Witchblade ...

Let's talk about BOTH iterations of "Witchblade" that I came across. Why ? Well, because.
Each of them is its own creature despite some common points and the facts that the anime is a potential future of the comic. And I can sum it up this way : the comic (namely Marz's run) has great build-up but little pay-off , the anime however has some pacing issue but a great pay-off. (Logical, some might say !)


What is the Witchblade ? Well, he is a SENTIENT LIVING THING. Note that I use the term "he" (because while Witchblade is refered to as an it ,it is in fact a HE. It is kind of like the reverse thing for Cell who is called a "he" while is really an IT.).He has existed since the dawn of man (stated in every intro) and grants powers and protection for his host. The host is almost always a woman he selects and if he deems a bearer unworthy , the separation comes with a rather heavy price (he is a bloodthirsty bastard after all.).

What in the absolute hell is Witchblade doing on here? So it had fanservice. A lot of anime does. The source material did, even.


COMICS VERSION

Basically the adventures of Sara Pezzini in a world of weird as fuck supernatural occurrences , bloody crimes and phantasmagoric creatures. How fluid can such a premise be ?

+ Sara Pezzini is a good character. She is one of those action-types done right: while we do get to see her kick ass and take names against the horror of the day,Marz makes her go through  the full line of emotions.
+ Danielle Baptiste is the newly introduced character in Marz's run and she definitely works as a POV character, especially for a new reader like me (while it seems a bit sudden that Sara hands her the Witchblade, I'd argue that it'd be more irresponsible to bear the damn thing while beng pregnant .). Plus her interactions with Sara mak for a pretty good read.
+The pacing is excellent and it is a rather quick read; each issue made me want to read the next.
+ The art is great. I appreciated Mike Choi's work (despite not liking his rendition of Mr Sinister in an X-men book...), but the best of the bunch remains Stjepan Sejic. It just made the book !
+ For the most part , individual issues are pretty good on their own.

- As I said, the build-up and individual issues were great but "War of the Witchblades" ended on such a predictable note...(I guess Spawn spoiled me in that part.)
- I fucking hate the whole Cross-overs with other titles (especially whenever I cannot complete a storyline...)
- Sara's boyfriend and cop partner Detective Gleason is so fucking by-the-numbers and bland that he makes the Joker's goons in the 60's Batman show distinctive and specfic by comparison.
- The whole Aphrodite IV part was weird ! I can fault my lack of familiarity with the setting but it came out rather sporadically ..


ANIME VERSION


Set in Tokyo six years after a catastrophic earthquake, Masane Amaha returns to the city with her responsible six-year-old daughter Rihoko. Masane here is the "wielder" of the mystical Witchblade (NOTE the brackets !) which will interest the Douji organization who will hire Masane to work for them. As a result, Masane,will keep her job secret from her daughter to protect her. Though it won't be easy ...


Where to start ? First off , I really like this anime. It was an excellent surprise and another proof that one should not judge anything by its cover. It is , I have to add , sort of a possible future to the comics story (understandable since the Witchblade , much like Ryuk, is still an asshole !)

+ Masane is a completely different kind of badass from Sara both as a person and a wielder of the blade. And it frigging works to the show's and her advantage !
+ Rihoko ,while responsible, is STILL a kid with the need for affection that a child requires (Remember THIS detail !)
+ You're bothered with fanservice ? I can change your perspective on that . Remember that the Witchblade is ALIVE. And that he uses Masane as a temporary host rather than an actual chosen one (like Sara or Danielle). And that he's an irremeedable murderous artefact. If you know how to look beyond appearances then in this anime, THIS janusaureus.files.wordpress.co… is actually  equal to THIS www.toonpool.com/user/3153/fil… . That conclusion made the latter (and best) part of the show hard to watch for me... but I've said too much
+ The supporting cast ranks from decent to great. My favorites being Reiji Takayama and the photographer Tozawa Yusuke since the both had more nuances than the rest of the cast.
+ The X-cons are decent threats (with a gloomy orign ! My favorite is the one who gets to talk with Rihoko in his human disguise... that bastard could have snapped at any time !)
+ The ending... No, the last 4 episodes are just splendid.

- The build-up or rather the pacing tends to be slow at times, which makes me wonder if the anume would have benefitted more by having less episodes . Some were rather unneeded.
- Only Maria needed to be the cloneblade, the others felt sort of superfluous...
- Furumizu was disposed of a bit too quickly. He seemed rather interesting as an antagonist.


There you go ! Any questions ?