Black Lagoonis one of Madhouse’s best series of the 2000s, praised asa love letter to the films of Quentin Tarantinoor Robert Rodriguez with its Hollywood action grit and iconic English dub to the same effect. However, in 2012, one action series seemed poised to do whatBlack Lagoondid but on a larger scale, and that series was calledJormungand.
Jormungandis an 11-volume manga written and illustrated by Keitarou Takahashi that ran from 2006 to the very beginning of 2012, and only four months later, an anime adaptation by White Fox premiered. It was heavily marketed as a spiritual successor to Sunao Katabuchi’s adaptation ofBlack Lagoonby virtue of its two producers, Junya Okamoto and Mitsutoshi Ogura, being attached. This series is not about pirates in the south Pacific, but about the dark and cynical business of the arms trade, all following the charismatic though slightly twisted arms dealer Koko Hekmatyar. But with its biggest ties toBlack Lagoononly being its producers, how successfully did this showscratch the itch left by its predecessor? Furthermore, is it even fair to compare them so closely?
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Speak Loudly, And Carry A Big Gun
First impressions doJormungandwell and despite a very different studio and creative team, the show sharesLagoon’s adoring gaze directed at weaponry and other such tools of combat. The guns are bathed in as much detail as the characters who wield them, and arguably more so - or at the very least, more consistently.
Jormungand’s character designer is Kazuhisa Nakamura, a role he’s only hadone other time in 2014’sAkame ga Kill, and It’s easy to see the similarities. Nakamura is more of an animator than a designer, but considering their limited experience, the varied body types and the anime’s plethora of more baggy, casual, and loose-fitting outfits set it apart nicely.
While the story is most certainly about Koko and her band of misfits, selling weapons around the globe, we are introduced to this story through Jonah, a child soldier recruited into Koko’s organization. Jonah hates weapons as well as the people that make them, sell them, and use them, making his position a sort of ironic punishment. Despite that, the series follows his growing bonds with the people he’s fighting alongside.
The series couldn’t set itself up bigger if it tried: all the characters observe the ominous launch of a rocketas Taku Iwasaki’s soundtrack swellsover narration by voice actor John Swasey. The narration is an allusion to the Norse legend of Jormungandr, the titular world serpent, that at first appears to refer to weapons technology before it takes on a much bigger meaning over the course of the series.
Bigger, Not Necessarily Better
There is a larger message toJormungand’s story, but it takes time before it takes center stage, as it’s far more concerned with an episodic narrative. A new arms deal of the week, if you will, though frequently complicated by assassins, government interference, or rival dealers meddling with things. It’s an ensemble story about an arms dealer and her fiercely loyal allies.
The action,with its military and warzone focus, often feels more grounded, but similar toBlack Lagoon, it allows itself more stylized and gratuitous action time and time again. For every tense battle of attrition in mountains and forests, there’s a larger-than-life assassin or a flashy, physics-defying knife fight. But whereJormungandpales in comparison to its predecessor is the characters.
It’s a much larger central cast in contrast toBlack Lagoon, where Rock, Revy, Dutch, and Benny made up the main group, all of whom felt properly utilized, with a supporting cast that expanded around them.However, Koko’s team of bodyguards, ranging from ex-soldiers, spies, and assorted specialists, rarely leaves as big of an impression, only rarely getting episodes dedicated to them.
When the cast is allowed to be expanded through flashbacks or standalone adventures, they can be quite fun. Valmet is one of the highlights, who gets some of the most exciting fights in the series, and some of the most unique given her proficiency with knives. Another standout is Wiley with his background explosives. Lehm is perhaps the most memorable by nature of his closeness with Koko, but otherwise unremarkable.
At its core, however,Jormungandis about Koko and Jonah, a partnership laden with contradiction, very much intentionally. It’s one of the show’s most undeniable appeals: how can a child who has been the victim of war stay with such a cold, calculating, and utterly indecipherable arms dealer?Finding the answer to whyis the core of the show’s story, but the answer is as murky as everything else.
A Day in The Life
This show’s attitude towards world affairs tows a line between saying nothing about politics or indulging in nihilistic satire. In Episode 8, it doesn’t even bother to give either of the two countries in the central conflict a name. They are literally referred to as “Country A” and “Country B,” abandoning any subtlety whatsoever. This extends to its attitude toward war as well.
To be fair,Black Lagoonwas similarly jaded and made a point of punishing Rock’s attempts to save people who he believed had a chance to escape their circumstances. ButLagoon’s tone and storytelling were also far more dramaticand sad when tackling these heavier themes, andJanormungd’s goals are far smaller and carnal in scope. It’s mostly concerned with its aesthetic.
The story truly feels like the fetishization of military imagery, and that is meant mostly as a compliment as it seems to have been the goal. In anime’s history, industry icons have crafted masterworks out of their simple appreciation of machinery, from cars, robots, jets, weapons, etc. It’s easy to tell that this series waswritten by a gun otaku with a keen interestin special ops groups throughout the world. But a masterpiece it is not.
Jormunganddoesn’t have to be compared toBlack Lagoonto fall short of its promises. While the action walks a balance between grounded and stylized, the characters are largely one-dimensional, and the tone is rarely consistent, if at all discernable. No one was asking for it to be deadly serious, but the humor can fall flat when it doesn’t sap out the tension completely.
And once the story does reveal its thesis - Koko’s grand plan - it’s just as quick to dismantle it and remind the audience that no matter what happens, there will always be weapons. The stories along the way can be entertaining,propped up by solid actionand great music, but it distinctly feels like it lacks a purpose. It builds up to this grand idea about what it would take to achieve world peace and ends as uncertain as the audience.
Jormungandis notBlack Lagoon, but it certainly helps to fill a void left upon finishing the latter. It’s a collection of bombastic adventures thick with military aesthetics and its related jargon to get enthusiasts hooked. What it lacks are strong characters to garner investment, and while it won’t leave you hanging asLagoondid, you might wonder if the journey was worth it.
