Witchblade, Vol. 6 anime review
Episodes: 21 – 24
Genre: ANIME, action, Animation, Asian, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Manga, supernatural,
Release Date: April 29, 2008
(If you haven’t already, please check out my previous reviews of the Witchblade Anime, volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
First off, I made a mistake. Looking at the number of discs in my Witchblade box set, and the amount of space available as of disc 5, I figured there would be two more volumes of the show. Not so. The extra gap was only intended to house the CD soundtrack that came with the set. Consequently, I think I let my expectations get set a little too high.
The previous disc of Witchblade saw a number of uninteresting time fillers, from scenes of uninspired kludgy romance between Masane and Takayama, to continued re-iteration of Rihoko’s cooking skills and other domestic explorations. If the series was getting ready to wind down, I surely wasn’t aware of it. But with this sixth disc, the show makes a rapid course correction, diving headlong into its dramatic conclusion. But therein lies the problem. The acceleration from dilly-dallying to dire consequence is so quick, the audience has little room to foster a sense of needed urgency. With the disc’s first episode, Masane discovers that her frequent use of the Witchblade is actually destroying her, and as her usage of the second Witchblade increases, the rate of destruction grows exponentially higher. Masane does her best to remove the Witchblade from her arm, but in a surprising turn of character, simply resolves herself to her fate. The subsequent episode shows Masane trying to explain the concept of heaven to Rihoko, while the final two set up the final Witchblade battle, which sees massive destruction across tokyo, and the final showdown between Masane and Maria. It’s all very splashy and very action packed, but sorely lacking in emotion or any concrete sense of consequence.
But again, this reaction probably had to do with my own expectations. I expected there to be more sordid twists in character relations, more scientific experimentation, more knock down drag-out fights – and while I got the latter, those altercations never went past the simple super-powered Witchblade smacking an opponent to death in a single blow. The Maria fight, while undoubtedly the best in the series, was still only 2-3 minutes in length, and fairly static in execution. It was more exciting than the rest, but ultimately only achieved the level I was hoping the series’ later, more dangerous fights would build towards – certainly not the level of a truly bombastic end fight. But then again, all chances for a fair, extended fight dissolved once Masane evolved into her second Witchblade form. I guess, when your superhero is the most super-powered entity on the block, there’s no room left for surprise.
This disc also sees the addition of one new enemy. Maria’s crew gets the welcome addition of Asagi, a sarcastic, cynical cloneblade who inevitably serves to test Maria’s patience. I would have actually liked to see more of this character than just in the final four episodes. In fact, she might have been cool to have included from Maria’s introduction. Oh well. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
All that said, this final outing of the Witchblade anime was far better than what I had expected going into the series. In fact, the sheer quality of the series throughout were what led to my too-high expectations. If the quality and intensity of the show kept going up, there was no reason to think it would do anything otherwise. But, as with any tale, the time does come to reign it in, and finish the story. And with that in mind, this final volume of the Witchblade Anime is completely satisfying. I had no idea that the Witchblade story would be as engaging as it turned out to be. Rather than a simple, cookie-cutter superhero tale, I got something that had real, fleshed out characters, with needs, hopes, and dreams, and whom I ultimately enjoyed tuning in to see for the majority of the show’s runtime. Just try to find that in Fantastic 4, or the vast majority of the other recent comic-book adaptations. If you’re still on the edge about starting this series, I’ll do my best to gently push you over it: this Witchblade is worth a look.
The DVD
Again, all my remarks regarding the previous Witchblade discs hold. This disc features an awesome slip-cover by Marc Silvestri, depicting Masane in her evolved Witchblade form. This cover is easily my favorite of all the ones so far. The inner amray sleeve depicts a very bubbly Masane (evolved form again), which undoubtedly will be a favorite on male anime fans’ dorm room walls.
The disc itself holds little in the way of extras, featuring only the final Japanese voice-actor interviews, clean opening and closing animations, and Funimation trailer gallery. Also included is the largest of the insert interview/artwork books, constituting a full 8 pages. Very nice.
All in all, a slick disc, and, despite its lack of a Top Cow documentary, one of the best in the series. If you’re at all interested, pick it up.
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