Overview

Masane Amaha has problems - as hard as she tries, she can't seem to get her life right. On her own, it wouldn't be so bad, but Amaha has her daughter, Rihoko, to worry about too. The problem with that is that they live in a world in which children are incredibly rare, and the Child Welfare Agency has the government granted right to take children away for the least hint of cause. So when Amaha steals a Police Car after a moment of weakness in which she signs Rihoko over to the CWA in the belief that she'd be better off, you'd better believe that her problems are just beginning. Readers of the the Witchblade comic series should be interested to see the events that follow, as Witchblade is only just starting to get into gear.

Review

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting too much going into the first episode of Witchblade, because the little art that I'd seen made it look like the series wasn't going to be much more than fan service material. Still, I wanted to take a look as I've always liked what I've seen of the comics, and thought that an anime version could be an interesting take on the story. While I'd normally start with the story, I'm going to comment on the artwork first here, as the art is both the series strong and weak points.

In terms of animation, Witchblade is top notch. The motion is fluid and compelling, the action sequences smooth and well choreographed. I've been impressed, thus far, with the impressive effort that has apparently gone into the design of the Tokyo that the story takes place in, as it is suitably crowded and showing the destruction of the massive earthquake that predates the beginning of the series and looks to play a pivotal role in the events to follow. While the CG animation could have used a little more cleanup, on the whole, it's very good.

What hasn't managed to impress me, thus far, is the character design. In fact, it's fair to say that it has at times been outright disappointing. After the time that's been spent on the city and setting, I'd have expected considerably better of the characters, yet not only do they fall into cliche designs, some characters - Amaha in particular - seem to rely on their remarkably over sized breasts to distract you from how shoddy a job was done. It's not that the characters aren't appealing - Amaha definitely qualifies as a MILF, don't get me wrong - but I'd have liked to see more original looking characters than what we've gotten so far.

That having been said, I'll get back to my normal track. Like I mentioned in the overview, the main character, Masane Amaha, has problems. The biggest is that she and her then baby daughter somehow managed to survive the world's most devastating earthquake - at ground zero. In doing so, she lost her memory - in fact, the only way that they knew the baby was her daughter was that she happened to have the papers to prove it on her when found. The present finds Amaha and Rihoko riding a boat into Tokyo, looking to start a new life out for themselves. It doesn't take long for trouble to catch up to them, of course, as the Child Welfare Agency, a government backed group created to protect the few remaining children in the world after the Great Quake, quickly tracks them down.

I won't go into detail on what happens afterwards, only say that once the story gets going, Witchblade doesn't really slow down. Things keep going at a nicely hectic pace without being completely out of control, something not all that easy in a series designed around its multilayered mysteries. Something to keep in mind about the series is that, while only four episodes in, there's already as many characters as the average anime. While the plot thus far has focused mainly on Amaha and Rihoko's trials and tribulations, there's already hints that there are considerably more characters to come, something to be expected given the depth of the comic series that it's based on.

The music is nicely well paced within the series. Each episode begins with a brief retelling of the Witchblade legend as it is in the anime, followed by a suitably energetic and ultimately forgettable opening theme. You can't fault the writers for trying, and it's not that the opening isn't good - it's just doesn't have what it takes to stand out in what has been a particularly good crop of themes the last couple months. The voice acting sounds pretty good, and the VA's seem to be having fun with their characters. Of special note is Rihoko's actress, who has thus far impressed me with her ability to cover the range of a particularly energetic eight-year old character.

Overall

Witchblade won't be for everybody, so let me say that right out. Four episodes in, and it's painfully easy to understand why a lot of people have nick-named the series 'Milf-blade.' Amaha is young, and she's got a pair of breasts that'd make the DoA girls jealous. That fact is only reinforced with Amaha shifts into her Witchblade persona. Still, the story thus far has proved to be building into a strong foundation, and despite the simplicity of the character designs, the animation is excellent and the setting is great. That having been said, the series is in danger of trying to do too much at once. While I enjoy multiple sub-plots in a story, Witchblade is at the edge of having too many to be able to keep track of. Removing any ONE of the sub-stories would be a step in the right direction - my personal choice would be the CWA subplot. Still, Witchblade is worth taking a look, and the rumors as of this writing are that it's being prepped for an Adult Swim showing later this year.