Witchblade

2006

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

7| 0h30m| TV-MA| en
Synopsis

Masane Amaha and her daughter Rihoko are on the run from a government child welfare agency that wants to take Rihoko away from her mother. They are caught and Rihoko is taken away. Meanwhile, Masane is attacked by an advanced weapon that can disguise itself as a human being. When faced with the danger, a strange light emits from her wrist and she transforms into a powerful being. She becomes involved in a power struggle between powerful organizations, with her at the center of their attention because she holds the greatest power of them all, the legendary Witchblade.

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Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Tweekums This series, loosely based on a US comic of the same name, takes place in Japan six years after a devastating earthquake. Protagonist Masane Amaha woke up after the quake without any memory and with a strange amulet on her wrist; she was with a girl she assumed to be her daughter; Rihoko. Now she is moving to Tokyo so she can better support Rihoko. Around the same time there has been a series of brutal murders; it turns out the killers are malfunctioning creations of the Doujo Corporation and they are drawn to Masane's amulet… the legendary Witchblade of the title.Soon Masane comes to the attention of Doujo's bureau chief Reiji Takayama and finds herself working for him. She is employed to destroy the companies creations; in doing so she meets others similar to herself; the Cloneblades. These wear devices based on the Witchblade but inevitably aren't quite as powerful. When she isn't fighting Masane and Rihoko live with an amusing bunch of characters including a freelance photographer who discovers her secret when he photographs her as she fights one of the Cloneblades.I nearly didn't buy this series as the DVD box art suggests it is going to be fan service heavy and involve demonic women fighting… it isn't really like that at all though. When Masane and the various Cloneblades fight they do transform and their costumes leave little to the imagination but for the most part Masane is dressed normally and looks like an ordinary woman; the only think about her that could be considered fan-service are her rather large breasts and they are a cause for occasional humour and are usually well covered. The story has a good plot and likable protagonists; the relationship between Masane and Rihoko is beautifully portrayed and quite emotional at times; especially when it looks as if they might be separated. The villains are suitably dangerous but even they have some sympathetic characteristics which make them more interesting. I liked the character designs; they were fairly distinctive meaning it isn't likely that one would confuse them with each other. Over all I'd heartily recommend this to anybody wanting a series with plenty of action and a good emotional core… don't be put off by the box art!These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
glowhomer This series is on par with HBO's Spawn:Animated series. The story is well told, the relationships of the characters are strong. The central mother/daughter theme is simple, powerful, and elegant. I enjoyed all the characters, and the changes they go through, because of a mother's love. For me, most anime is almost senseless, due to my ignorance of Asian culture. I don't care much for giant robots they crush cities and everybody seems to be fine with it. That silly mech. But the machines in this series are relevant, if cannon fodder. The fights were often anti- climatic, ending too soon in one way or another, but easily over-looked when taken into context. No sex, lots of bulbous bosoms (yay!), not much violence against humans and what little there is, is shown off screen or implied in some way. Anyway, worth watching.
jm1681 I think my biggest gripe with the Witchblade Anime series might be that because of its style (ie: supple and typically barely covered female anatomy), many potential viewers will be quick to write it off as nothing more than a peep show. While it may be true that Witchblade does contain fanservice en-masse, the story is what is truly remarkable here.The trials and tribulations the lead characters endure from beginning to end brought me to tears several times throughout. The characters are lovable, the action is intense, and the characters reactions to the events that are unfolding around them are exceedingly well done.Yes, there will be moments where the series drags its feet and to that I say, what series hasn't? No media can go full bore all the time without becoming mindless (At least in my opinion). Still, even through the slower moments of Witchblade, the story gradually progresses, until reaching a conclusion that still has me begging for more.I could honestly go on for quite some time about how much I truly, and completely enjoyed every bit of this series. However, at risk of getting into spoilers and potential tirades, I leave you with this: If you like anime, and enjoy a great story with fantastic characters, and great action, give Witchblade a try. You won't be disappointed.
xamtaro *note: I do intend to play the devils advocate here in light of all these positive reviews. I'm just stating how i feel about this series*A co-production between American comic book company "top Cow" and anime company Gonzo, Witchblade is loosely based on the famous supernatural genre graphic novel series of the same name. In retrospect, "loosely" might be giving this series way too much credit. As a whole, "Witchblade" feels like a completely un-related anime series with the "Witchblade" title slapped on it just because it happened to feature a gauntlet-like object that binds to a woman thus granting her supernatural powers while replacing her clothes with an overly skimpy combat outfit. Other than that, it has absolutely NOTHING ELSE in common with the comic book it is based on.Whatever intriguing supernatural detective story or down-to-earth characters that are easy to relate to has been thrown out the window and replaced with cliché upon cliché, staple to many science fiction Japanese anime.Our story is set in future Japan. A couple of years ago, a giant disaster ravaged Tokyo leaving one Masane Amaha and a little girl the only survivors at ground zero. Now Masane and the little girl Rihoko, whom she adopted as her daughter, have returned to Tokyo and get involved in A string of events that culminates in an encounter with a strange and dangerous biomechanical creature leading Masane to discover that the little jewel on her wrist is actually "the witchblade", a legendary artifact. Now Masane has become caught in the middle of a power war between the NSWF organization and the "Douji" group, each with their own bio-engineered super soldiers and each desiring to possess the Witchblade for their own ends.Though the characters are tried and tested stereotypical anime characters, their interactions come across as very genuine. Masane and Rihoko especially play out their mother/daughter roles very realistically, thanks to an excellent voice cast both in the original Japanese and the English dub tracks. Both are extremely likable even though the whole "mature young kid" and "bumbling but kind hearted immature adult" stereotype is nothing new in the world of anime.Sadly after a rather promising first few episodes, the series starts to falter. The subsequent characters introduced to the series tend to be rather one dimensional and set firmly in stereotypical roles of "the tough guy protagonist", "sadistic female assassin", "comedy relief gang" etc. The story pacing also takes a nosedive. It feels like a 12 episode story stretched into 24 episodes. There is a bit of Comedy, but comedy is a good thing when played right, not when it is awkwardly written and badly placed. Awkward also translates to the animation and art style. It would be easy to criticize this show's overly sexualized portrayal of Masane and the other "clone-blade" users. On almost every young adult female character, it is either the butt or the.....chest or both that is disproportionately emphasized. Fanservice is at an all time high with scenes of scantly clad blood-lusting females duking it out with blades and bouncing "melons". Even the "bloodlust" is quite literally a "lust"; all in a bid to titillate the male audience. Characters are drawn off-model sometimes with Masane's body proportions seemingly changing size in-between scenes. The animation also suffers in the long run. Only the still shots and close-ups look passably decent but disappointingly stiff. Action shots and many scenes involving movement cause the level of art detail to drop quite a bit. The mother/daughter drama between Masane and Rihoko might have been the saving grace of this series but sadly it is also stretched to breaking point over the course of the 24 episodes (again due to horrible pacing). The story gets more and more convoluted as the series passes into its second half while the art and animation sort of settles into a low-to-medium budget look and feel as the production constantly cuts corners by using one too many animation short-cuts.For all the advertising Funimation and Top Cow did on the Witchblade anime, this series is an utter disappointment. Instead of building on the more original mother/daughter dynamics and character drama, the series decides to play the "sex sells" card and deliver one fan-service laden combat sequence after another, complete with jokes about the main character's over-sized breasts. Lacking even the coherence and cleverness of the original comic books, Witchblade may satisfy those hot blooded young male viewers who love to be teased by anime females in states of semi-nudity. Other than that, it is mediocre fare not worth the time or money, compared to other better series out there.