It’s nice to see they pick up right where season 2 left off, despite it being aired almost four years ago. Over on Lagoon Company’s side, Rock is still trying to get over the unfortunate fate of Washimine Yukio, which he was a direct witness of. I can’t begin to fathom exactly what kind of horror Roberta is planning to bring down onto Roanapur’s unsuspecting villains, but whatever it is it’s guaranteed to bring hell with it. Yes, my first thoughts were also “Holy shit”.
I mean, who could honestly resist that? Anyway, her streak of terror doesn’t appear to be ending soon, with her entering Bao’s ( Saitou Shirou) now totaled bar and demanding a location where she can purchase all the tools necessary for war.
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind being the poor bastard chained to a boiling pot if it meant being raped by THAT. I definitely got a chill down my spine watching Roberta twist her face into that shit eating grin that you would expect to see out of a psychopath, and yet I also found it strangely sexy. If nothing else, she proves very successful in this endeavor, tracking down, maiming, and torturing her pray in order to fulfill her lust for vengeance. This event causes her to take up her old “Bloodhound” persona again and go on a hunt to find her benefactor’s killers. This time around, it appears Roberta’s become even more insane after watching Garcia’s father and her employer/protector, Diego Jose San Fernando Lovelace (yes, that’s his name), be blown up right in front of her. Certainly on Revy at least, considering the beating she gave her is pretty hard to forget, I’d imagine. It seems fitting that the third season focus on Roberta ( Tomizawa Michie) and her Young Master, Garcia Lovelace ( Ikura Kazue), as we haven’t seen the pair since episode 10 and yet the battle maid probably left one of the biggest impressions on the fanbase in the series. Speaking of that, it’s great to see our favorite characters like Rock ( Namikawa Daisuke) and Revy ( Toyoguchi Megumi) sporting 2010 quality, which is only augmented by the glorious Blu-ray HD the episodes are released in. Taking into account the quality benefits that the OVA format awards to anime, I don’t mind waiting a month between episodes if I get to enjoy this type of quality consistently this season. Compared to the first two seasons, this OVA is like night and day as far as art and animation are concerned. On one hand, we can’t enjoy the nail biting, stomach churning story of Black Lagoon on a weekly basis, but on the other hand the budget obviously prospers from this format, and it shows in the action sequences and lighting effects. Obviously, taking this approach is a bit controversial. With the lack of material from the manga to base a complete season off of, MADHOUSE decided to use the recently completed “El Baile se La Muerte” arc, compile it into a 5 episode long OVA, and label it as the third season of the anime. Even though I say it’s an OVA, this is in fact the third season of the series, which is indicated further by the episode itself being counted as #25 of the anime.
After a nearly four year hiatus, we get the glorious return of Black Lagoon with this OVA series, titled “Roberta’s Blood Trail”.