Witchblade is an anime series based on the American comic book by the same name. Instead of an adaptation of the original story, the producers decided to create an entire new setup, with all new characters. This co-production between Japanese studio Gonzo and American publisher Top Cow, who owns the rights for the Witchblade franchise, was licensed for release in the United States. The English dub premiered on the US cable network IFC in January 2008. The show aired on Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 3:30 AM ET, and the series finale aired on June 13, 2008, on IFC. The show is also available on a purchase-to-download system on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. The first twelve episodes are also available for download via Amazon’s Unbox service. The show is also available on Netflix Instant Stream. As of June, 2011, it was available free on Hulu.

As of December 2008, in the USA and Canada there were 6 Volumes on DVD available, with Vol. 1 having been released in September 2007. There is also a full boxed set containing all 24 episodes and an extra disc with special features. A Blu-ray box set was released on November 3, 2009.

The anime was directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi, who directed Galaxy Angel and Galaxy Angel Z, and the characters were designed by Uno Makoto, the character designer for Stellvia and Love Hina.

Witchblade is an American television series that aired on TNT from 2001 to 2002. The series is based on the Witchblade comic book series, and followed a pilot film which debuted in August 2000. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri and J.D. Zeik.

Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini, Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons, David Chokachi as Jake McCartey, Eric Etebari as Ian Nottingham, Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo, Conrad Dunn as Tommy Gallo, Kenneth Welsh as Joe Siri, and John Hensley as Gabriel Bowman, among others. Although critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, the show was canceled in September 2002; there was speculation that the cancellation was connected to Butler’s entering rehab for alcoholism.

The series ran for two seasons on TNT, for a total of 24 episodes. The first episode aired June 12, 2001; the last episode aired August 26, 2002. In spite of its cancellation, Witchblade was ranked seventh in the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for 2002.

According to Top Cow editor Matt Hawkins the Witchblade TV series was cancelled because the lead actress Yancy Butler was an alcoholic and went into rehab – it was and remains the highest rated TV series to be cancelled.