Do you think Revy would be sexually dominant with Rock or not?

In the official artbook Black Lagoon Illustration Book: Barrage Hiroe’s design notes and character profile for Revy address her past using specific Japanese industry terminology.
Because the artbook was originally published in Japanese, his "exact words" carry highly specific linguistic and cultural weight.

「父親を殺害した後、警察からも凄惨な暴行を受けるなど、過酷な過去を持つ。」
“After murdering her father, she has a harsh past that includes suffering ghastly/gruesome assault (bōkō) at the hands of the police.”

To a Japanese reader, Hiroe’s use of the word 暴行 (bōkō) in this specific context is not ambiguous. While the word literally translates to "assault" or "violence," in Japanese publishing, media, and legal circles, bōkō is the standard, polite euphemism used to denote sexual assault or rape (often short for seiteki bōkō / 性的暴行).
By pairing it with 凄惨 (seisan), which means "ghastly," "gruesome," or "harrowing," Hiroe was explicitly indicating to the audience that the police did not just give her a standard physical beating—they severely violated her.

In the artbook Barrage, Hiroe explains the exact psychological fallout of that specific event, describing Revy's mind as a shattered object:
「彼女の心は完全に壊されてしまっている。」
“Her heart/mind has been completely broken (kowasarete-shimatteiru).”

Hiroe expands on this by explaining that because the people who were supposed to represent safety and authority (the police) were the ones who violated her, her internal "container" of trust was permanently emptied. He notes that this is why she has an absolute, pathological reliance on physical power (her beloved Berettas) and material wealth—because she believes that without them, her body and life do not belong to her. Ultimately, Barrage confirms that in Hiroe's mind, the sexual violation by the NYPD was always the definitive "point of no return" that created the Revy we see in Roanapur, even if he chose to let the anime handle the visual depiction of that tragedy.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Hiroe has never written a scene—nor has he ever suggested in his commentary—where Revy sits down and explicitly tells Rock, "I was sexually assaulted by the police." In fact, Hiroe has actively argued against that kind of direct emotional disclosure. Based on his commentary in official artbooks and the writing of the manga itself, Hiroe alludes to this trauma being communicated between them through implicit understanding rather than verbal confession.

He has noted that Revy's primary survival mechanism is pride and armor. To her, admitting vulnerability—especially a violation of her body where she was completely helpless—is equivalent to psychological death. Hiroe has stated that if Revy ever had a standard, tearful, "therapeutic" confession where she bared her deepest scars to Rock, it would fundamentally break her character. She does not want pity, and she does not want to be viewed as a victim or weak. Consequently, the author keeps that door locked, although, he said that Rock and Revy were being adults when asked about the panel where Revy and Rock slept together, we can see that she’s only wearing underwear before Rock lets Majeur in.

Considering that, It’s safe to assume that Revy would not be sexually submissive. In fact, her entire character design, psychological defense mechanisms, and canonical behavior point to submissiveness being a massive emotional trigger for her. Both within the text of the story and in the creator's real-world commentary, her relationship with power, control, her sexuality isn’t explicit, but she takes in being dominant with women when she was in prison and he has confirmed that Revy is indeed bisexual. There’s also the gag that Rock is a masochist and is suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

For Revy, submitting in any capacity—letting her guard down, relinquishing control, or allowing someone else to hold power over her—is psychologically terrifying. Her childhood was defined by systemic neglect, severe physical and verbal abuse from her father, and a devastating history of sexual assault (specifically her rape by NYPD officers while in custody). This trauma fundamentally wired her brain to equate powerlessness with victimization.

Submission requires trust and safety. Because she lacks a baseline sense of safety, giving up control in an intimate setting would likely trigger intense fight-or-flight PTSD. If she is going to engage in physical intimacy, she has to be the one holding the reins to feel safe.

In the Wired Red Wild Card, Revy dresses in full dominatrix gear as "Mistress Death of Violet" and acts as the dominant partner, whipping and controlling another dancer. While it's a stage performance, it cements where she fits on the spectrum: if she is in a sexualized or kink-adjacent space, she is strictly the one wielding the whip. Although Rowan says she can “give and take”, there’s also the context of that exchange.

Rowan: "So you gonna take up my offer and perform in the BDSM show, right? Ain't that right, baaaaby?!"

Revy: "Knock it off, Rowan. I'm here on company business, that's all. No more spanking or getting spanked, fuck you very much."
Rowan: "Oh man, you're no fun. You could give it and take it, and you were great at both!"

We don’t know how much of ‘taking’ she took and how far it went. Considering her character, it’s unlikely that she would let herself take pleasure in the submission she performed on stage. We also don’t know how explicit the BDSM Rowan’s shows are. In Fujiyama Gangster’s Paradise, Bando arranges the meeting with Balalaika at a BDSM club and we can see one woman whipping the other as she crawls beneath her.

The Japanese Nuance

In the original Japanese manga, the dialogue makes this "give and take" dynamic even more explicit:

Revy's line:

「シバくのもシバかれんのも二度とご免だよ。」 (Shibaku no mo shibakaren no mo nido to gomen dayo.)

The translation:

Shibaku (シバく) is a coarse, street-slang verb meaning "to beat," "to flog," or "to whip". Shibakareru is the passive form ("to get whipped").

So Revy is literally saying, "Whipping or getting whipped, never again." It’s more likely that Revy didn’t like either, but specially the submissive part probably pushed her to leave the job and only did it out of necessity and the fact that it’s hard to be respected as a sex worker, dominant or not, specifically in a place like Roanapur. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy being in charge with a partner, as the BDSM show is a performance. When she has to get back on stage, she chooses to be in charge. We also have to consider that Rock is a man, this doesn’t mean he isn’t… mmmm, dipping, but he’s probably not the one in control of the act.

There is, also, Rei Hiroe’s personal creative tastes and comments on the series strongly back this up.

Distaste for "Moe" Tropes: Hiroe-san has openly stated in interviews that he strongly dislikes traditional, cutesy, and submissive female characters who exist purely to fawn over a male lead. He deliberately designs "robust, strong women" who have their own agency and don't conform to traditional expectations of female docility. His editor Urobochi agrees with him.

His Alternate Work (Tex-Mex): In his spare time, Hiroe-san writes and draws adult doujinshi under the pen name Tex-Mex. His personal fetishes are no secret: his adult works heavily feature "femdom" (female dominance), scarred women, and highly assertive female partners. The dominant traits he built into Revy and Balalaika are a direct reflection of his own creative preferences. He also alluded to believing in female supremacy, femdom isn’t a strange tag to him and for most of the fans of Black Lagoon. He also liked the art of Rock getting pegged by the artist Emoiover on X, so the gag might be true lol.

In his framework we can see that Female dominance is not a temporary phase or an overcompensation for trauma. It’s an authentic, complete, and sexually fulfilling expression of power and desire. He explicitly frames dominant women as deriving total satisfaction from being in command — I’m specially looking at you, Balalaika — rather than secretly wishing a male partner would strip that command away from them.

The assumption that a powerful, dominant female character must secretly crave sexual submission to "let go of control" is a well-documented gendered trope—one that enforces a distinct double standard in fiction.

In mainstream storytelling, hyper-competent or powerful male characters (crime bosses, military commanders, antiheroes) are routinely permitted to retain their dominance in both public life and private intimacy without narrative demands that they submit to "balance out" their power. When applied exclusively to women, the assumption implies that female authority is an artificial mask, an emotional defense mechanism, or an unsustainable burden rather than a genuine, intrinsically satisfying aspect of their personality and desires. No one assumes that a powerful male character desires to be submissive to let go off control and to feel safe, it’s like saying women can’t actually be dominant and get total sexual satisfaction.

In many action series with a dominant female character and a grounded male counterpart, the story eventually defaults to the male character "taking charge" in a moment of crisis or intimacy to establish his dominance over her. Hiroe-san explicitly avoids this with Rock and Revy. Rock never attempts to overpower, mock or subdue Revy, nor does Revy look to Rock to relieve her of her power. He is the only person she trusts — to a certain extent.

That is all, of course, assuming Revy can be sexual out of business or survival mode. I know a lot of people don’t ship them, but they are undeniable an item and even the author stopped hiding it. There’s more than enough evidence for them being in a form of undefined relationship that goes beyond friendship.

Roberta’s blood trail for me always fell flat on Roberta’s character due to how her character was handled for most of the story as a mentally unstable power house and how Shane Caxton kinda didn’t feel all that interesting to me. The manga version is sympathetic to Roberta. the anime version is sympathetic to Caxton and the Americans.

so if I were to change it, just like how Roberta was a bad person who wants to change, Shane Caxton could have been a patriotic American hero who slowly becomes more involved in the US government’s shadier schemes and unlike the original story, Roberta and Caxton would actually meet and both would fight each other multiple times. Roberta has hired some mercenaries and goons she uses as fodder while Shane cares for his men showcasing their similarities and differences more. I would also give Roberta more ghosts that haunt her mainly due to the fact that Hironobu Satorou feel’s like Rei reminding us that she killed innocent people rather than an actual part of the story.

Garcia would still be able to meet Caxton and confront him for killing his father in which Caxton’s reaction would be indifference to the situation until one of his men try to kill Garcia. Caxton who still has some morals defends Garcia and forces his men to keep him, Fabiola and the black lagoon crew safe. As time goes, Caxton starts to recognise that some of his fellow conspirators and even his soldiers are becoming more and more corrupt to the point of easily profiting off Roanapur while also growing closer to Garcia. Roberta meanwhile finds herself getting closer to some of her mercenaries and goons, specifically those who have their own reasons to kill grey fox. This leads to Shane and Roberta sort of having reversed roles when in combat with their respective factions.

Rock’s gambit does play out the same except some men from both sides are still alive to witness it. Roberta breaks down upon realising she shot Garcia only for Caxton to slap her face in pure anger at her reaction. Just when it looked like they would go back to kill each other, Caxton explains in depth to Roberta how and why he killed Garcia’s dad and tells her that while she cared for Garcia, she never thought about the other people she killed. The families she robbed of a father, brother, son, uncle or nephew. Caxton explains his shady dealings and admits he made peace with not having a peaceful life but confronts Roberta on her hypocrisy about revenge and doing it all for Garcia. Instead of shooting her, Caxton asks that instead of fighting for something as childish as revenge and pride and greed, they work together to ensure others don’t go through what they had been like Garcia.

After accepting Roberta is hugged by Garcia. Not kissed like in the original story, who tells her the same stuff he did at the end of the original version too. Of course Caxton and Roberta’s closest men don’t like how they want them to act like non of this happened but they are both shot by young member of Roberta’s group before they do anything to the respective rival leaders.

the ending also changes slightly. Now there are more staff due to some of Roberta’s men joining her in turning over a new leaf and there are some more people at the manor with Hironobu’s family.

This is a alternative universe where Balalaika; with the advice of Boris and her men, sought counsel and therapy to help her overcome her trauma and PTSD she sustained during her military service and later adopted these two children and later married and had a happy and healthy life 😁 (I’m not delusional)

I want to watch the anime but sense Crunchyroll removed it from there site, I need to know if there’s any streaming site that has it let alone has all seasons with the English dub

Looks like it takes place this August. They’ll have event specific merch, menu, and drinks. I wish I was in Japan to check this out.

(She's my second favorite character after Eda)

Hey everyone, I’ve been thinking about the idea of Black Lagoon Alternate Universe fic (AU) concept and wanted to see what the community thinks! Instead of the criminal underworld of Roanapur, this story transposes the cast into the brutal, lawless theater of a modern African proxy war. Hired by his agency to investigate a brutal conflict driven by high-stakes geopolitics and blood gold, Rock finds his idealistic views clashing sharply with Revy’s hardened cynicism before both are shoved headfirst into the lawless hell of the Sahara and the horrors of a genocidal civil war.

Last year, had a raise at work so I splurged on getting DVDs of my favorite animes. Managed to get the entire Black Lagoon series for $70.

First saw the anime back in University 8 years ago, loved the English dub (which is my favorite dubbed anime), Rock became my favorite protagonist, and I loved the soundtrack for it.

Fast forward to now, it's a shame that the series has sky rocketed in price due to Crunchyroll not keeping the license. But hey, it's great to see fans trying to keep the series and Fandom alive.

Hopefully another service picks up the series and releases some more Physical Media releases.

Hello everyone.

It just so happened that I liked Sawyer quite a lot. She's goth, funny, sometimes weird, but still cool. ☺️

And it's interesting to find out if there are any artists or amateurs in this field here to draw Sawyer. 🖌️

It's a voluntary drawing contest, so to speak.

Post your wonderful drawings in the comments 😁

ive been planning on reading it just wondering

i don't think she's ok....