Gray

I was incredibly bored by Railgun this week. Sorry this episode just did nothing for me. I’m sure having already read the manga pages doesn’t help, but my favorite scene was also omitted. I also feel like they’ve turned up the yuri about two hundred percent. I appreciated the comic relief to break up an otherwise serious plot, but lately it feels like the episodes are just focusing on it (as opposed to it being a side show running gag). I get it though, they’re playing to a certain audience as well as the rest of the people who will jump on the wagon to fit in and garner supporters. Maybe the anime industry just believes that none of us want real relationships. Ouch, low blow at myself.

Darker than Black was good, but I felt they rushed some things that could have really been expanded on. This was July’s arc in an episode with a contractor who was a serial killer before he became a contractor. Come on I want to explore that psychosis. Instead we’re given about three minutes of exposition which is about as much screen time as the character got. I’m a little disappointed.

So, I’m winding the clock back a few years to spring 2006. I seem to be on a bit of a dark streak (Darker than Black, Evangelion) so we might as well plunge straight into the gutter for a good look at the mirror’s reflection. I’m taking you to Roanapur.

I want to clear this up before my writing gets branded with some kind of dark fetishism. I do not enjoy things that are horrible simply because they are horrible; I enjoy all writing with something to say. For instance I too have enjoyed Seitokai No Ichizon this season, however, its themes are wrapped up with little ribbons at the end of the episode so there isn’t much to explicate on except my remarks like “I liked what they said here”. True, that’s what I do normally, but I’m going to cut myself some slack here and pretend I create some content of my own while divulging what I take from other awesome works. Therefore when we take a look at the dark happenings of the town of Roanapur I ask you to take a step back. Forget about what society told you about what humans are. Forget about good and evil. Let’s not brand every character we see with a black or white stamp and let’s not argue about which gray is blacker. By the end you might do these things, but Black Lagoons main purpose is to create a set of characters that are completely human and then show them performing what our society would consider evil acts. There are lighter moments but this is basically existentialism in action.

The basics of the argument are this: The expansion of the human condition to cover something darker and more sinister that most of us would rather turn a blind eye towards. I talked about the characters in Evangelion breaking down and destroying each other in the Running through My Head post. I believe Black Lagoon takes that one step further. Where Evangelion shows the strain it would take to create such people Black Lagoon shows that people will freely choose to accept that part of their character if left in a place like Roanapur. In the first few episodes we see a corporation hire Mercenaries to sink Rock and his kidnappers into the sea in order to protect a secret (that they were passing plans for nuclear weapons for money). Our hero Rock sides with the pirates instead of heading home to his law abiding country (whereupon he curiously reflects on whether he is under the effects of Stockholm syndrome[where a captor begins to sympathize and like their captor{sometimes to the point of helping them commit crimes}]). The purpose order cheap pharm might be obvious but Rei Hiroe(the author and illustrator of the original series) wasn’t trying to show a bunch of unenviable bad guys; he was trying to show people in an alternate society and what moral values they would develop. The results are interesting.

While our main character, Rock’s, main feature details his ability to connect with anyone our other characters all seem to have different rules of conduct on how to behave within the society that’s been formed. Most relations revolve around money, guns, drugs, and se* some of the characters have developed an ambiguous moral code. While murder and drug use seem to be ok doing favors and trusting, to a limited extent, business partners still remains. online cheap ampicillin Even within a society where you could be backstabbed at any moment a certain amount rimonabant of trust remains. How could it not?

On the other hand child ****ogr*phy (using stars because I really don’t want to get that kind of traffic) is completely sanctioned. Why is this the case? Well when we look back we don’t see many cases of children being present in Roanapur and when they are they certainly don’t have parents there or in one case a boy is being kidnapped for ransom. Thus the deep seated argument of protecting your own child doesn’t seem to exist. This is an adult’s society where hedonism has run rampant. They only conform to survive and take pleasure in any way that doesn’t come into conflict with that survival. Thus cases like Hansel and Gretel come up (which is perhaps one of the most disturbing arcs of the entire series). The argument I guess is the human mind is amazing. Put in a terrifying situation these kids became something monstrous in order to survive, but does that make them monsters? I don’t think so and I don’t think that’s what Lagoon was trying to verbalize. On some level we’re all products of the society we grow up in. Hansel and Gretel were the result of extreme violence, abuse, and perversion. The question really becomes then should we feel anger towards these victims of society or should we feel sympathy. The deeper question is should we incarcerate or rehabilitate these “monsters”. Black Lagoon approaches the question by making a metaphysical line that divides the people of Roanapur from the rest of the world. Once you’ve crossed the line it’s almost impossible to go back and Rock makes considerable effort to keep Yukio in the Japanese arc away from the Roanapur side. This is also the main conflict of the series as Rock is often categorized as standing on the line that separates the two without making a clear decision as to where he wants to stand.

I think Rock’s struggle raises a lot of valid points. Rock’s ability to connect presents a unique opportunity to be accepting of everyone. At the end of the arc no matter how terrifying the situation we’re always left with a feeling of humanity in all the characters. (Here comes the rant) In our society I think it’s all too common to take a hard line on how a person should be. It’s common to hear in the media that we should let people be who they want to be, but when it comes right down to it that falls within our strict moral confines. Do I think there should be murder in the streets? Probably there shouldn’t be otherwise we wouldn’t be very comfortable leaving our houses. However, a lot of things like se* are repressed leading to increased stress and alienation among our youth. Although we pretend to talk about it openly we still have a very negative outlook on a completely natural curiosity. We tell people it’s evil until they think they’re evil for thinking about it. There’s been some backlash against that, but I think the problems still exist. The same could be said of all offenders of our moral code. Are they evil? Doubtful, they’re still humans who are a product of what we made them. I’m definitely not saying that we should all go make Roanapur, but I would like to point out that we should all be aware that Roanapur dwells somewhere within us and instead of flat out denying it we should accept that part of ourselves and still live “good” and “decent” lives by not violating the social contract. Denying oneself is a bad thing :).

Black Lagoon questions more than just that. True to the existential philosophy they also question the idea of value for items which are in essence just things. However, I would like to recommend this anime from purely a writing stand point. The animation is great, but the characters are one of a kind and deep. The relationship that forms between Rock and Revy is perhaps the highlight with their fight resulting in a connection on a level most of us will never reach. That deep striking search for truth and the different answer order online pills so many of the characters come to is our own struggle. By the end you should feel that all of the characters have come to a conclusion while none of them are wrong or evil and that is truly deep stuff.

Wait a sec that’s Becky Sensei.

No writer wants to make their characters evil which is normally what leads to so many 2d conflicts, what Black Lagoon does better than almost any other show is create those three dimensional conflicts. So for an hour why don’t you try turning off your view of right and wrong and turn on your analytical mind. Watch a couple episodes of Black Lagoon and see if you find a little of yourself buried in there. Then remind yourself that you’re a good person, because you are. buy cheap cipro Last turn your morality switch back on and don’t do any of the things they do.

I’d explicate more on the subject as there is a lot more to say, but unfortunately I can’t say anything better than the way Black Lagoon shows it. So do what made you come to this site. Go enjoy some anime.

Oh and now look at this picture of Yin and try not to think about how cute she is.