25th
OCT
Black Lagoon 15: The world has lost a Great Gun-tottling lolita Singer
Posted by tsubaki | Filed under Anime, Editorial
I weep at her death.
Black Lagoon 15 was brutal, sweet and a whirlpool of mix emotions at same time. Balalaika, who won the ‘Last person you will want to piss off on earth‘ award in this month’s Anime Desho Desho Rwar! raises the bar by setting a death trap for the twins.
Using herself as bait, and making Hansel (or maybe Gretel) run around town for the whole night to tire and dull his/her senses and finally going for the kill, Balalaika retains her title.
I really don’t know what to say about this scene. A part of me feels so much pity for the twin, and yet a part of me enjoys the blood staining the ground. It’s just so unfortunate that two of my favorite characters in Black Lagoon have to pit against each other.
Gretel, who managed to get off the island by paying a huge sum of money to the Lagoon Company, gets to rub some kindness off Rock.
At this point, I really feel so sad for the twins who had such terrible childhood, and it’s disgusting to know that somewhere in this world, shit like this really do exist. However, when Gretel removes her wig and reverts to a Hansel voice, I am completely thrown off by this.
My only reasoning which I am inclined to believe, is that the both of them have short hair and that they have split personalities. That is why the both of them could speak like each other all the time. This was evident even in Hansel’s death.
While we were last shown that Hansel and Gretel swapped positions before they set off to kill Verrocchio Family, who are we to say that they weren’t themselves before the swap?
One logical reasoning is that Gretel, so filled with the love and compassion Rock had for her, could only express her feelings by offering sex to him. As perverted as it sound, if you were brought up by the conditions they were in, you’d probably do the same. It would only make sense if she was indeed female.
I’m pretty sure it’s not a male thing to do to lift up your skirt to show someone your Wiener.
While it’s very much predictable that the twins will die, I never expected Gretel to die in such a beautiful and poetic way. It also occured to me that both of the twins die in a manner that is extremely polarizing.
Hansel’s death was brutal, bloody and he was lying face down. I’ve always felt that Hansel was barbaric, because of his choice of weapon- the axe.
Gretel, on the other hand, died facing upwards towards the beautiful sky and the sea, like the angel she was. Her death was almost poetic, and it did feel as though she died without regrets, because of her encounter with Rock, unlike her brother, who struggled with his death.
A part of me also wished that Gretel didn’t die, and actually got adopted by the Lagoon Company. After all, they’re lacking a loli in their crew. Not to mention she’s awfully skilled and is completely eye candy for the audience.
Rest in Peace, Hansel and Gretel.
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October 25, 2006 -
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Im kinda sad to see this arc end….as fucked up as it was.
hansel’s death scene reminded me of lucy vs. nana in elfen lied…only it wasn’t as violent =X
you should study “death in japanese literature”!
explains why death is so beautiful!
Hansel = barbaric LMAO.
I find it funny you say that when it can be accurately assumed that both Hansel and Gretel had their fair shares of both axe-swinging and BAR-trotting.
Look at how Hansel died again, his left hand almost seems like it entered the ground.
His death scene is indeed incredible though.
well what i believe now is that the one rock saw is the male twin who has been castrated/mutilated to some extend.
definitely impressive. I kinda agree with Lss, but I’m not positive. The world can be beautiful or really f’ed up, and it is all about luck where/when we come out of that womb.
what rock saw was quite disgusting. i think that gretel is a male that has undergone complete castration. i too was hoping that she would survive, but the writers were complete realists and killed her off =(
the switching of voice actors for boy mode also threw me off, because it makes the character kind of fake.
well, at least it was a beautiful episode. it was like AIR and misuzu all over again. it was a pleasant surprise because i never expected such an aesthetic from black lagoon.
OMG! There was a twincest kisu in this episode! D:
H: the voice change was very well done imo. It showed that the kid wasn’t acting – he really psyched himself to take on two personalities that can change as and when he wants to. Thats very disturbing. Think norman bates.
and to tsu… its a guy, so all she to he, thanks.
and I staunchly feel that death was probably their best and only option. they got the shitty end of the deal in life, and everything just died from then.
It has never been officially stated by the mangaka on what the twins’ actual gender are. He even draws art of them occasionally that pokes fun at the mystery over their gender.
Cheers.
@Salsashark Yeah, I totally agree. But anymore and they would’ve been boring.
@wackedfoo Unfortunately, I won’t be able to relate to that because I never watche EL. =(
@sakura-no-kage Japan makes death fashionable!
@Migs Well you see, I’ve always considered axe users to be barbaric. While it’s true that both of the twins are well versed in both weaponaries, it’s still a fact that “Hansel” is an axe user and “Gretel” isn’t… so that’s where I’m pointing at. But it’s a good point you brought up.
@sinistral Pitiful, but yet beautiful. Aren’t we all barbaric?
@Lss, Ryan A, H It’s a plausible reason, but I refuse to believe in that. Don’t taint my Gretel yo. Lol.
@Mark Oh yeaaaah. That one was hot.
@helspectre I would agree have to agree with everything you said, except for the Gretel is actually a guy part. I refuse, despite knowing it, to accept that that wasn’t Gretel herself, but Hansel without a penis.
@Skane Thanks for the info, and now we can all go into endless debates about their real genders before their death. How lovely.
The fact that there are so few animes that comes close to the kind that Black Lagoon has makes this damn enjoyable. I might be smiling like an emo-Shion does whenever scenes like this appear.
Actually I thought the twins were futanari…it would best explain why Rock was so repulsed.
Aargh… perish that thought, bakavic… just thinking about castration or mutilation is enough for me, not futanari, too…. -.-;;;
what i think is that “gretel” was simply offering to have sex with Rock, setting aside all twisted things they did, like exchanging their brother-sister roles continuosly. Rock, although having experienced many different situations, is still someone who would never think of accepting such a reward, be it his education or his natural kindness. Also, in one of the prior episodes, it is prooved that at least one of them is a girl (a porno/snuff video showing a beaten up silver haired girl), and this “gretel” had breasts =\
This is a bit late, but if you REALLY think about it… They’re twins. So they might both actually be girls. Or ya know, boys, but one with breasts. I mean, she looked like she had breasts in that one picture, but we only see outlines of them, the clothes she had on was far too big. I shall live the lie that they were both lolis! Deranged lolis!
just watched the arc and read the manga and i think that Gretel was gretel, after running out and talking with benny rock says she and her quite alot, if anyone knew the sex of that twin it would be him