It has been published in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X since April 2002, with its chapters collected in 13 tankōbon volumes as of December 2023.
[a] The Lagoon Company consists of four members: Dutch, the leader; Revy, the main gunfighter; Benny, the mechanic, computer specialist, and researcher; and Rock, an ex-salaryman hijacked by the team and abandoned by his department chief, eventually becoming their negotiator and "professional" face of the group, retaining his old job skills.
The city is home to the Chinese triad, the Russian Bratva, the Colombian cartel, the Italian mafia, a wide assortment of pickpockets, thugs, mercenaries, thieves, prostitutes, assassins, and gunmen.
The team takes on a variety of missions—which may involve violent firefights, hand-to-hand combat, and nautical battles—in various Southeast Asian locations, even going as far as Isabela, Basilan in the Philippines.
[4] For the basis of the story, he was inspired by watching news about piracy cases in the South China Sea in the 1990s, which he thought that fitted perfectly with his desire to make a "dynamic and original" series, adding that pirates "know no borders and are truly free", and that it seemed interesting to work on the subject.
[8][5] Apart from manga, Hiroe stated that, from a "purely graphic point of view", he was influenced by the Franco-Belgian comic series Soda, and commented that he liked the atmosphere and storytelling of Blacksad by Spanish authors Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido.
"[5] Regarding accuracy, Hiroe declared that he had not done too much research on modern day pirates, commenting that even on the internet is difficult to find good information on them, also stating that the crew of Black Lagoon is "a bit different from what we are used to seeing."
Regarding the weapons, on the other hand, Hiroe said that he was a big fan and that he had a personal collection, being well-versed on the subject, adding that he bought encyclopedias in order to benefit from more precise details.
[4] Due to the fact that the series is a "period piece of sorts," which features mafia and military themes, Hiroe commented that he did a lot of research for those subjects, watching documentaries and reading books.
[6] Hiroe also stated that he would sometimes find some interesting facts that he would like to incorporate into his work, and that he tried not to go towards current events, but use past information for the entertainment value.
"[4] Referring to whether the manga could be perceived as a political statement, due to actual piracy issues in Africa and elsewhere, and since the manga is about pirates, Hiroe said that "as long as there are various people's opinions being voiced, it won't cease to be political", emphasizing, however, that there is not just one possible way of reading it, such as "America is bad" or "Russia is bad", and that the series is written to be perceived from different perspectives.
Hiroe commented that while there are a lot of manga artists who do not have good relationship with the publishing company, and they have to do what they are ordered, in his case, it is more mutual and he can do more of what he likes at the same time.
Just stop, take a step back, and relax for a bit so I’m not stuck in the grind", commenting that manga artists who write weekly manga or other long-running series, like those published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, "don’t have that luxury", and that working on a monthly series gives him the opportunity to work on a different project "to keep things from getting stale.
"[4] Hiroe commented that she is a strong woman, good at shooting guns and fighting, but that she is not motivated by justice and that she is just an "ordinary criminal", adding that he placed her in the story because "it is rare to see such a female" and her presence would make it more interesting.
[9] According to Hiroe, at the beginning of the project there were only "bad men," and after discussing it with the editorial staff, they decided to introduce a character who would share the same point of view as the readers, so he added Rock as a businessman to the story.
"[8] Written and illustrated by Rei Hiroe, the pilot chapter of Black Lagoon was published in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X on March 19, 2001.
[46][47] A second season, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage, consisting of twelve more episodes, ran for the first time on Sendai Television from October 3 to December 19, 2006.
[48][49] A five-episode original video animation (OVA), titled Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail, which covered the "El Baile de la Muerte" arc of the manga, was released from July 17, 2010, to June 22, 2011.
[53][54] Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (ブラック・ラグーン 2 罪深き魔術師の哀歌, Burakku Ragūn Tsu Tsumibukaki Uizādo no Barādo) was published on January 18, 2011.
The limited edition included a water gun replica of Revy's Beretta 92 FS "Sword Cutlass Special", five autographed illustrations and six bookmarks.
[65][66] A browser game developed by CTW for the G123 online platform, titled Black Lagoon: Heaven's Shot, was announced in September 2023 and released on December 7 of that same year.
"[91] Writer Jason Thompson called the series "a high-energy heist manga intended, if the author's in-jokes are any indication, in the collateral-damage spirit of movies like Rambo and The Wild Bunch."
Thompson said that the dialogues are well-written and "Tarantino-ishly foul-mouthed", adding that the action scenes are "more flashy than clear," criticizing the "huge sound effects and closeups of muzzle blasts" which make it "difficult to tell what's happening", but ultimately called the series "a fun ride, and at its best moments it reaches an almost Hellsing-like level of mayhem.
"[36] Writing for Anime News Network (ANN), Thompson stated that the series has superficial similarities to Gunsmith Cats, including "strong female protagonists, crime/heist stories, and tons of guns", but stated that Hiroe's art style is more similar to the art of Akihiro Ito and Kouta Hirano, commenting, however, that the series does not "feel particularly influenced by manga", but "influenced by everything imaginable and wants to let you know it", mentioning its references from John Woo, The Magnificent Seven to Jean-Paul Sartre.
"[93] Reviewing the first volume, Carlo Santos, of the same website, said that it is "the very definition of cinematic: gunplay techniques by John Woo, explosions by Michael Bay, and a host of other visual indulgences that make it a loud, nonstop blockbuster."
Santos, however, stated that the story "ripped straight from the plotbook for crime dramas and gang wars", adding that each chapter is paced according to formula, concluding that the series is "[n]ot the greatest, not the deepest, but entertaining enough if you're up for some babes with guns.
"[94] Reviewing the tenth volume, Rebecca Silverman, of the same website, noted that while the series has physical fanservice, most of it is gun related, "with shots of different firearms and gun battles that rely on difficult angles", commenting that the series' appeal is its "dark, criminal fantasy about a world with few rules, where death is ready to take you the minute you start to think about giving up.