Anime & History | Fabiola

Anime & History | Fabiola | Black Lagoon

Рет қаралды 19,013

Күн бұрын

An anime video essay analyzing Fabiola from Black Lagoon, and her ties to the history of Venezuela and Capoeira.
Black Lagoon, the 2006 anime from Hiroe’s manga by the same name, is no doubt an outlandish action seinen anime. Rock and Revy’s journeys against foes like Roberta and Balalaika lead to absolutely insane anime moments, and the later addition of Robert’s Blood Trail cemented this nature by bringing back the terminator maid. But, Black Lagoon’s Blood Trail addition also gave us a new maid to the Lovelace family: Fabiola. Coming from the barrios of Caracas, Venezuela, she forms an interesting contrast against Roanapur, comparing it and Venezuela often to Rock and Revy. Coming from somewhere she sees as similar, how did she end up so different from those in Roanapur? Well, the answer, as is often the case with Black Lagoon, comes down to history. Venezuela has as rich a history as anywhere else, from political coups, to petrostate status, to a martial art and dance form developed in neighboring Brazil called Capoeira. Fabiola’s influence comes from these places and their history, down to practicing Capoeira directly herself. There’s more than enough here for a whole video essay, so let’s get into an analysis of Fabiola, and some historical discussion!
Music in Part 4 of this video:
I Feel You by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
#anime #blacklagoon #professorviral #videoessay #animediscussion
0:00 Introduction
1:32 Part 1: Capoeira
7:00 Part 2: Venezuela
15:13 Part 3: The 2nd Maid
26:00 Part 4: Avoidance & Acceptance

Пікірлер: 94

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Alimenta la Solidaridad: donate.alimentalasolidaridad.org/give/395747/#!/donation/checkout

@tudormiller887 Жыл бұрын

Still my favorite anime series in 2023.❤

@Ambivalence18 Жыл бұрын

Fabiola feels like if you threw a main character from an action show for kids, (like Katara from Avatar), into the messed up world of Black Lagoon

@The_preserver_x16 Жыл бұрын

Agreed

@definetlynotacomment1184 Жыл бұрын

Fabiola is a hard contrast to the other characters, basically a Revy parallel. When I first watched the show she struck me as kind of... bossy. (Not that I didn't like her or anything) But that makes sense, since she is so defined by responsibility. If you've ever meet someone who has to take care of someone vulnerable like a sick relative or a disabled child, those people can often be demanding and direct. Because they have to be. Especially if they are single parents. Not to the point of being Karens though, that's an entirely different phenomenon. Respect dude. You really researched this thoroughly man.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

I was really proud of this one because it helped show me that. I had in my notes that she had such a bossy, direct kind of attitude, but I kept questioning why. It moved from "she thinks she's better" to "she has responsibility where these people don't," which creates that contrast. Reminds me why I really love the show, how much it can reward going over its details

@yorkiemute5296 Жыл бұрын

I also want to say how I love how this show gets people right. I’ve met multiple who have a childhood like revy’s even worse in some cases. But I’ve always admired the people in my life that don’t let the trauma control them and use it to justify bad actions.

@wayneigoe6722 Жыл бұрын

Capoeira is basically just weaponized breakdancing when you get down to it.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

For Fabiola is certainly is lol

@miltiadhsmporas5051 Жыл бұрын

Hey you are in 9anime too right?

@justafish9618 Жыл бұрын

*aggressively breakdowns*

@Requiem8040 Жыл бұрын

Gave me Eddy Gordo vibes

@Aceofwolves Жыл бұрын

Revy once said, "there are no heros" She knows NOONE will come save her but still hopes as it's easier.

@elijahbaker781 7 ай бұрын

The thing is that she has to save herself

@puraidoeustass Жыл бұрын

I re-watched Black Lagoon (Roberta's Blood Trail) on Tuesday. I really love this show so much. This was the first time I watched in in English. I like the dub, I usually watch it in German.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Hey, perfect timing!

@xShibox Жыл бұрын

I love your videos, thank you for putting this together. One main difference between Revy and Fabiola is that, despite poverty, one grew up feeling loved while the other one didn't. This may also apply to Rock and Garcia, where one is shown to have been close to his father, while the other shied away from visiting his family to at least prove that he's still alive, and may also be seen in his rage towards the apathy expressed by his superior at the beginning of the show. Responsibility is the answer to prevent tragedies from turning into hell. Though it is much harder to reach this answer if one grew up neglected, that's from where carelessness stems, to one's surroundings and to one's self. I appreciate the fact that Fabiola mentioned that the difference between her and Revy was a matter of who they met.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

That line is what kept me much more sympathic to Fabiola. That she understands situation makes her much more caring than so many others we see in the series

@marocat4749 Жыл бұрын

Even the action in black lagoon is very 80s/90s . Fabiolas style is still, like the focus of capuera rhythm aside, its mobility , not force. so its really useful in gunfights too. Also interesting lesson about capoeira which i didnt all know

@theoriginalchiguirex Жыл бұрын

As a venezuelan, I approve of his research.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you! 💙

@SerifSansSerif Жыл бұрын

Different from the usual, and the charity at the end? Mad respect dude.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Just want to make sure I'm always doing whats right!

@elios7623 Жыл бұрын

my girl Fabi doesn't get enough love

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

One of the few bad aspects of having so many well written characters is a few will always be overshadowed. I'm glad to correct that a bit for Fabiola today!

@gregorydaniels7610 Жыл бұрын

Another well done episode, I can never get tired of your black lagoon content.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you! Happy it's still finding you well!

@sebastianrussso6958 Жыл бұрын

As a Venezuelan i can tell, you got spot on every single aspect of my country and its history regarding government (Juan Vicente Gómez, Carlos Andrés Perez and Medina Angarita), the discoverement of petroleum (with American and europeans petroleum companies that basically got handed venezuelan lands full of petroleum due to the dictatorship of Vicente Gómez), the economical crisis with the devaluation of petrol prices (because it was and still is our main source of income) and the overall background of the "Barrios" of Caracas like "Petare"(i can assure you, those places are endless mazes controlled by dangerous gangs like "El Tren de Aragua"); basically everything you said was correct at least to my knowledge and it also amazes me how Black Lagoon's author also understood and portrayed Venezuela as it was (and is), good to see people actually do a good research before speaking without knowing, wish more people were like you mate

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! As someone looking from the outside I never want to misrepresent another place or people, so I tried to do more than just recite the Wikipedia page, which some major channels video about the subjects actually did, which amazed me. I'm glad my sources were accurate and I could pass along good information

@yorkiemute5296 Жыл бұрын

Would be really cool to see a video on the history of New York. Especially since revy was born in the early 1970’s when crime was writhe.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

I did look at it a bit for this one, but stuck to Fabiola alone. I could maybe do an episode catching up on history for characters I covered before without it, but I'd hate to repeat myself on Revy

@yorkiemute5296 Жыл бұрын

@@ProfessorViral that’s understandable. I think the character I’d like to know more about is Chang. I’ve got a theory about him being an ex counter terror cop rather than your standard beat cop. It would explain why he could beat balalaika who’s an ex VDV paratrooper and war veteran since the Special Duties Unit cross trained with British Special forces due to Hong Kong being a British “special zone”until 1997.

@Frazier16 11 ай бұрын

She really grew up in the 1980s since she was Born around 1977.

@shonenkaiju2908 Жыл бұрын

Hey man just found your channel recently after seeing Black Lagoon for the first time. You do an absolutely amazing job! You make such detailed and interesting videos!

@knightshade6232 Жыл бұрын

Hi i came from the Philippines, i really love & relate to black lagoon for the city were i was in is full of crime,poverty,corruption ..we even called small communities in our area as barios. Were not that poor but we had a maid just like fabiola she has family to support to thats why they serve us...we even help them to be sent to school cuz their parent were not able too, how I wish to learn our local martial arts here like arnis & kris sword to take part of the action and value our cultural heritage... I love how this channel explains thanks for this...❤

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Always glad to add some extra detail Hiroe couldnt squeeze into the show itself, glad you've enjoyed!

@shaynemaskall6984 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the Black Lagoon video's Professor Viral. I watched this show because of your review's. This show showed me that money makes the world go round and how people will even kill for it. This anime got to real for a lot of anime fans I must say.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you've enjoyed the series, even though its quite a dark experience

@shaynemaskall6984 Жыл бұрын

@@ProfessorViral The part with Bailaika looking thru the child porn was messed up, who does that?!

@vinidoravena Жыл бұрын

A great video as always. Greets from Brazil!

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

@ItsShaz1 Жыл бұрын

This was great!

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I loved putting this one together!

@rexsalisbury3646 Жыл бұрын

Aahhh..my favorite subject, Black Lagoon..another top notch presentation 👌..I hope you'll do one on Dutch sometime..

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

I'm waiting for a bit more from him. He's more of an enigma right now, once that cracks I think there'll be a lot to say, since he's like an observer of the city, using it for his benefit, but never stooping to their methods on his own

@vidmuncher Жыл бұрын

@ProfessorViral an odd time to mention it, but the main lagoon crew seems to have physical ties or marks to those they bring on the team. Revy seems to qear boots that come from Dutch's outfit and Benny wears Hawaiian shirts. Rock seems to break the mold (not wearing the shirts Revy buys for him, highlighting the trend). It's conjecture, but I've never seen it mentioned

@trentmorrison6074 2 ай бұрын

Now we need one for Mr. Chang

@LusiA870 Жыл бұрын

Just finished black lagoon so perfect timing

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Hey, that is perfect!

@danielcantiego9374 Жыл бұрын

Finally. Thanks P.V.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

No problem, happy to provide!

@marocat4749 Жыл бұрын

I dont think th lovlaces would do less than do a loot to support her family. Its probably more uindying loyalty for support than other. I cant just see garcia or his da not make sure they are fine. And he is a family person, garcia is her family. But capoeira really fits with that she deals with cviolence, but if possible avoids it

@NitroVortex Жыл бұрын

Yes more black lagoon content let's go 🔥🤘👍

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Happy you're enjoying it!

@miltiadhsmporas5051 Жыл бұрын

Holly shit i just started watching again Black lagoon with a friend who is watching it for First time and this Pops On yt What a great timing

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Seems thats happening for a few people, happy I can be right there and ready haha

@LucasS541 Жыл бұрын

So just wanted to share some cool stuff I learned as a practicer of capoeira, so the style called "Capoeira de Angola" is known to be the hardest to play because u're so close to ur opponent that I can't see his legs (so u react by instinct and prediction). And (According to my master...) People would hold razors with their feet to cut and kill people during the slavery times.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Oh wow, thank you for the information!

@khylebagtas8743 6 ай бұрын

What about Eda she one of secret person as she works as CIA agent and even connection in higher ups, I what to know how she become Agent to nun as that sales firearms from church of in the series.

@hastey5349 Жыл бұрын

this is dope

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@RhythmLP Жыл бұрын

Black Lagoon content let's goooo!!!!

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Always happy to give so more love to Hiroe's work!

@wgacrazy8245 Жыл бұрын

Fabiola is a very interessting character. But IMHO there are some flaws in her contempt for Rock at the end of Robertas Blood Trail, which bothers me to no end. I mean, she would never by herself (or with only Garcia together) have gotten the result Rock did, but she criticize the methods Rock used (e. g. endanger Garcia) and showed nothing on what to do better and get the same end. In my eyes, given the circumstances and the resources available, the situation Rock had to solve and the result he achieved is nothing short of a miracle. And Fabiola simply doesn't see this or doesn't want to see this. Maybe her own justification would crumble and deep inside her she knows this. Ok, in the end she also doesn't know all the facts either. But knowing this, she still chooses to criticize. In my mind her "justice" and/or "responsability" at this point of the story is just unmatured behaviour and beyond reality. Also isn't it somewhat of a gamble by Garcia and Fabiola to involve especially Rock for the search of Roberta at the start of the Arc too? No self reflection by Fabiola here. Maybe Balalaika should teach Fabiola something about "justice" and how "rotten" it can be, at gunpoint of course. I wonder what Fabiola would answer. :D

@chibiredhead7082 Жыл бұрын

It is pretty hard for Garcia and Fabiola to handle some of those things since despite their experiences making them grow up quickly, they are still just 12, so it's no wonder they still have an immature view on Rock's actions and don't have the knowledge to know of alternatives yet. But they have the intuition to know what Rock did was fucked.

@wgacrazy8245 Жыл бұрын

@@chibiredhead7082 You have a point, but if what you wrote is true or valid, then is her age and maturity sufficient to judge Rock at this point? Again, Fabiola got the best result possible (Garcia, Roberta and herself alive, partially unharmed). She goes home with Garcia and Roberta and can continue to live her life almost as usual. Gratitude? No. Any ideas how to make it more moral or better? There wasn't either. She didn't even want to know why Rock did what he did. Has he become a bad/evil person and has therefore turned down better options or were all actions simply necessary. Just anger and rejection without being interested in the background. But it seems to be true: "You die a hero or live long enough to become a villain yourself."

@chibiredhead7082 Жыл бұрын

@@wgacrazy8245 that's the point, they are not quite experienced enough to judge Rock beyond a surface level. Part of that comes with age that will eventually give them the gift of hindsight. She only knows her perspective of the situation from her eyes as a result of the inexperience that comes with being young no matter how much trauma is in her background. It's the kind of conflicted teenage angst that would be expected of her given her experiences. Old enough to know something is wrong, but not old enough to articulate how, or how it could have been done differently. Having her last appearance being calling Rock out in her own way and not being explicitly thankful to Rock for Garcia still being alive is to be expected. She's still processing a lot and her reaction was perfectly realistic.

@wgacrazy8245 Жыл бұрын

@@chibiredhead7082 Yeah, i agree. But because it is so, it bothers me to no end. :D I think Rock deserves a "thank you" or a "happy ending" for his performance. So there is a bitter aftertaste for me. But maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

@ilikemetoo3088 Жыл бұрын

I think she is my favorite one

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

It's hard for me to pick a favorite in Black Lagoon. Almost everyone is so stellar

@edvard8850 Жыл бұрын

Y’all I want to ask you a question Would you like that black lagoon anime was restarted Yes or no and why ?

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

I would accept it and judge it as it's own work, but I wouldn't like to see that happen. The animation holds up extremely well, the story was well told and mostly well adapted, so it doesn't really need improvements. If it happened, I'd want to see it go in a different direction as it's own thing

@ericjohnson7234 10 ай бұрын

agreed.@@ProfessorViral

@ericjohnson7234 10 ай бұрын

Get to see a lot more of the character. Like Revy having an entire arc to herself or rock venturing deeper into the city, (new characters perhaps meeting that boy who stole from him, or perhaps more into ducths or bennys story, or a chang arc. Or start the red wild card arc or the lehomme sombre arc@@ProfessorViral

@viralata2907 11 ай бұрын

As a Brazilian I can relate a lot with the reality of Venezuela, actually this is kinda the reality of south america (Latin America and Africa too to be honest). The reality and personality of Fabiola it's pretty acurate we don't have the governament the majority of the time to rely on and we end up relying in eachother, Just a thing that I always like to ask to people it's think about is the situation of these countries are in and how big and rich countries act upon us in the global south. Our countries are fuck up not only because our people are "lazy, corrupt" or some shit like that, you can see this in a way with Fabiola, she is all about work hard and even feel guilty when relaxing, this is a lot how much Latins feel and behave. Frist world countrys fuck up the south global for a easy buck and the result it's this problems that we see. Besides that I love the video bro good work, and I genuinely recommend that u research about the impacts of the colonies and foreing politcs in the global south.

@ProfessorViral 11 ай бұрын

For sure, there's always a step back that can be missed in analyzing a story, since it's looking at a connection to the real world, rather than the cause creating that thing in the real world. It's hard to cover things so complex in these videos, but it's a topic I should be more aware of real details about for sure

@slicknickkcin 10 ай бұрын

all these black lagoon character analysis videos, and I'm yet to see one dedicated to eda. do anime youtubers pretend she doesn't exist?😭

@deathismycolor Жыл бұрын

It’s about time

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Sorry for the wait!

@deathismycolor Жыл бұрын

@@ProfessorViral Reason I said that is because I like your Black Lagoon videos that’s mainly why I watch your channel.

@cVC49kwKzmeZ97yG 13 күн бұрын

3:47

@juhel5531 Жыл бұрын

Capoiera is at is popularly depicted is absolute bullshido. I would reckon that capoiera is a training and conditioning methid rather than the actual fighting style and it would still look like kickboxing, muay thai and greco-roman wrestling when used in life or death combat All martial arts look like sloppy MMA with a bit of a twist when in use. The demystification of unarmed combat by MMA's popularity didn't happen in time to influence Black Lagoon. It would've made the anime and even moreso the manga incredible. Imagine Revy fighting Roberta in their duel and instead of having stage choreo style fisticuffs, they actually fought like real life people with exaggerated stamina and ability to take damage. Staple moves like jab overhand feint into single leg takedown attempt into actual overhand rights from Revy(more robust moves that require less focused training from a teacher). Roberta could throw technical sequences because she was in an actual paramilitary organization so she has access to "proper" technical unarmed combat. She could probably properly pull guard without getting slammed by grabbing the base leg and then we can watch Revy try to amateurishly punch her way out of a dominant guard and then get tooled with a kimura, leg triangle, armbar chain submission attack only for Revy to power out and punch Roberta's lights almost out. Then they both get up and keel over. Roberta from direct brain trauma and Revy from a dislocated shoulder, elbow and liver kicks from guard forcing her brain to shut down from too many pain signals. We coulda had John Wick level fight scenes.

@Diego-ty4xp Жыл бұрын

big w

@alibertchavez8278 Жыл бұрын

Bro me gusta BL por que es una serie muy ajustada a la realidad si, es violenta pero lejos de ser fantasía gore es muy correcta en reflejar lo que es, una sociedad sin leyes y cuya apatía de los que gobiernan no hace nada para mejorar , Venezuela tiene barrios peligroso pero te puedo asegurar que no todo lo que dicen de Venezuela sobre su inseguridad es verdad. Por lo demás muy buena investigación bro de verdad 10/10

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

It was a struggle to weigh sources of the danger, mostly due to sensational content which used the potential for danger to get views. I didn't want to misrepresent either way, but probably leaned to much into danger myself. I'm very glad the rest was accurate though, I wanted to do more than just read from Wikipedia like even some huge channels do

@ncrvako Жыл бұрын

you are slowly becoming for the black lagoon what is the shady doorags and his channel ffor the king of the hill and avatar.

@ProfessorViral Жыл бұрын

Just wait till my "why rocks tie is the most important character in anime" video

@Frazier16 Жыл бұрын

Surprised you didnt mention bojack lol

@ericjohnson7234 10 ай бұрын

I would love to see that.@@ProfessorViral

@ericjohnson7234 10 ай бұрын

Also to see more out of that hawaiian shirt gag. Or something more?@@ProfessorViral

@kozzy18 6 ай бұрын

Nah dawg. We have our own problems that won’t be helped by having more people that need help. The US is looking more and more like Brazil by the day, you’re not helping anyone by demanding unrelenting immigration. There are much better ways to solve these issues than temporary tummy butterflies.

@economiccrisis9267 5 ай бұрын

Brazilian women are very attractive tho

@kozzy18 5 ай бұрын

@@economiccrisis9267 So?