Anime Discussion Thread - Page 1241

Rock was haunted by the fact that every person he's come in contact with who asked him for help (either directly or indirectly) has ended up dead. Such is the "the world of the dead" as Revy would put it, but even after the Tokyo arc, despite him staying with Black Lagoon there was this sense that Rock still belonged "in the land of the living" and was out of place. Rock, of course, doesn't feel like he belongs in the "land of the living" - hence why during the Tokyo arc he never even hesitated about "going back" - as far as he was concerned he was "dead" too.

That's why he was hesitant at the start to pick up Garcia's request. But he took it on himself to try to exorcise his own demons, so to speak.

Now you have to look at this incident from other peoples' perspectives, which they really explained more explicitly in the anime (as opposed to the manga).

The CIA has two factions in this - one that wants to wreck the drug cartel, the other that wants to maintain presence and control over Roanapur, because it's an easy way to keep track of many of the "big names." As such there's a dual goal of destroying the cartel without destroying the city.

Chan is puppeted along with this, as he's more-or-less under the jurisdiction of the CIA. But being the proud guy he is, would rather fuck over the CIA, but underhandedly (so as to not break the relationship). So he just wants rid of the trouble, and doesn't give two cents who dies in doing so. He enlists Rock because he understands that Rock's still a softy (will take the job), and understands that Rock's desire to keep everyone alive will also necessarily keep the US army alive until they're out of Roanapur, which is exactly what happens (hence that segment where Chan is lying on a chair by a pool with a victory cigar). Furthermore, as far as he's concerned a dead Roberta and surviving US Army will do him favors from the CIA's standpoint, so he's willing to gamble on Rock for a bit (to keep US Army alive) but once he realizes that it's too late (combat started) he folds in a hurry.

The other parties don't really care for Roanapur, but have hedged interests in one party or another being dead. Hence the Colombian cartel gunning after Roberta (and firing at US in the process), Cubans trying to capture Roberta, etc. Quite the chaos.

So Rock had two goals when all's said and done. The minor one was to save Garcia and to honor his wishes (hence, saving Roberta). The other was to give Chan/Balalaika a big fat middle finger, announcing that "he's here" and that he's able to wield some clout, and to make shit happen on his terms. To this point in the series Rock has mostly been a bystander, being whisked left and right by the higher powers, and it's this arc that sees him embrace "the land of the dead" and become a dbag in his own right.

This is why Revy is enraged at the end; to her, Rock symbolizes the "land of the living," which as Balalaika affirms "is something that the dead look up to with burning envy." To her he's the innocence that she'll never have. A lot of signs were pointing to Rock taking "this step" for a long time, even throughout the Tokyo arc, but Revy has mostly been in denial - that's really the basis for her and Faviola's argument at the end.

Faviola experiences something similar, as she originally assumed Rock was "like them" (hence why she requested that HE take up the job of helping them), and was both infuriated/betrayed by how Rock was nothing like, and also ticked off that Rock had gambled Garcia's life without telling anyone. After all, if Roberta had fired accurately at the end, we'd be looking at a very dead Garcia and a bad end. Again as depicted all along, Faviola's "too pure" and never really understands the concept of paying the price (ie. gambling) to get what you want. And that's the symbolic divide between the "land of the dead" and the "land of the living" at the end of the arc - Rock was willing to gamble lives to reach his goal, while Faviola was not.

why cant she be mars TT QQ TT

IMO that was coolest creature yet. And I hope in the later chapters we get to learn more about this Kerkan guy.

Also the lady in the black sludge at the end of the golden spiral staircase mentioned Kia! Oh shi--

Also it seems that the next chapter deals with some girl in a brothel? Should be interesting (and hopefully not too much like Salem : /)