Black Lagoon

New chapter.

Le Majeur has ink on her back; apparently it's a scene from some kabuki play. The Lagoon Crew is testing out her endurance by having her swim from the Buddha and back. While she does, Revy and Rock have a conversation about how fast the former took to their new girl. Revy boils it down to not wanting to make unnecessary trouble for yourself; be nice to others while you can and they are more likely to not shoot you in the back.

It's a far cry from the Revy that sat in the ruined U-Boat and pontificated about the pointlessness of things.

On the way back, they get into the singing contest; Majeur brought a boombox with her. First she and Rock sing away at "Kimi ha 1000%" by Omega Tribe, then they let Revy join by switching to "Easy" by The Commodores.

They stop by the Yellow Flag; Majeur needs a job when she's not rolling with the Lagoon or called by Hotel Moscow; Bao hires her as a bouncer. Eda shows up and she and Majeur immediately pull guns at each other; seems like the shorty recognizes a fellow spook. Revy defuses the situation by putting the two in a drinking contest. Since we already had Feng with massive alcohol tolerance, I expect Majeur to peter out quick.

...this feels incredibly lighthearted, but that's not a bad thing - although I am worried as to how this will come crashing down for Majeur; especially with both Bao and Dutch with Benny earlier commenting that she's incredibly lucky to have ended up in her position.

Edited by FergardStratoavis on May 30th 2023 at 1:57:39 PM

Yeah, I can't help but shake the feeling this is setting up for a major gut punch. Hope I'm wrong.

I wonder if Majeur's going to be Revy's Yukio; a significant character that is a mirror to the other. Just like Yukio envied Rock his freedom while she was chained to her position as the head of the Washimine Clan, Majeur is commented on by other characters to be free and lucky and unrestrained while Revy mentioned a few times before she sometimes feels suffocated by Roanapur.

For Rock, a failure to save Yukio set him down on a path of cynicism (although he recovered somewhat thanks to Feng); thing is, Revy's already been down there since she can remember and is only now slowly climbing up towards idealism thanks to Rock and now Majeur. Another drop might be a lot for her. Of course, Majeur can defend herself if need to - but in both her and Yukio's cases, Hotel Moscow was the main reason for their ultimate states; if anyone can Break the Badass, it's Balalaika.

...hopefully that's just red herrings across the board.

One thing that Majeur has in her favor that Yukio didn't is that Balalakia seems to have taken a liking to her (that her situation is not unlike her own backstory probably helps things). Plus Feng lived and also joined one of the three major gangs of Roanapur.

A more idealistic interpretation is that, given all the hiatuses and the anime adaptation being so old, Majeur is going to serve as the new "viewpoint" character now that Rock is too far down the rabbit hole. Making things easier on new readers as well as new viewers if the anime ever comes back.

New chapter.

• Balalaika opens a spanky new casino; Le Majeur gets drafted to be the bunny girl. She is absolutely not chuffed about it.
• Stiff dress code, so Rock has a fancy smoking and Revy in a "tight as hell" (her words) dress. Lipstick and jewelry too, so she looks almost like a different person.
• Big shots of Roanapur are around; Ronnie the Jaws notably isn't. Balalaika and Chang attribute it to him not being very social.
• Speaking of Chang, he's pulling on Rock's tongue; with Revy and Majeur off to crush the arcades, these two get up to philosophical discussion while playing the roulette; while Rock posits that the casino's success will help Roanapur, he also states that bringing attention to the city is not necessarily a good thing. Chang seems mixed on the idea, but it helps bring in a profit.
• Though he might have taken a step deeper into the city, Rock still maintains he might be able to help someone by extending a helping hand and changing their fate. Chang retorts that this just puts you in their life and threatens to swallow you in return. Rock retorts in turn that it's impossible to look into the person without getting that close.
• He calls Roanapur "God's final domain", the place where the scum and the outcasts come to languish - and then continues stating that maybe he can help the ones who were cast aside like he was. Chang isn't impressed; he states people in this city are destined to burn in the afterlife for the evil they've done.
• But, Rock isn't deterred; he's looking for the top viewing spot from which he can extend a helping hand as far as he can. Chang doesn't budge; people are destined to end up where they end up, and all Rock will accomplish is dying for nothing. Rock retorts... by playing va banque, all of his chips in - and winning. Going for broke, risking it all - that is how one reaches that top hill and has no regrets in the end.
• That impresses Chang enough to offer his support, to eliminate as many obstacles for Rock as possible - so that he too may see the world beyond.

The chapter felt quite long; mostly because of these two chatting it up like that. Still, always fun to see more! It's a good form, and Le Majeur remains a treat throughout.

Big shots Abrego? Lobos? Dutch? Benny? Are they there?

Good to see that Rock's idealism isn't dead yet. I thought after the debacle with Roberta and Fabiola chewing him out, he'd finally given up.

I know that was probably a long time ago, but it's the last real reference I have to what's been going on in Black Lagoon.

I mean, he 'mostly' saved Peking Duck too. I'd argue Rock has more wins than losses, really.

God, Chang is the best