The series was produced by Madhouse, Geneon Entertainment and Shogakukan and directed and written by Sunao Katabuchi, with Masanori Shino designing the characters and Edison composing the music.

The group is composed of Dutch, the African-American leader and a former U.S. Navy patrol boat crewman; Revy, the Chinese-American main gunfighter of the team; and Benny, a Jewish-American college dropout, who serves as the mechanic, computer specialist, and researcher.

Despite living now as a pirate, Rock retains his skills and good-natured attitude, serving the team as their negotiator and "professional" face of the group.

The crew's base of operations is located in the fictional town of Roanapur, Thailand, which is home to pirates, thieves and various criminal organizations, including the Japanese yakuza, the Chinese triad, the Russian and Italian mafias and the Colombian cartel.

The series director, Sunao Katabuchi, stated he was a fan of the original manga before making the adaptation, expressing that he was attracted by its energy and dynamism.

[5] Hiroe said that when the anime television series was announced, there was time taken to do some cross referencing between him and the producers, but that he had no major involvement in its development, leaving to Katabuchi and his staff to figure things out, so his schedule for the manga was not affected by it.

Ryoichiro Matsuo, the animation producer, was told to emphasize the gruesome descriptions, with Katabuchi expressing that the parts he worked on "even smelled bloody".

He also declared that the dialogues were the "biggest upheaval," adding that, while the content was the same, the performance brought a "palpable emotion," which did not necessarily coincide with his own interpretation, and he only noticed it when he watched the series on television.

"[5] The series, which adapted eight story arcs from the original manga,[10] was produced by Madhouse, Geneon Entertainment and Shogakukan and directed and written by Katabuchi, with Masanori Shino designing the characters and Edison composing the music.

[24][25] 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.

[15] The original soundtrack for the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA was included with the limited edition of the first Blu-ray Disc set, released on July 27, 2010.

[58] Tasha Robinson of Sci Fi Weekly also compared the series to Cowboy Bebop, noting similarities between the characters, dynamic, "edgy animation" and "intrusive presence of jazzy music".

[59] Serdar Yegulalp of About.com commented that its attention to character and morality is what set it "much further apart from its competitors," stating, however, that the violence is the "sort of endurance-testing sadism that might make some audiences reach for either the smelling salts or the STOP button".

[61] Theron Martin of Anime News Network (ANN), in comparing the series to Cowboy Bebop, commented that while that series had a "laid-back style regularly punctuated by intense action, casual philosophizing, and the occasional quirky or poignant moment," Black Lagoon "strives for pure 'tude," adding that it has "all the elements it needs to be a big hit – sexy heroine, loads of coarse language and graphic violence, great visuals, and a kickin' musical score".

Martin, however, questioned whether or not it would success in North America due to its "distinct step outside of the normal anime style and closer in spirit to an American action serial".

[62] Writing for Newtype USA, David F. Smith said that the series has "a lot of dark humor, and the show even has the guts to take itself seriously from time to time," and that it features "some pretty clever plotting, complete with dialogue smarter than it has any right to be," but commented that the action animation "skimp[s] on the writing," concluding: "any action fan better not miss the boat.

[64] Reviewing the first DVD volume, Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD (later Mania.com) said that, while "nothing terribly original yet," he enjoyed the series, adding that it "doesn't cringe from violence and has enough hooks to it that lets it work," concluding: "Black Lagoon simply kicks ass.

Meek commented that the animation, scripts and directing are "consistent from beginning to end," and called Revy and Rock's relationship the "emotional crux of the series," praising as well their development.

[69] Reviewing the first DVD of the season, Theron Martin stated: "those with a high tolerance for blood-soaked violence and off-kilter humor should find a lot to like here."

[53] Also reviewing the first DVD volume, Holly Ellingwood of Active Anime called the twins' story arc "more graphic violently and grim, even bleak, compared to the more high octane episodes of the previous season," and that it takes "some unexpected turns in its final moments, revealing unsettling character depths and poignancy," ultimately calling the volume "[a] thrill every second!

[71] Christoper Homer of Mania.com called the twins' story arc "truly disturbing and yet stunning," and said that the relationship between Revy and Rock in the season is "absolutely fantastic".

[72] Reviewing the second DVD volume, Homer said that The Second Barrage "expands from the first season and gets even better," praising the development of Revy and Rock, and stating that the series "has always been good based on the strength of its characters, its action and its vocal and visual work".

Smith said that in the final storyline there are times were the plot is "very obviously running in place," adding that there is a point where it "suddenly stops, chases its tail for a while, and then darts off in a random direction," calling its ending "disappointing" and that the DVD is "the weakest volume of the series as a whole".

[79] Writing for The Fandom Post, Christopher Homer made a positive review of the OVA, praising the story and character development, also stating that it is "both action packed and thought provoking".

[80] Theron Martin of Anime News Network noted that the OVA is more violent and graphic that the television series, which was already "hardly tame to begin with".