Is this side season better than the main season of Black Lagoon? Why or why not?

Feb 3, 2014 3:57 PM

LilKis1986

Offline

Oct 2011

293

Well is this side season any better than the main season of Black Lagoon?

Roberta's Blood Trail is it better than the main series in anyway? Why do you recommend this side story and will there be more Black Lagoon after the side series Roberta's Blood Trail? Thanks and tootles

Feb 3, 2014 4:01 PM

MrAwesome2018

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Aug 2012

4165

Yes because of Roberta the Terminator Maid.

Oct 16, 2014 3:19 PM

Laionidas

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Jan 2014

1260

Actually,.. I liked the main series better.

>>>SPOILERS below!<<<

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the OVA's, just not as much as the main series. There're several reasons for that:

1. The ending was just too much. Moreover, it didn't make any sense for it to be so. They deviated in the manga and demolished Roberta, probably for added drama and realism, but within the Manga's/Anime's universe it was actually UNrealistic considering the pounding she could take before.

2. Roberta seemed much weaker in general, or was at least portrayed as such. That feeling of dread you got when the Company first met her and was chased around Roannapur was just gone.

3. There were other elements that I found to be "too much". I don't mean graphically or anything like that. Black Lagoon always was X-rated, but all the violence etc. served a function. In the OVA's I felt some of it to be unnecessary.

4. Finally, the OVA's practically backtracked on some of the character development from the main series. I really got a "back to square one" vibe there, which, for characters, isn't good.

LaionidasOct 16, 2014 3:27 PM

"I'm a middle schooler bartender!"

- Mishima Hitomi

Nov 5, 2014 8:04 AM

M2p4t7

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Jun 2014

Laionidas said:

4. Finally, the OVA's practically backtracked on some of the character development from the main series. I really got a "back to square one" vibe there, which, for characters, isn't good.

I'm curious what you found poor from the character development standpoint.

I found the OVA to be stronger than both seasons from a plot standpoint, and maybe weaker than the second from the character development standpoint (note I haven't read the manga).

The plot writing for Black Lagoon has always been a bit poor in my eyes, primarily because it seems that the story becomes way too convoluted. You end up with these large stretches where the characters have to literally pause and run through all the reasons why they do this-and-that, and that's a sign that the writers haven't done a good job communicating the story. The OVA is a little bit better from this perspective, because it's simply shorter, and so is able to stay a bit more focused. Despite that, it still gets pretty hairy.

Subtlety has never been Black Lagoon's strong suit, and I just think that the story is too convoluted for it's own good. Ultimately, from what I understand (the ending is a bit hazy), this is a story about (1) a fight to control a key part of the region [the triangle]; (2) Roberta's revenge in the middle; (3) Rock's attempt to win this game, and try and restore Roanapur.
Character development wise, I disliked the whole Light Yagami side of things, where suddenly Rock has become some sort of genius tactical manipulator. Yes, from the two seasons, you always had the sense that Rock was a tactician, and had a talent for discerning people's intentions, but this was a little bit too much. Like my criticism of Death Note, it stretches the bounds of believability, and the episodes degrade into 10 minutes of story-telling where the characters have to run through their genius logic about how they manipulated their enemies. Good writing should not require this. It's bad writing when the story has to pause for the audience to be filled in.
The ending, in my opinion, was the strongest of the three seasons/OVA. A bittersweet victory where Rock observes the difficulty of change. The little quiet moment between Revy and Rock make this ending.

I gave Season 1 a score of 7/10, the next season 6/10, and this OVA 7/10. My mean score is 6.6 over all anime.

M2p4t7Nov 5, 2014 8:09 AM

Oct 3, 2015 12:53 PM

CondemneDio

Offline

Jan 2013

6459

Wow, this was bad. Like, unbelievably bad. Roberta and her overpowered fairytale powers ruined it.
I gave the first season a 9, Second Barrage a 9, and this a 2. That's how bad it was.

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Is this side season better than the main season of Black Lagoon? Why or why not?

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