u/Impressive-Swing-494

Turned Revy into Uncle June from Sopranos 😭😭😭

Considering how sensitive to demands and criticism Hiroe sensei is - rightfully so - he did like a comment where I suggested a new anime season with the LightNovels being adapted as flashbacks since Shaitane Badi takes place maybe a month or a few weeks before Fujiyama Gangster’s Paradise and Ballad of the Sinful Wizard is after the events of El Baile De La Muerte.

It could work very well as a flashback after Wired Red Wild Card and L’Homme Sombre are adapted, the crew hits the YellowFlag after completing their first mission with Le Majeur and she gets up to speed to what they’ve been doing these last 3 years, being the LNs the main event.

Heck, even Eda’s and Sawyer’s spin off could be adapted. Whether that’s gonna happen in the future we don’t know, but it doesn’t hurt to remind the sensei that we’re out here yearning for it and that he can do it. He didn’t oppose the idea either.

Call me delusional, but I’m full of hopium after he liked my tweet lol. Getting a whole new volume is a good indication that he’s doing a lot better now. Black Lagoon is still very popular Japan and it’s popularity cannot be measured by westerns fans and communities. Black Lagoon gained the spotlight again after being removed from Crunchyroll and is still on the news. The new Black Lagoon plushies already sold out and the collab with the Yellow Flag Annex was a success. There’s an audience for it and it’s not as small as everyone thinks it is. At least in the west. The problems were always the long hiatus.

From his declarations, he finally managed to beat depression and get it under control—he just dropped new doujin and a new BL volume. Let’s hope he keeps it consistent! If he doesn’t, well, the fandom should support him — there are many unfinished mangas like Nana, which has been on hiatus for over a decade — at least he draws at a slow pace and keeps the story alive…. I know a lot of people in the sub are anime only, but give the manga a shot.

We should be glad he’s doing a lot better mentally now. The important thing is that he’s doing well, he’s working, he’s active like any healthy human being. I was honestly shocked he didn’t block me for suggesting a new anime season. Anyway, just some hopium for the sub. I’m excited for volume 14.

Their pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/2038266

I am beginning to understand why localizing is a thing.

Original fanart in Japanese https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/43711991

Revy praises the Sicilian mob saying they’re as good as Hotel Moscow, maybe even a bit better, but just barely. I couldn’t find the Japanese version of this chapter, so if someone has it and would be willing to shed some light on this, I’d be happy.

He was totally not suicidal and didn’t have any problems in life. Too much Rock hate in this sub.

In the lightnovel Shaitane Badi, Rock was rather curious about what Mistress Death of Violet would look like…

And had some interesting thoughts about her. It’s not much, but it’s the answer to the post “Dude can you at least react?”

It appears that Rocky boy has already reacted and is doing his best to keep it together whenever she’s on stage lol. Seeing Revy in her latex gear and make up gets him going, but he’s a professional businessman and would never show it. There are two translations of Shaitane Badi, both deliver the same.

“Hey, Rock. You should come watch. Front row’s all yours. …Though I’m not responsible if it awakens any, uh, unusual tastes.”

“D-don’t be ridiculous.”

Revy as an S&M queen… honestly, it didn’t even stretch the imagination.
She already was that. But with makeup and stage lighting? Seductive performance layered on top of raw aggression?

Nope. Not going there.

As Rock spiraled deeper into that mental maze, Revy held up her finished handiwork for Benny.
“Yo, Benny. How’s this?

Before starting the engine, he slumped forward and let his forehead rest
against the steering wheel—lost in thought.

“…An S&M show, huh.”

Revy had invited him. And yes, part of him was curious. But for some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that seeing it would leave him with…
dreams he’d never be able to scrub clean.

Rock had been ferrying supplies between the dock warehouse and the Road Runner’s trunk for a while now, but his mind was still caught in an
obsessive spiral of thoughts he could not shake.

Revy’s big stage debut—Mistress Rebecca, disciplining her submissive servant.

Is she going to use a whip? Or candles, maybe? And that nickname— “Sweaty Whale”? Seriously? What kind of guy gets called that?
And what about her costume? It has to be wild, right? Then again, Revy usually dresses like she’s one strap away from a bikini—how much more extreme could it even get?

His imagination kept looping on an endless reel as he lugged engine oil, tungsten welding rods, and an oxygen tank into the warehouse. Before he
realized it, the job was done.

[…]

“Hey, Rock, why doncha come and watch too? I'll tell Rowan to get you a first row seat... Though, I can't guarantee you won't pick up a new fetish or two by the time I'm done."

"Wha... what're you talking about?"

Revy as an SM mistress... The mental image wasn't hard to call up at all. One didn't have to make many adjustments from the way she normally acted, after all. No, perhaps just a bit of makeup and some sultry acting...

Leaving Rock to mull over his fantasies, Revy turned to Benny and showed him the fruit of her efforts.

Rock felt left out, unable to enter the conversation, yet found himself reluctant, even a little afraid, to ask just what they were up to.

"Umm... Well, I guess I'll take some of this stuff out to the boat. I'll be back soon."

"Huh? What's the rush? Grab a bite before you go at least. C'mon, there's still some pizza left over."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm not really in the mood to eat anything greasy right now. I'll pick up something on the way there."

Having made his flimsy excuses, Rock backed out of the office and got back into the Plymouth Road Runner he'd left illegally parked outside. He stopped before putting the key into the ignition, leaning against the wheel for a second and thinking about what Revy would look like that night.

"An SM show... huh..."

Revy had invited him to come and watch, but he had his reservations.

He was curious, granted, but somehow he felt that if he did actually go, he'd end up plagued by strange dreams for quite some time after.

Luckily, he still had some time left until ten at night. He'd be able to think it over as he made his way back to the office.

Even as he completed lap after lap, from the Road Runner's open trunk to the warehouse and back again, Rock was unable to rid himself of the lurid fantasies running through his head.

Revy's show, aptly named "Mistress Rebecca Gifts a Slave with Her Punishments." Yes, he supposed there would be a whip. No, maybe candles. What the hell did the guy look like, to be nicknamed the Sweaty Whale, anyway?

She would probably dress in something risque. But what would a woman who normally wore a bikini masquerading as clothes have to wear, to be even more racy?

He was still trying, and failing, to get the fantasies out of his head when he realized that he'd moved the engine oil and the tungsten welding rod and the oxygen canisters to the warehouse, and now he was finished. A glance at his wristwatch revealed that it was 8:15. It was about time he made the decision on whether or not to drop by Rowan's.

"Hmm...."

[…]

Apparently, Rock does find Revy in her dominatrix gear quite alluring, so much that even picturing her wearing it made him leave the office to try and occupy his mind… She does call him a masochist when they meet, although, he doesn’t strike as the type to be into humiliation. It’s good that he’s more interested in what she’s wearing instead of what she’s doing for his own sake lol. Those who read the LN know that what Sweaty Whale signed up for wasn’t hot all.

The lightnovel is recognized by Hiroe as semi-canon, he even made some art for it later — since the story takes place before Fujiyama Gangster’s Paradise, and, ironically, Revy demands a vacation from Dutch—which is exactly what she gets in the next arc.

Hiroe didn’t have any reservations about this bit, but we know he isn’t keen on shedding light on their relationship, even though the shower scene confirms it, he added the running gag “where’s your boyfriend/girlfriend” — a claim to which none of them objects. More hopium to the Revy x Rock shippers lol.

Nevertheless, it’s totally worth checking out the lightnovels. I’m excited to read Ballad of the Sinful Wizard.

You just met this guy.

And why so many fans prefer ‘evil’ Rock? Manga version is far superior and it’s the canon version. It’s in character for him to be straight with Garcia and Fabiola. I fail to see this great mind manipulator most fans see, yes, he is very intelligent, but him not telling Fabiola in the anime isn’t a big deal. The anime makes him edgy and a liar. He delivered straight to the kids what they were going to gamble and frankly, it was their best chance to bet on inducing emotional and psychological shock on Roberta.

“If you have a better idea than blind optimism I’d love to hear it.”

Even considering the anime, calling him evil is a stretch. It was a tough call and he omitted that Garcia was going to risk life. Big deal. It’s Chang whom and the soldiers she should be pissed at. If it wasn’t for Rock and Revy, who knows what would’ve happened.

Chang told Rock to go home and let the kids die looking for the maid invading a war zone, Rock wanted to give the finger to Chang and the city’s motto and that’s about it. He asked for Revy’s help, got a good pay check for the crew transporting the Americans and helped Roanapur by getting the soldiers outta town. There’s no Rock is going to become boss of anything, organized crime works by ethnicity - there’s no Yakuza in Roanapur and he’s got no crew aside from the Lagoon, he’s morally grey now, why fans want him to sink into the underworld? That would betray the purpose of his character.

On my first watch and read, I thought Rock was boring and that he needed to be edgier, but now I find him more interesting. He won’t bet anyone’s life unless they ask him to, like Garcia and Feng. This wish that he will go behind everyone’s back and watch everything unfold like a edgelord is so cheap. Rock offering people the option to solve their problems with his unorthodox methods is much more appealing and fitting for his new morally grey approach to Roanapur.