Television series

Black Lagoon

Name: Black Lagoon
Genre: Action, Adventure, Anime, Crime
Released: 2006
Cast: Tsutomu Isobe, Megumi Toyoguchi, Daisuke Namikawa, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Mami Koyama

Black Lagoon follows a Japanese businessman thrown into Roanapur's criminal underworld, forced to work alongside mercenary pirates. It's stylish, violent, funny and brutal—a show that treats gunplay like ballet and finds dark comedy in impossible situations. For anyone who loves crime fiction with a sense of humour and no safety rails.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a salty, morally grubby crime story where the violence is brutal and the laughs come from characters who would never apologise for being themselves.

Skip it if you need likeable heroes or a gentle pace, since the show is loud, cynical and happy to be ugly about its people and its gunfights.

What it asks of you: Each episode runs about half an hour and the stories stack up across a single 29-episode run, so it rewards steady attention rather than background viewing.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Cowboy Bebop1998

Episodic crime adventures across a vivid, lived-in world. Stylish direction, terrific soundtrack, characters who are criminals but remain human. The same blend of humour and melancholy that makes Lagoon sing.

But The final episode feels unresolved if you're expecting narrative closure. Some find the jazz-heavy aesthetic dated now.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners2022

Neon-soaked crime drama where nobody has a safety net and everyone's making impossible choices. Same kinetic action style, same darkly funny tone, same refusal to let you feel comfortable rooting for bad people.

But Much shorter—just ten episodes. The ending is devastating rather than adventurous, which shifts the whole emotional register.

Michiko e Hatchin2008

An escaped convict and a kid on the run through modern Japan. Less gunfire than Lagoon, but the same scrappy energy and moral ambiguity. Both shows let their characters be flawed and still matter.

But It's quieter and more intimate. If you're here for the action and firepower, this one privileges character over spectacle.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Black Lagoon

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In the Mood for Love2000

Both are obsessed with style as substance—every frame composed with the same care as every shot in a gunfight. Both understand that watching someone move through the world can be as compelling as what they do.

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece about two neighbours discovering their spouses are having an affair. Ravishing colour, meticulous framing, tragedy playing out in silence and glances. The complete opposite register.

But It's a 97-minute meditation on longing and restraint. There's no plot momentum, no action, almost no dialogue. Patience required.

Trigun1998

A gunslinger navigating a desert world of mercenaries and outlaws. Spectacular action balanced with genuine pathos. The lead character has the same exhausted humour as Rock when everything goes wrong.

But Shifts tones significantly—parts are far more earnest and philosophical. The animation is 90s TV budget, which shows.

Jormungand2012

Arms dealer and her bodyguard travel the world. Same episodic structure, same moral murk, same wry humour about people in impossible work situations. Excellent action choreography.

But The protagonist is unapologetically morally vacant in ways that wear on some viewers. Less character depth in the supporting cast.

Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch2006

Stylish anime about a revolutionary with superpowers navigating a criminal network. Kinetic action, elaborate schemes, characters you're not supposed to like but do anyway.

But Gets progressively more convoluted and melodramatic. By season two it's pursuing ideas faster than it can execute them cleanly.

Darker Than Black2007

Assassins with superpowers working for shadowy organizations. Cool-headed professionals taking dirty jobs. Same atmosphere of competence and cynicism, episodic adventures with larger conspiracies lurking.

But The worldbuilding is intentionally obscure and never fully explained. Some find it frustratingly vague rather than mysterious.

Nana2006

Two women with nothing in common forced to build a life together in Tokyo's underworld. Sharp character writing, emotional precision, and a willingness to let scenes breathe. Roanapur and Tokyo's punk scene aren't so different.

But It's a shoujo drama, not an action show. If you want gunfire and explosions, you'll be disappointed.

Outlaw Star1998

Space pirates and mercenaries taking jobs across the galaxy. Episodic, fun, with the same casual competence and found-family dynamics. Light-hearted where Lagoon is dark.

But The production is clearly low-budget even for late 90s anime. Some episodes are filler padding out a short season.

Farewell My Concubine1993

Both are structured as series of confrontations between people bound together by circumstance rather than love. Both treat violence and performance as the same language for expressing what words cannot.

A Chinese epic spanning decades of Peking Opera stars through war, revolution, and personal betrayal. Sumptuous, tragic, operatic in scale. Shows what anime action borrowed from—the kinetic editing, the melodrama, the refusal of easy morality.

But Nearly three hours, in Mandarin, dealing with homosexuality and political upheaval in ways that feel heavy rather than thrilling. Asks patience and emotional openness.