Witch Hunter Robin

Director
Shuko Murase
Production
Bandai, Sunrise, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2002

Witch Hunter Robin DVD Volume 1

By David Rasmussen
1st Jan 05

Company - BANDAI
Rated - Teen (13+)
English/Japanese Dialogue
Optional Extras? - See below
Time 125 Minutes
Original Idea - Hajime Yatate & Shukou Murase
Chief Writer - Aya Yoshinaga
Character Design - Kumiko Takahashi
Music - Taku Iwasaki
Producers - Keiichi Matsumura & Tsutomu Sugita
Produced by SUNRISE & BANDAI Visual.

Volume 1 - Arrival
Prelude - Location - Present day Japan.
The Problem - As of late there's been a rise in the number of Witches that call the Earth home.
And when some of these witches with their supernatural powers go Sith on everyone and start running amok that's when it's time to call in the STN.

Pity the STN (and its branch office in Japan called the STNJ), the organization which handles run-amok witches, is a shadowy organization.

What's with Yatate and organizations you just can't trust? First it's Betterman, then Argentosoma, now this! Anyway it's their job to combat the threat of Witches turned to the Dark Side with a blend of technology, forensic science (CSI meets Betterman) and super-powered team members....

But even so, the bad witches (though technically only the female crooks can be called witches, the guys can be warlocks, mages or whatever) outnumber the good guys and that got one of the STNJ killed six months ago - speaking of which, the replacement for that dead person just arrived from Europe.

This new member, named Robin, is a young girl who was raised in an Italian monastery (hopefully they were proficient in the art of buttkick in that monastery) and has just been transferred to the STNJ as their newest Hunter- and that's where the story begins.

Episode 1 - Replacement
Okay, so Robin has showed up - however, she didn't come through official channels (the plane they arranged for her to arrive) so when she shows up? She gets turned away at the door.

Maybe it's the way she followed team hunk Amon to base that did it, or maybe it's that they're already on a case and can't be disturbed. Either way while they're working on a case that you see begin at the start of the episode, Robin goes and cools her heels at a dining establishment. As for the case? Seems the guy they nabbed last night (who they somehow insist on calling a "witch" when he's clearly another type of supernatural wielder) had a partner who they now have to hunt down.

Robin? She shows up while the team is confronting that partner, and it seems she has the same magic ability ("Craft" skills, with a angle towards fire) as the perp. She comes in at the right time so the team can take this guy down, and capture him.

So, she's the new member, right? Nice power - but how fine of a control does she have over it?
We're about to find out.

Episode 2 - Addicted to Power
So, Robin, the team's newest member, has officially arrived. So - now what?

Robin is about to find out as her first case with the STNJ comes rolling along, and it's a conclusion to a case that started before she arrived. It involves an ego-ridden, movie star actin' businessman whose partner had the unfortunate fate of dying from a curse - a curse the accused cast of course.

This is Robin's first case so she can get used to the way things are done in the STNJ.
First, of course, there's the No Kill policy (capture the perps alive) which she needs to get used to.

Second there's the "Orbo"s which help with protecting the agents from most attacks (though Robin finds the Orbos disgusting and refuses to use it).

Oh, and her new mid-level boss is a jerk. That she most definitely have to get used to - maybe. And she's barely a day in on the case and she finds an unfilled pic of a church in the case records.

Why is that important? Before this is over we'll have a fiancée, a wedding, that chapel, and a confrontation on hallowed ground (the Church) to go through.

The lead investigator for this case on the police side? He had it out for this guy since they suspected him of other crimes but couldn't prove it, so he went out of his way to falsify records to nail this guy. But in the end when he confronted the accused? He just didn't believe in magic (lame) and tried to yell him into telling him how he really did the murder. The investigator gets killed anyway by that stuff he didn't believe in, so that's a waste. Yet still... anyone think the guy is still in denial in the afterlife?

As for the perp? Guy gets caught, fiancée ends up with his business and the media spotlight (which, or so it seems, happens to be exactly what she wanted in the first place... how sad, really).

Episode 3 - Dancing in Darkness
Today's villain had his powers come from Egypt with hate.
And yes, it's an ancient Egyptian who does NOT have a grudge against Yugi Motou's alterego!

Some guy with Mummy-like powers (as in Arnold Vosloo-level Mummy powers) is on the loose and leaving...eew! Mummified corpses!! Clean up after yourself Mr. I-Know-How-To-Generate-A-Death-Cloud of Insects like in the Mummy! Sheesh! Messy!!

Robin turns out to be the first one to notice something with the body, mainly a dead insect (from that death cloud attack). It seems that this is one crime that is an OLD cold case file. Try over a hundred years cold with a few murder sprees every 40 years.

Why 40 years? Seems this guy is a parasite of sort, and attacks other witches to drain them of their life force/powers which keeps him forever young. Guy's not complete trash though, had a wife whom he didn't kill (she grew old and still remembers him, and ends up being vital to giving the team a hint or two, even as she passes away during the episode).

First attempt to catch him fails, which also puts into question Robin's ability to control her powers. But just as it looks like the perp might get away? The passing of his wife yields the clue needed to find him. What happens next? I'll leave that for you to discover. Good ending though.

Episode Note - Today Robin finds time to bond with the team computer hacker, Michael, over donuts and coffee. Whee! It's a touching Hallmark Channel moment!!

Episode 4 - Stubborn Aesthetics
Don't you just hate it when your day at the park is ruined by the discovery of a corpse?
I know it'd ruin my appetite to have that happen on MY trip to the park!
This incident, which happened four months before Robin joined the STN-J, is how the episode starts.

As for Robin? Amon just gave her the gift of - glasses? Apparently he either wants to foster the Yomi look in her, or thinks she needs glasses since she can't aim straight and - urgh. Well, that's just insulting!
So, after being "insulted" like that how does she vent? She goes home that night and cleans the apartment she's sharing with someone else (all the apartment), and goes to church the next day to pray (but she does that every day, it's a ritual for her).

As for the cleaning? It's something she did at the monastery -well, obviously the monks weren't teaching her to combat evil there - well, unless they were teaching her to one day fight the evil forces of French Maids and Italian Plumbers - damn you, Mario!! And damn you too, Luigi!! (sheesh)

On the way to work she meets a young female artist and chats with her a little bit (awww!)
When she gets to work, however, she finds that Amon had left her another thing, this time a disk of files from before her joining the group for her to study.
Yeah, that Amon, what a "sensitive" guy he is - sigh. But it seems that Robin has found something interesting on that file, a cold case four months old that happened to have taken place in the same park she passes through each and every day (seen in the beginning of the episode).
She decides to look into this, but finds more than she bargained for.

What? You'll find that out when you watch. Great ending, and for ONCE we have - oops. Almost spoiled it, but let's see if you can see this ending coming, or if it sneaks right up and ambushes you!

Episode 5 - Smells Like the Wandering Spirit
While I'm sure there'll be no cameo appearance by either Nirvana or Weird Al Yankovic (since they both did a "Smells Like-" song - never mind) I do know this is the last episode of the DVD so I won't give you a hint as to what's going on. You'll have to check it out for yourself.

Region One Optional Extras
Textless Opening and Ending Credits (just in case you want to see it without all those credits blocking your view of the visuals).

STNJ Personnel Files - Learn a bit about the team members here, and see one page of character images of each so you know who's who.

Linear Notes (aka the "Maelifica Compendium")- Once again the old rules apply: Spin the disc once and watch all the episodes before you pursue the Linear Notes...just in case there's any spoilers in there that you shouldn't read before watching the DVD.

Reversible Cover - I never reverse the cover... so you all have to tell me what it looks like on the other side.

Witch Hunter Robin Breakdown
What's Hot? -I like what I've seen so far. The animation is crisp and good-looking, and it just feels so right.
Kind of a supernatural CSI, this series is just getting started (review wise) and I'm more than interested enough to want to see this through to the end. Of course I'll have to dish out my own review credits to see the end, but I got up to Volume 4 before it stopped coming so I have quite abit to say before I need to pick up new DVDs.

What's Not? - It's the first DVD, but by the time I got to DVD Vol. 4 I began to have some questions and Nots issues to address. But since this is Volume 1's review I think I can leave that aside until I actually have said issues out in the open to have issues about.

Moments to Remember? - There's quite a bit to remember about this series!
The gang at STNJ is memorable, and some of the action is quite memorable. The way they handle the crimes, not to mention the crimes themselves which are quite intriguing, are also memorable.
Just a darn good series to watch if you ask me.

What to Ignore? - Well - for now nothing. As as the series goes onwards you'll have more reasons to pay attention than ignore things, but more on that in future reviews.

Overall? - This beginning for Witch Hunter Robin is a good one. The animation is really good to look at, nicely done. Kind of a weird supernatural CSI type of series (at least for now) it just does things in a new way and really really does it well.

Never having a complaint before about a "Yadate" series, I seem to have no complaints now. Of course I do have some minor complaints, but more on that later.
For now this is solid and right on, and I heard it has a possible 2005 Region Two release coming and that's good news since this is something you should check out once it hits. Majorly good series.
Overall I have to say that Witch Hunter Robin is highly worthy of your attention in either rental or buying mode. Try this one out when it hits, because I'm sure you'll be glad that you did. Trust me.

-- David Rasmussen 1st Jan 05

Witch Hunter Robin Images