Okajima Rokuro is a dutiful, loyal Japanese salaryman whose company sent him on a delicate errand to the South Pacific and ended up leaving him to twist in the wind. Betrayed and cut off from his grey Tokyo life and mundane career, he turns his back on his company and society and decides to join a band of smugglers who, coincidentally, were his captors when his assignment “went south.”

“Black Lagoon” follows the exploits of the Lagoon Company, who earn their living in the gang-infested fictional city of Roanapur, Thailand, and surrounding seas. It’s a bit like “Cowboy Bebop,” but not a rip-off, which is a very, very good thing. “Lagoon” focuses on a questionable quartet who, tooling around the South Pacific in a PT boat, perform questionable services for questionable clients. The Lagoon Co. is comprised of Dutch, an expatriate Vietnam vet; Benny, a hacker on the run; the aforementioned salaryman Rokuro (Rock); and perhaps the series’ biggest attention-getter, Revy the Two Hands.

We in the audience enter the story through Rock, but Revy just walks away with it. Where to start with her…well, she’s a Chinese-American kid from the slums and due to a sad background she has become a remorseless, detached gunslinger prone to bouts of bloodlust. Killing really turns her on and sometimes in the heat of battle she starts to get, well, psychotic. But she’s also funny, tough and even though she would hate to admit it, a bit fragile. It’s Rock, the only normal person she knows, who can really get to her on the deepest level and force her to look at herself. The banter she has with her teammates, rivals and enemies can be downright hilarious at times. (By the way, in case you’re wondering about her nickname, “Two Hands,” it’s because she uses her Berettas flawlessly in both hands at once.)

The series’ setting of Roanapur is populated by former Russian military operating as mafia in “Hotel Moscow,” the shady “Church of Violence” which is a Catholic church and weapons-dealing operation, inept Neo-Nazis, a meek housemaid who’s also a ferocious, unstoppable special ops soldier, a Chow Yun-Fat wanna-be slickster from the Chinese Triads, derelicts from the revolutionary Japanese Red Army and all manner of killers, pimps and assorted miscreants. Congratulations are in order for the writer and animators for creating some of the most colorful, memorable characters in anime. Besides Revy, the supporting characters are definite fan favorites–Hotel Moscow’s Balalaika (or Fry-Face if she’s being insulted), the Church of Violence’s combative Sister Eda, the terminator-like maid Roberta…and let’s not forget the Taiwanese assassin Shenhua. Shenhua’s constant mocking of Revy and her “Chinglish” speech pattern are immediately endearing.

On the production side, the artwork, character design, color design and voices (both Japanese and English) are amazingly good. Great even, considering it’s a TV series and series are prone to cost-cutting. It’s probably one of the best-quality TV anime shows I’ve ever seen. I really can’t say enough good things about the quality of the show. It’s a mature anime series…watch out for the violence and language! Aside from the blood and cursing, though, the writers explore philosophical themes such as Existentialism, questions of morality and Japanese cultural values such as social obligation, duty, honor and compassion.

Two seasons of “Black Lagoon” were produced and rumors abound that they’re making a belated third season sometime soon. I can’t wait to get back to good old Roanapur and see Revy again.