WITCHBLADE ANIME EPISODES ON IFC

"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.

"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 ­ and headed towards Tokyo Tower.

"DEFIANCE"

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.

"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...