Witchblade Ep. 1

This is Gonzo's adaptation of Top Cow Productions' comic book of the same name. The main character, Masane Amaha, is voiced by Mamiko Noto, which was cool, because I've only heard her before in roles of children or young girls. The opening song is titled, "XTC" and is sung by Psychic Lover, and the end song is called "Tomorrow's Hand" (Ashita no Te), and is sung by seiyuu Mamiko Noto. The first episode is called "The Beginning" (Hajime). Summary for the show follows the pics (click to enlarge):

Masane Amaha and her daughter Rihoko (Riko) try to lead a new life in Tokyo. Masane's kind of ditzy, but her daughter's quite mature for her age and acts like the parent. They arrive by boat (part of Tokyo is now submerged underwater; something that happened about 6 years ago), and Masane nearly falls overboard trying to push a stray rubber duck with the other rubber ducks floating together. She tells the ship's captain that she doesn't like it when something or someone goes astray. As they leave, the captain warns them to be careful as there have been some gruesome murders in the city. In the city, they tell each other they'll meet by Tokyo Tower on the off chance they get separated. They hear sirens, and Riko reacts in fear.

The police are on the scene of a murder and a photographer (Yuusuke Tozawa) snaps photos from the scene. Police also pick up a suspicious character, but the investigator thinks he's just a drunk and makes them lock him up. Also on the scene is a young man who reports the incident to his boss (Reiji Takayama), who tells him to keep a close watch.

They are on the run, and chasing them is a relentless Child Welfare officer named Sayoko. She tracks them down to a ramen stand and take them into custody at the police station. There, she talks alone to Masane, reminding her how 6 years ago she was discovered with her baby and she had lost all memory save for her own name. She said that she didn't know what to do with the baby. Masane says that was her feelings back then, but now she wants to live as a family with her daughter and will try her hardest, but Sayoko convinces her that because she has no means, she won't be able to take care of Rihoko in the case of illness or other emergencies, and asks her to think of her future. She reluctantly agrees and the welfare agents take Riko away. As she's screaming for her mom, Masane can't help but change her mind and runs after them, but the welfare agents leave in a car. The police tries to restrain Masane, but she overpowers them, steals a police vehicle and chases the welfare agents. Unfortunately, her car flips over as she hits a railing (she's not hurt).

At the welfare agency's building, Riko says she has to use the bathroom, and crawls out the window (it's on an upper floor). Meanwhile in jail, as Masane wallows in misery, the mark on her hand glows red. The "drunk" wakes up, smelling something good, goes crazy. Masane screams in pain, and an officer goes to investigate. Back at the welfare buidling, Riko tries to jump for the trees and lands on top of the photographer Tozawa, who's been investigating something fishy at the agency. Riko pleads to take her away in his car and he reluctantly does. He asks where her mom is, and when Riko gives the address of the police department, he stops the car and rubs his head, and says, "I've picked up something bad..."

Back in the jail, the drunk has transformed into a machine-like monster, has killed the officer, and breaks through the cell holding Masane. Two other officers arrive, but they are quickly killed. He tells Masane he's looking forward to hearing what kind of sounds he'll make. Something large rises near the bottom of his body, but a whip-like red beam flashes out from Masane's hand and cuts his member off. She then transforms via her witchblade, ready for combat. She quickly dispatches the monster and as she's leaving the building, Tozawa takes snapshots of her. He's frightened away by what appears to be an officer, but is actually the same man who was reporting to Takayama. He sends a video feed and confirms what he saw. He also says that Masane had been given a sleep drug. Sure enough, she's stumbling along, weakened, and transforms back to her human form.