You might want to catch up with my reviews of Witchblade, Volumes One and Two before reading my review of Volume Three!
Things get interesting as Masane proves she is dumber than a pile of rocks and the series finally takes a cold shower…
plot summary
Masane has tentatively teamed up with her neighbor and freelance journalist, Tozawa. Tozawa wants to exploit Masane and her work to turn both into a high-priced story, but he needs her help in doing so. Masane agrees to the deal; otherwise her daughter Rihoko would be exposed by Tozawa himself to her mother’s less than maternal doings.
The two scour the city for clues to the true nature of the I-Weapons. Masane eventually discovers the truth behind the weapons, and is disgusted by it and the Douji Group who manufactures them. She continues to work for her employer, however, despite her misgivings about the company.
I Weapons aren’t the only problem ahead of Masane; Cloneblade attacks are becoming more serious. The NSWF has been working on the Cloneblades ever since the Quake six years ago. But in order to truly perfect their work, they need the original Witchblade, and its host, to copy their ideas from.
Masane’s strength and will are severely tested again as the fight for possession of the Witchblade grows more violent.
review
This volume was more interesting than previous volumes. There’s some noteworthy additions in the way of a young, psychotic Cloneblade; a sympathetic (but short-lived) character; a look into Reiji Takayama’s past and personality; character development for Lady; and much more.
However, Masane is actually stupider in this volume than in any other. She’s louder, more sodden, more obnoxious, dumber, more uncouth, less diplomatic, and relies solely on brute force in her Witchblade incarnation. In short, Masane is a frat boy with boobs; gigantic mega-boobs.
She’s so stupid, I shudder when she opens her mouth. Her belligerent manner is irritating, and one would almost think she traded in all her chances at intelligence when she was endowed with her megalith breasts. And to top it off, she’s paired up with Tozawa; someone almost as dumb as she is.
This guy is supposed to be an investigative freelance journalist but has zero street smarts. Not only that, he has no morals and is one step above pond scum. Together, Masane and Tozawa are this melange of stupidity, lawlessness, and violence. Whenever either one of them talk, what they say is bound to be something stupid or selfish.
The other developments in the series have given Witchblade more depth, if not improved it. One improvement, though, was the absence of Masane’s over-excitement whenever she fights. The fight scenes in Volume Three were toned waaayyyy down and had actual choreography. This is a massive change from the first two volumes, in which the fights were very sexually charged, needlessly so. Minus these distractions made watching Witchblade less obnoxious, but still didn’t make up for Masane or the slow plot development.
However, there’s finally signs of plot progress! After three volumes, Witchblade has direction and if it sticks with it, the series might have a chance of being decent if not good.
Production
The DVD cover for Witchblade, Volume Three is done by artist Keu Cha. To date, it is the most vibrant and intense execution of Makoto Uno’s original character designs for the series. If Keu Cha had designed the anime, I think it would have looked far better than the hokey way it does now.
Witchblade Volume Three, has improved a bit by reshuffling the focus of the anime from Masane’s boobs to the story of the Witchblade. It finally has the feel as if someone is helming this series and may actually steer it towards a decent plot and story. Maybe Witchblade can be salvaged, at least a little instead of being the waste of time it’s been the past two volumes.
Rating
Witchblade, Volume Three gets 2 outtta 4 Hammies
That above screencap is terrible, reprehensible even. *cough* I’m going to have to take a closer look just to see how bad it is.
Seriously though, I’ve not seen this one yet, but if the story is finding more direction as you say, I think I will be pretty happy. I’ve been more lenient on the series than you so far, but I’ll be sure to post again once I see it.
Good stuff as always, Rachel.
@Chris, yes it is terrible ~^. I carefully comb through each volume to bring you images which best exemplify an anime. Mission accomplished, yes? Or do you need more “proof”?
There is more development, but getting past Masane’s massive stupidity and bluster is proving to be as much work as sitting through the fight scenes of Vols. 1-2. Doesn’t this anime want to succeed?
No need for more at the moment. I just received my review copy last night. I watched the first episode on the disc, and yah, Masa(mu)ne’s drinking antics are getting more annoying, but I’m finding her daughter’s storyline to be increasingly interesting. I mean, the fact that she can quiet the raging X-Cons is pretty intriguing. But yah, verdict’s out until I see the remaining three (should be done in the next couple days). As for the watermelon boobies, to be honest, I was much more offended by the full on ecchi fan-service in the episode of Rosario + Vampire my friend sent me this week. Awesome animation, but the service is downright perverse.
Okay Rachel, I’ve seen the disc, and I’d have to say that the first picture is not exactly indicative of the entire set of episodes (though I was so tempted to use it as my screencap
). The review’s posted so you can take a look if you like. I see some of your points, but this one won me over.
@Chris N., This anime won you over? Huh, well Volume 4 had better be damn impressive for this series to rise up the two Hammie mark it’s been hovering at.
And whadda know, I just received Witchblade, Volume Four today. Somebody must hate me because I also received Glass Fleet, Volume Three. What’d I do, ye gods of anime? What?!!
“one would almost think she traded in all her chances at intelligence when she was endowed with her megalith breasts.”
It seems you’re implying that having huge breasts makes one stupid. It could be taken the wrong way. If in case you did mean it this way, I’ll say this: The belief that big breasted women are stupid is just a stereotype that’s totally false and demeaning. a person is intelligent or stupid, no matter what their body shape or size. I know some women with big breasts who are intelligent and women with small breasts who are not so intelligent. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
@Andy, you’re absolutely correct; this could be taken the wrong way. However, this statement applies only to Masane, in this particular instance, in this particular anime.
I don’t believe in any way shape or form that a person’s outward appearance in the real world is any indicator of their intelligence or moral character.
I do not pass judgment on actual women or men by the way they dress, comb their hair, or by their weight.
Interestingly enough in anime, that’s not always what the studio has in mind when they create characters. Since anime is such a visual medium, I’ve found studios often make their characters’ personalities and moral attributes match their physical appearance.
This isn’t always the case, there are exceptions, but in this anime, stereotypes rule, and there does exist in society that unfortunate stereotype of dumb, big boobed women. This is what that statement was based upon.