by Joseph Luster April 25, 2008

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Witchblade picks up at the halfway mark with a continuation of the drama that ensued over Rihoko’s custody at the end of volume three. In fact, the majority of the four episodes on this disc serve as a break from the normal action, offering up some insight into Masane and Rihoko’s relationship, as well as the one that begins to form when the latter’s real mother, one of the Neogenes, takes her under her strangely analytical and robotic care. Aside from this conflict, the rest of the volume is almost all Neogene action, as even more maternal dramatics pop up between Rihoko’s biological mother and the young and impetuous blade-wielder-in-training, Maria, who also turns out to be one of her daughters.

I think there’s a fight or two somewhere in there, as well.

As if all of this wasn’t enough of a break from your normally scheduled Witchblade scenario, the final episode on the volume is a vacation episode. Though the relationship between Masane, Rihoko and the rest of the apartment tenants has developed a great deal, it’s still some of the most unapologetic filler I’ve seen in a long time, so don’t shy away from the fast forward button if you’re feeling a little antsy. This is its sole duty; the kind of inconsequential meandering it was engineered to zip by.

The first half of volume five is largely focused on the escalating business politics in the cutthroat world of Douji Industries, including the development of a new “Ultimate Weapon,•bCrLf and the threat of malfunctioning war machines going berserk and wreaking havoc in the city. This is first hinted at when a rash of murders linked to some leaked Douji weapons begins to alarm the public, and surly Detective Nakata is determined to get to the bottom of it.

The audience for a show like Witchblade more than likely comes and stays for the action, however, and the story is so close to containing just the right amount of steel-edged exchanges between both the Neogene sisters and Masane herself. The last episode of volume five in particular has a brutal ending that signs the coming of the End Times for the series. It still won’t be enough for a lot of potential fans, though, and I can’t say I blame anyone that might be moaning on a message board this very moment about the lack of super powered roughhousing that only seems to rise as each release passes.