▪	RELEASED BY:		FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH DD 5.1 / 2.0  AND JAPANESE  DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		100 MIN
		▪	RATING:		TV MA
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		01/29/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		03/02/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Following right after the stunning revelation of last volume, Masane and Riko are separated. Masane’s depression hits her hard. Reiji plays the part of an unlikely friend as he tries to help her out of her dour state – with terrible results. They revisit her childhood and she finds out her real name, but it tells her nothing of who she was before the cataclysm that robbed her of her past but bound her and Riko together. Meanwhile Riko suffers under the strange distant living conditions with Reina. And Reina has discovered a tragic truth about her own fate…

This is a pivotal volume in the series as important relationships are shaken up and the various characters are put through their greatest challenges yet. Mainly it focuses on Masane, Riko and Reina, but also on Maria. It seems she is almost ready to don a Cloneblade of her own and she’s set a price to her participation, a price that will lead to disaster and even death for one of the characters listed above.

There’s a lot thrown at viewers as snippets of unsettling, disturbing details about the Neo-Genes are revealed. Also Reiji is not without his own difficulties as his long time rival starts up his own Witchblade Project under the Bio Division. However, perhaps most unsetting of all is Riena’s fate and how it is tied to Riko and Maria’s. In the aftermath, the show switches over to a more light hearted tone in the last episode on this volume. It goes for some fun with a trip to the beach with the gang from the hotel, and never a motlier crew there was. There are quite a few unexpected laughs and joyful moments in this episode, but there’s a thread of underlying tension that spills over. Masane learns of a secret that changes everything about how she views being the bearer of the Witchblade, and what she’s willing to do to spare Riko, the daughter of her heart, that same tragic fate.

This volume also features a new opening, “Dear Bob” which is a quirky song, and a new ending “Kutsuhime” which touches on the family undercurrent of the show. Both are surprisingly uplifting songs compared to the hard electric original opening and desolate ballad so emotionally effective previously.

EXTRAS:
Bonus features on the DVD include trailers, clean opening and closing animation, video interview with Japanese voice actor Mie Sonozaki (Reina), and a special “Witchblade: From Page to Screen Part 1I – The Success of Witchblade”. This feature has the Top Cow staff from the first part continue their candid interviews about the Witchblade as a concept and discuss the success of the comic book series that inspired a live action TV show in the US and the anime in Japan. They speculate on the hows and whys of its success.
 
The extra features regarding packaging include an eight page booklet holding an interview with Shinya Ogura (Design Research/Conceptual Design/ Assistant Animation Director), and hold character and mecha designs with full color images and black and white sketches. This DVD also comes with a sharp looking silver foil slip cover featuring Top Cow Productions artist Stjepan Sejic giving fans his rendition of the Cloneblades based off of Makoto Uno’s original character designs.

IN SUMMARY:
The latest volume of Witchblade unveils the fate of one, and the curse borne by all who are fated to wear it.