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 V. 4 (Platinum Edition)

By David Rasmussen
16th Jan 05

Rated - T for Teen (13+)
Studio - BANDAI
Planned by Sunrise
Original Idea - Team "Hajime Yadate" and Shuko Murase
Chief Writer - Aya Yoshinaga
Character Designer - Kumiko Takahashi
Conceptual Designer - Yoshinori Sayama
Music - Taku Iwasaki
Director - Shuko Murase
Produced by SUNRISE & BANDAI Visual
Website - www.witchhunteronline.com

Witch Hunter Robin
Volume 4 - Fugitive
Previously...
It's not been a good time for Robin as of late.
Her meeting a strange old woman with an even stranger tale started the ball rolling towards where we are now. For the full details of it all you'll have to check out Witch Hunter Robin V. 3 for the details.
But, the short of it, it seems that strange old woman is in fact a Salem "witch"! A Salem Witch?!? From that long ago?? If that's not enough it looks like she had some pretty powerful information placed in her lap in the past... what info? I know I said I was going to go over it BUT since you're going to go back and check out Volume 3 for that information pertaining to the Salem Witch woman you can check this information out as well (it's in the Inquisitor episode).

Great deal of info gets dished out in the last DVD, more than in the first two DVDs so it's well worth checking it out because it sets the stage for what's about to happen... right now...

Episode 15 - Time to Say Goodbye
So far one of the appealing things of this series is the way it comes off as.
It's sort of a bit of a supernatural Law & Order slash CSI feel to it with your usual fare of action and plot driven storytelling. Then the old woman showed up and the whole long complex info dump came with her that probably means nothing but trouble for the cast from that point forward.

And wouldn't you know it, nothing but trouble has come as of right now.
Looks like last DVD saw a major upheaval, and it seems the one whose head this whole mess is being landed on is Amon's! Sure, sure, the guy is majorly creepy and you can't stare at the guy for five minutes without thinking he's up to something, but is he really responsible for the things that happened last DVD?
Oh, what happened last DVD? Looks like Robin got attacked at her apartment, and the a-no-one suspect with a bullet happens to be Amon. Is he guilty? Maybe, maybe not, can't say right now.

One thing is clear, however, in the aftermath of this attack everyone at HQ is tense, and for good reason.
Especially since STJN HQ is about to become ground zero of a renewed assault to get at Robin.
Time to place your bets... no, no, not on Robin. As the main character it's a good chance she'll make it out alive. I mean on the rest of the cast. Bets, anyone, on who'll live to see the end of this DVD?
Yeah. Exit CSI land, enter X-Files-ville. Ok. Death count from the attack on STJN HQ by what looks like -- a SWAT team? The evil version of Rainbow Six?

Let's see -- out of a possible seven we have this count.
Zero dead weight characters dead.
Zero pretty nice characters dead.
Seven temporarily out of commission.
Zero unknowns.
Zero not harmed (escaped).
We're not counting Robin or Amon into the equation, so forget adding them to the list.

From last episode, and the fact that it seems this team went for a zero body count? I'm taking it the one after Robin is, in fact, the one person who suspicion would least likely fall upon -- the head of the STJN.
His actions in last episode seemed very suspicious, and could only cast a dark shadow on his actions.
And in light of what happened to Kate, his daughter, it would only cast more shadows on him especially with the revelations given. Kate was losing control of her craft, her power, and she became suicidally driven. In that light, could Robin lose control of her abilities as well?

Worst, the two (Amon and Robin) are separated and she's forced to escape on her own.
Amon? She thinks he's probably dead, but somehow I think not since the team was gunning for zero fatalities in their mission. Anyway say goodbye to the way things were going, and say hello to the new way.
Say sayonara CSI style, and hello X-Files.

Episode 16 - Heal the Pain
STJN HQ has been compromised, and Robin has no place there now.
The status of the group itself is -- hmm -- looks like everyone made it out pretty much intact.
However without their three heavy hitting members (Kate, Robin and Amon) things are not what they used to be at STJN. Looks like a month has passed though, and Robin/Amon are still fugitives... but why?

In order for them to have to be hidden for so long? Most likely a lot of powerful individuals are behind the events of the past few episodes. Hence the new X-Files slant. Somehow it couldn't remain the way it was, now we have some sort of "shadow syndicate" thing going.

Of course it could be worse. At lest we don't have a cigarette smoking man as a conspirator though.
And, as suspected, it seems the head of the STJN is not what he seems to be, but what his role in all this is a mystery. As for Robin? She's gone from hunter of Witches to messenger for a law firm. Great. Gone from hunting witches to working for ambulance chasers. What an "upgrade" in life.

Eventually Robin catches up with a member of the STJN (by accident) and she gets the 4-1-1 on what happened in the past month since she went Fugitive. Basically this episode gets you up to speed on the new "reality" post the attack on STJN HQ, and how things are one month afterwards.

Episode 17 - Dilemma
Just because Robin is out of the witch hunting business it doesn't mean crime has taken a holiday.
A witch knocking over ATMs? Yeah. Now there's a threat to society if I ever saw one -- uh-huh.
But still, cold hard fact is that the STJN needs to replace it's heavy hitters ASAP, or they'll not be able to continue doing their job. The only one they could look towards for help is Robin, but as long as the specter of this "nemesis" which hunted her before looms in the shadows she won't come out of hiding anytime soon. Still, who is this "nemesis", and what are their ambitions? Hard to say... yet.

Robin however has her hands filled babysitting, and sometimes that's just as hard as fighting witches.
Speaking of witches, it seems her -- charge -- has witch-born powers... oh, yeah, nice job Robin.
Just because she has witch powers you don't have to make her cry. Dang.

And look whose the peacemaker between the little girl and Robin! It's someone looking for free labor in the witch hunting business... yeah... right. Doesn't the STJN have Mulder's number? Go bother him.

Episode 18 - In My Pocket
Ok. That's that. We're closing up here.
We only have eight more episodes to go (2 DVDs worth of episodes) so we're moving to wrap things up.
That means I should get on the ball and buy up the last two DVDs to finish my reviews.

Anyway now that the format has gone from cool CSI supernatural to not-so-cool X-Files conspiracies, secrets, shadowy nemesis and more questions than answers? Feel abit sad about the second half of the series since it's lingering in Mulder-ville.

Of course it can only get worse with a mysterious something called the "splinter of knowledge" being sought after by a "witch" which may mean that, once again, Robin will be drawn into another witch hunting job. Most likely. Anyway check it out and you'll see it all for yourself.

Looks like she better get with the program fast since Robin's new sanctuary might not be as safe as it seems.
I could be jumping to conclusions but we'll see what happens next time when we return to review Witch Hunter Robin V. 5 in the future, but for now it's optional extras, and the breakdown.
Me? I'm hoping the events of this DVD shakes down the whole X-Files conspiracies thing and returns us to the CSI supernatural style witch hunting of the last three DVDs.

Probably not but one can wish, can't he?

Region 1 Optional Extras
Voice Actor Interviews - ALRIGHT! It was a long time coming but we got two solid Japanese voice actor interviews to check out! This time out it's with Akeno Watanabe (Robin) and Kaho Koda (Karasuma)!

Liner Notes - Once again my usual rule of thumb when it comes to Liner Notes. Spin the disc once, watch the episodes, then come back and read the notes. That way your not exposed to any "spoilers" prior to watching the DVD.

Booklet and a Special Something - Yah! Once again that extra special something is included in the case! Oh, and don't know who Karasuma is? The booklet inside this DVD case will give you a better idea at least visually (you'll see when you check this out).

Witch Hunter Robin Breakdown the 4th
What's Hot? Well, the series has taken a shift out of it's format that it's been going on for the past three DVDs and entered new terrain. Whether this is permanent or not remains to be seen. I think it works, it's a bit slow in places but it works in some ways.

What's Not? However the new "way" things are also doesn't work in other ways.
Separated from her supporting cast, Robin is dragging along now and a lot of the interactions which were memorable before are now few are far between.
A minus side to the new "way" that things are. Hopefully the events of Episode 18 marks a turning point -- ah -- but you'll have to see the DVD for yourself to see what I mean.

Moments to Remember? - Less now that we've entered this new "stage" of the series. With less interactions between Robin and the supporting cast things have lowered a bit in this regard. While Robin still has a chance now and again to interact, it's few in this DVD. Hopefully next DVD will be better.

What to Ignore? - Nothing. Pay attention this time out, like last DVD, it'll be worth it.

Overall? I don't know if I like the way things are going now, and would rather see things get back to the way it was in the first half of the series. Guess that's why I haven't made a commitment yet to finish this review since I wasn't entirely thrilled with the way things went this DVD.

Still it's a new direction and it moves the story forward so it's still a good thing despite the lowered interactions, which lowered my expectations for the series at this point.

Yet, and it's just me saying this, but I hope this new "way" doesn't stay the "way" things are going to be for long when it comes to the pace of the series. Won't find out until next review though, so stay tuned.

-- David Rasmussen 16th Jan 05

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