Note on the poster. What Revy said, way back in Ep 3, about her childhood was: “おもしろくもね話だ。” In a literal sense, “it’s not an interesting thing to talk about” but, in this context, she’s indicating she doesn’t want to talk about it. The Shinsen subtitle is just sooo brilliant though - official fansubs simply can’t cut to the chase like that.
And a meta note before the episode summary. I’ve tended to believe that one should learn Japanese to watch anime rather than the other way round. Learning Japanese from anime can ingrain bad habits, such as use of informal speech in formal contexts e.g. addressing your teacher as "kisama" or "omae". Much unnecessary social embarrassment can also result from, sometimes unconscious, emulation of favourite characters’ speech patterns e.g. speaking about yourself in the third person with “-chan” honorific.
Nonetheless, I’ve found watching raws to be a good test of listening comprehension. Besides trying to understand the gist of the conversation, I also try to remember how some of the kanji is written for those words that I already know the meaning of. For words I don’t understand, I try to tease out their phonetics correctly and then deduce their dictionary form. When the subs come out, I then can check my translation notes in the blog post. Most importantly, the raws are the proverbial kick up the arse every week - they remind me how poor my grasp of the language actually is and that I need to study the language harder. orz
Revy and Eda’s fight with the twins is interrupted by a technical. Eda almost returns fire but is stopped by Revy, after all, you really don’t want to cross Hotel Moscow. Meanwhile the twins take advantage of the chaos [混乱 (こんらん) disorder, confusion] to split up - Hansel continues his mission to kill Balalaika while Gretel escapes via the sewers.
The Russians have lost track of the twins and Balalaika issues new orders that, surprise surprise, turn out to be prescient.
Revy and Eda quickly lose their enthusiasm for quarrelling. Much to Eda’s displeasure, Revy refuses to accompany her until dawn - after all, she’s not a kid anymore. Gretel manages to sneak up on Eda and “asks” for her help in doing something. The good sister asks the goth-loli why she turned on the Verrocchio family and is still fighting Balalaika; Gretel laughs, saying that they are killing simply because they want to - doing it [奏する (そうする) to do/perform] for its own sake.
Another example why I enjoy this series so much - the animators are so good are creating a mood, an atmosphere with scene details and music. The sun rising on Roanapur’s blind Buddha and the light glinting off the water signals a new day but the bullet cartridges and slashed trees belie the calm - reminding us of the violence last night and foretelling that the new day brings no respite.
At the fountain, Balalaika tells Hansel to come out of hiding [隠れる(かくれる) cover / seclude 隠れん坊 (かくれんぼう) hide and seek]. He tries to bait her by describing how Menishov called out for his Captain as he died. Balalaika tells him to apologize [謝る (あやまる) kanji means ‘thanks’ in Chinese] and to get on his knees [跪く (ひざまずく) kneel]. Hansel scorns her order but snipers achieve his compliance.
Balalaika tells Hansel that he will bleed to death in about 10 minutes. While she hasn’t had him killed more cruelly, it’s not out of our generosity [景品 (けいひん) giveaway, gift, bonus] to him, this prolonging of his death will be a requiem [鎮魂 (ちんこん) repose of souls] for Saharov and Menishov. He goes into alternating brother/sister mode, telling Balalaika that he will continue to live on forever, and to keep killing, through the part of him inside Gretel. Balalaika asks if that is his belief [宗教 (しゅうきょう) religion] and while it’s a wonderful [素晴らしい (すばらしい)] thought, the correct phrase should be: “No one lives forever.”
Balalaika radios in that it’s done. Her good sergeant asks to come in from the cold but she says that she selfishly wants to stay by the fountain; she feels really tired. Another great scene - there’s no euphoria or joy in this victory over a hated enemy, only weariness. It makes her more human, peeling away at her invincibility, something that we saw in the previous episodes - the mistaken assumption in assigning two man teams for collections and forgotting about her experience of Romanian language in Kabul.
The scene transits beautifully to Gretel seeming to sing her own requiem for her brother. Dutch can’t believe that this angelic voice is the voice of a killer. Rock applauds, praising her beautiful singing and she tells him that she loves to sing and it’s just a song she heard on the telly. Apparently the “help” that she asked Eda for was to arrange her escape. Another job for the Lagoon company. Much goth-loli-siscon on display as Gretel talks about her brother [niisama] and to Rock [oniichan].
Dutch gets a call from Balalaika. She asks him if he understands what he’s doing and they have a strangely intimate conversation that mentions duty and honour, she even wishes him success and he addresses her, wihtout sarcasm, by her rank. Hotel Moscow’s fearsome power is shown by two Vietnamese navy missile gunboats barring their escape route. Benny’s suggestion to do something again [遣り直す (やりなおす) redo, try again] is dismissed as silly - the Vietnamese have got too much long range firepower. Instead they turn to Big Horn Elroy.
We get a little history lesson about Ceausescu’s regime and even a shot of his grand palace. Gretel tells Rock about how she and Hansel wondered why God was doing all of this to them and how they found their destiny and joy in murder. Rock cries and embraces her, telling her that she can be happy and that there is a place in the sun for her. Gretel wants to show her appreciation for her first experience of kindness from anyone - she offers him sex. Rock flees in horror and despair. It was really funny how well Revy has come to know him - just by observation, she tells Benny to settle Rock while she’ll deal with the kid. Our gunwoman lays into Gretel with her Fist of Thou Shalt Not Hit on My Guy. Gretel says that she and Revy are the same; Revy couldn’t care less but says that she’ll kill Gretel if she messes with Rock’s mind or calls Revy unpleasant things again. Meanwhile Benny gets Rock to accept the harsh reality that Gretel will not be able to stop killing, a normal life of school and friends of her age is impossible.
Gretel, resplendent in a sun hat with ribbon and cloth rose, bids Rock farewell. She says that they’ll meet again and at that time, they’ll share a picnic lunch. However, the getaway contact executes her with a shot to the back of the head. He’s received orders from Hotel Moscow. There’s something about a son in South Africa but I couldn’t make out what’s happened to him or what he’s got to do with the whole thing. Gretel’s slaying is Elroy’s (?) final job and he leaves. BTW does “ava” mean goodbye and what language is it?
Dutch tells Rock to cover up the body but he doesn’t want to. He feels that it’s better like that, with her sleeping and looking at the blue sky and the sea. In the end, Gretel also came to a sticky end but, somehow, it feels like a happy ending. Innocence, once lost, cannot be restored but the death of the twins has put an end to their vicious spiral of abuse and murder. Death is their only possible escape and they have finally found rest and the light on a further shore together - as shown the ED, using Revy’s motif but with Minako “mooki” Obata’s The World of Midnight that Gretel was singing just after the eye catch.
Quite a mixed and melancholy ending. But another reason why I enjoy this series. It can have an unexpected emotional impact when it looks at the darkness and depravity in the human soul but it does not devolve into cynicism or saccharine whitewashes. Next week, looks like a story about a counterfeiter - Greenback Jane.
My Japanese professors would kick my ass so hard if I called them kisamara
And I was sooo gonna continue the series after seeing your kawaii kawaii Gretel pics only to find her bathed in blood the next screencap. Bro you SURE know how to get back at me! XD
Btw you forgot the guy who insisted on using ‘atashi’ :)
I am too old to learn another language and my brain capacity is probably at its limit with all the junk I need to learn at work and getting a BS and a minor.
As for Mr. Stripey’s grief I suspect that he will watch if only to hear Gretel’s oniichan and niisan.
Rock deserves a pat on the back to not taking the bait and just fleeing in grief. Since Balalaika still had mild reservations on killing kids she is still scary. Given her ruthless nature on every one else I wonder if she did have or ever want to have kids? She had to have been young at some point right? Revy and Gretel aren’t that much different they even have the same maturity level. Now if Hansel and Gretel can assume identieties of each other was that Hansel or Gretel copping a feel off Eda?
I felt weepy after watching this. Thankfully, the mangaka( author) has pretty twisted humour.
To Crusader, from the manga’s omake, Balalaika & Kids.
I still need to get my hands on the omakes where everybody’s gender changed.
Cheers.
Awww… isn’t that precious.
Thanks Skane.
seems pretty cool ending. yeah ava means something like goodbye its latin i believe.
“Most importantly, the raws are the proverbial kick up the arse every week - they remind me how poor my grasp of the language actually is and that I need to study the language harder. orz”
I totally agree. Especially with the JLPT coming up.
What’s really frightening is the fact that while reading this post, I couldn’t remember the Japanese words you included as listening comprehension notes, even though I watched the episode and looked up these words myself (I’m browsing from a computer that’s unable to display Japanese).
“Learning Japanese from anime can ingrain bad habits, such as use of informal speech in formal contexts e.g. addressing your teacher as “kisama” or “omae”.”
Yeah, I sometimes get the urge to address Japanese people as “kei” or “kikan” or “onushi” (effect of LoGH, I guess), or begin sentences with “ore wa”, but I can fight these urges.
What I noticed is that those people who spent a longer period in Japan are those who tend to use informal language in situations where it’s not appropriate. For example, answering the teacher with a shrug and a casual “wakannai”.
BTW this episode of Black Lagoon was the best single anime episode of the year for me.
Simply brilliant.
No whitewashing here. I like it - it’s a brutal ending… but the only realistic one; they’d have gotten themselves killed eventually, sooner or later, especially after calling out Hotel Moscow like that. Plus, the way her past screwed her up - well, it’s definitely showing and in a way that feels ‘realistic’, so I haven’t a complaint there either. ESPECIALLY with how she manages to scar Rock’s mind through that offer. :D
Still, she looks quite happy as she goes out, unlike Hansel who seems to have a few regrets (maybe). This season, so far, has been VERY strong - the stories aren’t filler, and they have some bite to them, which makes then better than SOME shows I can name. And now I’m seeing Gretel as a slightly more psycho, gun-toting version of Anju, after linking to Stripey’s other post on the imotous…
And no, Balalaika doesn’t enjoy the killing - she does it because a) it’s business - she has to show no mercy to the people who would kill her own, and b) it’s personal; she’s doing this for the sake of her own people who can feel that they’re protected by her, as well as to put a stop to the killings. But she doesn’t enjoy this - not killing children, nor killing for any particular reason, unless someone’s betrayed her (like when she blew up a certain lying, stealing bastard who got Black Lagoon ambushed in Ep 3 with Chin getting tied up and exploded in his apartment). And, more to the point, she failed to protect her people; she lost at least 9 of them, counting the two collectors who were the twins’ last victims, despite their going about in pairs, and didn’t neutralize the Vincenzios sooner for hiding the twins in the first place.
Hi, I just found your website through Google. I’m so amazed with your Japanese. Apologize with my awkward English, I’ve spent 6years and I still dont feel the comfortness. Anyhow, the questions on your last pp, a guy who shot Gretel is Elroy. He shot her even that’s against his record, because he was about to retire his job. He also mentioned to Dutch that he has his son in South Africa, age 34, suffering with cancer. That is why he needed to leave his place with portion of money for his son. The reward from Hotel Moscow seems to be enough for him to quit his job.
The last word Elory said, “Ja, Avayo.” means, “so that is, see ya.” Avayo is more like guyish and sloppy way to say, “farewell,” but more like, “cya.”
So far, this is my best episode of Black Lagoon. Very touchy. Good thing about this series is that there is no sarchasm(instead of their jokes) and any hypocrisy. Just like you and Mr. Chan from previous episode said. The world is just like that. You gotta get used to it. “Welcome to the crazy world (from Helsing).”
Thx!
Eleutheria, your understanding of Japanese and Jp culture is probably too advanced for that to be funny anymore. ;)
Stripey, as Crusader points out - lots of “oniichan!” this episode. You must watch. Resistance is futile!
Skane, thanks for the omake!
kikuchiyo, maybe cuz some of the words don’t sound familiar was because I reduced some of them from their conjugations to dictionary form. Or that I just got it wrong. orz
Haesslich, agreed - it’s not pretty but it’s completely consistent with the Black Lagoon universe.
Nacho, thanks for clarifying that last part! This episode was certainly unexpectedly touching - I was just wondering how we’ve been made to feel compassion for Gretel. It’s appropriate that she doesn’t get away with it in the end but also I’m in awe how she’s gotten a “happy ending” by being killed.
One of the series best Episodes. And the end of another mini plot. Black Lagoon is a show of multiple plots. Their is really no single underlieing story to the whole show. The mystery of Revy’s past technically could be considered the plot, but it’s brought up far too rarely. And all we know is that the US has some beef with her, and that she got in very bad trouble with some New York police precinct. I assume the last volume of the series will finally explain everything.
In the mean time, onto the next event!
Incidentally, does anyone know who did the singing there? The lips were a bit out of sync… but it was decently done.
Question answered. We really ought to get Jason Miao or Fap First, Worry Later to blog this ep too. ;)
Just watched the fansubs, and the scene between Balalaika and Hansel was very poignant. Her line, “Don’t cry. You idiot.” was very, very striking as we see a shot of Balalaika covering up her face with one hand while maintaining her composure. It reveals the more human side to her, despite her cold-blooded execution of Hansel.
Also, Hotel Moscow reaffirms that when Hotel Moscow wants you dead. You’re dead. As simple as that.
Gretel’s death was proof of that, more or less.
Cheers.
Yeah. I had assumed, that like in all the previous arcs, that the problem would land in Lagoon Company’s lap, but they ended up opposite Hotel Moscow and Main Character Power didn’t even factor in. I’ve knocked Black Lagoon for getting a bit corny in its eagerness to show a grittier, blacker world, but I thought the bleak realism of ‘how the world works’ was effectively portrayed in this arc.
Was recently watching ep 13 and 14.
Reminds me what a shitty world we live in, it makes me that I´am ashamed to be human sometimes.
This episode kicked my ass emotionally, it was gritty as gritty gets, and the ending killed me; I knew they would die, both Hansel and Gretel, but to see her shot in the head so coldly and to have her be so calm about it got to me. Revy coming to Rock’s rescue was neat, and it’s kind of funny how Rock can so easily connect with almost everyone he comes into contact with. Is that some kind of metaphor, Rock = the good humanity has to offer?
Excellent episode recap. I was really impressed with this episode, as I was expecting something far more stupid & actiony than what actually occured. It was very somber and compelling and definitely raised my appreciation of this series. Plus that one line, ‘Kneel’ was just excellent and probably my favorite line from the entire series (And all non-haruhi series for the year) so far.
“Reminds me what a shitty world we live in, it makes me that I´am ashamed to be human sometimes.”
Yes, a world which considers this funny and entertaining could be considered worrying.
Also for an action series there was a hell of a lot pointless blah blah in this arc. This arc had “pseudo” written all over it. 3 episodes are about as long as movie so they really had enough time for development but there was pretty much none and the whole thing was just illogic front to back in a non-amusing way. Somehow it felt like “directing by numbers” as they jumped from one “cool” scene to the next.
That said, Rock might want to borrow Eda’s nun suit. It suits him much better than her.
heya, i just found your website through google, and i wanted to ask if anybody of you might know how the ending of ep. 15 is called? i LOVE this song, so i´d really appreciate if somebody could tell me the name/artist of it ^_^ thx in advance, and excuse my horrible english *blushes*
mugda,
Minako “mooki” Obata’s The World of Midnight
ooo thx a lot!!! =)
I know I’m a late starter as I just got into this series, but wow, what a powerful episode, and I’m not talking about the bullets and action. While the lives and deaths of the twins were both horrific and tragic, the arc ended the only way it could. In some other world, one can only hope they’ve found each other again and some measure of peace at last.
In a lot of ways, this mini-arc reminded me greatly of the Jupiter Jazz mini-arc in Cowboy Bebop, in that both were shown mid-way through the series and featured tragic characters whose deaths were sad, yes, but also very fitting as it shows us there is no greater inhumanity and disregard for life than that inflicted upon mankind by ourselves.
While Black Lagoon sometimes seems to try too hard to be gritty and cynical, episodes like these temper it with emotion while others have touches of humor and paying homage to its action roots (the terminator meido, Chan Zhang’s channeling of Chow Yun Fat). Plus it doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of the organized criminal world and mature themes (I can’t think of too many other quality anime shows that touched on the taboo subject of kiddy pr0n except for Paranoia Agent).
I’d say this series is shaping up to be among my favorites right next to Cowboy Bebop (Samurai Champloo, while amusing at times, was a big let down overall). I really wonder why Black Lagoon isn’t getting as much attention and love as other anime series in 2006. Keep on blogging and I’ll keep on reading!