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It's been a while since we caught up with the members of the Lagoon Company. Rei Hiroe's work on the manga has been ponderously slow, with only 9 volumes being released between 2002 and 2010, when the series went on a three year hiatus before returning in early 2013. With the first two series covering all but one story arc from the manga, there was not really enough material to make a full third series. Therefore we instead get this five-episode OVA collection, which covers the single remaining completed story arc. Following the difficulties of Rock and Revy's trip to Japan at
the end of the last series, things have returned to some semblance of normality
for Roanapur. Well, as normal as a city ruled over by an uneasy alliance
of four international mafia organisations gets anyway! Roanapur is a
criminal's paradise, a dark utopia of violence, crime and corruption that
maintains a tenuous equilibrium simply because it benefits each of the ruling
mafia groups to keep it that way. The city is always a step away from
self-destruction, and on several occasions when outsiders have shaken up the
power balance it has come close to taking that step. This is why rumours
of the re-appearance of one such outsider sets the ruling powers on high alert,
especially as the last time they appeared the city descended into near anarchy.
A covert US military operation in Venezuela saw a bombing prevent the formation
of a new left-leaning political party, but worse than that it caused the death
of the head of the Lovelace family. The last time anything happened to the
Lovelaces their maid Roberta - secretly a former FARC guerrilla - took up arms
once again and pursued the Columbian mafia to Roanapur to rescue the family's
heir Garcia. She nearly turned the city on its head then, but now she's
back and this time the only thing on her mind is revenge. Her appearance
would be bad enough in itself, but what makes it worse is that she is there to
kill the men who killed her master, meaning that somewhere in the city a highly
skilled group of American soldiers is hiding. A firefight between them
could bring the gaze of the USA on to the rogues paradise of Roanapur, something
that Triad boss Chang is desperate to avoid. He wants either the soldiers
or Roberta out of the city, but he can't get involved directly and sees the
Lagoon Company as perfect go-betweens. Even if they agree though it won't
be an easy task, not only do they have to find them but Roberta is not like she
was last time. She has no-one to protect or to restrain her, the death of
her master has filled her with rage and she will let nothing get between her and
revenge... |
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Yes, Black Lagoon is back, and so is one of its more popular enemies in the form of the unstoppable maid Roberta. In many ways it seems like it hasn't been away, the new story arc starts off pretty much where the last series left off, with Rock taking stock of his new life after the his eventful trip back to Japan. One of my only gripes with the last series was that it didn't really focus on how life in Roanapur was affecting Rock's moral character, but in Roberta's Blood Trail it's surprisingly right at the heart of the story. The story effectively |
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follows two viewpoints, on the one hand you have Roberta - a mad lone wolf consumed by rage and revenge - hunting down her prey, and on the other you have Garcia - now head of the Lovelace family following his father's death - trying desperately to stop her and bring her back to Venezuela. Garcia's desires dovetail nicely with Chang's so he helps set him up with the Lagoon Company, with Rock taking centre stage as he slips from the twilight he believes he inhabits to something much darker. It's Rock's moral decline that takes centre stage as much as Roberta's relentless and ruthless pursuit of the American soldiers. There's always been a degree of objectivity about him in previous storylines, an impression that he is an outsider in the dark city of Roanapur trying in a small way to do the right thing. However, this time round you see a darker ambition within him, a thrill for a gamble and a manipulative side to his character that has previously been understated. It's an interesting change, and it's one that makes the central storyline quite gripping. This series is basically what fans of the franchise
have come to expect. It's action-packed, well animated and has an
exciting, fast-paced storyline which belies an emotional undercurrent
and strong focus on the characters and their beliefs and values.
It's been one of Black Lagoon's strengths that while it seems on the
surface like a dumb action series, it actually is quite thoughtful under
all the gunplay and has a lot to say about its characters. Roberta
has been acting as a maid to try and atone for her past as a vicious
revolutionary, but when her world is shattered by the death of the man
who saved her from the darkness she believes atonement is out of reach
and turns to revenge instead. Her story is intriguing, she is
haunted by ghosts of her past actions and feels that the only way she
can serve Garcia is to avenge his father's death, when all Garcia wants
is for her to be part of his family once more. Has she gone too
far for redemption or can she come back from the brink? The series
throws up moral questions all the time, and the most interesting thing
about it is that most of the main characters are totally immoral
psychopaths, yet you sympathise with them anyway. You get to see
some of the things that made the characters the way they are in this
series, from Revy to Balalaika, and makes you wonder how differently
they could have ended up if circumstances were different. Best of
all it does all this philosophical soul searching whilst remaining an
utterly kick-ass action series, which is something very few series can
pull off. It's even more impressive when you consider it's only
five episodes long. |
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Black Lagoon is not for everyone. It's violent, wish fulfilment fantasy aimed at bored salarymen looking for a bit of action and excitement. It's very OTT, very violent, morally bereft and full of characters who in many series would be villains. Roberta's Blood Trail is no different from the other two series in this regard, and it does get a bit more ludicrous than even some of the previous storylines. Roberta's insane strength and resilience is even more far fetched this time round (she even bites a knife in half at one point), and she |
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spends a good part of the series firing an anti-tank rifle with one hand whilst running around the rooftops of Roanapur. You also need to suspend disbelief when the commander of an elite army unit in the middle of a mission offers a child an opportunity to shoot him as atonement for killing a member of his family. There are other issues too, some parts - such as the appearance of some characters from an earlier storyline - seem a bit crowbarred in, and Rock's plans are a bit convoluted and far-fetched. That said, the series does just about get away with it, and actually makes a better job of bringing the story together than the manga does. All in all Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail gives exactly what fans of the first two series want, more of the same action-packed, morally bankrupt and hugely entertaining anime goodness! It may be more far-fetched than some of the earlier series but it intriguingly deals with the corruption of Rock's character by his life in Roanapur and Roberta giving up on her chance for redemption in favour of untempered revenge. The series strength is that it can be watched on two levels, either as an over the top action series packed with memorable and dangerous characters, or as an over the top action series packed with memorable and dangerous characters that tries to delve into what makes them that way and give a sense of their underlying tragedy. It doesn't always pull it off convincingly, but there nonetheless remains an impressive level of depth for a series which is basically set up as an adult male fantasy. As a whole it is let down by some of its more ludicrous aspects, which detract from the more philosophical elements, but nonetheless it's a worthy addition to the franchise. If you're an action fan and you've yet to catch Black Lagoon you have no excuse with all three series now out in the UK, it really is one of the better ones out there and I just wish there was more to come. Extras Once again none beyond the usual front-loading trailers for the earlier Black Lagoon series and the likes of Persona 4 and Penguin Drum, a real shame and still very surprising. I really don't know why Kazé don't include title-specific extras on many of their discs, especially when the same titles in other territories carry loads. Ratings Feature:
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