>>280721603
>that doesn't say that he has lingering resentment against his fans from the reception, that's just speculation.
True but it also shows that mixed reception didnt help him mentally (along with his father's passing) which effected the quality of the work in its initial run and why the anime went in an entirely different direction that he seems to have sign off on given this current chapter.

>Roberta I think is one of the less interesting characters to me
Yet she's headlining an arc that's the biggest issue.
>what you get to see the most of is all the other characters dealing with the situations around this.
Its not a whole lot since most of the characters don't give a fuck about her outside Garcia and Fabolia everyone in Ronapeur just want her to get the fuck out and the Major and his company don't get enough characterization. Best part of the arc is Rock and Chang's bet which is at odds with Roberta's revenge plot because everyone is so ambivalent towards Roberta's life and the kids that it only makes the ending even more infuriating.

Well just have to agree to disagree then, I've read the arc like three times (Magazine version, volume twice) and its still not very good but its also not bad to Hiroe's credit Black Lagoon does not have a single bad arc and he cod have let the reception get to him abd stagnant but he keep pressing on and I do think the new arcs are considerably better despite the slow releases.