Masane Amaha vs Baoh (Witchblade vs Baoh the Visitor)

 

“Monsters don’t exist. It’s men that we should be afraid of, not monsters.” -Niccoló Ammaniti

After a grave event left them both with no memories, all these two humans could remember is that they were on the hunt after being bonded with a parasitic symbiote. But they certainly weren’t alone, as a young girl would saddle alongside them, going from a potential risk to the very reason they keep fighting. For their protection, these two parasitic problems proved protective powerhouses, through thick and thin, even at the risk of their lives.

Masane Amaha, the mother turned bearer of the Witchblade.

Ikuro Hashizawa, the teenager turned bioweapon from Baoh.

These two have faced many manners of jealousy, envy, creation and mankind’s greatest and worst to keep up the good fight. Through playing friend and family to Rihoko and Sumire, which symbiote will remain to hold the symbiotic relationship for their charge? Let’s find out!

Before we begin

The media for these two is pretty straightforward. Baoh has a manga, anime, and (if we want to count it) a guest appearance in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. Masane only appears in a single anime, but the Witchblade: Takeru manga, her cameo alongside the Witchblade’s other bearers in the comics, and official statements from the higher-ups in Top Cow confirm that her series takes place in the same universe as the comics and manga, so we’ll be using them as supporting evidence.

And thanks to Studio8558 and T0m for the custom thumbnails and art.


Background

Masane Amaha


"There's a part of me that can't resist the desire to fight. As long as I have this thing it'll be the same wherever I go. I have to keep fighting."


Six years ago Japan was struck by a massive natural disaster on a nationwide scale when an earthquake sank most of the landmass, turning the entire country into just a small island in a matter of moments. Below all the rubble stood a woman, Ohara Yasuka, carrying a baby as one of the few survivors of the Great Quake, with no memories and nothing else to track her identity outside of a maternity diary. Ultimately, the Child Welfare Center decided she was the biological mother of Rihoko and made her start a new path in life as Masane Amaha. Unbeknownst to her, the incident had left Masane bonded to the Witchblade, a symbiotic gauntlet with overwhelming power that existed since the dawn of time and would only bond to women.

Although she initially had no maternal feelings towards Rihoko, Masane raised her over the course of six years and gained a powerful bond as mother and daughter. Unfortunately, Masane had no job, skills, or any currency, so Rihoko had to maintain herself and her own mother until they were eventually kicked out of the care center. Rihoko and Masane were forced to flee from Child Welfare, until they eventually went back to Tokyo by boat. 

But despite their best efforts, Child Welfare caught up with them and took Rihoko away. Masane refused to let it end like this, leading to a car chase that resulted in her arrest and incarceration. As Rihoko escaped from the caretakers with help from a news reporter called Tozawa, Masane was attacked in her cell by a strange robot called an X-Con. Wanting to survive and reunite with her daughter no matter what, Masane awakened the hidden power attached to her wrist. The Witchblade took control of her body, obliterating her cell and the X-Con with an almost erotic bloodlust. But being her first experience with such overwhelming power, it caused her to faint.

Luckily for her, there was someone behind the scenes who had been tracking her for some time. After rescuing her, Reiji Takayama, the leader of the weapon manufacturing Doji Group, offered to let Masane work for him. In exchange for the chance to live a good life alongside Rihoko, all she had to do was destroy the X-Cons, their biomechanical experiments that had been scattered around Tokyo after the Great Quake.

Masane accepted, undergoing training to gain control over the Witchblade. However, there were many challenges along the way. The original scientists in charge of studying the Witchblade, the NSWF (National Scientific Welfare Foundation), had been trying to replicate its power. Their efforts resulted in the creation of Cloneblades, which sought out Masane and the X-Cons to sate their unending bloodlust. Masane defeated everything that stood in her way, but as time went on she learned the Witchblade was slowly killing her. The more she used its power to protect those she loved, the more it drained her life force.

This dealt a heavy blow to Masane. Even with Rihoko in the good hands of Takayama (her biological father), she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her daughter. But if she was going to die, she’d make sure to end everything in the NSWF first, even their strongest Cloneblade, Maria. In their final clash, Masane gave her a sour but needed end with the tip of her blade, and with a final goodbye to Rihoko, she disintegrated Tokyo Tower and herself, leaving an unsure future for this weapon that had caused so much destruction and chaos. 
 

Baoh 


Ikuro Hashizawa was only a boy when his family was on a drive, until it turned into a fatal crash. The family had been rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately for them, the doctor was connected to the Dress Secret Organization, which gave them the opportunity to steal Ikuro for experimentation whilst killing off his parents. This experimentation rapidly developed his body, at the cost of amnesia and losing his memory. All he knew was waking up, breaking out of a train, and his savior: a little girl named Sumire.

Now freed from his confines and free to explore, Ikuro set off to help Sumire, aiming to protect and save her life at any cost. But Dress didn’t like their golden opportunity slipping through their fingers, for inside Ikuro had been a parasite, turning the teenager into a deadly weapon. They sent out their forces and projects, drawing a struggle from Hashizawa, but a fight from deeper within. And the premonition of Baoh unleashed, developing both the host and its carrier.

Yet Dr. Kasuminome wouldn’t let that go. Developed soldiers and machinery, advanced lifeforms, the mightiest psychic, and even kidnapping Sumire were tactics that he resorted to. And each time, Ikuro learned to work alongside Baoh and develop for the few days they had together. From being saved by Sumire to reviving and then saving her, he would keep going until Dress’ Super Lab exploded, removing the madman and their horrors from Sumire’s life in exchange for Ikuro’s sacrifice.

In a way, Dr. Kasuminome and the Dress organization managed to achieve their dream. The ultimate soldier, the ultimate parasite, the ultimate duo… the ultimate weapon. In their efforts to achieve an unattainable power, they unleashed an unstoppable force.
 

Experience, Intelligence, and Skill

Masane


Despite only having the Witchblade for several days, Masane used it to destroy numerous mechanical weapons from Doji Group like the X-Cons, I-Weapons, and Cloneblade wielders. She even defeated the Ultimateblade, a biotech version of the Witchblade designed to only bond with men.

When in battle, Masane becomes filled with an almost erotic lust for battle and destruction, causing her to forgo any attempt at strategy and only focus on ripping her opponents apart. As a result, her showings of intelligence mid-combat are limited to turning her hair into tendrils for a ranged attack or summoning blades out of her legs when Aoi tried overwhelming her with brute strength.

Baoh


Despite his few days of activity and initial struggles with the Baoh parasite, Ikuro would develop Baoh’s deadliness to extreme effect. He eventually learned how to control it upon learning of its affinity towards danger, slicing through soldiers and modified animals from Dress’ army supply. The bioweapon would even defeat Walken, an assassin agent whose psychokinesis made him the world’s deadliest psychic.

Ikuro’s been able to alter the chemical composition in his hair so it would explode on contact with a person’s body heat, distracted Dordon with needles before severing his arm, used his own bioelectricity to power a laser cannon used to kill Walken, and discovered how to consciously use Baoh’s power within days of transforming. Even the Baoh parasite has shown a degree of intelligence. While it’s an animalistic parasite, it’s smart enough to tell feelings apart and discern friend from foe just by its sense of smell.
 

Weapons

Masane

Witchblade


An ancient weapon that’s existed since the dawn of time, the Witchblade is considered the greatest weapon on Earth. Part body armor, part blade, and part formless demon, the Witchblade will only bond to women and activate in times of danger, giving its host a set of body armor and altering her hair’s length and color.

While not as blatant as the comics, the Witchblade is sentient, automatically protecting its bearer from harm and affecting her mental state and metabolism. When active, it fills the bearer with an intense lust for battle and destruction and increases her appetite to keep up her strength when not in combat.

Despite appearing to be a metal bracelet when not in use, the jewel inside the Witchblade is weirdly stretchy and seemingly bonded to its wearer. Whether she tries prying it off, stabbing into it, or crushing it, the Witchblade will refuse to come off and attack any tool that’s used against it.

As revealed later in the series, the Witchblade was originally supposed to be inherited by Masane’s adoptive daughter Rihoko. It’s actually just been using Masane as a temporary host until the time comes for Rihoko to inherit it.

Baoh

Laser Cannon


You know when “Baoh has a laser cannon!” is the moment you start running. By using his own bioelectricity he can charge this random laser cannon to fire and cut foes in half. While not particularly standard since this is from the Dress Organization’s laboratory, it’s a cool enough moment that All Star Battle decided to add.

Powers

Masane

Shapeshifting

The main power of the Witchblade is its ability to shapeshift, letting it create tendrils or blades that elongate at will to cover wide distances. These can come from anywhere on her body, even her legs, and she can summon dual blades if needed. And while it isn’t used as often, she has occasionally extended her hair into razor sharp tendrils.

Extrasensory Perception

The Witchblade lets Masane sense potential threats or oncoming danger like X-Cons or I-Weapons, even from afar. She can also tell the difference between these threats and how powerful they can be.

Enhanced Jumping


A power shown by both Masane and the Cloneblades. Thanks to the Witchblade/Cloneblade increasing their strength, they can jump across long distances, letting them leap from building to building, across bridges, and even letting them cross water.

Regeneration


Second Form

As a result of her desperation to survive against the Ultimateblade, the Witchblade accessed more of its power, giving Masane a transformation she can enter at will to greatly enhance her strength and speed.

Lumokinesis

To stop the I-Weapons from destroying Tokyo, Masane used the last of her energy to create a giant ball of light around Tokyo Tower, incinerating it and the X-Cons. 

 

  

Baoh

Baoh Parasite Physiology

Created by Dr. Kasuminome by evolving over hundreds of life species under harsh conditions that had been drugged, the Baoh Parasite became one of the first successful Neoplasms under the Dress Organization. After suffering a fatal car accident, Ikuro’s brain was injected with the larva of Baoh and became stronger, faster and more durable than the average human, with the potential to grow even stronger the longer the Baoh parasite remains and matures on a host. He can also leap several feet over the air, climb over cliffs with his nails, and see the path of bullets in slow motion while detransformed.

Perhaps its greatest ability however is its capability to evolve and adapt under life-threatening situations. Should Baoh find itself in danger or suffer a fatal injury, it will reveal its maximum destructive power against whatever had attacked it. Initially, Ikuro had trouble remembering what he did when the Baoh Parasite took over and caused a notable change in his character, but he eventually came to consciously control it after figuring its affinity towards danger.

Hardened Skin



Whenever it finds itself in danger the Baoh parasite gives itself an adrenaline boost and injects an anesthetic around Ikuro’s blood vessels to take complete control over his body and change his entire cellular tissue. This response allows it to form the Baoh Armored Phenomenon, an invincible shell that hardens his muscles and elbows and is bulletproof against smaller firearms.

Regeneration


Baoh allows Ikuro to heal his wounds at an impressive rate, such as when it healed a deep stab wound in his stomach, being shot through the hand, impaled by wooden stakes, fatally cut through the trachea, or a shotgun blast to the chest. And while he can’t regrow severed limbs, he can still reattach them.

Baoh Reskiniharden Saber Phenomenon


What initially might have begun as a strange lump in Ikuro’s arms eventually grew into massive wrist blades in a matter of hours called Hard Sabers that he can protrude at will. When transformed as Baoh, this is his go to method to cut and dismember hordes of bad guys, deflect bullets, and even use them as throwing projectiles by detaching them from his arms.

Baoh Meltedin Palm Phenomenon


One of Baoh’s most deadliest armed phenomenons. By discharging his own body fluids from his palm, Baoh can dissolve any matter he comes into contact with in a few seconds– from melting human flesh, to guns, steel shutters or railways. This acid is so deadly that not even Baoh’s own skin can contain it without melting, as his own fluids leave toxic waste that regrows itself back into his skin whenever he uses it.

Baoh Shooting-Bees Stinger Phenomenon


Baoh can harden and shoot out his hair as small piercing needles that will immediately combust upon coming into contact with another target’s body heat. If he is surrounded, he can fire an omnidirectional spray of needles to shoot them all down.

Baoh Break Dark Thunder Phenomenon


Ikuro can conjoin his muscle cells to manipulate his own bioelectricity and can produce high voltage electricity up to 60,000 volts and even discharge it through the air. If he wants to go further, he can send an even stronger shock of electricity across his body to unleash Baoh Break Dark Thunder Phenomenon, where he emits and shoots the electricity out of his body. This electricity is shown to be strong enough to stop grenades and destroy the entrance of the Dress Organization.

Enhanced Smell


Whenever Baoh takes over Ikuro his sense of touch, hearing and smell all become completely irrelevant, as he instead relies on a cleft on his head to act as a tactile sensor to regain awareness over his surroundings and sense if assassins are still around. He can also perceive the emotions of others, from pain and sorrow, killing intent and even discern the morality of his foe, being able to tell if they’re being controlled against their will or if the stench of evil comes from them, as the narrator frequently describes. Even from kilometers away, Ikuro can tell if others are in danger and will attempt to risk its life if necessary in extreme situations.

Resistances

Masane

Electricity:

While never shown in the anime, the comics depict the Witchblade letting its bearers resist the following:


Fire and acid:
Life Absorption:
Sleep Manipulation:
Darkness-empowered diseases:
Thanks to the Witchblade, Sara and Katarina have been able to absorb and destroy diseases spawned from the Darkness and similar beings.

Corruption and Mental Manipulation:
Heat (to a certain extent):
Limited resistance to acid:
Baoh momentarily survives nepenthes fluid, which contains enzymes that dissolve anything containing protein. Enough to melt a body, but for Ikuro he can last up to five minutes in total.

Feats

Masane

Overall 

  • Survived at ground zero of the Great Quake that destroyed Tokyo
  • Successfully adopted Rihoko
  • Killed Doji Group’s multiple X-Cons, I-Weapons, and Cloneblades
  • Evolved to achieve her second form
  • Fought Maria all the way up Tokyo Tower and defeated her
  • Sacrificed herself to save Rihoko and the rest of Tokyo from the I-Weapons


Strength


Second form


Durability

Second form



Baoh

Overall


  • Successfully survived the experimentation process of becoming Baoh
  • Escaped from Dress Organization’s experimentation
  • Defeated Dress Organization assassins like 22nd man and Dordon
  • Killed 7 assassins and a mutated baboon in a single night
  • Eventually came to consciously control Baoh after a period of four days
  • Saved a girl from being run over by a train
  • Killed Walken, the most powerful Psychic in the world
  • Successfully revived Sumire and made the ultimate sacrifice to save her
 

 

Strength


Speed

Durability

Scaling

Masane

X-Cons and Cloneblades


Throughout the anime, Masane is shown regularly battling and destroying X-Cons, I-Weapons, and Cloneblade wielders, so it should be reasonable to assume she scales to anything they’ve done.


Maria

Shiori 
Nora

Takeru Ibaraki and Sara Pezzini



The protagonists of the Witchblade: Takeru manga and the original comics. Both the events of the manga and authorial statements confirm these three share a continuity, with the NSWF showing up to investigate the Witchblade, Sara cameoing as one of the few worthy of wielding the Witchblade, and Kazasa Sumita, who worked on the manga, stating the Witchblade used by Masane is the same used by Takeru and Sara from the comics. There are also statements from the Witchblade: Bearers of the Blade guidebook and Top Cow’s president/editor that the anime takes place in the future of the comics.


Takeru
Sara

Baoh

Walken


Referred to as the strongest psychic user on earth, Walken was the ultimate roadstop to Ikuro and perhaps the most powerful enemy he’s ever faced. Unsurprisingly though, being the most formidable weapon of the Dress Organization Ikuro was able to contend with him and deal some serious damage, and by serious damage I mean cutting him in half with a LASER CANNON!

Weaknesses

Masane


Despite the Witchblade offering her immense power, it’s been stated multiple times that Masane would eventually die to the Witchblade. This process only intensified as the series went on when it began eating away at her lifespan the more its power grew, threatening to rip her apart.

While less severe in comparison, she can still be affected by tranquilizers. And as we previously mentioned, she’s not much of a strategist, generally preferring to overwhelm opponents with brute strength instead of thinking things through.
 

Baoh




Before the Verdict

The Angelus’ Sun Dagger Feat


Just to preface this, Masane has never encountered beings like the Angelus or Darkness, so that makes it questionable how she’d scale to them. And even with chainscaling to bearers from the comics there’s a massive elephant in the room. 

In The Darkness #82, we get an introduction where a nameless host of the Angelus spends 28 years in front of a distant small star, using her magic to slowly shrink it until she can condense it into the form of a dagger. In order to withstand even a second in front of a star of that size would require a little over 16 petatons at minimum, and 14 yottatons accounting for the full timespan.

While this sounds impressive, it’s a massive outlier compared to all of her other feats.

The Angelus’ best feat aside from this is causing the eruption of Krakatoa, which she’s implied to have done solo. This would only be worth 200 megatons, an over 80,000,000 times difference compared to the bare minimum of the Sun Dagger’s creation! And it only gets worse with how low scale ALL of her other feats are. Her most impressive on screen feats are blowing up houses, bars, and casinos, or destroyinga metal casingaround the Brooklyn Bridge, and only that last one gets above building level!

 


The Dress Lab’s Self Destruct


Near the end of the Baoh manga, as his last resort to kill Ikuro after every plan or attempt of his failed, Dr Kasuminome devised a self destruction sequence that will destroy the entire research resort in less than fifteen minutes. While not a popular argument, some have used it as a feat to judge Ikuro’s durability due to Sumire’s vision revealing him to still be alive in the depths of the sea after he sacrificed himself to save her. This has been calculated at 10.046 kilotons of TNT.

However, there are some issues with this feat and some of the assumptions for this calc. The calc doesn’t account for the surface area that Ikuro’s body would have to take in order to survive the explosion and we see that the explosion happens on the surface of the island itself instead of underground. According to Kasuminome, all members of the research institute would have to evacuate by at least a distance of one kilometer. Something that is similarly reiterated in VIZ’s translation when Walker dug through 41 floors and almost one solid kilometer of rock underground, the same exact distance that Kasuminome stated it would take to survive. Accounting for surface area, this feat would go down to 799.75 tons of TNT.

This is also ignoring that this explosion did knock Ikuro out by the end of the manga and that one of the Baoh parasite’s most consistent weaknesses is generally heat. So there could be an argument that Ikuro would not fully scale to this, but if you did take it into account it’d be the upper limit for his total durability.

 

Verdict 


Stats

Stats can cover the three metrics of strength, durability and speed. Let’s separate the latter and focus on the first two, since that makes up physicality. And there’s a starting distinction to be made.

Strength isn’t that hard to determine. While Baoh can pick up and slam cyborg soldiers and units to dent walls and slice their heads apart, Masane can slice through X-Cons in a single slice, far wider and bigger than just the heads and torsos of cyborgs. Add in how she can kick and launch X-Cons to dent walls that Baoh actively had to slam foes into to destroy, and she takes the edge in strength. In Base Form, nonetheless.

That mindset also conveys durability. The Witchblade being able to withstand its own gigatons of TNT output means Baoh is never breaking it. And even outside of that, Baoh’s been severely weakened when crushed by the giant monkey, while Masane can tank a tank shot and get back up without a hitch. Baoh can endure a shotgun blast, but Masane can endure being shot repeatedly. She takes the general edge in endurance and withstanding.

Scaling only adds onto this. Baoh’s theoretical best of 799.75 tons of TNT, while applying only to his durability at first, would be above base Masane’s own durability feats, but still not enough to match her scaling. At most, she could scale to 4.3 kilotons thanks to Sara overpowering the Angelus, leaving her 5.4 times greater than the best argument you can give Baoh.

Take that with a grain of salt, though. Masane scaling to Witchblade users and villains she never interacted with before is not the best play to make, since there’s little proof of merit for the scaling chain. That goes double for Baoh, since his theoretically best durability and the power of the laser cannon (which we’ll cover later) are aspects that shouldn’t scale to his strength.

Either way, base Masane would be more powerful, and she has the normal durability and endurance advantage. Then there’s Second Form Masane. The moment this breaks out, yeah, she definitely scales far higher than Baoh’s durability, rearing up 99 megatons at the least while Baoh’s best endurance is, again, 799.75 tons of TNT. That’s thousands of times more than Ikuro could ever handle, letting her oneshot him. Repeating said power and highlighting her durability would just reveal he’ll never hurt her thereafter.

Masane Amaha has the might and general endurance to stand stronger, meaning she takes Physicality.



But while that discussion had a lot to break down (and it still will), speed turned out to be relatively simple. At least, comparing them.

Masane was able to run from gunfire, but Baoh actively blocked any aimed at him. Masane has avoided bullets shooting at her feet, Baoh’s dodged shots aimed at his body. Masane could dodge shots when free to move, but Ikuro could do so himself even while stationary and hanging on a wire.

And taking their base reaction capabilities is comparing Masane’s Mach 3.79 against Ikuro’s Mach 10.64. This makes Ikuro 2.8 times faster than Masane with the Witchblade.

But that’s skipping over Baoh’s best feat: rolling Sumire to dodge the light beams. 

Baoh’s light beam roll is approximately 6.4% the speed of light reaction wise. Mach-wise, the speed of light is Mach 874,030. Multiplying those two numbers together gives Baoh a reaction speed of Mach 55,937.92., making him over 14,700 times faster than Masane’s best feat.

It’s questionable who has the better movement speed, but Masane is still much slower in reaction speed compared to Baoh’s best. Baoh takes Speed.


Tertiaries

There’s little doubt on who has the edge regarding experience and time spent fighting. Ikuro’s venture only spanned four days before he was knocked into a coma, and of those days not every waking moment was spent fighting. Masane not only lasted longer than four days as the Witchblade, she applied her state to more than just fighting, showcased in bouts of agility and athleticism.

To be fair to Baoh, his adaptability and improvisation mean he has tangled with more experienced foes and prevailed. From soldiers to experiments, his entourage does give him some credibility to fall back on. But at the same time, Masane has had more foes, more machinations, more variety, and more rivals to push her throughout her journey.

Ikuro’s not completely helpless, but it can only mitigate a gap this big. Masane takes Experience without doubt.



However, intelligence is the other way around. As we’ve repeatedly said at this point, Masane… isn’t much of a strategist. She tends to brute force her way through fights, with her general “strategy” amounting to her increasing her range with the Witchblade’s shapeshifting, and maybe summoning a blade from her legs if she’s getting overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Baoh’s been shown doing things like altering chemical compositions in his hair to create new attacks, creating distractions to exploit opponents while they’re off guard, and charging a laser with his body’s electricity to one-shot the world’s strongest psychic.

Baoh easily takes Intelligence.
 

Weapons

Despite the fact that both only have one real weapon to their names, there wasn’t much of a contest. The Witchblade is Masane’s only option, but it’s undeniably solid. Being far more durable than what Baoh can dish out, this nifty arm bracelet/cover makes due by granting Amaha all her attributes and skills. Blades, tendrils from her sharp edges and hair, enhanced agility, regeneration, and bolstering her power.

While it is far more detrimental should it ever be lost, Masane has consistently used it to the best of her abilities and has maximized her opportunities in and out of combat. Add in the fact that the Witchblade will not just defend her but retaliate if anything tries to remove it from her, and it’s a very handy (ba dum tss) tool to say the least.

To be fair to Baoh’s laser cannon, this puppy is one of the few oneshot options of the fight, what with the firepower it can scale compared to base Masane’s durability. That, and it using light is far too fast for her to react to. That being said, Baoh has used it only once in canon, requires him charging it with his bioelectricity before use, and was only used when previously around Dress Organization’s laboratory, which had laser cannons galore. It might not even be an option he thinks about before it’s too late, even if JJBA:AS implies Baoh can carry it around on his person.

Add in Second Form Masane and the defensive buffers that the Witchblade offers, and there are reasons why the laser cannon can still fall short. Regardless, Masane’s proficiency and variety within the Witchblade means she takes Weaponry.


Abilities

When it comes to their powers, both Masane and Baoh have back-and-forth advantages and disadvantages to address.

Baoh has a clear advantage in the number of powers at his disposal. Both have ways to manifest blades, regenerate from damage and perceive extraordinary abilities and characters, even if differences lie in said abilities. But only Baoh has long-ranged options with firing his hairs, close-ranged control through his bioelectricity, applying pressure with his acidic palms, and the ability to harden his skin and thus defenses.

Even though Masane (or much more so the Witchblade) can resist various of these effects and tactics, like electricity and acid, they are still useful. Especially since it's questionable if the variety and power that Baoh’s abilities pack could translate to being resisted as effectively as other examples have shown. The best way to explain is the Witchblade can resist acid, but Masane herself hasn’t, or the electricity the X-Cons deployed hasn’t shown as much force as Baoh’s bio electric, which can rip people and cyborgs apart.

That said, Masane does have edges unique to her. Her shapeshifting allows her to utilize more blades and make tendrils that Baoh would struggle to break off with his two sabers. Especially since hers are much bigger and longer. It also bolsters her defenses and gives her options to stall, just like her agility, which Baoh has really no means to close the gap other than chasing her. She can keep away with it, even though movement speed is comparable and her reaction speed is slower.

On the surface her lumokinesis doesn’t sound particularly helpful against Baoh, since he can’t even see so it wouldn’t be able to blind him. But considering this ability created a giant ball of light capable of incinerating a large area, it does provide her some good AOE (though she’d only use it as a last resort since it kills her). More importantly, being able to morph into her Second Form is really handy. That’ll get its own section, but regardless, Masane has more resistances to call back on, either for herself or especially the Witchblade. And given the defensive perks of the latter, it does help even things out.

And yes, Masane and Baoh could easily sense each other out. Masane’s extraordinary perception would grant her better sight and vision overall, and she could use it to determine Ikuro’s strength and danger. That said, Baoh’s tactile sensor being able to sense danger level and intent to kill and fight would allow him to outright track the Witchblade, and thus, Miss Amaha. Again, it evens out.

In the end, both have the same amount of perks to perform with. Masane’s blade manipulation offers her greater close combat range, but Baoh’s shooting-bees stinger grants him the long-range advantage. Masane’s body shapeshifting can bolster her defenses through blades and shielding tendrils, but Baoh’s regeneration can patch him up much faster and let him act on lopped off limbs. And while Baoh has acid and electricity on his roster, Masane’s defensive hold with tendrils and the Witchblade, combined with her resistances, means it evens out.

And with stuff like their perception-based senses and skills evening out, it does mean that small trade-offs can go a long way. Masane has better defensive abilities and skills and can bolster her range for attacks, but she’s exclusively stuck to close range. Conversely, Baoh has more tools in his kit and has better recovery options, but Masane has some too and can leave him in a spot given her better traversal and agility. Even when applying their powers explicitly to how their stats lie, it merely benefits the dynamic in an even way.

Thus, Masane and Baoh tie in Abilities.




…But that’s forgetting a certain factor here that does tip the scales. Forms.

This isn’t much of a discussion as it is a distinction between base Masane and Second Form Masane. Masane as a human might be weaker than Ikuro, but the moment the symbiotes take over is where the divide lies clearly. Baoh reaches his peak immediately and can trickle down, whereas Masane can nearly match several aspects of his and still grow.

And that isn’t introducing the elephant in the room: Second Form Masane. The moment this comes out, Baoh’s damage and potential plummet from manageable to negligible. The physical gap simply means that, the moment it comes out, there is no longer a debate, just a cat and mouse chase before Masane catches and murks him.

So the question ultimately becomes if Masane can transform into her second form in time before Baoh could cut her down. Because she just needs to will herself into said form, all she needs is the perfect opportunity.

And given the fact that base Masane can hold out even with her base durability disadvantage, especially with the difference between Baoh’s striking power and his durability, it stands to reason she can. Even though Ikuro has far better reaction speeds, that doesn’t negate the defensive advantage Masane has to bide time through her agility, jumping, defensive hold of shapeshifting body parts, and so on. Masane takes Forms.



Conclusion

While this is far closer than people might surmise, this isn’t the case where a verdict is up in the air. The dynamic is Masane would generally take strength and durability, but Baoh’s reactions and understandable endurance would allow him to keep up and put on the pressure. And with movement speed around the same, the main focus is on dynamics.

Baoh has a lot going for him. A more tactical mind, long-ranged approaches and attacks, better regeneration, and the laser cannon. Add in how he can always sense her thanks to the Witchblade providing lust and battle intensity, and it makes you wonder how he’s on the backfoot.

And that’s because of Masane’s tactics and approach. Masane might intend to go in blades-a-blazing, but that shuts down Baoh’s options through forcing an up-close encounter every time. He needs time and space to prepare those options, even if briefly. Given Masane’s equal in movement and her ability to move around far more freely, she can dictate the fight and its flow.

The laser cannon can murder her base form in one blast, but if she dodges out of the way or blocks with the Witchblade, that’s an opportunity already shut down, especially if she destroys it. Baoh’s acidic palm and bioelectricity could theoretically bypass her resistances, but that asks for an opportunity to use them, and good luck with blades and tendrils galore. His regeneration might help with lasting longer, but landing one good attack and skewering him could open him up and split him apart, and from there, he’s not coming back together.

Yeah sure, Ikuro has a better rapport with tactics and plans, but that requires him to either make space or react and move faster than his opposition, like the giant monkey. Masane’s tactics of “hit really hard, rip & tear, hurt fast kill faster” pairs well with her better experience to let her play off anything Hashizawa could do.

But that’s nothing to the Witchblade and Second Form. Baoh has no options to shut down either. He’s not strong enough to even damage either, and that signals how it’d go. Any attacks Baoh uses against base Masane could be blocked with her blades, which can change size and scope for better defenses. And Second Form Masane would kill him in a single hit, and given the movement speeds are equal, it’s far easier to accomplish than one might think.

It’s why anytime either gets mentioned, Baoh gets put on the backfoot. He absolutely has options to fight back and take advantage here and there, and he can indeed kill Masane if given the chance. But unfortunately for him, Masane Amaha is not the person to give such chances in the first place.

To best Sumire-ize, Ikuro Hashizawa brought a lot to the table, but against Masane’s options and power, all he could do was take a Baoh of defeat and see Witchblade would cut him down. 

The winner is Masane Amaha!



Summary

Masane Amaha



Advantages:
  • Generally stronger and more durable…
  • Far more experienced
  • Greater close quarters control
  • Mobility advantage
  • Resists Baoh’s options and wincons quite effectively
  • The Witchblade
  • Second form is too much for Baoh to handle
  • Adoptive mother
  • Completely overshadowed the original comics in mainstream popularity

Equal:

  • Movement speed
  • Would kill and sacrifice themselves for a little girl

Disadvantages:
  • …but comparing their direct durability feats, Baoh’s are above Masane’s own
  • Much slower reaction speeds
  • Not as tactical
  • Worst regeneration
  • The laser cannon can oneshot her base form if given the chance

Ikuro Hashizawa


(“I will not give up hope! I have the life-force to survive even this! I swore I would save this girl! I swore it to MYSELF! MYSELF!”)

Advantages:
  • His direct durability feats are above Masane’s…
  • Far faster reactions
  • Far more tactical
  • Better regeneration
  • The laser cannon can oneshot Masane’s base form if given the chance
  • Inspired Hirohiko Araki to pursue manga and is why JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure exists and is beloved

Equal:
  • Movement speed
  • Would kill and sacrifice themselves for a little girl

Disadvantages:
  • …but Masane is still generally stronger and more durable
  • Far less experienced
  • Weaker close quarters options and flexibility
  • Struggles mobility-wise
  • Masane’s resistances counter Baoh’s wincons
  • Cannot get around the Witchblade
  • Second Form Masane will always stomp him
  • Did not get the chance to adopt Sumire

Tally

Masane: 4 (Br3ndan5, Studio8558, T0m, Giotto)

Baoh: 0 (At least he’s reuniting with his parents)

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