Black Lagoon is all kinds of awesome. It's higher on my must see list than ghost in the shell now. I currently like it better than cowboy bebop, but then I haven't watched em a few times around like I have Ghost and Cowboy.

Very Very Very good stuff.

What type of anime is it? Sci fi/space, Sci Fi/global , or fantasy (witches, and vampires and ghouls oh my!!)

No anime beats Speed Racer!

I watched and enjoyed Cowboy Beebop as well. Aside from that, anime has never appealed to me. My brother is a huge nerd and watches all kinds of crazy anime shit. I have watched a few movies/shows/idk with him, but lost interest fast and was never impressed.

Much <3 Mani

And Speed Racer... wtf :(

There is a LOT of bad anime. Now that my salary can afford an anime habit, though, (i refuse to download torrents...sigh) I figured I'd put in reviews so the rest of you can skip the crap.

Black Lagoon is Modern Crime Drama set in the South China Sea, where our heros are delivery/pirate types working illegal contracts (in an old torpedo boat) for any number of worldwide players. The protagonist is a low level Japanese Business guy who gets caught up in one of his companies less savory operations that our heroes get contracted to blackmail, and in the resolution gets screwed over by his bosses, causing him join our heroes.

Oh, and it has the most frightening female protagonist I've seen in anime... And there's a lot of them in anime. Never had one which just scared the batshit out of me like this one.

Lots of "Hard Boiled" style action sequences...And each episode is filled with plot. You never get the feeling that they're trying to fill time. Even in multiepisode arcs, I feel like I'm getting my money's worth with each episode.

If you liked:
Unforgiven
first 15 minutes of "hard boiled"
Cowboy Bebop
Samauri Champloo

You'll like Black Lagoon

How does it compare to Ghost in the Shell, or Vampire Hunter D?

Ghost in the shell movies kick ass.

Ghost in the shell SAC, both first and second GIG, the first time I saw them, were the best thing since sliced bread. Unfortunately, they also have season length plots, which kills it for people who don't like anime. I think part of the success of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Shamploo has to do with that not only are they awesome, but most of the stories are in single episode arcs, with only a few background arcs for people who stay the whole season.

Black Lagoon story arcs last 2-4 episodes.

Gits is future earth Harsh plus "sad and makes you think". Bebop is Future space Harsh plus a little silly and sad. Shamploo is Past (reality) Harsh plus a some funny. Black Lagoon is present Harsh with the harsh dialed up and the funny goes black humor. All are very comparable.

Oh, and for the record, I can't stand subs, I tend to only buy dubs. /shrug

Black Lagoon is one of my favorite animes right now. Revy (the female character Maniacles is talking about) is indeed a total badass, and is absolutely terrifying. The Russian lady is pretty terrifying too though, simply because she's like "if you screw with me, I'll have you snuffed before you can blink" as opposed to Revy who just guns down everyone in her path.