Balalaika

Balalaika (バラライカ) is the boss of Hotel Moscow. Her real name is Sofiya

Pavlovena, but that name is not used in her presence. She was brought up by her grandfather, a general in the Red Army of the USSR. Balalaika's father has presumably either been condemned by the USSR or fled the country as was the case for many of the military commanders of the USSR after its collapse in December of 1991.

Knownable Relatives

• Unnamed Grandfather

Trivia

• She has stated in the anime that she doesn't like cold blintzes (a type of pancake).
• In the First Popularity poll, Balalaika has ranked 2nd place with 677 votes.
• Despite being a very powerful person and leader of one of the major crime syndicates in Roanapur, nobody besides Mr. Chang's Triads and Black Lagoon Company hold her in much respect. She seems to be used to that kind of behavior towards her most possibly because she and Hotel Moscow are considered to be outsiders to the city.
• She regards herself and her unit as soldiers who missed a chance to die in the war. This same behavior can be seen in the Japanese Samurai who believed there was no greater honor than to die in battle, facing the enemy. But since they deserted the Soviet Army, one can describe Balalaika and Hotel Moscow as Ronin - outcasts of Japanese Samurai troops, who were either forced or chose on their own to serve themselves, instead of the master (in the case of Balalaika and Hotel Moscow, their "master" could be either USSR, the Red Army, or even a particular General or Major).
• Although her hatred of American soldiers is shown by her talk with Caxton, she is never seen once mentioning the same hatred to Dutch who is supposedly an American Vietnam War veteran. Although it's revealed in the OVA Roberta's Blood Trail that Dutch saved Balalaika's life after a shootout with Mister Chang on the boat docks.
• In the anime, she stated that she listens to, or at least is aware of, the American new wave band "Oingo Boingo" mentioning their song "No One Lives Forever".
• A Balalaika is a Russian traditional instrument with a wooden triangle-shaped body and three or rarely four or six strings. "Balalaika", is supposedly a slang term for the Dragunov sniper rifle, in which is where Balalaika gets her name due to her utilizing her Olympic marksmanship skills with the rifle in Afghanistan, earning her copious amounts of respect from the men under her command.

According to the Databook:

• Her birthday is ???, and her blood type is ???.
• Her star sign is a ???.

Voice Actresses

• Japanese : Mami Koyama
• English : Patricia Drake

all information on Balalaika came from

Gallery