Shenhua

Origin

Shenhua is a Taiwanese assassin who works for the Chinese Triad branch in the South China city, Roanapur. She's a killer for hire who is teamed with a drug-fueled Irishman named Leigharch.

Creation

Black Lagoon Vol. 3 JPN (Apr 2004)

Shenhua is a supporting character in the Black Lagoon series that was created by Rei Hiroe. The series first began serialization in Shogakukan's Sunday GX magazine on April 19, 2002.

Her first appearance was in Black Lagoon Volume 3 CH. 18 "Goat, Jihad, Rock'N Roll PT.III", and her first anime appearance was in Black Lagoon - Episode 11 "Lock'n Load Revolution". Her character in the Japanese series is voiced by Yuuko Sasaki, and the U.S. dub produced by Ocean Group is done by Saffron Henderson.

Character Evolution

Shenhua by Rei Hiroe

Shenhua is an assassin who takes good care of her personal appearance. She's also very proud of her Taiwanese heritage. For that reason she only knows just enough English to work with the other criminals in Roanapur and doesn't care about grammar or structure. Her broken English earns her nicknames like "Chinglish" from Revy, but those who know her well are more concerned with her expertise with throwing knives and blades. Her primary weapon involves two kukri blades tied together with a long rope so she can swing them around, throw them, and quickly pull them back. In her view, blades will always trump weapons that can run out of ammo.

A difference between the anime and manga versions of Shenhua involve her religion. In the manga she mentions to Eda that she is Taoist and isn't bothered with killing nuns. In the anime she refers to herself as an Atheist and isn't bothered because morals never get in the way of her work.

Major Story Arcs

Goat, Jihad, Rock'N Roll Arc

Shenhua with Leigharch

Shenhua makes her first appearance working for Mr. Chang with the job of escorting Lagoon Company and sensitive documents to an American military base in the Philippines. With her partner, Leigharch, they only pick up Revy due to a change in plans and Rock getting captured by Masahiro Takenaka. Revy then had to convince Shenhua to join her to save Rock by claiming he had the papers they were hired to deliver.

Revy and Shenhua assaulted the base together to rescue Rock and escape. As a high Leigharch drove, Shenhua and Revy took turns killing the terrorists that were hot on their heels. They arrived to drop off the documents, and Revy revealed she had the papers tucked under her shirt the whole time.

Greenback Jane Arc

Shenhua hired to hunt Greenback Jane

Shenhua appears as a hired gun in the Greenback Jane arc as one of the many, many mercenaries contracted to take Janet Bhai alive when she escapes her Florida mafia handlers. She becomes a spokesperson for the Roanapur killers when Guy Russell is seen as a joke for being out of his element in their town. Eventually she goes up against Revy and Eda when they try to sneak Janet out of the city and is shot several times and left for dead. One of the other hired guns, Lotton the Wizard rescues her along with Sawyer the Cleaner. The three join together afterward as their own team.

El Baile De La Muerte Arc

Shenhua and Sawyer meet Roberta

Not long after Shenhua was out of the hospital she was called by Revy to be some hired muscle for a special mission. She brought along Sawyer and Lotton to help in tracking down Roberta, the killer maid of Garcia Lovelace. She took quite the liking to the young boy. They arrived too late to stop the fighting and they all got caught up in a small war between local mercenaries, FARC soldiers, and the American Grey Fox Squad. Shenhua ignored Revy's warning, rushed ahead, and ran into Roberta. She was crazy on drugs and crushed one of her Kikri knives with her teeth. Sawyer tried to save her, but she broke her chainsaw. They were both saved by Lotton, who suffered a kick to his balls.

They later found Garcia with two members of the Grey Fox team, but they were stopped from attacking by the members of Balalaika's Hotel Moscow. Shenhua was shot in the leg as a warning shot. Not wanting to die, Shenhua and her own team backed out and went home.

Weapons

Kukri Knives

Shenhua's Kukri Blades

Shenhua's weapon of choice are blade weapons since as she sees it they never run out of bullets. Her primary are a pair of Kukri style blades attached to long leather straps. With these attached her effective weapon's reach no longer becomes limited by her arms' reach. She can throw her knives and yank them right back into her hands.

Feidao Knives

Shenhua's Feidao Throwing Knives

Another weapon Shenhua uses are several Feidao throwing knives that she keeps in straps around each leg. She's deadly accurate even when throwing several at once.