Witchblade Vol. #3 (of 6)

By: Bryan Morton
Review Date: Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Release Date: Monday, June 09, 2008



What They Say
Shocking revelations threaten to undo Masane and every soul that surrounds her in this desperate age of fear and lust. The horrible X-Cons prove unthinkable abominations, and even Reina begins to question the blind passions of the past. Masane's own relationship with Rihoko grows shakier with each gasp of air into her new warrior lungs.

Mother and daughter sleep separated tonight, alone and disoriented in the frenzy surrounding their new lives. Amidst the threats to sanity and life and limb, friendship will prove a rare and valuable thing. As men move through the shadows to shape the world, an unquiet moon reflects the face of a mother lost.

Episodes Comprise
9 - Sadness
10 - Interaction
11 - Danger
12 - Prisoner


The Review!
The more she fights, the more Masane begins to learn about the unsavoury goings-on of her employers - but with the care of Rihoko being her main concern, she's having to put her other concerns behind her. But even after surviving a number of attacks that would have killed anyone else, she's about to face the greatest shock of all...

Audio:
Audio is provided in Japanese 2.0 and English 5.1 versions - I listened to the Japanese track for this review. Sound is clan and clear, with some good use of direction and a decent amount of oomph in the action scenes. There were no apparent problems.

Video:
Video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format, and as you'd expect from most things GONZO a lot of effort seems to have been spent on making it look good - from character designs to backgrounds, the look & feel of the show is just right. Fortunately, the transfer does justice to that effort, with very little in the way of visible encoding problems.

Packaging:
No packaging was provided with our review copy.

Menu:
The main screen features an image of one of the Cloneblades draped across the screen, with the various options on a banner running across them and a series of clips from the show playing in the background (although they're so heavily obscured by the menu art you'll have a hard time making them out). Options are provided for Play All, Episodes, Setup & Extras. There are no transition animations, so it's all quick and easy enough to use.

Extras:
Along with the usual creditless versions of the opening and closing sequences, there's the first part of a live-action feature looking at the creation of the original comic, The Witchblade Forged, and an interview with the Japanese VA for Reiji Takayama (Masane's boss).


Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
Another night, another X-Con killing - that's three nights in a row, and with the police still clueless about the truth behind the killings they're really getting worried. It's the sort of job that Masane should really be dealing with - except she's spending most of her time in the apartment bed, blind drunk. Yusuke eventually manages to pull her to one side and talk some sense into her and get her to look into the killings - and along with some evidence he's been able to gather himself, they're soon on the trail. Riko, meanwhile, is about to find that her usual friendliness could be her undoing.

Later, Masane has some difficult questions for her boss after learning that the X-Cons are human - she's had facts held from her, and know she want to know the truth. They're human all right, but dead humans - people who agreed to become part of the program before their deaths, or whose families gave permission - and being integrated into Douji Group's weapons makes them more powerful than any conventional weapon. Powerful enough to be a deterrent - and that's a good thing, surely? The price for learning that truth could well be considered a fate worse than death - an evening out with the boss, who's having to diplomatically keep a rival in his place...

The biggest surprise of this volume comes from the Rihoko side of the story - with her daughter being the only thing that really keeps her on the straight-and-narrow, anything that comes between Masane and Riko can only spell trouble, but that's what we get at the end of the disc when their relationship looks set to be turned on its head, through no fault of Masane's. Without giving away the details, it's a biggie and the one point of the disc that really caught me unawares.

Most of this volume, though, is about Masane, and her scenes are fairly equally split between her having to deal with the twin threats of X-Cons and the Cloneblades, and with the relationship that seems to be beginning to spark into life between her and Takayama. Her night out at a formal event with her boss is simply a recipe for disaster (did Takayama really expect her to behave herself?), but there's some fun to be had from seeing just how out-of-hand she can get - and from seeing Takayama dealing with Wadou's suggested method of evening the score.

There's more serious stuff as well, as the rivalry between Douji Group and NSWF over the Witchblade technology steps up a gear. As well as the inevitable battles that this produces - and let's be honest, that's the show's main draw at the end of the day - there are some good snippets of background information given out, along with the introduction of spoilt brat Maria. She's the "pet" of NSWF's leader - even without being fitted with a Cloneblade she's deadly, but she seems to have the petulance of a five-year-old - along with a lack of respect for life that looks set to see her become a real rival for Masane. The two haven't met yet, but I'd bet on there being some serious fireworks when they do.

The mix of storylines is handled really well, with the pacing being spot on - even sitting through all four episodes in one sitting, I never got bored or found the story tricky to follow. Witchblade has managed to strike the sweet spot where there's enough story that you can't just call it an action series, but not so much that you need to think too much to take it all in - it's just fun to watch, which is all you could want from a series.

In summary:
This volume of Witchblade has several different strands to it - some serious, some less so - and manages to juggle them all to good effect. The end result is a very enjoyable batch of episodes that won't tax the brain, while there are enough surprises thrown in to keep you wanting more. Well worth a look.

Features
Japanese Language 2.0,English Language 5.1,English Subtitles,The Witchblade Forged, Part I,Japanese Cast Interview - Voice of Reiji Takayama,Textless Songs

Review Equipment
Toshiba 37X3030DB 37" widescreen HDTV; Sony PS3 Blu-ray player (via HDMI, upscaled to 1080p); Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.