ANIME REVIEW . Witchblade Vol. 3

by Chris   ⋅   January 16, 2008   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

By now you know the Witchblade storyline (if you don’t, check out my reviews of the first and second Witchblade volumes), so I’m just going to cut to the chase. Episodes 9 through 12 see Masane as Takayama’s date to an elegant defense dinner, Riko befriending an X-Con (and new revelations regarding such friends. ie: There is a human component, but not quite what you might immediately think), a new Cloneblade (quite the vicious one), more of Riko’s excellent cooking, and a handful of other events I won’t mention so as not to spoil the suspense. The demonstrations of Riko’s responsibility and Masa(mu)ne’s complete irresponsibility continue, only this time around Masane is forced to come to terms with exactly how irresponsible she has been with regards to her daughter, and how ineffectual she would be without her. Suffice it to say, things are heating up in the world of Witchblade.

Either Witchblade has found its niche, or I have finally adjusted to what the show really is: a domestic drama set in a world with supernatural superheroes and cyborgs. As with the previous discs, the character drama takes center stage, with only two brief action sequences out of the four episodes. But this time around the spread of the two seems more natural. Now that the characters have been fully fleshed out, the situations they find themselves in (even the absurd ones) are allowed fluid and believable executions. In fact, by and large the scenes of domestic drama prove more interesting than the scenes of clichéd super-heroics and related posturing you would find in other tales. There’s a fair amount of comedy, while Masane and Riko’s relationship is allowed some moments of genuine tenderness.

That said, the action sequences that do come up are pretty cool. Those found on this disc are the most cinematically minded yet, looking like illustrations of actual action film sequences, and the third cloneblade altercation has to be the most grueling, dangerous, and hyper-sexualized of Witchblade’s fights yet depicted. Furthermore, the somewhat lame X-Cons continue to take more of a backstage to the impressive cloneblades, but when they do come up they are allowed a more Kikkaider-villian type presence than their previous buffoonery.

As for the costume criticisms, I’m done with that. Having now seen some of the panels from the original comic, I realize that the Japanese Witchblade costume is perfectly in line with the original American design — and quite possibly a bit more conservative. Sure, the chestnut breasts and bubble butts weren’t as overtly stylized, but I think these are actually an improvement over the original design, allowing Witchblade at the very least a more feminine look over her hard faced porn-starlet counterpart.

So, in closing, it’s been a bit of a wait, but with this third volume I can say with confidence that I’m definitely enjoying Witchblade.

The DVD

All notes from the previous reviews of Funimation’s Witchblade discs apply here as well. The packaging is amazing, with the silvery outer sleeve featuring artwork by Keu Cha this go around, and the inner amray sleeve featuring Nora’s cloneblade form.

This go round the extras feature “The Witchblade Forged – Part 1”, a documentary on the formation of Image comics and the creation of Witchblade, and an interview with Rikiya Koyama, the voice of Reiji Takayama. The former is very informative, if a bit odd (everyone is filmed with shadows covering half their faces), while the latter is yet another pleasant interview with a self effacing voice actor. Also included are the usual textless openings/closings, and a mountain of trailers, including ones for Love and Honor, Beck, Hell Girl, and Mushi-shi.

Also included is the usual Interview/Character artwork insert, this time featuring an interview with character designer Makoto Uno and drawings for Nora, Wado, Furumizu, and Masane’s various dresses in the dinner episode. The Makoto Uno interview is actually pretty interesting, as he explains the creative process and guidelines for making Masane’s character (He says “We added a devilish element to the physical beauty of women and animated them with particular attention to the breasts and butt.”), a few easter eggs (ie: the cloneblade victims are female staff members) and upcoming episodes (note to collectors: Episode 16 is the obligatory “hot springs” episode).

All in all, a cool disc, and the best set of Witchblade episodes yet. If you’re at all interested in the series, this disc provides enough of a reason to start picking them up.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been an off and on anime fan since the days of Streamline Pictures. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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