Headscratchers / Witchblade

• Still highly bittersweet as it seemed built up to be leading to a point where either Maria turned and found a 'true mother', or Maria went crazy and got killed for being power-mad, allowing her subordinates to turn by being shocked at what she'd become. In fact, neither option happened. This troper is still MASSIVELY pissed, and that Asagi did not even get to lift a finger too. It felt as badly rushed as the Outlaw Star ending with all its 7-second fights. And Nishida dying was an incompetent cop-out and absolute cheat. Tearjerker? Sand In My Eyes? Fah! The way it was all handled turned it into a Berserk Button. Should you encounter a 6'3 German boy at a convention or anime club with a wiry yet decidedly un-agile body, electrical-socket hair (or so my mum says), wearing Zeerust-y 16th century fashions with a steampunk twist, do NOT mention this ending as being canon or bad things will happen mang, very bad things. To make matters worse one of those who died was incredibly Genre Savvy, which built the path even more towards that direction. Thankfully, one high note was it seemed like Wadou may have been able to pass the blame once again and pull a Karma Houdini, but did not manage it, winding up imprisoned. Too good if you ask me.
  • It's not something that could get Happily Ever After or turned this way at any point. With others, there are in-'verse reasons. Nishida's death was slightly stretched, but otherwise, it's a result of her obsession: first, she was quick to jump toward the trouble; second, if her attention wasn't mostly elsewhere, she would react in time and do something. Asagi was near-doomed twice, despite her reasonable attitude and not being action-hungry. First, there's no good reason to think the new stereo-Cloneblade is any more stable than the old mono (if anything, more power throughput is likely to make it even less reliable); second, she just hung around obviously insane and murderous Maria poking fingers into her haywire internals, so it was only a matter of time until she would touch something connected to Berserk Button. Wadou's going to drool in a cell with soft walls, and even if he'll leave it, everyone will just say he looked normal until the last moment, and here's more than enough of crap for a life-term however he'd wriggle. The ending is obviously too rushed but still isn't quite bad. As to Canon Discontinuity, I consider it... sort of... cliffhanger, with its great unresolved line (Riko) and potentially Inferred Survival. If it didn't cliff-hung for so long this wouldn't be so annoying.
  • The ending itself wouldn't be too bad, had the show slavishly followed the comic it's based on. Unfortunately, the douchebags who wrote the scripts said Screw the Rules, I Make Them!, and decided to chuck canon aside to milk the drama (admittedly well written, but still against canon). Nishida's death was a result of her own stupidity (not to mention insanity), which I'm fine with. Maria was messed up, period, going after the Witch Blade, because, let's face it, she needed something to latch onto after her primary reasons for being disappeared, otherwise she didn't have any point in breathing. Tragic, but at that point, she was NOT sane by any definition. I agree the dual Clone Blades were even more unstable, but then again, try telling a bunch of insane Tyke Bombs that. Asagi's death, despite her being the closest thing to sane, is rather appropriate, given that she willingly did something stupid despite the warning flags. Intelligence doesn't always mean its bearer uses it efficiently or at all. Lots of smart people have done stupid shit, just to see what would happen, which is why I have no problem with her death. As for the fact that the Witch Blade was a Deadly Upgrade MacGuffin, I could've been down with that, had they given one fucking good reason WHY that was true. My theory (had the show followed the comic), was that the creators of the Witch Blade, Angelus and Darkness, got pissed because people were Xeroxing their kid, they didn't like it, and decided to fuck them up as payback. You could still play most of the anime out the same way, but with that one minor change, the ending makes a hell of a lot more sense. Shit, given Masane actually followed the rules concerning the Witchblade's power, maybe her death could have been averted, or maybe the aforementioned creators could've thrown her a bone, and revived her. Would've actually agreed with the canon, not to mention be a LOT better than what we got.
  • There are reasons why it's too hard for Masane to pull despite her being chosen by Witchblade. First, she was apparently chosen in great haste, so she may be far from an ideal as a host, just the best of present candidates. Especially if the Rihoko hypothesis is true. Second, the act of making (and surviving) The Tokyo Fireball knocked out the Witchblade itself so hard it went dormant ("tattoo" form) for years, and to Masane it caused at least amnesia-inducing shock and who knows what else — it was too much for them both. So while Witchblade was able to wake up early to save her from immediate danger, this does not mean otherwise it wouldn't be healthier to sleep one more year. Or ten more years. If viewed as "they both started in a badly drained condition and proceeded to overload themselves (and ultimately it all falls on Masane) further and further without a good rest" the result makes a lot more sense. As to Witchblade's apparent disappearance with Masane's death, it's sort of Never Found the Body anyway and as such could be reinterpreted. And there were good Sequel Hooks, so maybe it was even intended to. e.g. It would be all too convenient to open Secret Legacy path with Rihoko hypothesis: even if Masane is sort of revived, after this she's obviously barely alive, so not only Witchblade's force is out of play, but it's still a big beacon and Rihoko with her symbiont would have to guard their parents, using more brains or talent than raw power.

• Which Witchblade wielders are still alive in the present day?
  • I know Sara, Dani, Ian, Gerald, and Katarina are still alive but is there anyone else?
  • Katarina has now been Killed Off for Real, so she isn't one of the Witchblade wielders alive in the present day.

• So does Masane's first Witchblade outfit utilize a c-string or is her ass left completely bare?

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