(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. My house may be in shambles but it’s good to be back, I missed you guys. I’m here to wrap the Badass Women Arc by taking at the final part of Black Lagoon, Roberta’s Bloody Trail. Out of all the characters in Black Lagoon Roberta is probably the most terrifying of the bunch. She’s like a terminator, she won’t stop until she’s accomplished her mission. No matter what you throw at her she’ll power through it and kill her target. And this tenacity is seen very clearly in the recent arc of Black Lagoon Roberta’s Bloody Trail. Released in 2010 by Madhouse as a series of OVAs Roberta’s Bloody Trail covers the latest arc at the time of the manga before the author went on an indefinite hiatus (from what I’ve heard he’s starting to get back into the story but the chapters come out at an inconsistent rate). Just like the title says it’s a bloody trail of dead bodies, guns, ghosts of the past, characters making dark changes, and an all-out war happening within the city of Roanapur. Let’s follow the pony’s trail and take a look at Roberta’s Bloody Trail.
The OVA series starts us off in Venezula, South America (como esta amigos? Me llamo Nitsuj. Te gusta anime?) where we see Diego Lovelace the father of Garcia and master of Roberta (you need to seriously send that dog to school. The last time she went out she nearly destroyed a town) about to give a speech at this political left-wing party event. However, when he goes up to the podium terrorists detonate a bomb and kill him along with other politicians (well that’s one way to eliminate the competition). Fueled by rage Roberta disappears on Garcia and sets out to find the people responsible for killing her master and make them pay (she’s gone Eren on us). We then cut to Roanapur (still shitty I see) where Rock is still dealing with his failure of not being able to save Yuriko (dude, she chose this life, there was nothing you could have done to save her). So hurt by her death that he still carries around her picture (that’s a little creepy Rock). While he and Revy are making their rounds Revy hears talk that Roberta is back in town (the terminator has returned. Close your bars). Revy is excited about this but the Cartel are terrified and are looking for her. While at the bar Rock and Revy come face to face with Fabiola another maid of the Lovelace family and is serving as Garcia’s bodyguard while Roberta is M.I.A. She comes in asking them to take on a job but the Cartel jump in and grab her (big mistake). Despite her short size and childlike appearance, she’s quite dangerous (not as dangerous as Roberta but still dangerous. Scenes here: //youtu.be/-RpNT-XJ7OU and //youtu.be/hg4W3_VOkL4, what is with South American maids going on killing rampages and destroying bars? They’re like Pikachu when it comes to bikes). After destroying the bar (again. What is this like the third time the bar has been destroyed?) the Lagoon company goes to meet Garcia who is talking to Chang. Garcia and Fabiola recount all of the events that have happened and we find out the terrorist who set off the bomb were US agents. Roberta has already figured all of this out and is now in Roanapur preparing for her war with the US army since she has already killed a few of their agents already (the woman’s got a death wish) and the US soldiers who committed the attack are hiding out in Roanapur. Garcia wants the Lagoon company to help them find and stop Roberta before it’s too late but Dutch speaks for everyone by saying he as well as everyone else want no part in this fight (don’t blame them. This isn’t the Cartel, mafia, or other pirates. This is the US army and they will eliminate their target no matter how many bodies they have to shoot or how many cities they have to destroy) but Garcia says he wants Rock’s help to find Roberta and save her (I don’t know man, have you seen his track record? He’s 0 for 2 so far).
Picking up where the first one left off, the second OVA starts off with Chang encouraging Rock to help Garcia (why? Because if war was about to happen in your city you be doing everything in your power to stop it. That or leave). After thinking about it for a while and despite being told by Dutch not to get involved Rock decides to help Garcia (that hobby of yours is going to get you killed one day) and after a full night of pondering what to do he thinks he has a solution to the problem (yeah, it’s find Roberta, put her on a boat, and pretend you never saw her). The next day he, Benny, Garcia, and Fabiola go around the city and investigate hoping to find clues to where Roberta is however they get nowhere because of Garcia and Fabiola’s appearance (you two stick out like sore thumbs in a city full of sore thumbs). Benny tells them to go and wait at Chang’s yacht house and while they do that everyone in the city seems to move accordingly just like Rock predicted. The major gangs in the city call for a meeting and try to figure out how they’re going to handle Roberta (I still vote for my plan). As for Roberta we see her hiding in a cave praying and taking a large amount of supplements which are causing her to go insane and start to hallucinate (well she was already crazy to begin with). Rock manages to get Revy’s help and she manages to get the townsfolk to talk where we find out she’s been getting the things she needs with the help of a guy named Richie.
In episode 3 after finally getting the whereabouts of Roberta they head to her location but before going Revy calls for reinforcements in the form of Shenhua (yep Lotton saved her), Sawyer, and Lotton. They arrive at the place Roberta is at where we see she’s already engaging the US soldiers (go~ joe) and they all head out except for Rock who stays behind and gives Garcia an envelope which he tells him to open in case he loses his way (scene here: //youtu.be/2ixduce7Cbo). As Roberta is fighting the US soldiers FARC shows up to fight her as well. We get a lot of fighting, blood, and Lotton being Lotton (scenes here: //youtu.be/-R4RuWem05o, //youtu.be/rvuFed7cmyE and //youtu.be/umkDYShrP48). Rock receives a call from Chang who mocks him for blowing it but Rock assures him he will handle this. We also learn a little bit more about Chang such as how he used to be a police officer from Hong Kong but for some reason left the force and joined the Triad (be interesting to hear and see his story). Garcia eventually gets separated from everyone however he does find Roberta (just follow the trail of dead bodies and you’ll find your maid) being pinned down by the commander of FARC. He was given orders to kill her however he tries to recruit her back into FARC. She pretends to be swayed by his words and seduces him which he falls for it (she’s crazy so by default she’ll be good in bed) and she manages to kill him. After tricking him Roberta proceeds to beat his dead body using her fist (this gives a whole new meaning to the term fisting) until Garcia comes out and tells her to stop. At first she’s shocked but starts to think that he’s just an hallucination of her mind and pulls out her gun to shoot him.
At the start of episode 4 just before Roberta can shoot him the US soldiers come in, save him, and take him with them (trust me, drop him off and leave him. The last people who did what you did were almost killed by her and had to be saved by a war-crazed woman. Scene here: //youtu.be/MeipTfp2p0c). So Roberta finally goes off the deep in (if she wasn’t there already) and takes out Shenhua, Sawyer, and Lotton pretty easily (scene here: //youtu.be/AFkdRR3SsZo, and that my friends is how you bury characters). Fabiola tries to stop her but she sees the look in her eyes and realizes how gone Roberta is. Meanwhile Garcia regains consciousness with the Americans and pulls a gun out on their commander. After hearing Garcia’s story their commander offers to let Garcia shoot him saying he deserves vengeance and has every right to it (good~! Let your anger control you like a youtube commenter). Before Garcia can decide what to do Roberta comes in to attack but she gets repelled by Hotel Moscow who are going to help the Americans escape just like Rock predicted. Speaking of Rock we see him talking with Eda who says that she got all the stuff he needed for his plan. He then calls Dutch and makes an official request to the Lagoon company to escort the Americans out of town but hangs up on him (he’s still pissed). However, Chang calls him for the same reason and he’s forced to accept the job. Once Revy and the others see Garcia in the hands of the Americans they attempt to save him but get shot at by Hotel Moscow (man Russians helping US troops. Now you know this is fiction). Garcia opens up Rock’s envelope which has a map that will lead them to safety. Following the map they hop in a car and head to coast with Roberta right on their trail but Hotel Moscow once again interferes and stops her. Once at the coast everyone hops on the Black Lagoon set sail for Mekong while Eda tricks Roberta into boarding a plane with her. Back on the Black Lagoon Fabiola and Revy have a conversation where Fabiola tears into Revy saying that she ignores Rock’s dark side because she doesn’t want to lose her precious sight of him and that deep down she wants Rock to keep being her shining knight in armor who will rescue her someday (glad to see someone else sees the obvious). As for Garcia, Rock approaches him saying he has a big part to play in the fight ahead.
In the final episode the Black Lagoon arrives in their destination the Golden Triangle one of Asia’s main opium producing areas and it serves as a drug trade line for Chang and Roanapur. The soldiers leave the ship and prepare for their battle with Roberta. Garcia and Fabiola accompany the commander into the jungle while his men fight Roberta. She manages to kill off several of them however she gets severely wounded herself and actually loses two fingers (so the terminator is human after all). Garcia finally comes face to face with Roberta where he tells her to stop but can’t saying she’s doing all of this to make up for her past sins (and killing people and blowing up a bar is supposed to help you how again?). One of them being killing the father of a family who still haunts her to this day. Garcia tells her that taking revenge won’t redeem herself (don’t believe him? Look at Afro Samurai he’ll tell you the whole story about vengeance) and says that he’ll bear her sins for rest of his life. He takes out a gun and shoots the commander killing him (yes! The journey to the dark side has begun) and then points at Roberta (wait! Too much dark side! You’re not ready yet) and fires at her where she fires back. Roberta is alright as is the commander because Garcia fired blanks courtesy of Rock who told him what to do. The bleeding Garcia embraces Roberta and the commander telling his men to stand down ending the confrontation between them (well this was a messy outcome but it all worked out in the end. Good job Rock). As the wounded are being carried onboard Fabiola shoots Rock with the blank gun out of fury for taking advantage of Garcia’s kind heart (had to be done. That boy needed some life experience) and says he’s no better than the folks in Roanapur (I beg to differ. That man, single-handedly had everyone dancing in the palm of his hands. If he wanted to he could have killed you all but chose to let you live because of morals. Be thankful he’s still has morals otherwise you would have been the one dying in that jungle). Despite this Rock still considers this his victory and believes that Roanapur will change in the future (I seriously doubt that). We fast forward several months later where things in the city haven’t changed but Revy tells him he came close (you failed this time but as long as you’re alive there will always be a next time) and we end with Garcia taking Roberta (who has lost an arm and a leg. Which didn’t happen in the manga as she’s quite alright. There’s also a scene where Revy has a flashback where it shows her getting rape. That’s also not in the manga. From what I’ve heard she’s still a virgin and actually despises the whole thought of sex even going as far as pretending to be a lesbian in order to keep men away from her) to meet the family of the man who has haunted her for so long (scene here: //youtu.be/LR4TCD2-hU0).
Final Thoughts
Well this was great. It’s great to see that after 3 years after the initial series ended it still goes on in delivery a great story with interesting characters and setting. While Roberta may be the main focus point of this OVA series we really don’t learn as much as we could about her. We clearly see that her psyche is pretty messed up but I had a hard time following the story of that one man she killed in the past. Why was this guy so important to her? It didn’t seem to bother her all that much in the past so why now? Rock definitely plays a big role in this series as we see a darker more sinister side of him that we didn’t see in the original series. We see him be manipulative, calculating, and tactical with his thinking showing us that his past experiences are starting to have an effect on him but at the same time he still hasn’t cross that line of no return like Revy. The rest of the characters really don’t serve a big purpose this time around although it is nice to learn a little more about some characters like Chang, Balalaika, and others. The new Fabiola was alright for me. I like how she’s a skilled fighter like Roberta but not as skilled as her and I do like how she calls out Revy and actually gets to her. We see that Fabiola grew up in a similar setting as Revy but not as bad as her. Their confrontations with each other about their beliefs of life and how neither one refuses to budge in their beliefs are great and I wished we got to see her interact more with the characters of Roanapur. Probably the one thing that pissed me off with her was when she shot Rock near the end for no apparent reason. Yes I admit he put Garcia in danger but it had to be done. Trust me, this situation with the US troops could have been a lot worse if Rock hadn’t interfered. Speaking of US troops the soldiers are actually pretty good as well. I like how their commander has a sense of honor and knows that what he did was wrong but did it because he’s a soldier of his country and was just following orders. I will say my one problem with them is that they never give us a solid reason why they killed the political party in the first place. They never give a solid reason why they got involved in a political debate that really didn’t concern them.
The animation really didn’t change from the original anime. Despite being three years older the OVAs look as if they were made around the same time as the original anime. However, I will admit these OVAs are a lot more violent and gory than the anime and the way they animate them is very well done. Music is still the same as well with a few new added songs and remixes.
Final Score
Roberta’s Bloody Trail earns an 8/10. Slightly lower than the anime but still an amazing follow up to a great series and worth checking out if you’re a fan of Black Lagoon. Where we ever see a possible 3rd or 4th season of Black Lagoon? I hope so, it all depends on the author finding that spark again. But for now, we’ll have to be content with watching the first seasons and the OVA series. If you’re a fan of Lagoon definitely check this out. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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