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Friday, February 21, 2014

Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail


Zach Goodier

This is a short, but incredibly sweet, OVA series to follow up the anime hit, Black Lagoon.  This, as the title suggests, goes back to one of the fan favorite opponents from the original series, Roberta.  After her master is killed in a South American bombing, she goes on the warpath looking for revenge.  Of course, the Black Lagoon crew gets caught in the middle of things, and it all goes to hell from there. 



The characters are more of the same, with one new face: Fabiola.  She’s an apprentice maid, and basically serves as a younger, warmer version of Roberta.  She has most of the punch without the feeling that her soul got scared and ran away a long time ago.  She is the one that contacts the Black Lagoon company to get Roberta back.

Even Death knows to give this chick a wide berth. 


One thing I loved about this OVA series is that it brings Rock further down to the level of the low-lives and all around bad people that we’ve seen in the main series.  Rock is more willing than ever to get his hands dirty, if only in the figurative sense.  He’s a mastermind, at heart, and we’ve seen that since he first planned the counterattack against the mercenary gunboat.  However, this does mean that he is less of the “good guy in a den of wolves” since he starts showing his teeth, too.

Our feisty little maid is a regular ball of fire.


Another major point of interest is the addition of more back-story for Revy.  You learn more about her past, and can finally understand how a girl like her got to be so rotten, yet still on some level have a heart at times.  This show accentuates two of the most dangerous women in anime, and both are given a great deal of attention, and their pasts are more defined than ever, giving you an insight into what makes a person lose their soul. 

It's all hands on deck, your favorites are sure to be back from the regular crew.


The story all works well, and even though it’s only 5 episodes, you don’t feel like it was rushed or stretched, the pacing all comes together rather well, with enough excitement to keep your interest without pushing things along at an unnatural pace.  The only real problem is the ending might not leave everyone satisfied, but it felt appropriate.  If you liked Black Lagoon, this is more of what you loved, plus a little more story behind the characters.  Despite being an OVA, this didn’t feel at all like it didn’t belong with the main series, which is rare.



Good:

-More Black Lagoon action and excitement, ‘nuff said.

-Adds more to the characters and brings Rock further into the den of wolves than ever before.

-Roberta is awesome, who better to revisit in the series?

-Intro remix is the best thing since... Well, I included it, so you know.

Bad:

-Short, which only really has an impact if you want to buy it for your collection.


Scully Rating: 9.8 out of 10

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