The horror genre of Anime has perhaps the largest collection of odd and unique anime to date. Adding yet more interesting bits to the genre, Witch Hunter Robin released in 2002 by the good folks at Bandai Visual and Sunrise.

The most interesting aspect about Witch Hunter Robin is the fact that it goes against the general trend in the genre. Mostly all horror anime tend to focus on vampires and how they are hunted or demons and holy wars. Taking a break from that, Witch Hunter Robin features Witches, being hunted by Witches.

Witch Hunter Robin, tells the tale of Robin. A “Craft” user sent from Solomon head quarters as a replacement hunter for STN-J. Though only fifteen years old, Robin proves that she’s one of the most superior craft users and holds her own in the battles that she has to participate in. As she aids the STN-J in their task to rid the world of potential hazardous threats (Witches if you haven’t guessed…), she begins to see a wider picture of what witches are, what her origins are, and how she may be the only hope to restore peace to the oppression against witches.

The Story starts off with a nice introduction of the world and setting that the anime is to take place in. The first few episodes give the viewer a grip of the characters, their routine hunting experiences and how they’re life is in general. It’s interesting to see how these hunters, who are witches themselves, hunt witches and do their specific cases. The primary part of the series focuses on mystery, suspense and action without really overdoing it. Each of the earlier episodes is more or less a unique case of a hunt that Robin and co try to solve. Slowly, Robin get’s close to everyone and gains their trust, and also begins to pierce through the cold attitude of her partner and leader Amon. As we proceed further into the series, things take a turn for the worst and Robin enters a very problematic situation. This is probably one the series most depressing parts, that’s filled with sadness, helplessness and agonizing wait. The anime succeeds in providing this feeling of “loss and helplessness” quite well as Robin attempts to fix the broken pieces of herself and her comrades. The suspense materializes as the anime focuses more of on Robin and what she exactly is. Robin also comes into contact with other “craft” users like herself and the battles are actually “wowing”. Especially as Robin squares off against her first “equal” the fight really seems like an enigmatic clash of two titans.

Finally, the plot builds up and slowly clears the mysteries surrounding Robin, the witches and the organization she works for. The ending is a tad bit disappointing, but then again, it leaves room for speculation on what exactly happened. While it’s not the desirable happy ending, Witch Hunter Robin ends exactly like it started (quite literally), with a sense of mystery and wonder.

The cast of characters in the “Witch Hunter Robin” is nice and varied. Each character has their own unique way of reacting and dealing with a situation. The anime’s characters are pretty unpredictable at times, especially Amon. Amon, who’s the leader of Robin’s band of hunters and her partner, has a very queer standing throughout the series. Though he gives off the feeling of a hero, Amon is more of a wild card trying to figure what it is he wants and what he believes is right. Robin herself is an interesting person, who, despite all the despair and pain surrounding her, is still trying her best and hardest to get through the tough times and be happy again with her new found friends. The character development for each character is perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of the anime, if not the most impressive aspect.

The musical score for Witch Hunter Robin is nice and varied, while not all that much addicting either. This anime is a quiet, mysterious adventure into a world filled with hidden witches and a conflict into the various characters’ beliefs, and the music does little to disrupt this image. While it’s not all that heart pounding, the music succeeds it’s doing an above average job.

The art in Witch Hunter Robin is some of the best found in the anime genre. Not falling behind even the most cutting edge anime such as Ghost in the Shell or Akira, Witch Hunter boasts excellent presentation with its backgrounds, character designs and pretty much everything else. The Animation is nice and fluid, and while the witch powers mostly consist of hurling objects flying through the air, it’s done with a good amount of realism. What is sort of odd is Robin’s character design. At times, she can even look revolting and annoying with her weird pig tails hair style, and at rare times, when she’s got her hair hanging freely, she can even boast an attractive image. It’s a wonder why the anime producers couldn’t let her hair loose and make her look better (ah well… Robin fan-boys get a nice dose of her attractive side near the end of the series).

Of course, Witch Hunter Robin is not without flaws, and some of which bring it down just enough to deny it an otherwise well deserved B+. Witch Hunter Robin has suspense, it has mystery, it has a well-written plot, so what’s really wrong with it? The pace at which the story progresses. It’s amazing that while this is just a 26 episode series, the anime tends to drag and even bore viewers at some parts of the story, where little plot progression is eminent. While it’s the small points of Witch Hunter Robin that join up to make the big plot, it can through off a lot of the interest of the viewer. There’s also the fact that the anime lacks a dominant villain that really feels like the “ultimate baddy”. Most of the witches Robin hunts, while having weird personalities don’t have much in terms of variety. They all seem the same, and it would’ve been nice to see some more variety in the various encounters. Also there’s a sort of romance developing between Robin and Amon that’s never really given the due time it should’ve. Couple that with the fact that Witch Hunter Robin is a somewhat quiet and queer anime at times (or so it gives the feeling). All of that leads to the overall addictive element of the series taking a serious dive.

Overall, Witch Hunter Robin is a nice, interesting and unique 26 episode series. It does what even some of the best animes fail to do quite well. It expertly introduces the characters and builds up the plot, and them seamlessly leads you to the conclusion with the same feeling of mystery that it had when it started. While the ending may not be as satisfying as some would expect, it’s not ill suited for the anime. Definitely an anime to pickup if you’re interested in the horror genre and want something mysterious and suspenseful. We award Witch Hunter Robin with an “B” Grade.

~Reviewed By Death Grin