The sleek shine of gunmetal.

The tin packaging of this four-disc DVD set couldn’t be more fitting with its bold red logo and subtle guns/bullets theme. To the back of the case a paper is loosely attached showing the series synopsis, features, and a few extras. Inside the case is clear plastic with two discs stacked on either side of the casing. Behind the plastic is a nice pin-up of Revy in one of her trademark “I’m bad enough to save the President” poses. The menus are fairly simple, sticking to the ammunition theme set by the DVD packaging. The only sound is generally the bullets flying as you make your menu selection. The English voice acting is fairly decent, for the most part, but certainly not better than the original Japanese.

Locked and loaded.

Surprisingly enough, Black Lagoon has a wealth of extras. The first three DVDs contain three different Geneon trailers per disc for series such as Disgaea, Paradise Kiss, Ergo Proxy, etc. They also contain DVD credits for each disc. The fourth disc is where the payload really lies. Here you’ll find a Japanese TV commercial for the opening song single “Red Fraction.” There is also a music video for this song by its band Mell. J-pop and J-rock purists will enjoy this little tidbit, but, honestly? I’ve seen more interesting videos on VH1 at four in the morning. You’re better off putting the opening animation on loop. But the meat of these is the behind the scenes look at the crew of the Black Lagoon and what exactly went into the creation of the English adaptation. It’s the most interesting and in-depth portion of the extra content and it’s fascinating to see human faces to the animation. As a viewer you rarely get smacked in the face that a lot more went into bringing you the anime you just sat through than you think.

The spent rounds.

Black Lagoon is an action series that fails to disappoint. It’s guns a-blazing and explosions all the way with some hot women and good music on the side. But not only that, Black Lagoon has characters that are deeper than they originally appear, and as the series progresses you find yourself relating with one or more of them in some basic emotional level. And just when you think you’ve got them figured out…boom! More gun violence! It does, however, earn it’s 16+ rating tag in that if you’re not down with your younger kids seeing this level of violence and strong language then you should probably wait till they go to bed. You’d best turn off the latest re-run of the Sopranos while you’re at it, just to be safe. Black Lagoon is a nonstop thrill-ride that’ll keep any viewer on the edge of their seats and begging for more.