Black Lagoon watch order
Japanese salaryman Rokuro Okajima is kidnapped by the Lagoon Company, a crew of mercenary smugglers in the lawless Thai port of Roanapur, and decides to stay as "Rock". Madhouse adapted Rei Hiroe's manga as two TV seasons and an OVA.
First time? Watch Black Lagoon, then The Second Barrage, then the OVA Roberta's Blood Trail. That's the whole anime; the omake shorts are optional.
Story order
The two seasons and the OVA run in a straight line, so story order is the same as release order. The omake shorts are comedy extras with no place in the story; watch them whenever.
- Black Lagoon
Rock joins the Lagoon Company after his company abandons him (eps 1–2), then come the Nazi U-boat salvage job (4–6), Rock and Revy's falling-out (7), the killer maid Roberta's first arc (8–10) and a job tangled up with a Japanese terrorist (11–12).
- Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage
Episodes 13–24: the Romanian killer twins Hansel and Gretel (13–15), the counterfeiter arc Greenback Jane (16–18) and the Japan arc, Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise, where Rock and Revy get caught in a yakuza war (19–24). Watch the credits of episode 15.
- Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
Five half-hour episodes set after The Second Barrage, treated as the third season. Roberta comes to Roanapur hunting the US soldiers who killed her master. A direct sequel to her TV arc (episodes 8–10), and the goriest part of the anime.
- Black Lagoon Omake (optional)
Seven short comedy bonus clips with the TV cast, released on the Japanese Blu-rays. Not part of the story. Optional.
Release order
Both seasons aired in 2006, the omake shorts came with the 2009–10 Blu-rays, and Roberta's Blood Trail came out on video from 2010 to 2011.
- Black Lagoon
Rock joins the Lagoon Company after his company abandons him (eps 1–2), then come the Nazi U-boat salvage job (4–6), Rock and Revy's falling-out (7), the killer maid Roberta's first arc (8–10) and a job tangled up with a Japanese terrorist (11–12).
- Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage
Episodes 13–24: the Romanian killer twins Hansel and Gretel (13–15), the counterfeiter arc Greenback Jane (16–18) and the Japan arc, Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise, where Rock and Revy get caught in a yakuza war (19–24). Watch the credits of episode 15.
- Black Lagoon Omake (optional)
Seven short comedy bonus clips with the TV cast, released on the Japanese Blu-rays. Not part of the story. Optional.
- Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
Five half-hour episodes set after The Second Barrage, treated as the third season. Roberta comes to Roanapur hunting the US soldiers who killed her master. A direct sequel to her TV arc (episodes 8–10), and the goriest part of the anime.
Explained
Is Roberta's Blood Trail a movie or season 3?
It's a five-episode OVA, released one episode at a time, and it's the anime's third season in all but name. It isn't stand-alone: it's the sequel to Roberta's first arc in Season 1 (episodes 8–10) and assumes you've seen both seasons.
Why doesn't the anime follow the manga's order?
The anime moves a few arcs around: Hansel and Gretel come from the manga's second and third volumes but open Season 2, and Greenback Jane (volume 6) airs before the Japan arc (volumes 4–5). Each arc stands on its own, so the anime's order works fine as it is.
Where does the anime stop in the manga?
Roberta's Blood Trail adapts the manga arc El Baile de la Muerte, which ends with volume 9. To keep going, start the manga at volume 10. Hiroe's manga is still running, with long gaps between volumes.
Will there be a Season 4?
Nothing has been announced. Hiroe has said a new anime isn't impossible but would depend on sales.
Content note
Black Lagoon is violent and foul-mouthed even by action-anime standards: graphic gunfights, heavy swearing, and the twins arc involves child killers. The OVA turns the gore up further. All of it has an English dub, recorded at Ocean Studios with Brad Swaile as Rock and Maryke Hendrikse as Revy.