out because he's the mc though). He becomes the type of character that you not only don't root for, you actually want to punch his face in or kill him altogether. Well, he kinda shifts between that mode and a more likable one, but no matter which, he's never a good character. The author is obviously trying to develop his character and let us see how he changes, but that doesn't change how he's annoying or even obnoxious most of the time, who cares about his changes when you don't even like him in the first place?

By the way, it's actually very similar to an action movie in many ways, wouldn't surprise me if the author got the idea and inspiration from watching action movies. A lot of explosions, guns firing, everyone's packing heavy firepower, somehow no one can hit anyone with bullets no matter how many they fire and it doesn't matter if they're in cover or not, there's a lot of vehicle action where they shoot each other from vehicles and the fighting style is pretty ridiculous and completely unrealistic, like wielding two guns because it's cool(the author even mentions himself that it's extremely impractical and no one would use guns like that in real life), there seems to be endless amounts of bullets, the government forces, police, army and similar stuff is generally utterly worthless and uninvolved with some exceptions, people can do things that is not possible because it looks cool such as biting through a metal blade and crushing it to pieces with your mouth, well, you get the deal, the usual action movie-like stuff, although the biting through blades part is more like other action manga than action movies.

It's pretty interesting to see a manga version of action movies but at the same time, it also means it suffers from many faults that action movies have, such as forcing one to suspend disbelief all the time and being unable to feel that attached to the characters. I also don't really feel that immersed, instead it's just pretty cool and interesting. Honestly, I don't feel like there truly is a main character in this story because the main character, rock, plays such a small role overall. He's just kinda there for everything but he doesn't help much, instead serving as someone who causes things to spin out of control and go in kinda unexpected or foolish directions, usually thanks to him still being fairly emotional and caring about others. Unlike in many other stories, this manga just doesn't really revolve around him, he's just part of it, as one of the main characters rather than THE main character, you get what I mean.

Being action-movie like, it also doesn't have any deep story and instead is kind of episodic, we have small arcs with "missions/events" and not much coherence overall. The characters are pretty static and we don't know their motivations for things, they also don't really have any goal. It's easy to see that they're not trying to fulfill any purpose, the characters are just going with the flow and their past and motivations are unimportant or pretty much not even something that exists. It's not as if they're trying to become rich or have any other clear-cut goals, it's more like they're enjoying themselves and waiting to die in a firefight, almost having given up on life, this in turn makes it very hard to feel anything for the characters since they're pretty soulless. In a way, it's actually similar to "hellsing" and "drifters" with less insanity, chaos and useless dialogue(although it becomes increasingly more chatty later on with twisted philosophy that just isn't interesting to read about and only takes up space, being easy to come up with is its only merit, that's when it truly takes a nosedive in enjoyment). Rather than immersive, it's aimed to be entertaining and high-paced while lacking anything that would slow down the action and momentum. It's interesting, but not what I would call top-quality or awesome thanks to the many lacking parts and lack of anything that would truly capture my attention and immerse me into the story(Well, the failure to immerse me also results in it starting to become more of a dull read the longer you go, 80-100 chapters of around 2000 pages is the perfect length as it ends just before you get bored for real).

Well, enough on that. The art is to my liking and I feel like it's pretty good for its age. I have a very hard time liking certain older works because the art looks like scribbles, either chaotic or just out-dated and feeling pretty immature or unfitting of the story. The comedy is there, but I don't feel like it's anything exceptional. Never once did I laugh out loud, but I did manage to smile or chuckle slightly a few times over 100 chapters, although it's not laugh out loud material, it's pretty damn hilarious when nuns and priests of a church are packing serious firepower and is crazy as f*ck after all, especially when the ancient old nun personally comes out wielding a huge handgun, starting to fire crazily while preaching and talking like an old nun would. I mean, that's so damn surreal, I loved parts like that, that church is one of my favorite parts of this manga, hands down.

So, should you read this? Do you like action movies? Do you like people dying but without any true gore(we're talking cut off limbs that just become black spheres, nothing graphic, no innards or anything else, the most disgusting stuff would be a shadowed guy with some needles sticking out of his head that we can't really see or a gunshot wound to the head of a child, truly light stuff)? Do you like light comedy and the "dark side of society"? Do you like it when there's no true main character and it's more about the team as a whole than an individual person(although, honestly, it's mainly about revy, rock and the russian female mafia boss, dutch and the other guy are rarely that involved and keeps to the background)? Well, I guess this is for you. I thought people were exaggerating about it being like an action movie, but it's completely true, this is nothing but an action movie franchise with several sequels in manga format. Sure, there are some other parts as well that you wouldn't find in an action movie, but they're truly so irrelevant or small that it doesn't matter at all. As for me, I can honestly say that while it's readable, I don't really like this author's writing style nor will I care to read anything else written by him. One of these are enough, his style is not good enough to be interesting through more than one manga/story, especially since I don't agree with his views on what is "cool" and "hardcore".

... Last updated on September 28th, 2018, 8:10am
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A Unique Read  
by scorcher
March 11th, 2017, 10:52pm
Rating: 6.0  / 10.0
At first, I thought Black Lagoon was gonna be like one of those Shounen manga with lots of "plots" and "justice" when there is actually no plot and justice. After reading it, I realize that Black Lagoon is quite unique. Its uniqueness stems from the way it is conceptualized more so than the story itself. Just by reading it, I can tell that the author had to do a whole host of research in order to get the setting of the manga right. Things like the Cartels and Hotel Moscow didn't just pop up in his head. Not only that, he's able to tie all these real mafia together into a single fictional story and make it work. That takes both a lot of hardcore researching as well as a good creative mind. I dear say that this is probably Hiroe's best and last best work. He won't be able to create a manga like this again. That is how unique Black Lagoon is.

... Last updated on January 28th, 2018, 9:55pm
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LOVED it, but where is the progress?!  
by Jandalman
March 4th, 2015, 6:29am
Rating: 7.0  / 10.0
This used to be one of my 10/10 rated manga and with good reason. Great story, gritty art and characters along with some decent dark humour. But with the 1.5 year long hiatus (that one chap in 2014 does NOT count) and no news from Hiroe Rei as to what the hell is going on with the series production, I'm starting to think he's just taken his money earned so far and just buggered off to early retirement, leaving his fans dangling in the wind with no clue as to what to expect.

That he's done nothing but sporadically promote the upcoming tankubon of vol 10 just adds to the feeling that he's just milking his fans for what money they have not given him yet. "Hey I know you want more story, plot progression and such but why don't you buy (again) a collection of old chapters I did nearly two years ago instead?!"
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Pretty Fun, and I personally liked Rock...  
by moonmystery
July 18th, 2014, 9:08pm
Rating: 8.0  / 10.0
There are many who don't seem to like the main character, Rock. But for me, the best part of the manga is seeing how the violent town affects his personality. Like, he changes into a darker person while still somewhat retaining warped version of his former ideals. That's really interesting for me.

The other characters are also pretty interesting, and the action scenes are dynamic for a comic book. I didn't even mind the random fanservice --- the plot was engaging enough that I didn't notice them. The only downside would be an overall lack of character development--I didn't feel connected to many of them

... Last updated on July 25th, 2014, 11:29pm
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who is Rock  
by breezingsorrow
January 9th, 2014, 2:48am
Rating: N/A
The series exceptionally good. It can keep up to readers every expectations and a definite read for fans of the genre. as for ftfchris comment about Rock. Rock doesn't need to do anything there! Rock is there for the reader to compare. you can not understand how dark is the Black Lagoon world, unless there is a piece of normal world to compare it to. and Rock plays that part in Black Lagoon. The way Rock react to different situations makes it understandable for the reader how abnormal and cruel is the situation.
this is made clear in conversations between Rock and Revy.
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How I Met Your Mother  
by ftfchris
July 30th, 2013, 12:07pm
Rating: N/A
Fun Manga all around, except Rock. Like Yamaken mentioned, Rock does absolutely nothing, can do nothing tbh but somehow his opinion is the one that matters to people.

He's basically Ted from How i Met Your Mother. No one watches the show for Ted. They watch it for the other cast members. That's basically Black Lagoon. You'll love everyone and everything else except the main character.
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If only it moves...  
by yamaken-dono
May 7th, 2013, 5:44pm
Rating: 8.0  / 10.0
I finished this in about a day since I have absolutely nothing to do. It's good! It's refreshingly humble and funny. I really liked that the minor characters show complexity and spunk, especially Shenhua with her threats and Balalaika, who's vicious(ly awesome). Revy is my favorite but the mangaka really needs to stop being such a tease about her past.

Downside is that the plot just *doesn't* move, period. Oh, minor characters get their resolutions, but never the main characters. A tease here and a tease there may seem like progress, but it's getting less and less frequent and what little of it comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere. Benny and Dutch are members of the main crew and we hardly know anything about them, even their personality.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
The progress and resolution of the latest finished arc are especially unsatisfactory. Balalaika says some completely contextless and meaningless things which look important but have no actual effect on anything.


And Rock is kinda Gary Stu-ish in that his words somehow have more of an effect than guns and his naive wishes almost always come true, while in terms of work he prances around talking but does absolutely nothing. Most boring person getting the focus is possibly the biggest injustice in the manga.
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Not bad  
by Cassiopea
April 27th, 2012, 9:34pm
Rating: 6.0  / 10.0
It is an alright manga - I did expect a bit more prior to beginning the series.

It is quite violence/dark heavy, with plenty of random mayhem (And sexual fanservice for the guys, thanks to Revy. Sure, she kicks butt, but the regular crotch shots and bare boobs sort of defeat the purpose) which can be meaningless if there is really nothing more beyond that. There is some philosophical parts, but they may feel a bit one sided or make being gun tolling maniacs a good thing, or, demean other aspects of life.


Some of the characters are great: Like Balalaika. a real strong, female character, with a military past, able to lead a group of tough men, intellectual, overall pretty badass. And it is nice, since she didn't have to wear skimpy clothing, be purty, be in random catfights or be nekkid to achieve what she wanted. She was really refreshing.


Otherwise, everyone else might be a bit over the top, have the same basic traumatic past, or purely a bit too bland, thus make characterization limited. The plot is decent, but for whatever reason it didn't engulfe me. It doesn't feel...creative? for the lack of a better description. Other things feel exagerated too. And who knows where everything is actually going.


I only bought and read the first three volumes, so maybe I am missing something later on. Nevertheless, just wasn't interested enough to continue. Maybe I'll start up again someday, but until then I'll focus on other series.


It could all just be me. To another, it is a good series if you just want to indulge in a mindless-style-overthetop-action read, with plenty of character arguments and missions.

And of course, there are some dark twists on the side. And I do mean dark (Example: There is reference of certain child characters involved in "Snuff films" and beyond, and it's not the only thing going on in the series, nor the worst depending on what you percieve) so be warned if you are not too keen in reading that sort of stuff.

I've never tried the anime, and there have been claims that it is better - so maybe my opinion would be different for that version.

... Last updated on April 27th, 2012, 9:35pm
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Not much here to dislike.  
by GoldenKaos
December 27th, 2011, 2:55pm
Rating: 8.0  / 10.0
Modern day pirates. Russian mafiya, triads, yakuza, lawlessness, guns, explosions, Nuns with guns, hot chicks, hot chicks with guns, a psychopathic Mexican maid. And a Japanese salaryman abandoned by his company after they wouldn't pay for his ransom, who eventually has to get by with sharp wits and balls so large it's a wonder that the boat he's on doesn't sink.
It's an action movie in manga form. Character development is done just enough, but not too much to get in the way of the next bar-gun-fight. Very high-tech and modern in technology at times, take it as a Michael Bay/Tarentino manga and enjoy the ride.
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