Review of Witchblade: Volume 2

Introduction

Volume 1 of Witchblade made its UK debut last month, to the general sounds of `homina homina homina` from an appreciative male teen audience. Witchblade is a comic book creation from Top Cow studios in the US, a slightly more mature title in the Dark Knight vein, which saw homicide detective Sara Pezzini come into possession of the Witchblade, a mystical gauntlet that bonds with its female owner, gifting her with tremendous powers and abilities. It`s selective in who it chooses, a main priority being that the wielder has to look good naked, for when its powers are called upon, clothing vanishes to be replaced by a judiciously placed set of armour, grown organically from the gauntlet. Experts in action anime Gonzo have taken the Top Cow comic book and given it a Tokyo makeover, and for this new incarnation of the story, gone is Sara Pezzini, and in comes Masane Amaha, with an even scantier costume that would make sailors blush. Cleavage of all sorts abounds, jiggle is judiciously applied, and all in the name of the great goddess Fan Service, while beneath it all is a decent story, with interesting and well-written characters. You`d think I`ve been looking forward to this second volume for all the wrong reasons.

Set in the near future, the Witchblade has passed to a new owner, Masane Amaha. Six years previously, after the great earthquake had decimated Tokyo, Masane and her daughter Rihoko were found at the epicentre of the quake. Masane lost her memory, and all she had left was her daughter. When they return to the ruins of Tokyo to rebuild their home and start afresh, they find that the world is a far different place, as they have to avoid the attentions of the NSWF who are after the Witchblade, and its subsidiary Child Welfare Agency who have an interest in Rihoko. However, soon after Masane`s abilities manifest, she`s discovered by Douji Industries. Douji and NSWF were partners in researching the Witchblade six years ago, and Douji still think of the Witchblade as their property. They also feel obligated to clear up the mess that resulted from that catastrophe, including the release of dangerous killer X-Cons into the city, biomachines that the Witchblade is ideally suited to deal with. Douji winds up employing Masane, using her abilities, and keeping her away from the NSWF. It`s just that the NSWF have made strides in replicating Witchblade technology for themselves…

The next four episodes of Witchblade are presented on this MVM disc. And as we had left matters at the end of the first volume, Masane had just encountered the Cloneblade wielders of NSWF, also known as the Sisters.

5. Search
The Sisters aren`t too impressed by the new wielder of the Witchblade, especially Reina Sohou, who once possessed it herself, and they choose not to take matters further. Masane is surprised to see women with similar powers, and dress sense to her own. Back at Douji, Takayama`s aide Segawa tells her about NSWF`s creation of the Cloneblades, and their search for neo-genes, those people with a suitable genetic structure to wield them, it`s one reason behind the Child Welfare Agency. Back home, reporter Tozawa thinks he`s onto a scoop with the Witchblade, and he pesters Masane about it. It doesn`t make moving into their new apartment easy for Masane and Rihoko. The chance for Masane to earn some more money turns up in the form of another reaping X-Con, but dealing with it is just the warm up, as the Sisters return to test the strength of the Witchblade. Meanwhile a meeting with NSWF`s chairman, Furimizu distracts Takayama.

6. Change
Cloneblade Shiori is all too eager to take on Masane, and despite ominous cracks appearing in her Cloneblade armour, she soon has Masane on the back foot. It requires a timely rescue from Douji Industries. Takayama decides that it is safer if Masane is taken out of the area while she heals, and puts her aboard a cabin cruiser offshore. The battle has taken its toll on Shiori too, but her recuperation is more troubled. Her personality has changed, and soon it looks as if an X-Con is attacking the area near the hospital. Only Reina can`t sense any X-Con activity.

7. Passage
Shiori has escaped the hospital, and it becomes clear that the Cloneblade is more in control of her, than she is of it, and it needs for her to hunt, to find worthy prey. That prey would be Masane, and she`s soon looking for Takayama`s cruiser. Also hot on the trail of the cruiser is Tozawa, even though Rihoko is tagging along to keep an eye on him, and see that he doesn`t annoy her mother. Seeing that Shiori is losing control indicates to Reina that the Cloneblades are related even more closely to the Witchblade than previously thought, and she`s off after the perfect test subject. But when all parties collide, it is an object lesson in just what wielding the Witchblade actually means.

8. Reciprocity
Tozawa knows when he is on the scent of a hot scoop, and he`s putting the pressure on Masane to come clean about the Witchblade. She`s having none of it, and issuing constant denials. When a night of heavy drinking doesn`t loosen her lips, he invites her along on one of his assignments, at the site of another X-Con killing. They wind up fleeing from some irate bodyguards who couldn`t protect their charge from Tozawa`s paparazzi antics, and wind up taking shelter at the docks. The thing is that Masane doesn`t want her daughter to know about the Witchblade, but she does need someone to talk with about it. So she offers Tozawa a deal. Which is when an X-Con attacks, but one unlike the usual X-Cons.

Video

If you are a hardcore Witchblade fan of old, you may be disappointed by this adaptation, as while the Witchblade itself is recognisable, the art and character design is very much Gonzo`s own, with just a couple of concessions made to the original property. If you`ve seen a Gonzo action show of late, like Burst Angel or Trinity Blood, you`ll be familiar with the look of the characters, the bright hazy feel to the animation, and the emphasis on eye candy and action. It`s a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, and the image is clear and sharp for the most part, with just the usual digital banding and minor compression artefacts common with anime to note.

With Witchblade, you would expect fan service aplenty, and you wouldn`t be disappointed. Masane has the sort of cleavage that keeps plastic surgeons in clover, and induces back problems in the real world, but in the animated world is shown off to generous advantage by the scanty nature of the Witchblade armour, as is her backside. What surprised me is how restrained it all was. This is no Battle Vixens, where the action slows down and even freeze frames to show off some enhanced female anatomy, Masane the character comes first, as does the story, and the Witchblade armour is treated as incidental to that. That isn`t to say that the show doesn`t cater to the teenage male demographic, but it`s never gratuitous, and jiggle is left to a minimum. To quote Kenny Everett, "It`s all done in the best possible taste!"

Audio

As usual for many an anime disc, you have DD 2.0 Japanese and DD 5.1 English to choose from, along with translated subtitles and signs. I chose the Japanese of course, the dialogue was clear, and there was sufficient stereo separation to render the action sequences with vibrancy. The surround is the soundtrack of choice in that respect, but the dub is unspectacular, if passable. What I sampled of it failed to impress me, with a rather workmanlike set of performances, and the perennial annoyance of a ten year old child sounding like a high pitched 30-year-old.

Features

The usual anime suspects begin with the animated menus and jacket picture, along with the textless songs, and trailers for Ergo Proxy and Black Cat. There aren`t any multi-angle credits for the show, which leaves the Internet as your course of action if you want to know who the English dub cast are.

There is a featurette and a couple of interviews to peruse.

How To Make A Comic Book The Top Cow Way last 17 minutes and does just what it says. With input from the relevant artists, we`re taken from Concept & Writing, through Pencilling, Inks and Colours, all the way to finally Putting It All Together.

The interviews are with the Japanese voice actors, Akemi Kanda (Rihoko) and Masaya Matsukaze (Tozawa). Both last 8 minutes, and are light, friendly affairs as thy talk about the characters and story.

Conclusion

You could have someone`s eye out with those! There`s something about jiggling breasts and butt cheeks that appeal to my inner juvenile. If I were to get onomatopoeic about Witchblade, the most appropriate word would be `sproing`. It`s the sort of show that is best watched with a silly grin on one`s face, and one finger on the pause button, just so you can take a breath and marvel. Ok, I`m sending my teenage avatar to bed now, before he makes a sticky mess of this review.

Witchblade certainly caters to that demographic, but here`s where things get confusing for the outraged of Tunbridge Wells crowd, the Daily Mail readers, and those who take one look at Masane`s cleavage and think sexist exploitation. For Witchblade has strong characters, a smart story, and above all it`s entertaining. This is no Ikki Tousen, made for the sole purpose of raising blood pressures and inducing nosebleeds. Witchblade is stylish, action packed and downright engrossing. Gonzo have the action anime down pat, and when it comes to dark conspiracy laden post apocalyptic storylines, no one does it better. They may have had the odd blip recently with an uneven Trinity Blood, and a downright disappointing Black Cat, but with Witchblade, they are at the top of their game, as this second volume indicates.

Central to the story is the relationship between Masane and her daughter Rihoko. It`s a caring, loving single parent relationship, and even though it`s often Rihoko acting as the mother to Masane instead of the other way around, it`s a positive role model to show in the anime. Masane is certainly not just an object of desire, with her strong independence and determination to take care of her daughter. That relationship continues to be explored in this volume, showing the two in more idle moments in between the action sequences.

The balance between drama and comedy is just right, with the main story holding the attention, the rivalry between NSWF and Douji, the marauding X-Cons and the confrontations between Witchblade and the Cloneblades. There`s more dark dealing and revelations to be had, and the back-story behind it all becomes a little clearer in this volume. That contrasts with the supporting cast in Marry`s Gallery, the apartment where Masane and Rihoko live. They`re pretty much comic relief, but they also provide the necessary breathers and moments of domesticity between the dramas. The characters there are all quirky and diverse, and add to the show`s charm.

There are a couple of interesting developments among the characters. Previously Takayama was just the taciturn boss, and Masane was the feisty new employee, but they get to spend some time together on the cabin cruiser, Takayama unwinds, and Masane begins to warm to him. There is a fair bit of back-story revealed, including Takayama`s previous relationship with NSWF`s Reina Sohou. More intriguing is the friendship and unlikely alliance that develops between Masane and Tozawa. Tozawa has been pursuing the Witchblade story relentlessly, and has presented himself as a mercenary reporter, but when Masane tells him just why she wants her secret life to remain secret, he actually shows a human side. The two start getting along, in a typically abrasive way, but it will be interesting to see if their acquaintance develops into a friendship, partnership or more.

With Volume 1, I had opined that Witchblade had a few too many similarities to Burst Angel to warrant a quick purchase from fans familiar with the genre. But with Volume 2, Witchblade has firmly planted its own flag and established a unique identity. Witchblade is worth watching in its own right, to see the story and the characters develop, and it`s gone from a recommendation with reservations to a whole hearted and enthusiastic approval. No one does generic sci-fi action anime the way Gonzo does, and Gonzo are at their best with Witchblade.