Right off that bat, volume five gets things started with a bloody battle. Superb paneling and pacing make the battle fun and easy to follow. Unlike some other manga, Black Lagoon’s art makes action scenes look and feel like they’re moving, and doesn’t need a bunch of blurry silhouettes to force the sense of movement, instead naturally reading the action as if it were.  Other little details fine-tune Black Lagoon’s aesthetic value, an example being the placement of panels, but more importantly, the lack of spacing between the panels. Instead of having several trapezoid boxes isolated by white space in between, the art is organized by thin black boarders. All these elements create a perfect formula for kick-ass battles.

Moving away from aesthetics, the pacing of the whole volume does well at moving the story along. A big problem with some manga is that fights take too long. Black Lagoon has none of this problem. Every part of the volume is a necessary step in advancing the plot, never feeling like the author got lazy one week and just wanted a paycheck.

The events in this volume feel very gritty, as both Rock and Revy are forced to make the choice between saving Yukio, and facing the onslaught of Hotel Moscow, or letting her die in order to save their own necks. Meanwhile, Yukio fully embraces her position as leader of the Washimine-gumi, knowing full well she’d be heading to her death. This brings out the issue of honor among thieves, as Rock refuses to let Yukio die, yet saving her would only worsen the casualties. This sparks phenomenal character growth from Rock, making the whole volume much more intriguing and deep.

Although Black Lagoon can be a fun rollercoaster ride of chaos at times volume five sports a very mature storyline that is recommendable for readers looking for something more in their manga diet. Grown-ups looking for a manga without ninja, alien monkeys doing martial arts, and other kid troupes can truly appreciate and enjoy this series.

Overall Rating: A
Review by: Josh Dunham
Story & Art by: Rei Hiroe
Published by: Sogakukan
Distributed by: VIZ Media
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