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Josemaru — Witchblade: Rihoko -IN PROCESS
Published: 2011-08-09 23:43:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 6778; Favourites: 81; Downloads: 0
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Hey there! This is a drawing I'm currently working on.The character is supposed to be Rihoko Amaha, daughter of Masane Amaha, main character of the Witchblade anime series: [link] I'm going to write down a good deal of spoilers here, so if you don't wanna know stuff before you watch it, you're warned.
In the anime we're told that Riko is the real bearer of the weapon, but due to her young age, the Witchblade chose her mother temporally till Riko would be mature enough. Although at the end of the anime Masane supposedly frees Rihoko from wearing the blade, this picture is a "what if" Rihoko ended getting the weapon anyways.
For this drawing my idea was to keep the anime-ish style of the character, but make the weapon more similar to the original design in the american series, which I prefer.
To explain this, and the fact that the Witchblade looked much more different when Masane was the bearer, I just came with the idea that the "extra properties" the blade showed in the anime, like the different looks and the extreme phisical break-down to the wielder's body happened because of Masane not being a legitimate bearer, but a temorary one.
I've tried to keep some little details from the japanese version, like the "breast plates" and the overall "skin coverage" of the armor, but the details make it not too clear. Also, I wanted to make Rihoko's body a bit similar to Masane as she's her daughter (even if not biologically).
I'm having much fun drawing this because I'm using it to experiment new techniques and try stuff on it, so probably I'll take long before I post the finished version. Sadly I have some exams in a month so I won't be drawing that often, but I guess in like 3 weeks or so I could get full time on it if I don't finish before that.
Enjoy!
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Comments: 18
Nice design. I, like probably all fans of Witchblade, always wondered what she would have looked like. I kind of wish they would make a sequel/second season where she becomes the Witchblade. Especially when I wondered if since she is a "true bearer" ifshe would go through the same breakdown process as all the First-Generation Cloneblades and Masane.
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Well, it all depends on how accurate the japanese productors decided to keep the story. Sarah Pepzzini never shows any sign of physical breakdown due to the weapon. In fact, when she gets pregnant and almost dies giving birth to her daughter, the Witchblade restores her body completely to the point that she's able to fight just minutes after having her child.
Anyways, japanese producers took it really happily when they got the license, specially the manga version, where the Witchblade is actually the severed hand of a japanese "oni". I suppose in the anime they didn't want to relate it too much to the american comic to keep away the need of reading it to fully understand the series, but for me it was sad the fact that Masane has to die because of it while in the original series it uses healing powers several times.
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I actually liked the idea of the Cloneblades and even Masane, even though it still sucked, breaking down as their powers increased. Especially as a Guyver fan. It was original and gave me ideas for my own Guyver stories.
If you are unfamiliar with Guyver, in the series as long as their control medal in their forehead is intact to regulate their energy they can in theory can get stronger and stronger energy wise, but if it is damaged before activation then the armor will malfunction and eventually kill the host.
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Oh, don't take me wrong, I don't dislike the concept of the weapon corroding the user, it's a cool thing and it made the whole concept of the series. The only thing I have against it is the fact that the series is based on a complete opposite concept. I mean, if the series wasn't called "Witchblade" and it wasn't supposedly canon along with the american argument, I wouldn't have any complaints. But the fact that it is, makes me feel a bit itchy about that.
That's why for me it would make much more sense that the Witchblade did that to Masane just because she wasn't a "real" bearer, than thinking that the weapon somehow developed those attributes from the time of Sarah Pepzzini.
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What if the Witchblade's corrosive nature was due to the fact that Masane wasn't the real bearer? Like when Sara only possessed half the Witchblade and it corrupted her (I know it was because of her having the Darkness half). So could a possible incomplete bond with the blade cause such corroding?
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Yeah, that's exactly what I said. xD
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Oh... woops XD
Then this can be a summery
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Oh yeah I got the anime a few days ago since its not possible to get in norway actually seen quite a bit of the japanese version it's gonna be nice watching it in English for a change
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Nice organic trait of the Witchblade form the comics combined with some details from the anime. Special compliments at the shading of the skin, which looks very well rendered. I really like this one. Except for the eyes, since I always thought that "eyes going black" was a clear sign of Witchblade starting to take over his wielder's sanity like it did with Sara.
I always did wonder how Rihoko would look like if she ever got hold of the Witchblade, and if he would ever try to kill her like he did Masane since she his "true" bearer.
Anyway, great work so far
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Thanks!
I'm not too convinced on the black eyes either because they get merged with the eyelashes and eye lines, so the shape gets a bit weird, probably I'll change them and make a different shade, gray or something on the edges to separate it from the lashes.
About the Witchblade trying to kill her, I don't know, in fact in the comic version the blade has the power to heal Sarah, like when she gave birth and almost died, I never understood that new trait from the anime. I do understand it in the Cloneblades, as they're imperfect, lab versions of the Witchblade, they should be worse than the original, but the Witchblade already draws the bearer into battles and wars by instinct, probably most of the bearers died too soon just because of that, so there wasn't any need to make it kill the beared by itself.
Anyways, you can always use the cliffhanger of Masane bing just a temporary bearer.
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You're welcome. The praise is highly earned.
Experimentation is always a plus when drawing and painting 
Yes, exactly. Cloneblades killing the host makes sense, but the Witchblade offing Masane especially when Riko is still too young for him to hop over makes no sense. Maybe they just wanted to add drama to the series, or maybe Masane would die anyway seeing how zero control she has over the gauntlet.
Well, I can only hope that was the case, because I don't know how otherwise the story can fit into Top Cow continuity canon
Ahh, thank you. It's so nice to chat with someone about the anime Witchblade after all the forums about it have long since closed
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A pleasure to talk about it. xD
I prefer the american comic, but the anime story, if you forget a bit about the original, is not bad, it has a nice plot, it's funny and has cool designs. But I missed the epicness of the Witchblade of the comic, where it is the Balance between the two main forces of the universe, the Darkness and the Angelus. In the Anime, none of this is explained, they just make a brief comment like "it's the ultimate weapon, existing since the ancient times..." derp. And the Witchblade ends almost like a lab experiment and that's all.
In any case, supposedly Masane's story IS canon, and she does save Rihoko from the blade because Masane is the last known beared of the Witchblade (save this one Persephani from some sort of spin-off manga set in the far away future).
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After getting past the initial disappointment that the anime doesn't explore Witchblade's rich mythology I actually found it to be quite good, the mother/daughter relationship especially and even Masane/Takayama growing love. It was a story about people with Witchblade in the back driving the plot and not saying a damn thing to anyone.
I could sort off, accept that the people in the show knew nothing of the Witchblade's true power and treated it as an artifact to experiment with and copy seeing how they didn't have a mystical old Chinese man in a mystical old curiosity shop who speaks in riddles and know more than he lets on 
Well, we know that Top Cow would never kill off the Balance, and it would probably mess with Angelus and Darkenss if they did, so the gauntlet is probably binding his time somewhere... preferably on Rioko's wrist
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nice, but I think it would look better if the witchblade looked more like it did in the anime rather the comics....
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I prefer the organic-spikey-living thing looks of the comic version.
I know the character is from the anime and it would make sense, but I don't really like how the anime one looks at all, compared to the original version. And as I said, the anime shows some "special circumstances" that allowed me to explain that Masane's look is actually some sort of incomplete or abnormal look of the witchblade, as she wouldn't be the "real" bearer, just temporary till Rihoko would be able to use it.
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*begins to exsanguinate profusely from both nasal passages*
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