Silhouette: Roberta

Originally named Rosarita Cisneros, Roberta use to be a trained gorilla assassin and was regarded as a international criminal. The blood trail she left in her wake earned her the name “Bloodhound of Florencia”, a name to to this day still strike fear into the heard of men. In the more recent years Roberta was living as a maid, working for the Lovelace family. However, after a car bomb attack heals the family’s master, Roberta abandons her life as a made to once again take up the mantle as the Bloodhound of Florencia.

(Left to right: Roberta, Shenhua)

Silhouette: Balalaika

Balalaika is a tyrannical warmonger and the feared leader of Hotel Moscow, one of the main leader of Roanapur. Before joining the Mafia, Balalaika was a Vozdushno-Desantnye Vojska paratrooper and a Soviet captain, serving the Russians during the Afganistan war. Unfortunately, after being “honourably discharged” by the army, Balalaika was left high and dry with a lust for blood and power. But as fate would have it, her ex-troopers looked up to her so much as a captain that they swore to follow her into the mafia lifestyle.

Top 10: Badass Women in Anime

Welcome to our monthly Top 10 anime list.
This month I am going to be discussing some badass women in anime.  This list isn’t in any particular order I’ve just numbered it for simplicity.

10. Shiki Ryougi –  the Garden of sinners

Possessing the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception“, Shiki Ryougi has the unmatched ability to see the death of something and thusly destroy the source. Shiki was raised to have two personalities, one male and one female. Unfortunately, after a car accident left her trapped in a coma for two years, the male personality has since died, leaving only the female half of Shiki. On top of this Shiki feels disconnected to her life before the accident and has since had an unfriendly manner towards others, in an attempt to resurrect her other half.

(the Garden of Sinners)

9. Haruko Haruhara — Fooly Cooly

Despite her appearance, Haruko Haruhara is actually an intergalactic patrol officer. On the hunt for Atomsk; a notorious galactic pirate, She finds herself on earth. With nothing much to do, she busies herself acting as a housemaid for the Nandaba household. She is first introduced through the act of running over the protagonist “Naota“, with a scooter and then bashing him in the head with a bass guitar. She then acts to fight alongside Naota to defeat the Medical Mechanica but only does so so that she can manipulate Naota to get access to Atomsk’s power.

(Fooly Cooly)

8. Nana Osaki – NANA

One of the titular characters of the Nana series. Nana Osaki is the rebellious lead singer of the Black Stones (Blast). She has always been troubled by her past, due to the fact that she was abandoned by her parents at a young age. As a result, Nana has developed an issue of connection. No matter how hard she tries to pull away from those around her, deep down she can’t stand the thought of losing someone else. So instead she decides she will give everything she has to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer.

(Nana)

7. Rebecca Lee (Revy) – Black Lagoon

Revy was born in America and grew up in the poverty and violence of a china town in New York. Raised by her abusive and alcoholic father. Then after being arrested, Revy was beaten and raped by a corrupt police officer, soon after returning home, she murdered her father. More recently, Revy has been working as a gun for hire aboard the Black Lagoon, mercilessly and skillfully dispatching anyone who stands in the way of her paycheck. Swiftly earning herself the name “Two Hands” for the way she dual wields two Cutlas pistols.

(Black Lagoon)

6. Akame – Akame Ga Kill!

Know across the land as “Akame of the Demon Sword Murasame” is a gifted swords woman who has joined up with the group of rebel assassins in the plot to bring down the crown. Initially, Akame worked for the crown but not by choice. She and her sister were kidnapped and sold to the kingdom to be trained as assassins but not being able to live with the atrocities she was committing Akame defected and has since sworn to get revenge, meanwhile her sister is still an assassin among the crowns ranks.

(Akame Ga Kill!)

5. Black Lotus – Accel World

Although her real name is not known to any, Black Lotus has gained the rank of the Black King in the reality augmenting program Brain Burst. Unfortunately, after a crushing defeat by the Red King and her minions, Black Lotus was forced to go into hiding to retain any chance of reaching level 10 and defeating all “six kings of pure color“. In the real world, she knows throughout Umesato Junior High School as one of the most popular students and also acts the Student Council Vice-President, giving her quite the high status.

(Accell World)

4. Ryuko Matoi – Kill la Kill

The main protagonist of  Kill la Kill, Ryuko Matoi has a fiery temper and a bone to pick. After the death of her father, she began her quest to hunt out his killer and get revenge. She transfers to Honnōji Academy to hunt for the other half of her scissor blade, the means of her father’s demise. However, after almost immediately starting a fight and getting beaten Ryuko finds herself in a bit of a situation. This leads her to the discovery of Senketsu (a sailor suit made of life fibres) and forever changing the history of the world.

(Kill la Kill)

3. Clare – Claymore

No. 47 in the Claymore ranks, Clare would appear to be nothing more than an average at best Claymore whos shoes could be easily filled. However, Clare is unique in the fact that she is the only claymore to have gained her powers from the flesh and blood of a fellow Claymore, rather than the usual way of taking them from a Yoma. In an unforeseeable twist of fate, Clare turns out to be one of the fastest swords in the whole of the ranks of the Claymores. Leading to unimaginable power and being one of the first to become a partially awakened being.

(Claymore)

2. Yoko Littner- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Originating from Littner, Yoko is introduced into the show along side the attack of a gunmen on Jeena, Litten’s neighbouring village. It turns out that she has been hunting this particular gunmen with the intent of killing its drivers. She is well recognised for her distinguishing attire along with her impressive arsenal of weaponry. While primarily using a hefty sniper rifle based on the Barrett M82, she has also been known to sport hand guns.

(Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

1. Erza Scarlet – Fairy Tail

As one of the almighty few S-Class wizards among the Fairytail ranks, Erza Scarlet has built up the reputation of the undaunted, monstrous warrior, capable of annihilating any foe, earning her the name “Titania, Queen of the Faries“. She specialises in Spatial Magic, allowing her to store various armours and weapons in a void, that she can use whenever she wished. She is also known as being the fasted mage in the world when it comes to requiping her gear. Erza also specialises in sword based combat, having the power to slice through concrete with just the air from her swing. But despite her brave facade, she is tortured by the horrors of her childhood.

(Fairytail)

Thank you for reading my list, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have an idea of something you feel should have been on the list then leave a comment and let me know.

H

Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail Review

Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail is a five episode OVA that occurs after the events of the second season, read my review for season two here. The OVA series began airing in June of 2010 and concluded in June the following year. The story shows the return of Roberta; the ex-terrorist turned housemaid. After the death of the head of the Lovelace family by of car bomb, Roberta swears an oath of vengeance upon his murders. The young Lovelace master takes it upon himself to track down Roberta and save her before her murderous rage becomes too big to return from. Garcia Lovelace will travel to Roanapur one again to seek out the aid of Rock of the Black Lagoon company. Rock will need to be smart about his actions if he is to avoid an all-out war that will wipe Roanapur of the map.

My Review: This is a very unique OVA, with each episode being half an hour long, the episodes almost seem to be a third season. The first few episodes are rather boring, being mostly political build up and background. Things start to pick up around episode three and especially after we get introduced to the American Militants, there is a gradual build-up of action which all lead onto final full-on battle. In particular, I really liked one of the end scenes where you see a shot of Roberta missing several body parts as a result of her conquest. This OVA does an excellent job of wrapping up the Black Lagoon series, It really feels like an amalgamation of all the factors that make the first two series great.

I rate this anime 6.5/10.

H

Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Review

Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage is the second season and continuation of the Black Lagoon, you can read my review for the first season here. This season was released in October 2006 and ran until mid-December. This season continues on some time after the first and the ex-business man turned pirate has adapted to his new home of Roanapur. Things may seem as though there packing out, unfortunately for Rock and the rest of the crew of the Black Lagoon, trouble is stirring and it’s about to start an all-out war dragging everyone into the black underbelly of the city of sinners. Rock will need to dig deeper than ever if he’s going to stomach what’s ahead of him, whether he takes it all on the chin or runs away with his tail between his legs, his decision will decide the fate of the whole lagoon crew.

My Review: It very hard to write a review for this season, mainly just because it’s so connected to the first that it may as well be one in the same. Anyway, to be completely blatant I felt this season was actually quite underwhelming. It had a really strong start with the Hansel and Gretel fiasco but from then on everything just felt rushed, like so much of the charm that made the first season so great was pulled out. Regardless of that fact though, the show does tackle some much darker themes than previously and has a much stronger focus on the business aspect of gang life particularly at the end where the crew almost take a back seat to the Yakuza squabbles. I would have found this to be a rather poor ending for a series such as this, but thankfully there is still Roberta’s Blood Trail OVA acting as a sort of season three.

I rate this anime 2.5/5.

H