Witchblade, Vol. 4

Product Description Shattered Souls! An unsteady family painstakingly built will crumble at the whim of unyielding authority, this time leaving Masane alone and frozen by the harsh results of their icy grip. Little Rihoko?s become a pawn in an experiment to dissect love. But four walls do not a home make, and shared blood must be weighed against the bonds of real life. When the twisted saga of the Witchblade takes a brutal turn, both mothers will rise to the challenge, unspoken "goodbyes" on bruised and bloodied lips. Reunion, release, redemption and wrath? The destiny of the Witchblade continues. Witchblade Volume Four-4 contains episodes 13-16: Separation, Family, Bonds and Relaxation. Amazon.com A dire emotional crisis arises as the fan-service fantasy Witchblade continues. Genetic tests prove that Masane isn't Rihoko's real mother: Reina Soho, one of the leaders of the Clone Blade program is. Reina takes Rihoko to her luxurious condo, but material goods can't replace affection. And Rihoko's presence infuriates Maria, the infantile, deadly Clone Blade-r in training, who is also Reina's daughter. (Tozawa discovers the program involves some weird inbreeding.) Not surprisingly, Masane gets Rihoko back, to the delight of her flop-house friends. These emotional tergiversations, combined with the inevitable beach trip-reunion derail the main storyline for most of the disc. The filmmakers' attempts to combine mawkish sentimentality with jiggle scenes never quite gels: it's difficult to feel the power of the mother-daughter bond while Tozawa is shooting booty pics of Masane. (Rated TV MA, suitable for ages 16 and older: violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, risqué humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon