Witch Hunter Robin

7 reviews - 27.0 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (3.9)

7. Avenant

It's apparent from the start that this is quite a dark series. I had mixed feelings about this one - at first, I hated it. The episodes generally consist of Robin and her friends hunting some nasty witch, after which they capture the witch. Now while I have no problem with this,I have a problem with the fact that it happens thirteen times. "Monster of the week" is hardly amusing to me. However, from Episode 14 onwards the series takes a great step up as some form of story is finally introduced.

The animation I found mediocre. I liked the character animation, but not the CG backgrounds. They weren't too bad since they were blended in, but I don't have much liking for CG to begin with. There is also hardly any colour variation - expect a lot of black and grey. And a decent bit of yellow too from all that fire.

The name really implies what the story is about - but that story doesn't kick in till episode 14. But it is a good story. I'm torn between the lacking early episodes and the superb later episodes - I would give the early ones 2 stars, and the later ones 4. This is still a very competent series and is above average - but you might want to skip episodes 1 to 13. I didn't enjoy them much - after that though, it's all good...

6. Bugmaster

From the beginning, the show looks very promising. People with special powers known as "witches" (though the term applies to both male and female subjects) are loose in the world. Some of them have no regard for human life whatsoever, and act out accordingly. A special elite corps, STN-J, has been formed to track down and fight them, by any means neccessary. The show focuses on Robin, a young girl with pyrokinesis abilities, who has just joined STN-J.

The show opens up with that nice feeling of shadow play, betrayal and twisted loyalties that La Femme Nikita fans surely know and love. Sure, some witches are bad -- but does this justify STN-J's policy of blasting ALL witches into oblivion ? And what happens to the witches who are taken to "The Factory" to be "processed" ? What about those witches who use their powers to help people -- should they be ruthlessly exterminated just because they happened to be born with the gift ? The show contains a few episodes which raise these and many other points. Unfortunately, the keyword here is "a few". Once the introductions are out of the way, the show begins suffering from what I call "The .hack\\SIGN Syndrome": all we get to see are characters (granted, beautifully rendered characters) standing around talking about things which are irrelevant. There are some plot twists in the story; however, I was able to predict almost all of them since episode 1, since this show follows a formula common to many other animes out there. And there are only so many "monster of the week" episodes one can watch before becoming utterly bored.

With its first-rate art, beautiful music and interesting setting, Witch Hunter Robin could have been an excellent anime. Unfortunately, the utterly predictable plot and a penchant drawn-out, pointless expositions drags the show down into the morass of mediocrity. If you have absolutely nothing exciting to do, you might as well watch this show.

5. Iodine

A supernatural action series done much in the same style as Noir, where the plot is largely an excuse for the brooding, gothic atmosphere. Our heroine is the somber Robin Sena, a pyrokinetic teenaged girl sent to join a group of witch hunters in Japan. In this world, those called "witches" have mysterious psychic powers that tend to go out of control and overpower their users. All of the hunters, including Robin, are potential witches, which leads to plenty of angst and internal demons. The central story is a murky tangle of the various characters' conflicting loyalties amongst competing clandestine shadow organizations, but it's all pretty straightforward stuff. The regular characters are well defined, but remain bystanders to Robin's own personal journey, and enjoy little development. This leaves Robin to carry the series by herself, which can be problematic at times because her role is largely a reactionary one to the events around her. It doesn't help that she's very introverted and doesn't say much, though perhaps that's part of her undeniable charm. The plot also feels uneven, with too much monster-of-the-week filler in the earlier episodes, sparse exposition, and a weakly ambiguous finale that leaves too much unexplained.

Using a sometimes odd-looking combination of traditional cel-animation and obviously CGI-enhanced backgrounds, the show's visuals come out mixed. The animation ranges from the magnificent to the marginally acceptable, though the realistic design of the show, done in faded, muted colors, remains superb throughout. The music is nice and moody, with lovely vocal themes. The best segment of the entire show is easily the stylish opening sequence. The dialogue is lackluster, and characters echo each other frequently. But though it has some major bumps, Witch Hunter Robin has its good moments and a unique style all its own. It wouldn't be at all surprising if this became a minor cult classic, though it's slower pace and emphasis on mood over action certainly won't appeal to everyone.

4. Jin

Witch Hunter Robin is an anime about a witch hunter by the name of, yep you guessed it, Robin. The setting of the story has a secret organization, all sorts of witches, and a lot of mystery behind things. This creates a pretty strong piece of story to work with and the people at Sunrise know this. The story goes fast enough for you to pick up everything but not fast enough to leave you lost…for the first half of the series that is. The first half of the series goes with a monster of the week type theme. The pacing during this time is slow and might turn off people initially. But the first half at least sets up a theme and some story to work by. Once it gets to the second half it's clear sailing from there. The story just comes at you and grips you tightly and never lets up until the very end. The animation for it is excellent. Character designs are nice and the implementation of CG is flawless. The integration of the CG into the actual animation is what really stands out when watching the anime. At times I found myself looking at the screen closely to examine if what I was looking at was CG or actual animation. That's just how good it is. The music complements everything quite well in setting up the atmosphere and doesn't get annoying. Very calm and almost classical feel to the music. If you don't mind a somewhat slow start you should definitely pick this title up.

3. Mechaman

I was hooked on Robin right after I saw the gorgeous opening with its soulful music and evocative imagery, and it has quickly become one of my favorite series. This series has a wonderful, dark feel to it and beautiful music as well. The characters and the settings are all well designed and interesting. This is especially true of Robin, who is one of the most interesting and symphatetic female anime characters in years. The show certainly has its faults. The plot twists are occasionally a little too predictable and CGI is sometimes overused. But for anyone interested in a good show that is a mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-files, Robin is something that should not be missed.

2. 3rdEyeVision

I'll start by saying that I'd suggest this series to anyone that is a fan of the X-Files. Some of the first episodes can have the same feel to them where the cast of characters seems to be tracking down some new monster each week and get it all wrapped up in a neat little package before the end of the show. This works for a while, but like the X-Files, there is always a more grand scheme going on in the background. About halfway through , the series starts to explore this more directly. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this series after the first episode, I just knew I wanted to see more.

Robin is a witch who shows up to work for an agency knows as STN-J , a witch hunting organization. Seems odd.She meets the people already working there and the show picks up from there. Anyway, it sets the stage for the inevitable battle between friends, the old " agency within an agency" plot twist and so on.

I think the story loses a little bit of steam as it goes on , and the characters are not all as unique as they could be , but in the end I thought this series did a good job of presenting itself. The show always looks awesome and at times that is enough to get you by a slow period in the story.
All in all , this show does a pretty good job at what it sets out to do. Its influences are pretty clear and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Any fan of both anime and the X-files will enjoy it. I'd suggest it to anyone looking for a good 26 episode series with a more modern and adult feel to it. If nothing else, check out the first few episodes for the style and then see if you want to keep going from there.

1. Prep_Styles

Three hundred and twenty years have passed since the coven sank in the dark. The STN-J branch of the Solomon organization, hunts, subdues, and captures descendents of witches whose powers have manifested. Robin a craft user wields her paranormal powers in the service of STN-J hunting others of her kind. She must endure many hardships in order to come to terms with what it means to both hunt and be a witch.

The first dozen or so episodes of Witch Hunter Robin are somewhat concerning as so little development in terms of the characters and story takes place, sure everything looks and sounds great, however in the beginning something is amiss, something that nearly allowed me to write this one off as (like so many other promising titles) all style and no substance. I don't mind the "monster of the week" formula as long as the events work to flesh out the characters and story, unfortunately that's generally not what were given here and to make matters worst the way the action plays out is at times no help to this show's slow start. It's clear that expressing Robin's mental and emotional state rather then physical action were made a priority during the sequences involving "hunts" as she struggles with developing and controlling her powers. This idea is not necessarily a bad one and some fight sequences are better then others, however many are anti-climatic and therefore disappointing. A story that moves as slow as this (at least in the beginning) is dependent on some exciting action to keep audiences interested, unfortunately it occasionally comes up short. Not to say that the beginning isn't enjoyable, it's simply a small hurdle before the more interesting latter episodes take place. Rest assured that the latter half develops this story to where it needs to be, however it would have been nice if the earlier events could have had greater impact on an otherwise highly enjoyable title.

Fortunately the story's pace doesn't change the fact that this title features truly unique art design, a mysterious story and a cast of interesting characters. It's rather refreshing to see a title with this much style and the substance to back it up. Utilizing stylized substance WHR possesses a suspenseful eerie quality enhancing and intensifying this gothic action drama, when combined by the impressive musical score and original animation Witch Hunter Robin delivers a unique and interesting anime experience.