6 February 2008

The latest in a line of adult target anime series to reach UK DVD is Sunao Katabuchi's Black Lagoon (Burakku ragûn), a violent and shamelessly profane series based on the graphic novel by Rei Hiroe that chronicles the adventures of Dutch, Benny, Revy and Rock, a group of hardcore, modern day pirates-cum-mercenaries of the South Seas.

For lowly office worker, Rokuro Okajima, life is a dull routine of mundane office chores, after-work drinks and being bullied by the boss. That is until he is given the seemingly simple task of carrying a CD of business data on a sea-borne business trip to South-East Asia. There, Rokuro's life takes a totally unexpected turn when his business cruise is interrupted by a trio of pirates who not only steal the disc but also take him hostage. These fearless modern day pirates are the crew of the Black Lagoon: captain, operations leader and former Vietnam veteran Dutch; University of Florida post-grad and tech expert Benny; and finally, Revy, a sexy, foul-mouthed, firearms expert who enjoys nothing more than terminating anybody who dares get between her and her goals. Operating out of Thailand's sin city of Roanapur, and in the regular employ of a mysterious woman named Balalaika and her Russian crime syndicate, Hotel Moscow, Dutch, Benny and Revy alternate their time between lucrative, life-threatening missions (usually illegal) and partying at the local dive bar, The Yellow Flag.

When it becomes apparent that the captive Rokuro's superiors are far more concerned about their disc falling into the wrong hands than they are about rescuing him, he decides to throw his lot in with the pirates, who have decided to spare his life. Ironically nicknamed "Rock" by the Black Lagoon crew, Rokuro quickly becomes a key member of the team, especially during their next mission – the investigation of a sunken Nazi submarine that is being sought by a dangerous group of neo-Nazis.

Aimed fairly and squarely at the more mature anime audience, Black Lagoon is, we are assured, "a refreshingly intense blast of explosive action, graphic violence, snappy dialogue and weapon fetishism that would put John Woo to shame. And it's all backed by a louder than hell musical score to keep things rolling along." Let's hope so.

Black Lagoon, Volume 1 is to be released on UK DVD on 3rd March 2008 by MVM, containing the first four episodes in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and optional Japanese stereo 2.0 or English 5.1 sound, with optional English subtitles. Extra features will include:

• Making of featurette;
• Red Fraction music video, performed by Mell (I've Sound);
• Trailers.