Product Details

• Actors: Witchblade
• Directors: Yoshimitsu Ohashi
• Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation
• DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000TSMOFM
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,895 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

• This is item 1 in The Witchblade (anime) Series.

Editorial Reviews

Review
Play Magazine
By Dave Halverson

Score: 9.5 out of 10

Plus: Surprisingly rich and well developed storyline; beautiful production, first-rate English-speaking cast, sexy as all hell

Minus: I'll get back to you on that...or not.

Review:

Be witched

Intrigued (to put it lightly) by GONZO's Witchblade character designs, the actual finished anime insn't at all what I expected. What I expected was a somewhat religious take on the US comic/TV property about a female cop who becomes the Witchblade (Yancy Butler flashbacks be damed!), but what I got was a thoroughly Japanese interpretation, or so it would seem.

Masane Amaha is a mother on the run, found at the epicenter of a devastating earthquake that changed the face of Japan; she's worn out her welcome at the local homeless shelter and decided to go it on her own, which doesn't sit well with the totalitarian Child Welfare Agency, concerned for the safety of her young daughter, who also happens to wear the pants in the family. The strong-willed and wise beyond her years little girl soon finds herself in protective custody, and her mother behind bars. The only thing that can save them is the Witchblade, which chose her as its host on that fateful day in the eye of the storm.

The struggle at the center of Witchblade is a very human one between mother and daughter, the adoptive family we come to know around them, and the mega-maniacal corporations that will stop at nothing to control the Witchblade's omnipotent power. It's anything but a corny comic book scenario. It has real heart, and real choices...and ok, mega fan service in between. When Masane becomes the Witchblade her ample breasts swell to epic proportion, she's prone to licking things constantly, and her nether region gives new meaning to the axiom crotch shot. A small price to pay for one of the most beautifully produced news anime series of the year, or perhaps the decade for that matter. These East-meets-West ventures seem to be the way forward for anime to truly blossom in the US. --Play Magazine

Product Description
To Kill, To Live, To Love, To Die...

The destiny of the Witchblade continues...

Based on the popular comic book by Top Cow Productions.

Masane Amaha is a woman on the fringe of society, but her strange destiny was written ages past. She has been chosen from the anonymous depths of history, a fresh host for the coveted artifact known as the Witchblade.

The raw power of conquering armies courses through her veins, the taste of death sweet on her lips. Naked aggression with brutal birth in the fires of eternal lust for battle.

Struggling to build a life her daughter, with no memory of the past and no clue as to her future, Masane Amaha will be forever scarred by her salvation...

And many will step forward to see it.

DVD Covers Featuring Top Cow Productions Artists
Volume 1 DVD Art by Mike Choi

DVD Extras:
-A Tour of Top Cow Studios with Marc Silvestri
-Japanese Cast Interview - Voice of Masane Amaha (Mamiko Noto)
-Promotional Video
-Textless Songs (Opening: XTC, Closing: Ashitano-te)
-Easter Egg (can you find it?)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very promising beginning!, October 1, 2007

By	Monty Moonlight (TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

(What's this?)

On the run from the Child Welfare Department that wants to take her 6-year-old daughter away from her, jobless and homeless Masane Amaha has come to Tokyo for a new start. Masane is a beautiful young woman with a tragic past. She remembers nothing of her life before a destructive earthquake hit six years earlier. When the Child Welfare Dept. catches up to her once again, she makes one final, desperate act to keep little Rihoko and lands herself in prison. While there, a confrontation with a local murderer that is more than what he appears brings out a hidden power in Masane. She has been endowed with the Witchblade, an ancient, living weapon that attaches itself to select women throughout the ages, turning them into savage warriors to satisfy its lust for violence and blood. As Masane's battle in prison allows for her escape, her clever daughter Rihoko pulls off an escape of her own with the help of a photographer with journalistic ambitions. Rihoko eventually makes her way to her mother's secret meeting place, but will Masane make it there too? She'll first have to work out an arrangement with a mysterious company that wants control of the Witchblade and whoever possesses its power.

"Witchblade" Volume 1 gives us the first 4 episodes of what seems to be an excellent 2006 Japanese animated series (Anime) based on the successful American "Top Cow" comic book series. No doubt, this animated series will get mixed responses from fans of the comics and the short-lived live-action TV series starring Yancy Butler from 2001. The reason for this, besides the fact that not everyone appreciates Anime, is that it has nothing to do with Sara Pezzini or any other Witchblade characters established in the United States. While it is my understanding that this Anime series IS considered canon, the characters and story are completely new and completely Japanese. But so what? The art is top notch for Anime, and this is coming from someone who is far more into American animation. The characters and story are engaging, and there's plenty of the traditional Anime violence and sex appeal too. While the show, thus far, doesn't have the overall darkness and grit one sees in the Top Cow comics, it's certainly not bubbly, cutesy Anime. This is definitely for the grown ups, and, after all, these are only the first four episodes. They have their sweet and colorful Ghibli-type moments, but they have their darkness too. Anime fans in general would probably love this, and for those who are less familiar with the genre, perhaps you have seen an American show called "Gargoyles?" If you enjoyed that show (probably the finest American animated series ever), you'll probably get some enjoyment out of this too.

With only the first four episodes, the Volume One DVD certainly leaves one wanting more. The episodes included are: The Beginning, Bewilderment, Defiance, and Movement. There are some nice extras included as well. The best is probably the fun tour of Top Cow Studios in Hollywood, led by owner Marc Silvestri. There's also a nice interview with lovely voice actress Mamiko Noto, who voices Masane in the original Japanese language. Yes, the DVD includes the original Japanese language, English subtitles, and English language versions. And, yes, there are differences between the Japanese and English language versions of Anime, so it's best to watch them both. One wants to see the more accurate text translations, but it's easier to enjoy the visuals fully when you don't have to try to keep up with reading the dialogue. The bonus features also include several Anime DVD trailers, video versions of the opening and closing songs, and a promotional video. The DVD is packaged with one of those cool, silvery slip covers that look great until you touch them and get your nasty fingerprints all over them. It's also the "opens like a book" kind. Plus, inside are two booklets. Okay, one is a little catalog. The other is an actual bonus. It's a booklet featuring production art and a great interview with the director, Yoshimitsu Ohashi. I highly recommend this DVD for fans of Anime, of Witchblade, of animation and comics in general, or just someone looking for a more adult kind of animated program. I'll be looking forward to future volumes!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WHA'HAPPEN?, March 7, 2008

By	Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

It is said, by Westerners who have lived and worked there, that Japanese culture and society are so foreign to ours that most of us can't even comprehend the differences, nevermind their causes and effects. Perhaps the one popular medium where we get some feel for the divergence is the increasingly popular Japanese anime market. Even the most accessible films--the Ghibli Studio stuff or an adaptation of classic American animation, like Little Nemo--have aspects, subplots or even large swathes of narrative that are basically incomprehensible. Take a great family film like Kiki's Delivery Service: it's not only impossible to tell where or when the story is taking place but so much of the underlying mythos is left unexplained that each step of the plot is surprising, if only because it seems so odd.

This adaptation of the American comic book Witchblade is kind of like a Miyazaki film in ways both bad and good. On the plus side, the animation is terrific, pretty nearly Disney worthy, making it easy to watch. The voice work and translation is good too, so the extent anything makes sense we can follow it, which isn't always the case with Asian imports. This is a high quality art work.

The setting is the typical -- for anime -- post-apocalyptic world of big corporations and dubious government agencies combined with supernatural/metaphysical weirdness that beggars comprehension. A young woman who has survived whatever destruction is supposed to have occurred came out of the blast with a child and, at opportune moments, the titular witchblade, a metallic prosthetic hand which appears as she changes into some kind of magical being. Well-endowed to begin with, she loses a significant amount of clothing in the transition and becomes an erotic killing machine.

It all makes for great-looking eye candy, but the literary merits are debatable and it's hard to be either profound or emotionally-moving when you're challenging the viewer just to try and figure out what's going on.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A quality expansion on the Witchblade storyline in Anime form, November 14, 2007

By	NecroComicon (The Inn at Innsmouth) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

The seperate Witchblade storyline that starts in this series is surprisingly well written and engaging despite being a bit removed from its source material. The mother and daughter team that are thrown into a War with the powers that be is the stuff that any good anime is made of, the artwork is above average and the animation could be a little more fluid but it is standard for this genre. I would have loved an animated adaptation of the original Witchblade comic series done in a more lush fashion but this is an excellent substitute and could prove popular with non anime fans if they ever gave it a shot. The DVD is nicely packaged in a platinum slip case and their are a couple of worthy extras M. Choi's cover art looks killer and the interview with Silverstri is intersting for fans. Original language options are nice for those who prefer subtitles although the english voice work is above average. This disc is the first four episodes and clocks in at roughly 99 mins.