In the near future, being a Witch doesn't so much require using actual magic as it requires gaining supernatural abilities through one's genetics. People who have the gene but aren't "awakened" to the Craft are classified as Seeds, and then reclassified when they show signs of awakening. There are even some Witches who use them as they see fit; giving in to darker emotions and abusing that power. This is where the STN steps in. The STN (or Solomon) is an organization dedicated to the capture of Witches.

Centering around the Japanese branch of the organization, simply called the STN-J, the story picks up where they have recently lost one of their members, Kate. Headquarters promptly sends in a replacement: Robin Sena, a fifteen-year-old girl raised in an Italian convent. Possessing the power to start fires, she is a Craft user and a Hunter who utilizes the abilities of a Witch.

Immediately things do not go well for Robin: along with getting used to the STN-J's unusual custom of using a substance called Orbo to repel the Witches' power and refusing to kill Witches as Headquarters does, her uncontrolled use of the Craft starts Robin off on the wrong foot with her assigned partner, the mysterious Amon. However, Robin and her fellow Hunters come together as they uncover disturbing truths concerning the ancient struggle between humans and Witches, Kate's sudden disappearance, the organization they work for...and ultimately, the dark secret surrounding Robin's very existence.

Written by iamrobinsena.

Story & Characters

If Witch Hunter Robin had a manga, it definitely would have been an interesting read. Backed by a strong story with lots of interesting ideas, mysterious organizations and a cast of characters thrown in the tumult of it all, this anime could have been one of the great classics out there for anyone who likes supernatural dark thrillers. Sadly, however, the pacing of Witch Hunter Robin is lacking at best, and the cast of characters are never really fleshed out in order to fully appreciate the members of this witch hunting crew.

Witch Hunter Robin has a lot of great original ideas that I really had high hopes for. The idea of revealing a little more about the origins of the witch powers, the whole battle between humans and witches, the symbology and mystery surrounding the powers and Robin herself all kept me glued to the screen, watching episode by episode. Finally, after putting up with a whole bunch of episodic episodes, around episode 16, a little more was revealed about the deep current underneath it all. Finally, our characters were put in a situation that went beyond the scope of the single episode. Finally, finally, finally I got to see a lot more hardcore witch battles with cool hunters. But sadly this ended all too quickly and there were many moments in the later episodes that were reminescent of the episodic nature of the first 16 episodes.

Basically, Witch Hunter Robin's flaw is that TOO much time is spent in animation of background and setting. Essentially, this series become an animated manga with little in the sense of greatly animated action fights, intense fluid movements or anything of that nature. Often times I would find myself staring at the STN-J members just sitting at their desk typing away or writing at their desks. While this certainly gave a feeling of realism, I don't NEED to watch most of this stuff in real time. It's nice to give a quick background setting to where everything is, but I do really NEED to watch Zaizen's office after he is finished talking? Do I really need to watch some random guy just walk across the screen with nothing happening in the background? No. Not really.

Witch Hunter Robin had all the makings of a great series. Interesting context and situation, rivalry between factions of witch hunters, fights against witches with various powers, intel gathering, a mysterious cool male character, a very introverted yet powerful and attractive female main character and a pretty interesting set of background characters. However, the fact that they had so little in the way of story substance heavily disappointed me. Oddly, despite the long drawn out scenes of nothingness, I was not bored at all by this anime. However, at the end I was completely unsatisfied with how everything turned out. Either they tried being profound with intentional subtlety or they just didn't have any great ideas on how to end this series.

Rating: 7

Art

Despite my rant on the lack of any fluid movement, I really liked the character designs and the facial expressions. There was a lot of story told through Robin's facial expressions and that really made it worthwhile to study the screen despite the fillers in time.

Rating: 7

Sound

Really a lack of filling in the blank sound spaces. While the sound effects were effective, there really wasn't much in terms of memorable music.

Rating: 6

Presentation

One of the main appeals to watching this series to its entirety is the hope that something will happen. There are certainly a lot of interesting mysteries in here left unsolved, but watching this again will not solve them either. Because the character interactions are somewhat weak and the story pacing feels a little slow, I think only those who have an intense love for Robin should watch this again.

As for whether or not I would recommend this series... I fear not because the beginning is just way too slow and not worth the half-assed wind down to the end.

Rating: 7

Final Verdict

6.83 (above average)

Reviewed by nauxolo, Nov 12, 2008

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