Witchblade - Reviews

Warning... there may be a few minor spoilers in my review, if I just can't help myself. But I won't spoil anything substantial. I'm also going to assume that people have at least read the plot synopsis and are familiar with the gist of the series. 

Witchblade was one of the first anime series that I watched in full, and it was one of the reasons that I have since become more involved in anime as a hobby. Witchblade has its flaws, and I know that a lot of people seem to dislike the studio (Gonzo) and disdain anything to do with fanservice, but as a noobie I'm completely oblivious to that stuff. There is some fanservice, although no outright nudity, so if that bothers you, then this probably isn't the series for you.

STORY - 8/10

Witchblade has some fairly major plot holes. And it leaves a lot of questions unanswered - mostly to do with the history of the Witchblade, and the two major organizations that are fighting over its control. There is literally a scene where one of the characters states that he won't bore Masane with the history of the Witchblade, but as a viewer I very much wanted to be bored with that history. There are also a number of battle scenes that often seem more like filler than anything else. And there is, of course, an obligatory "Let's go to the beach" episode so that we can see Masane in a bikini (not that it's any more revealing than her Witchblade transformation), but that doesn't really further the story much. And, lastly, there's a lot of weird stuff going on with the NSWF organization that seems very forced - as though it only exists to try and give Masane and Doji Corporation an enemy. That plot just feels detached and like it doesn't really belong.

But all of that aside, Witchblade essentially boils down to being the story of a mother and her daughter. The core of the show is that relationship, and everything else is peripheral and serves only to influence that core relationship. And from that sense, Witchblade does a fantastic job. They really hammer home the love that is shared between Masane and her daugher, Rihoko. And because that relationship is so well-executed, I can forgive some of those previously-mentioned flaws. The relationship just feels so naturally genuine, that I was emotionally moved when the series took a turn for the serious over the last 3-4 episodes. Coming into Witchblade, I was just expecting a fun action romp, and instead I felt a real connection to the two main characters.

ANIMATION - 7.5/10

I've come to expect a high level of quality presentation-wise from anything that is put out in English by Funimation. I know that some people might question the content of their publishing choices, but I don't think anyone can deny that their series always look very polished. That said, the series is about 7 years old, and a lot of the newer Funimation series look a bit better. But I think I can definitely say that Witchblade is a visually attractive series. 

My only big qualm was that the battle scenes seemed a little lacking in their animation. They were often short, which I know is partly to emphasise the power of the participants (be it Masane as the Witchblade, or one of the neo-genes with their Clone Blades). A few fancy moves during the fight scenes would have upped this score a point or so. 

SOUND - 9.5/10

Continuing the notion that Funimation goes all out presentation-wise, I was greatly impressed by the voice acting in the series (I have yet to see a Funimation series that doesn't have excellent voice acting). I know that some people don't like dubbing, but I just can't figure that out. It's not the 1980's anymore, where dubbing was generally horrible. Voice acting is a big business these days in industries like video games and anime. If you don't understand Japanese, and you're just reading words off the bottom of the screen, then I think that you're missing out on a huge aspect of a show - being able to hear the tones and inflections of the characers goes a long way to adding depth to those characters that can't be conveyed in any other way. I don't think that I would have found the characters nearly as compelling without the strong voice acting.

Jamie Marchi was a perfect choice for Masane, and her voice just complements the character's personality so well - it added a whole other layer to the character. Most of the other voices weren't quite as perfect, but all were good. 

The score was solid, though not amazing. It was touching in the emotional portions, and it pumped me up in the action sequences, but I won't be rushing out to buy the soundtrack or anything.

CHARACTERS - 8/10

To me, Masane and Rihoko were extremely well done. And as they are the centre of the show, that accounts for the high score. Masane is forced into many difficult choices, and proves to be a strong, resilient woman. She has her character flaws, which gives her added depth, and every choice that she makes is weighed heavily on how it will impact Rihoko. In the first episode alone, she is forced through a series of difficult emotional choices, trying to balance what she wants against what is best for her daughter.

I'm often annoyed by child actors on many shows. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found Rihoko to be a charming, likeable young girl. The writers might be stretching believability a little with all of the things that Rihoko is able to do, and the emotional choices that she herself is able to make, at the age of six years old. But they build up the character well enough that it works. 

Of the secondary characters, I felt that only Takayama and Tozawa were fleshed out sufficiently. Most of the others ended up just falling into cliche archetypes. I have no problem with cliche if it's well-executed, but there were just too many minor characters who didn't receive enough time to be anything but bland. I think that this is a result of the writers being overly ambitious, rather than simply lazy - they just wrote in so many minor characters that it would be impossible to give them all substantial attention without taking away from the main plot and relationships. 

OVERALL - 8/10

I readily admit that I may be bumping this rating up a small bit because of the nostalgic impact that it has for me. But I genuinely feel that this is an example of a show that has a very strong core, and a far less strong periphery. The primary flaw I see is that they just tried to cram too much into their 24 episodes. For example, once the Reina arc played out, I just didn't see why they had to keep pushing the NSWF storyline - Father was a boring character, and Maria (who essentially replaced Reina as the face of NSWF in the series) was even worse. The ending to that storyline felt forced and rushed.

But overall, if you enjoy strong character relationships, lots of action, and a fair bit of humour, then I would recommend this series. And I would definitely recommend watching the English dub. 

THE STAFF
- Animated by studio GONZO, which automatically means it’s going to suck.
- Directed by Oohashi Yoshimitsu, who has produced nothing but bullshit shows.
- Based on a western comic book character by Top Cow Productions.

SPECIFICS
This show starts in a bit different way than the usual butt-kicking chicks with superpowers. The lead woman is actually a mother and does not turn into some tsundere that loses her mind over some indecisive lead. She is also fighting to get her daughter back from some evil organization that wants to get her superpowers. Great premise so far. What else is there?

Nothing; that is all you get hereafter because this is a GONZO anime. The story is simple and sluggish, with fan service and braindead action in each episode just to fill the duration of the show with anything other than a plot. But it is much worse than that as not even the filler time (fan service and braindead action) is that good to keep you interested. Not extreme, not abundant, not with great production values. Half of it is boob gags without ever showing too much nude.

As for its useful duration (the scenes with her daughter and the scheming organization) all that felt like they could fit in a nice 90 minute action / drama movie. Scattering all that in a full season show eventually watered down the importance of it. They even threw in some poorly written plot-twists in an attempt to keep you interested (the amnesia routine and her daughter not exactly being simply that) but even those are not enough to cover for the rest of the almost 90% useless duration.

Going back to the idea of a movie, the whole series is like watching the first DBZ movie. You know, the one called Dead Zone? The one where the hero’s child gets kidnapped by villains, and off he goes to save it? Well as boring as that movie was in overall, it still had more dense plot and action than the whole Witchblade anime altogether. The production values are of course better and there are lots of huge boobs giggling in front of you but that is nothing but fireworks above a sewer. Plus the heroine is practically the average shonen superhero, albeit with huge boobs. And the villains are just stock material cardboards, most of which aren’t even threatening or that powerful. Yes, it was that bad.

I do not recommend this anime to anyone. Just like most GONZO productions, it is nothing but fluff that has nothing interesting to offer in the long run.

And now for some excused scorings.

ART SECTION: 5/10
Analysis: General Artwork 1/2, Character Figures 1/2, Backgrounds 1/2, Animation 1/2, Visual Effects 1/2

SOUND SECTION: 6/10
Analysis: Voice Acting 2/3, Music Themes 2/4, Sound Effects 2/3

STORY SECTION: 4/10
Analysis: Premise 1/2, Pacing 1/2, Complexity 1/2, Plausibility 0/2, Conclusion 1/2

CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10
Analysis: Presence 1/2, Personality 1/2, Backdrop 1/2, Development 0/2, Catharsis 1/2

VALUE SECTION: 1/10
Analysis: Historical Value 0/3, Rewatchability 0/3, Memorability 1/4

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Analysis: Art 0/1, Sound 0/2, Story 0/3, Characters 1/4

VERDICT: 3.5/10

Witchblade, based on an American comic of the same name is, to summarize its premise, about some weird bracelet thing that doesnt come off, gives the wearer a lot of power, makes people attracted to that power, and slowly kills the wearer.

However, interestingly enough, the story is not actually based on revealing on the sci-fi portion of the premise at all but on the characters instead, namely Aname and her daughter Rihoko. In that way, the story progress into a much more indearing type of series rather that action, ecchi, or sci-fi about a mother working to protect her daughter. While the Witchblade still plays an important role in advancing the plot with its numerous related futuristic plot elements, it is not the prime focus.

The anime is pretty good and the ecchi in my opinion is well received; it has low significance but doesnt take away from the anime unless you are the type to judge stories based on things like that (which is strange but whatever floats your boat). 

The openings and ending suck and the music is fairly bland.

This anime is pretty shounen due to its art style but it should be interesting for everyone.

8/10

Oh god… alright… this one is well… I see it as another one of those ‘Queen’s Blade’ style shows. It’s got tones of Fanservice, almost little story, and just overall was made as a thing to show powerful almost naked woman fighting. It’s not all that bad I guess in that it’s not as boring as Queen’s Blade and they actually tried to give the characters some depth but when the main characters breasts are so big that they flop no matter how she moves; it just throws me from the show.

This is based off of an American comic book character and if you look at the two versions side by side, I would probably say this one is the more conservative of the two. As I never read the Witchblade series, I can’t say anything about storyline but what I have heard is that this one is only very loosely based on the original. All I do know though is that there is a lot of sexual things in this, especially when it comes right down to the fighting because it seems that all the ‘Witchblade’ characters get turned on by fighting one another. It makes for great fan service but not for a storyline that is supposed to be serious. The humor also breaks the seriousness of the show although in some parts, I guess it is needed. There are very adult things that they talk about like being a single mother and trying to keep her child while everyone around her is trying to break them apart. I really feel they push it a little too much though as it always seems like no one believes at all that Masane can be a mother. It’s like they don’t even give her a chance to be one.

The main storyline about the witchblade was nothing but holes in it as they explained little to no info about what was going on. They would lead you in one direction and then into another like they were jerking your collar so much you were having whiplash. Half way through; they added a whole new thing into it they were not even hinting at that just felt plastered in as well. I do have to say the ending was a bit tearful but it in my mind, it was not worth going threw the rest of the show.

The animation is nicely put together, very clean cut and loveable designs though the background is a little lacking in detail although better for Gonzo. Gonzo is a strange studio, they either win or don’t. This one… well for the animation, it might be one of his better ones in there pocket. Another thing I hate is the large amount of fan service in the act of large breasted women that their breasts go everywhere. Breasts do not move how their breasts move unless they are full of water and probably about to explode from being inflated that much. The fighting scenes which seem to make up most of the shows is not all that well done, I almost have to say it is a bit like any fighting show where clothing is torn off. Even though her clothing doesn’t fly off, it’s really more of a fan service to show her butt and breasts every chance they get. Not to mention the rather sexual ‘horniness’ that she gets while fighting. It’s like watching prono in that aspect without the male partner.

The voices now are a little odd. I’m not fond of Rihoko’s voice, being a bit whinny in my mind. Most of the voices do match the characters but even though they do, I wanted to cringe when I heard them. I think that the music was really good, perfect for the fight scenes though any other background sounded like a day in the life of the characters, just not that well done. The beginning and ended aren’t really very memorable though the opening is a little better then the ending.

It’s an ok show to watch but I’m not sure why. The underlining plot is well done and the fan service is ok but other then that, well… I guess I’m fine with one time watching.

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This anime is so touvching and incredible.Truly an underrated masterpiece