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 Volume 6

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
10th Mar 06

The final volume of Witch Hunter Robin ends in a similar fashion to the rest of the series...predictably.

The final volume contains five episodes, as Nagira and Robin finally track down Amon; Zaizen begins hunts using Orbo-enhanced humans, abandoning the hunters of the STN-J. Solomon plans an attack on the Factory in order to stop Zaizen’s Orbo production but before that Father Juliano appears to tell Robin the reason for his choice in sending hunters after her. A reason that is not only heavily clichéd but hasn’t even been hinted at until this volume. After Karasuma and Sasaki are hunted by Zaizen’s forces our characters come together to discus the situation. They begin plan their own attack on the Factory and confront Zaizen once and for all.

There are a number of twists and turns in the plot. Most of them are predictable such as the secret behind the Orbo, which has been fairly obvious since the start of the series. The developments that aren’t so predictable seem to have been made up on the spur of the moment. The secret behind Robin’s past and the reason she was suddenly the target of hunts doesn’t have anything to do with the fragment featured in previous episodes. The real reason is poorly implemented, as is the attack on the Factory, and the confrontation with Zaizen. The series has also hinted at some sort of connection between Robin and Amon yet this too is not handled well. The conclusion to the series is also poor, and there isn’t anything that really makes you care.

With the exception of Robin herself (and maybe one or two others) the characters just aren’t likeable. Most of them are fairly one-dimensional and stereotypical. The visuals aren’t particularly impressive in any of the scenes featured, and the action in this volume is minimal. Which is strange because the staff do have the ability to produce impressive scenes because previous episodes have shown this.

Witch Hunter Robin as a whole is distinctly disappointing. Despite a promising start, and an interesting turn in the middle, it really seems as if the shows makers had absolutely no idea what they were trying to accomplish and constantly kept changing their minds. As a result we have a series that just seems confused. Witch Hunter Robin isn’t a terrible series and is worth renting but it’s doubtful that anyone who purchases the full series is going to be best pleased with their use of money when there are so many superior series out there.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English/French/Japanese Audio, English/French/Netherlands Subtitles, Interviews with Japanese Voice Actors, Message from the Cast , Bana Concert

Release information: Publisher: Beez Released: March 6th 2006 Classification: PG Running Time: 100mins

Notes: The interviews really aren't that intresting, however the Bana concert is a recording of the Live performance of Bana the band behind Robins opening and ending themes, oddly though there are no subtiltles for this which is a sahme as their is a bit of banter between the group.

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 10th Mar 06

Witch Hunter Robin Images