Witch Hunter Robin

This is a great and intense show!! I do have to say it was a bit slow in the beginning, but it picked up very quickly. Many don't like this show because the don't understand the plot since it is complex, but the story is good. The music is one of the greatest contributions to this show. The opening and ending theme are very catchy, and the music during the actual show is great too. My favorite part of this show is the complex storyline. Some other nice things about this anime is the action and conflict distributed between the characters. Another cool thing about this anime is that everything connects. Any die-hard anime fan will want to check this one out.

"Witch Hunter: Robin" starts slowly as what seems to be a fairly unimportant Blade-ripoff and at first I thought I had wasted my money by buying all 26 episodes, but once I got to having seen a dozen episodes I slowly emerged into an intrigue that pulled me further and further into the story.

Labeled at Wikipedia as an "occult detective story", "Witch Hunter: Robin" is a thriller that gives you a believable world set in near future Japan where the Witch Hunts of the old days have continued up to the present by covert organizations. Our main character is a cute 15-year-old girl in a gorgeous dress with dormant magic power who joins such an organisation but ends up in the most dangerous and confusing situations as a consequence of it. The story is impelling, combination of CGI and hand drawn graphics works well and the film noir atmosphere at times is genuinely creepy while maintaining a sense of realism to it. There are few series I've ever seen that I find this enjoyable to watch and I therefor recommend everyone who's seen the first few episodes and got a little bored to at least continue watching until 15 because once they pass the first 12 episodes, the story should just suck you right in....

Those of you who like "Cowboy Bebop" are sure to be pleased with "Witch Hunter Robin". I do believe that the same people who did "CB" also did "WHR". The animation is absolutely wonderful! It's dark, but nothing too graphic. The character designs are skillfully drawn and their scripts are written so well that it pulls the viewer into their world so we can't escape! The plot has depth and continues moving throughout all twenty-six episodes. The series does leave you hanging till the very end and even then there are still some questions, but all in all, it is a defenite show to see! The art is gorgeous and the story is great! If anything, see it once on television. I highly recommend it!

The first 2 episodes are a bit slow as it creates the atmosphere and introduces the fine cast of characters. Stay with it and you will be rewarded. However, this is not intended to be an action show, nor will you find any "fan service". The animation is 2D, but gives the look of a night-time TV crime drama. For its genre, this is a fine, memorable show. It would be great if they remade it as a live-action series or movie.

The first half of the series focuses on investigations of "abnormal" crimes and the capture of "witches", people who have developed powers. Some of the people who hunt these witches also have powers but are labeled "craft users". You are either a hunter or the hunted. The hypocrisy is obvious.

The second half of the series focuses less on "captures" and more on investigating and revealing secrets about Robin and the agencies. Conflict develops between the agencies.

It has a good ending and leaves me wanting more.

Witch Hunter Robin is an interesting show which has an X Files feel to it. It focuses more on characters and investigation than it does on high concept storytelling. Though it deals with cases on an episodic level, subplots dealing with the characters continue through out the series and it's not a good idea to watch the out of sequence.

That said it has great character design and storytelling and makes good use of limited animation. Pace is a little slow and the viewer is kept at a certain distance from the story, giving it a sort of detached but suspenseful atmosphere. Like Cowboy Bebop, which comes from the same studio, WHR is more like live action shows than animated cartoons.

It's a good show, I just wonder why it seems like it never got as big here as Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion, which have become household names. This show hit the US a little too late. Now that Western Countries have become Anime Saturated, shows like this only get noticed by lucky accident (as with me) or by word of mouth. And while it has its devoted fans, I think it deserves better recognition than it has.

It may not be for everyone, but it is definitely worth checking out.