The seinen category of anime and manga is one that never has had the same amount of attention garnered as its shonen counterpart, which caters to a younger audience. Despite this lower ranking on the popularity scale, seinen anime, which is marketed more towards young adult audiences, does have its fair share of popular heavy hitters like the crime-thriller series, Black Lagoon.
Black Lagoon follows behind a team of pirate mercenaries called the "Lagoon Company" and features the very popular leading character named Revy. However, the cast is much larger than the lone main character and thus has a lot of details about these characters that slip between the cracks, making it easy for viewers of the anime to miss.
10 Mister Chang Is Based On A Popular John Woo Film Role
Mister Chang, or Bai Ji-Shin Chang, is a powerful man in the world of Black Lagoon. He is the boss of a Thailand branch of the group, Sun Yee On Triad. He also is a very competent fighter and dual wields pistols much like Revy, who has even admitted he's on a level beyond her.
For those familiar with John Woo films, Mister Chang may ring a few bells during his appearances, as he's based on the characters that Chow Yun Fat (an actor known for his John Woo Film roles) has played in these films. He even shares the dual wield pistol traits with the character Mark Gor in A Better Tomorrow.
9 Mister Chang Was Once A Cop
Unbeknownst to many anime-only followers of the Black Lagoon series, Mister Chang wasn't always simply a powerful mob boss.
In the manga and the OVA, it is revealed that earlier in his life, Mister Chang was actually once a cop who allegedly turned on his partners and killed a fellow cop. However, the account of betrayal comes from a member of the Triad that doesn't know Chang well, hence the "allegedly."
8 Dutch Is A Philosophy Follower
Dutch is a former Marine and a Vietnam Vet that went AWOL, later founding the Lagoon Company during his career as a mercenary. Despite his kill filled life, Dutch is a very calm and collected man.
This calm personality is even further shown with the little hidden detail of Dutch being a big fan of philosophy. Looking at the books that Dutch is seen reading and those he has on his bookshelf, one can see philosophy books like Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung and others from philosophy writers such as Hegel and Hume, Nietzsche, and Rousseau.
7 Dutch Is Modeled After A Certain Pulp Fiction Character
Dutch's design is said to have taken heavy inspiration from the character played by Ving Rhames, Marsellus Wallace in the popular Quentin Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction.
This design inspiration leaked over into his personality as well, with Dutch having the same calm personality as Marsellus.
6 Hansel & Gretel Are Well-Educated
The twins, Hansel and Gretel were left orphans and soon forced into a very violent and dark childhood where they were raised to be killers.
Despite this upbringing based around nothing but "kill or be killed," the two seem to be educated. Much like many smarter anime characters, they have been seen having conversations about many book writers when questioning a certain book quote.
5 Hansel & Gretel Have Dissociative Identity Disorder
One missed fact about the two killer twins is their personality disorder. The two children regularly swap identities, even going as far as switching names from time to time.
This leads to both of their genders in the anime being unclear at times. However, the mangaka, Hiro Rei, has since confirmed that both of the twins are actually female.
4 Rosarita Cisneros Is Seen By Many As An Evil Disney Character
Rosarita, or Roberta, is a maid that led and continues to lead a very dark life. Her professions have led the animation staff to compare her to a certain Disney character.
As said in issue #50 of Anime Insider, the staff of the Black Lagoon anime referred to Rosarita as an "Evil Mary Poppins." The mangaka behind the series has also said he'd referred to her as "Death Poppins."
3 Balalaika Shares The Samurai Beliefs
Balalaika was once a Soviet Army captain before joining the mafia. However, it is shown that she somewhat resents this new life, as she calls herself and her unit "soldiers who missed the chance to die in war."
This is the same belief that many Japanese samurai share as seen with the popular samurai quote of their code, "There is no greater honor than to die in battle."
2 The Feathers Shown In The Series Reference Revy's Life
The feathers that show up in the intro of the anime and throughout the series actually reference Revy's killing of her father. They are representative of the feathers in the pillow that she used to suppress the shot she fired into him.
1 Revy's Music Taste Is Shown Off Throughout the Manga
Throughout the manga, it is shown that Revy is a fan of rock and metal, as seen in her playlist called "Jitterbug of Death" which contains songs from White Zombie, Rednex, and Rage Against the Machine. This was omitted from the anime due to copyright reasons.