To the winner of the "HQ, Graphic Novel and Manga Sweepstake".
Have a blast! :-)

This arrived a couple days ago, sorry for the slow journalling and thank you for the wishlist book! I enjoy the anime show, so I expect I'll like the manga too.

(The first time I tried to journal this, I got an error code, and it was showing up on my shelf, but not displaying the JE I wrote. Hopefully it works this time!)

This arrived a couple days ago. Sorry for the slow journalling, and thank you for the wishlist book! I like the anime show, so I suspect that I will probably enjoy this manga too.

One of the things I enjoy so much about Black Lagoon is it is very much exactly what it says on the cover. It's a high-drama action-adventure tale that isn't too concerned by little things like plausibility or obeying the laws of physics. The main characters cheerfully shoot their way through any number of improbable situations while making quips. It's pulpy and maybe kind of bad, but throughly entertaining.

It also features a much more diverse cast of characters than most manga, which has made it popular among some cosplayers who don't feel like trying to look like a Japanese teenager. It is pretty rare, in my experience, to find different races and cultures represented without excessive stereotyping or being used as a punchline for a joke. The only one who I felt often crossed a line into uncomfortable stereotype was Shenhua (who doesn't appear in this volume.)

Left on one of the benches