Witchblade - anime

A new series that started this month, I think. Apparently Gonzo have now made a 26 episode series based on the American TOP COW comics' title, simply entitled Witchblade.

Brief summary by ANN:

Quote:

Plot Summary: In 22nd-Century Japan, Police Officer Masane Amou becomes the latest in an ancient line of women-only warriors to wield the mysterious sentient weapon known only throughout history as "the Witchblade" in a fight against the forces of evil.

Okay......not that much information (pretty similar to the US version anyway....) in terms of initial plot, but hopefully things will get a bit better as more information gets released. The character design looks pretty cool and there seems to be quite a bit of blood so it might be for the more mature audiences. The main protaganist is quite stacked though, and even though the "witchblade" armor covers a lot more of her body than her American counterpart, she looks pretty sexy. From the trailer, it may look like the witchblade actually takes control when it's activated, though I'm not too sure about that.

Check out the trailer here.

The main website is here. (Apparently, the website supports an English version of the site, though it is still under construction)

I see from Tokyo Toshokan that the raw for episode 4 is already out, and no one seems interested in fansubbing it. Kind'a sucks so I hope someone gets around to doing this series soon.

Any thoughts?



EDIT: Some pics:

Masane and her daughter Rihoko (or Riko as her Mom calls her):


Masane after the Witchblade has activated:


Masane from the ED theme:






Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by ms-07

The first ep was quite good. It kinda reminds me of Blood+, like how the main character has some unknown power inside her similar to Saya. let's hope it doesn't jump the shark in a few episodes.

oh and the main character is a MILF

I didn't realize the little girl was her daughter, I thought she was her little sister at first...... >_>

Does she wear the Witchblade as a bracelet like Sara Pezzini in the US comic, or is it like a tattoo or something? I couldn't see clearly in the trailer.

I really hope someone subs this.





Most amazing jew boots

Ugh....mkv..... >_<

Well, not the friendliest of video formats, but I suppose I can download and force my computer to play it (though I know there will be the usual jumps, skips and freeze frames...... >_> )

I hope someone's planning on releasing an avi version soon?


This is a must-see so I will download now.





This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It seemed to work okay for me, less than 20 minutes to download and I'm still seeding (for about an hour 1/2 now).

Well, about the episode, all I can say is crappy, crappy, crappy, CRAPPY!!

I know I would've enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn't for the fact the sound completely ruined it for me. This is why I hate fucking mkv files!! The sound doesn't match the video and sometimes just totally turns off in some places, no matter what updated codec I use (even CCCP couldn't help me here). VLC can only play sound, no video. MPC skips, WMP and zoomplayer both have the aforementioned audio/video synch problems.

Fuck mkv files. Fuck 'em.

Otherwise, I liked the style and how the story starts out.

Spoiler:

Tokyo in the 22nd Century is a bit of a mess, hey? Apparently some cataclysmic event happened and much of Tokyo is under water. Enter Masane and her daughter Riko who want to start a new life and live together, but who are hounded by the Child Welfare Agency who want to take Riko away because they feel Masane doesn't have the means to look after her (no job and/or monetary income).

Looking forward to the next episode, but really wanting someone to release an avi version because mkv files fucking suck.





I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Eleo

Wasn't this a live action TV movie with a slightly different plot? (It was about a cop getting an ancient weapon, but it didn't take place in the 22nd century.) I remember seeing this on WB once.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169514/

Yes, a TV series starring Yancy Butler and Malcolm McDowell. It was more closely based on the original comic series by Top Cow. The origin happens to be pretty much the same:

From Wikipedia:

Spoiler:

Witchblade issue 1: Irons introduced, holding a tournament to find a wielder for the Witchblade. Sara Pezzini undercover against drug dealers. Drexler the dealer snitches about the tournament. Sara and Yee investigate. Ian Nottingham introduced. Murders by microwave killer announced. Witchblade introduced. Incorrect wielder loses arm. Yee is discovered, Sara leaps in front as he is shot by Nottingham, knocks Witchblade from pedestal and is shot too. Mortally wounded, she reaches out and the Witchblade crawls onto her hand, healing her. Witchblade kills everyone, Yee dies

Also according to the Wikipedia article, the TV series was cancelled after Yancy Butler was ordered to enter rehab for alcoholism.

I don't know why ANN mentions that Masane is a cop since it was never mentioned in the first episode.......




I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Tokubetsu

I dont seem to have any problem playing mkv files, community media pack + mpcplayer work just fine with them. Are your computers older?

That might be it. I have a Sony Vaio that's about a gazillion years old now. Maybe the processor's on it's last legs?


:eyebrow:

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well, it's been nearly 2 weeks and still no episode 2 subbed by anyone. It also looks like Conclave and Bakakozou (who did episode 1) aren't planning on releasing episodes in the more user-friendly .avi format.

Totally sucks.

So much that I have decided to try and download and watch episode 2 raw. I'll try and post some pics later and any thoughts I might have about the episode. I'm still wondering about those characters who were seen at the end of episode 1. Like to know more, but that'll be tough getting anything out of a raw version.........

Oh, why won't someone sub this? In .avi at least?

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Fjordor

Where is the first episode that was subbed?

http://a.scarywater.net/conclave/[Bakakozou_-_Conclave]Witchblade_-_01[H264][35C12DFB].mkv

I think this is the second torrent link that they posted since the first one stopped working or something.

All other links can be found at Tokyo Toshokan. Just do a search for "Witchblade".

http://www.tokyotosho.com/index.php





EDIT: Okay, the above link for Bakakozou - Conclave's sub of episode 1 is not working. The "Witchblade" link on Conclave's projects page is also not working....


wtf.....

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Okay, I had a look at the raw version of episode 2 (sweet, sweet .avi....)

Obviously I have more questions than answers due to not understanding Japanese, but this is what I could figure out:

Spoiler:

Yuusuke (the camera man who reluctantly takes Riko from the Child Welfare Agency) is unable to locate her mother, due to being occupied with taking pictures of the mysterious woman and the slaughtered police officers inside the station. Since she has nowhere to go, he takes Riko to where he stays, a bar and restaurant called "Mary's" which is run by a woman who I guess is called Mary (actually the name on the shop front is "Marry's" but I guess it's just engrish).

Despite Riko's protests, Mary decides to call the Child Welfare Agency to come and pick her up. Yuusuke goes to his room to sort through his latest pictures. Meanwhile, the shadowy person has already picked up the unconcious Masane and delivered her to the headquarters of Reiji Takayama, who seems to be the chief of some heavy industries company. (The official website seems to mention weapons development but I don't know for sure). When she wakes up she is confused about what happened to her the night before, but before she can even begin to understand, she is taken on a heli ride to some factory. On the way, Reiji explains to her about the Witchblade she now wears as a bracelet on her right wrist. Try as she might, she cannot remove it. The Witchblade may even be related to the cataclysm 6 years ago.

While waiting for the Child Welfare Agency to pick her up, Riko manages to catch a news report on the TV, regarding the police station the night before. She becomes convinced that her mother has escaped police custody.

After touching down at the factory, Masane is seperated from the other occupants of the heli and sent deep underground to a city-like setting complete with buildings and streets. Some machines are activated and the Witchblade, probably sensing a threat, activates. As it takes over, Masane thinks of Riko.

Elsewhere, Mary (though she is now referred to as Mariko-san by Yuusuke) suddenly crashes into Yuusuke's room with a note from Riko. Riko has left. Outside on the bustling streets, Riko is determined to make her way to the Tokyo Tower, where she and her mother promised to meet if they ever become seperated.

Damn, so much talk about the Witchblade and I don't know what's going on!! And some introduction to 2 new characters, one of whom is featured in the OP with similar powers to the Witchblade......

Some pics from episode 2:

Spoiler:

R: "Where's my Mom?"
Y: "......uh...."


Masane taken away


"Mary" / "Marry" / "Mariko"? I don't know.....


2 new characters, the man seems popular with children, the woman is featured in the OP.


"What the hell is this thing?!"


Riko is gone....


Masane: "......wtf......"


Activation


Anticipation

Well, do I wait a little longer for someone to sub the others or should I just download episodes 3, 4 and 5?

.....oh boy.....

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, finally!! Someone else has decided to take up the series. Shinsen Subs, yesy and Ureshii have jointly released episode 1 and hopefully we'll be able to see more episodes soon enough......though I always have reservations about joint projects of 2 or more groups.....you never know when someone decides to want out, and the project is either continued really slowly by the remaining groups or abandoned altogether.

Hopefully they'll do a bang-up job!!!

Get it here:

[SHS-yesy-ureshii]_Witchblade_-_01_[FA73CF03].avi.torrent

I saw upto episode 3 of the raw, can't wait for some English subs at last!! At least episode 3 ends on a happy note...









EDIT: okay, looks like Shinsen Subs are on some kind of crazy marathon or something because they've gone and released episodes 2 and 3!!!! Go get them at Baka-Updates!!!!

www.baka-updates.com/releases.php

Bakakozou & Conclave have finally released episode 2 but I don't think anyone's gonna bother with them now that Shinsen Subs have got their hands on it. Besides, .mkv sucks!!




There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by hikarub

Well, finally!! Someone else has decided to take up the series. Shinsen Subs, yesy and Ureshii have jointly released episode 1 and hopefully we'll be able to see more episodes soon enough......though I always have reservations about joint projects of 2 or more groups.....you never know when someone decides to want out, and the project is either continued really slowly by the remaining groups or abandoned altogether.

Well, maybe I shouldn't have written that after all.....it seems after weeks waiting for episode 5 to be released, I found out that Shinsen Subs have actually already dropped Witchblade, which they were jointly doing together with Yesy and Ureshii.

This news makes me sad indeed. I was really looking forward to seeing how the story would continue, especially after the end of episode 4 left me hanging.....

Oh well........





This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.