TeamEA's Black Lagoon Abridged Episode 1 [Review]

TeamEA (0TeamEA0 on YouTube) is a couple of episodes into Black Lagoon Abridged. A review has been requested, and though as usual I haven't seen the anime, I am happy to oblige. If anyone wants to add anything, the comments are always open.

BLA is overall off to an excellent start with episode 1. I can't stress enough how often first episodes fail to introduce viewers to a series. What we have here is an first episode that still contains the requisite number of sex jokes and manages to introduce the characters and premise effectively. YES, the opening is too long (but it helps for the first episode, like Lupin Abridged, in that it gives us the character names in a relatively unobtrusive manner).

The boardroom scene at 2:30 is the slowest and most awkwardly written scene of the lot. The CEO's dialogue is a bit odd and there are some ineffective pauses—I know they're going for "awkward silence," but the pauses just feel awkwardly pregnant because you don't see the characters faces or anything to convey it more effectively. It clocks in at 2 full minutes, which is kinda meh. I would like to say the board members are funny enough to carry the scene, but it really drags. I think you could cut this down to about 30 seconds or less and the episode would stand better off for it.

Then, immediately after, the cigarette scene at 4:24 is HYSTERICAL. The voice acting here is incredible. Dutch is awesome, and Benny's line is perfect. Sure, it's immature, but it's done so well that it doesn't matter. This is the highlight of the episode in terms of writing, pacing, acting, and editing, and it carries the rest of the episode.

Voice acting: Overall very good. Character voices are varied and distinguishable and delivered convincingly, EXCEPT for the yelling and cursing. Dutch is spectacular. Revy is a little less consistent—the scratchiness is fine normally, but not good during the frustrated pseudo-yelling lines (ex: angry raspy at 6:18 and 8:50, not working so much). Rock, Benny, and the crazy evil enemy commander are all solid. Everyone is a bit quiet during the bar scene.

Cursing: I enjoy a good f-bomb or two, but there are times in the episode where it's so egregious even the characters can't seem to muster up the energy to deliver it realistically and convincingly (think 5:09 where Rock's character looks half asleep or all over the boardroom scene). When people curse in real life, it is a natural part of the vocabulary; here it feels a little overused in an awkward way that draws attention to it and makes it stand out. The cut-off at 9:00 ("kill you, you mother—") is more successful.

Production value is really good. Nice video source and diverse characters help make this feel legit. Background music and sounds are mixed well, though a bit loud on occasion. Editing is on the whole good, though there a couple of weird parts where the picture is static for too long (like at 6:49). The quick transition at 8:59 to hear Rock speak is odd—probably could have left it panning up on the car. There are few other times where it's distracting, not so much because the editing is bad but because it's worse the surrounding work. These are nits, but I stress that the product is solid, so as a critical voice, one can delve into detail like that.

Other huge pet peeve of mine: when you have a funny line that is totally out of no where (example at 9:20, "throw a birthday party for my niece"), the tendency is to have another character say "uuuh, sir?" or "oooo-kay). This is unnecessarily. Trust that your audience KNOWS it's weird and let that stand on its own more of the time. There are times when the characters are in conversation that this reaction is important (that is fine). It's less good when it's some no name peon who reacts and then the scene changes. Just change scenes instead (personal opinion).

This is one of the best of the non-classic series I've seen in a while, and probably one of the best episode 1s of the bunch, especially if you could cut some of the fat and fix the levels in the bar.

Favorite lines:

"It helps if you breathe in a bit more" AND THEN EVERY LINE FROM THIS SCENE.

"...so porn, huh?"

"What do I need to do, dangle a bucket of KFC in front of your face?" "...yikes."

"And when they least expect it, we'll throw a birthday party for my niece."