As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance
- The omakes have two:
- After Hansel and Gretel traumatize Garcia with torture and sexual advances, Garcia is left crying about something called Marathon Man. Marathon Man has a well known torture scene in it.
- Dutch's past isn't what it seems and he's definitely lying about some of it, which makes him running out of the omake where everyone's de-aged make more sense.
- Chaka thinking himself a badass for killing 10 people and asking Revy if she's ever killed anyone makes a lot more sense when one remembers that Japan has incredibly stringent gun control laws. Most criminals don't even have guns. On the other hand, he still thought he could take a woman who killed half his crew (Ginji killed the other half).
- The ending theme of the OVA is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home
", particularly appropriate since Garcia and Fabiola are trying to find Roberta and bring her home. It shifts to being outright brilliant, however, when you realize that the same tune is used for "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" —if anything, even more chillingly appropriate considering what it cost Roberta to get home.Where are the legs with which you run, Hurroo Hurroo,
Where are the legs with which you run, Hurroo Hurroo,
Where are the legs with which you run,
When first you went to carry a gun,
Indeed your dancing days are done,
Johnny I hardly knew ya!
[...]
You hadn't an arm, you hadn't a leg, Hurroo Hurroo
You hadn't an arm, you hadn't a leg, Hurroo Hurroo
You hadn't an arm, you hadn't a leg,
You're a spineless, boneless, chickenless egg,
You'll have to be put with the bowl to beg,
Johnny I hardly knew ya - A pun that couldn't have been intended: Roberta's weapons of choice are revealed to be drums and guns and guns and drums◊: drum mags with her twin Sistemas.
- When Lotton the Wizard finally shows up in the Greenback Jane arc, he makes a long winded speech standing on a rooftop above the protagonist, before being quickly shot by Revy. The position actually forces Revy to aim at his center of mass rather than try a more difficult headshot, or aim for his limbs. Meaning he forced his opponent to shoot him where he is the most protected via his vest.
- A subtle one becomes apparent throughout the anime. In the first few episodes there's a running joke about Revy buying Rock a Hawaiian shirt that he finds so ugly he won't wear it. Only, as Revy's story is slowly revealed, it becomes apparent that is probably the first time in her entire life she had ever bought anybody a present. That makes Rock's rejection of it cruelly hurtful as well as discourteous. It seems likely that this rejection was one factor behind her behavior towards him early in those episodes and her uncertainty about their relationship later.
- In the beginning of the "Fujiyama Gangster Paradise" arc, when Rock wakes up in his room we see what appears to be a pink Hawaiian shirt hanging up on a wall. Perhaps it's the Hawaiian shirt. If it is, it also makes sense why Rock wouldn't wear it. It's the standard tie-dye shirt, but it also has a massive middle finger on it. Considering how straight-laced Rock tries to present himself as, he wouldn't want to walk around wearing a massive middle finger... which can explain as to why Revy would buy this shirt for him. What did he do that convinced her that Rock can keep up with the Black Lagoon crew? He came up with a way to torpedo an attack helicopter and when it worked, he flipped off the helicopter's pilots.
- Chang prefers using diplomacy whenever feasible while Balalaika tends to solve her problems with overwhelming violence. This contrast makes sense when you look at their former careers. Chang was a police officer and Balalaika was in the military; cops are generally trained to defuse situations before resorting to force, whereas soldiers are trained to eliminate all opposition as quickly and effectively as possible.
- Revy's open irritation at Shenhua's broken English may seem like merely an extension of her usual surliness and hostility at first, but looking at her background, she probably has strong personal reasons to dislike it. She's Chinese-American and considering her age along with the fact that the series takes place in The '90s, she would have grown up at a time when casual anti-Asian racism was far more normal in the Western world. It's not hard to imagine that she experienced racially-charged insults and bullying when she was younger, possibly including mocking imitations of "Chinglish", so Shenhua conforming to such linguistic stereotypes could very well have brought back painful memories for her.
Fridge Horror
- Lovelace Senior was a supporter of the Fifth Republic movement in Venezuela when he was blown up. While being assassinated by some shadowy US forces for supporting a left-wing anti-American movement is an old espionage trope, it's particularly chilling to realize that, had he lived to see the Fifth Republic take power and Hugo Chávez ascend to the presidency, Lovelace would have been among the first of those persecuted by Chavez. After all, he is a patrician landowner, one of the groups that the Chavistas have particularly antagonized. The assassination might very well be the reason (in the Black Lagoon universe, obviously not Real Life) Chavez came to power by A, antagonizing the populace against the US into supporting Chavez, B, clearing the way for Chavez by removing his superiors. And all of a sudden, Garcia's future is not looking good...
- Garcia himself may end up turning to crime himself. His father has been killed, his mother figure is severely wounded and needs nursing care (at least in the anime continuity), and he'll be traumatized by all the violence he's been exposed too. Suddenly, Chavez comes to power and robs him of all his wealth and property. After all these horrors, its not hard to see him turn to a life of crime after all the pain and suffering. He'll end up like Rock: a young man who had a cushy but boring life who suddenly had everything taken from him, forcing him into a life of crime with the motivation to stay in the criminal underworld.
- Shane Caxton refuses to let his men defend themselves when Roberta attacks them. Sure enough, Roberta takes advantage and singlehandedly annihilates them. This is supposed to be an honorable gesture on his part, in that it proves his determination to protect Garcia and his family from any further harm. Except, you know, what about his men's families? Is it really believable that they would buy into his excuse, "I'm trying to redeem myself in front of a boy, that's why I don't let your father/husband/brother/son shoot at the woman who's shooting them?" And is it really believable that they wouldn't try to take revenge from Roberta as well?
- The OVA creators seemed to agree with this, as the scene is missing there. The ensuing encounter also ends up playing out very differently as a result.
