WITCHBLADE: New Anime Series on IFC. Fridays, 11PM

EP 01-04 EP 05-08 EP 09-12 Previous

Episode 1 - The Beginning

Masane Amaha is a woman on the fringe of society, but her strange destiny was written long ago. She exists as a soul with no memory, bouncing rootless from town to town with her young daughter, Rihoko. Back in Tokyo for the first time since waking at ground zero in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, their arrival does not go unnoticed. While the fragmented family seeks security, unseen eyes search for mother and child. As Rihoko is spirited away by the Child Welfare Ministry, all rational thought is thrown from the window of a stolen police car. When the smoke clears... The Witchblade is unleashed.

Episode 2 - Bewilderment

From beneath a pile of rubble that was once the city jail, Masane Amaha emerges reborn a furious force of nature... But freedom remains elusive. Waking from carnage into captivity, the young mother has been conscripted into the service of the Doji Group. Within the glass and steel confines of corporate interest, Masane learns the truth about the artifact that is the Witchblade... And with the taste of death still sweet on her lips, she is subjected to tests and trials of maniacal intensity. While the bizarre and cruel reality of her new life sets in, Rihoko wanders the streets alone - Alone and headed towards Tokyo Tower.

Episode 3 - Definance

Reiji Takayama of the monolithic Doji Group Industries has Masane trapped like a rat, and the battery of harsh tests continues in clandestine corporate labs. There is no guarantee of her survival, no allusion that those at Doji even care. But a virgin lust for battle courses through Masane's blood - The latest perfect vessel alive to the Witchblade's raw power. A beast stirs within her heart, unleashed with gleeful relish as engineered titans stalk city streets in search of prey. She must face them down in brutal barter for a promised life with her daughter. The perfect weapon as perfect mother.. Neither role seems to fit.

Episode 4 - Movement

Masane's new life as the indentured lethal arm of the Doji Group is wrought with peril, but there are perks as well. A life of unaccustomed luxury begins to unfold, a life much more readily embraced by daughter than mother. As a new home is found among friends both new and old (both fresh and odd, more like), Masane begins to come to terms with her "contract work" as "Odd-Job Amaha" is born. But comforting coziness is quick to vanish when her alter-ego scents new game. Another powerful entity - the NSWF - seeks possession of the Witchblade, and its emissaries are eerily familiar to Masane...

Episode 5 - Search

Enter the Cloneblades: Bioengineering and shattered corporate alliances at their best. Having created a breed of powerful woman warriors, confrontation is inevitable when so many desire the same thing... Ultimate power. Masane now has the means to provide for Rihoko, her salary negotiated as paid huntress of the X-Cons. While mother and daughter clean up and celebrate with a bit of shopping, one has to wonder which is truly the adult in this relationship. Elsewhere, higher powers gather to discuss important matters, and the ever-diligent reporter Yusuke Tozawa's on a new lead he just can't shake - The Witchblade.

Episode 6 - Change

Masane has been ravaged in her first real bought with her clone contemporaries. Rescued from certain death by the Doji Group, she is whisked away as her savage assailant makes chase, blood lust unquenched. Left to her own devices on the home front, Rihoko's busy making breakfast and fast friends. But the young child remains unimpressed with Tozawa's incessant questioning. For Masane, the twisted tale of the ancient Witchblade takes a turn as past relationships between unsteady foes are revealed... old scars explained but never forgotten. For the NSWF, a warrior's sanity begins to unravel as her body heals.

Episode 7 - Past

Despite rigorous testing, sister Shiori's psyche is falling apart and the deviant Cloneblade is now on the loose, a lethal threat on a bloody rampage. Still convalescing herself, Masane confronts Director Takayama about his past relationship with Reina Soho, who she knows only as "Lady." Reina's mind-bending passion for the Witchblade burned at the epicenter of the Great Quake, somehow responsible for Tokyo's devastation years before. As the crazed Shiori attacks their ship, the destiny of the blade bearers comes into crystal focus... Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Surprises both pleasant and not await them at the dock.

Episode 8 - Reciprocity

Tozawa has become a willing participant in the hunt for the industrial monsters that are Tokyo's latest plague, and Masane's along for the ride. She is still reluctant share the truth which he already suspects... Uneasy alliances and shocking images caught on film. But understanding will need to come quick, because a new strain of terror has arrived in the beating heart of the city - A previously unknown model of X-Con, acting and killing in ways that none have before. This technological nightmare exhibits traits that lead down a terrifying path towards madness. Sadness and regret are very human qualities.

Episode 9 - Sadness

Amidst the struggle and the many hardships of life, friendship is a rare and valuable thing. Masane and Tozawa have come to a standstill in their standoff, and in the absence true friendship seems to be blooming. Little Rihoko has also found a new friend... A couple of new friends, actually. While Reina's interest may be alarming, Rihoko's other friend may just be an unhappy accident. Meanwhile, Masane's on the hunt for the newest X-Con on the scene. But Tozawa's latest detective work proves that they are chasing a dead end. What is the difference between man and machine if mortality if taken from the equation?

Episode 10 - Interaction

Masane leans on Doji Group big shot Takayama to gain the truth behind the X-Cons, and the secrets she unearths are vexing... The dead live on, meant to change the very nature of modern warfare. From disgust to further disgust, the feisty bearer of the Witchblade soon learns that as punishment for Tozawa uncovering her own "little secret," she must pretty up and play nice at a fancy party later that evening. Elsewhere, Reina is growing weary of the Cloneblade project as she seems to be seeking out some deeper meaning to life. But it may not matter much, as a little fresh blood may be all that the project was lacking.

Episode 11 - Danger

Masane is struggling beneath the weight of forced duality, and the weight of a massive hangover! But she totally loses her cool when little Rihoko falls ill. Luckily, Takayama's on the scene for the mother and Reina for the daughter. In the calm that both follows and comes before the storm, Masane senses a nearby Cloneblade and immediately pursues. Somewhere in the midst of confrontation, "Father" requests a word with the Witchblade, but her ragged emotions don't allow much room for grace. And even with the Doji reinforcements, Masane ends up in the clutches of the NSWF. Father is waiting...

Episode 12 - Prisoner

The NSWF has Masane in captivity and they're wasting no time to study her, digging for insight into the symbiotic relationship between the bearer and the blade. The agency's intent is to use such knowledge to improve upon the original, and the young Maria just might be the first to benefit... Unlikely allies meet up in interesting places, sending Tozawa up the back entrance and into a hotbed of Cloneblade activity. But ten million magic words revive the Witchblade in the nick of time, with the heavy artillery ready and waiting. Back at the hospital, what should be a joyous reunion with Rihoko may shake Masane to the core.

EP 01-04 EP 05-08 EP 09-12 Previous

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