If you are thinking you have not heard anything about the anime Black Lagoon in a while, you are certainly not alone. That has not stopped it from unexpectedly getting its own temporary cafe in two of Japan's biggest port cities this month, though! That's right, the Black Lagoon cafe has officially opened in Tokyo and Kobe for a limited time, with a cute quirk for its name.
Black Lagoon aired originally back in 2006 with a 24 episode anime series. The manga, meanwhile, has been publishing since 2002 - over twenty years ago! If you haven't been keeping up with it, you may be surprised to learn that the manga is still ongoing, and publishing even now. Actually, two other spin-off manga series called Sōjiya Sawyer – Kaitai! Gore Gore Musume and Eda -Initial Stage- are also ongoing, starting in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Black Lagoon is about a team of four mercenary pirates who smuggled goods in and out of Southeast Asia. They face dangers and challenges along the way, escaping from law enforcement, entangling with other criminals, and having plenty of gun-filled action along the way. The main port that the pirates operate of is the fictional town of Roanapur, a port town in Southeast Asia.
In honor of this fictional town, the Black Lagoon cafe holds the same name, "Roanapur." That is also why the cafe is specifically being hosted in Tokyo and Kobe, which are two of Japan's biggest port cities that deal with imports and exports! While Tokyo and Kobe are far from the seedy, gritty cities that Roanapur is portrayed as, we still appreciate the nod to the series' lore that the cafe has taken before even looking at the menu and merchandise.
The Black Lagoon cafe has five main dishes, two desserts, and seven drinks. Each is named after one of the series' most memorable characters, and is accompanied by new chibi-style art of that character serving the dish that is named after them. For example, you can get Revy's red-hot ramen, themed after the titular redhead's fiery personality, or Roberta's roll cake, which is black and white just like her nun's habit!
The drinks are all cream sodas or soda floats that are also named after the characters, coming in various flavors. If you are a big fan of any one Black Lagoon character, you can order the food and drink that are both named after them to really have a themed dining experience! There are seven drinks in total, one for each of the food options, and matching the same characters.
Finally, each food or drink item from the menu comes with a random free coaster featuring the new character art for the Black Lagoon cafe, and each person also gets an exclusive paper placemat with art that is special for the cafe. There's also special merchandise to buy as well for those who do not want to leave their goods up to fate, including magnets, badges, files, and a drink tumbler.
The Black Lagoon cafe is open in Ikebukuro and Kobe until July 2nd, 2023, and more details can be found on the official website.
Source: Official Website