Customer Reviews

Witch Hunter Robin - Belief (Vol. 2)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the second DVD in a series that is proving to be much better than my initial expectations. 'Hunter' drama story lines tend to be violent and hyper heroic, and thus far, Witch Hunter Robin is proving to be the antithesis of that style. Set in modern Japan, it is the story of the STNJ, a small group of young people who hunt those with paranormal powers. Since they have powers of their own this puts them in an equivocal position.

Rather than focus on violent resolutions, the story focuses on the personal interplay of young Robin Sena and the rest of the team. She is a young practitioner of the Craft who has recently returned from Italy to serve as a hunter, and has yet to become completely comfortable in a team of strangers whose leaders seem to have a hidden agenda.

How this will play out is still unclear, but a gradual change in the depiction of the offending witches has become apparent. This series begins to play up the humanity of all the characters, not just the team. I think it is fairly clear that something in the STNJ organization is not quite right. Captured witches are shipped off to some kind of vague processing center whose purposes are unclear.

The episodes in this series range from the poignant story of a witch who uses dolls for her primary to the tragedy of a doctor who finds he can save lives by killing. In a haunting episode that touches on the impact of these powers on family relationships, we learn much about Yuji Kobari, the bar owner, who has been a bit of a mystery so far.

All the tales are told with a very light touch, and deliberately intended to leave mixed feelings in the viewer. Thus the story has complex overtones that play well against the sparse stylishness of the settings and animation. On many occasions, very dramatic effects are achieved by a curious minimalism that demonstrates that good taste can be a strong a creative device.

The art and animation are top notch. There are a few annoying re-uses of animation (a la He-Man rolling around on the ground 500 times an episode) but they are done at the conference table, are attractive, and are forgiveable. Besides that everything is beautiful, smooth, and of the callibur you'd expect in a movie, not syndicated television show.

I am a little preplexed by the earlier volume's score. The music is very well done and atmospheric and looking at the OST's, it appears there were a lot of tracks written. However...and this is a big however...the first two volumes of Robin only seem to be using a few of these tracks...over...and over...and over again. It's a shame. The lack of variety is killing the mood because it's almost comical how many times you'll here the same musical piece in just one episode alone. Sometimes to the point that they are literally back-to-back.

All this, again, is forgivable. So why the lower rating? The story and characters seem so flat and watered down that this show almost becomes unwatchable at times. The plot meanders on with little insight as to why people are doing what...and the characters seem carbon molds of dull lifeless puppets. There is no wit, no suspense, no tension, just....blah. This is part in due to the *horrible* dialogue. It's not a translation problem. The translation is pretty good. It's just *really* bad dialogue. You've seen it before: "Robin? Huh? Ohhhhhhh. Huh? Ohhhhhh? Ok." with nice loooooooong pauses in between people speaking.

Having said all this...it is quite possible that the series will pick up from its snail pace...and that the characters actually develop into non-puppet form...but at full DVD price a pop...and a couple more volumes to go...I would recommend waiting until the series ends to invest in buying it.

While these next few episodes (Raindrops, Simple Mind, Faith, Sign of the Craft, maybe Seperate Lives?) continue to prod the story along in a witch-of-the-day fashion, they spend more time developing the characters. Amon finally accepts Robin as his new partner, and we discover more about Michael, Sakaki, Karasuma, and Doujima.

In Belief, Robin begins to doubt her duty as a witch hunter. Especially after a witch's noble sacrifice in Faith, Robin begins to speculate where her future is headed. Her love for Amon becomes stronger, and she forms tighter bonds with the rest of the members of STN-J. Meanwhile, we are presented with the mysteries of Factory and Solomon.

This is really an intermission between the introductory Arrival and the stunning third DVD. Once episode 11 comes along, the series truly kicks off. Episode 12 reveals the true meaning of witches and witch hunters for Robin, while the episodes following lead up to the unexpected twist in Episode 15.

Either way, do not skip out on this. It includes some great music, characters, and action. And without it, you won't be able to fully appreciate the following episodes, which truly break away from this episodic structure.

Don't miss out!

The second volume of Witch Hunter Robin features more vignettes about STN-J and the witches they chase. These episodes are interesting, although the only one that really wowed me was the third one, Faith. That had an amazing twist I did not see coming.

In the last episode, Separate Lives, someone from Harry's past is revealed, but the story is a little disappointing in it's ordinariness. I hope there is more to Harry's then just this revelation.

Something is going on with Amon towards Robin. She doesn't know it, for he keeps it secret, but he actually dumps his girlfriend, Robin's roomate Touko. But why? What information about Robin does Amon have that we do not? We will have to wait for the next volume of the series.

Vol. 2 has character profiles, very helpful in allowing you to get names straight. Belief contains a hearty five episodes, 6-10: Raindrops, Simple-Mind, Faith, Sign of the Craft, and Separate Lives.

In volume three, the series will take a serious twist and change its tone.

This is the second volume of the Japanese Cult Hit Witch Hunter Robin based on the story of a 15 year old girl named Robin who originally was born Japan and then raised in Italy.
Because of her special powers she is sent back to Japan to become a Witch Hunter.
This DVD contains episodes 5 thru 10, and also has both the opening and closing sequences from the show, which is currently being aired on the Cartoon Networks Adult Swim in March of 2004.
The added treat of this DVD is that you get the full and clean open and closing from the series of which only part of the original closing actually airs on AdultSwim. The opening does not even air at all.

Scene selection is easy for this DVD and as is selecting the language version you want to hear. The opening and closing songs are transscribed and this series may be unsettling for young viewers, recommend age for viewing is 15 +.

~ "Raindrops"
In this episode Robin gets a ride home from a stranger when her vespa brakes down in the rain on a long stretch of empty road. Robin likes this woman, she is well put together and succesful; Robin espires to be her. The next morning Robin finds out that woman died in a horrible wreck. Not able to simply let it go, Robin investigates the event against much speculation. Amon humors her quite a bit in this one and we kinda see a spark at certain parts.

~ "Simple Minds"
Two guys rob a bank, one of them is later found dead, and the STNG gets calld in becouse the valt and several cars in the robbery were crushed psychicly. Things take an odd twist when the suspect tries to kill a small kid. The kid is damaged goods that got passed around the family becouse he likes to bend spoons. Was the suspect ditching evadence when he tried to kill his nephew, or somthing else entirely.

~ "Faith"
What do you call a Wich, with active powers, that doesnt know he's a Witch? That is the theme of this episode; in the end, upon finding the truth out, the Witch kills himself (but not for the reason your thinking).

~ "Sign of the Craft"
By far one of the more complicated episodes, pay attention to everything said or you wont understand how there were two Witches killing, but only one mind.

~ "Seperate Lives"
A very indepth look at Harry and his Bar. This one really tugged at my heartstrings. Comedically, i did enjoy the witty bantar of Dogima and Robin when they were poseing as Waitresses for a sting opperation.

In this DVD there are five more episodes of the Witch Hunter Robin series and the first two are not really as strong as the other three. I think that a lot more could of been done with the plot in 'Raindrops', because that is the kind of story that SHOULD of scared the living daylights out of me. I hate dummies and puppets and toys that move on their own, yet this episode didn't even make me twitch. And 'Simple Minds' was kind of lame. Yet the last three episodes PLUS the overall artwork, great music and perfect voice work saved it all. We get hints, in the last few episodes on the DVD, of something greater happening in the background.
Oh, and in episode eight the Witch-Healer's English voice is that of Steven Jay Blum (Spike from Cowboy Bebop and Roger Smith from The Big II)which increased my enjoyment of watching that episode. Of course, Wendee Lee and Crispin Freeman do a smashing job with their character's voices.
Few extras, just some files and notes, but the second Witch Hunter Robin DVD had five episodes (like the first one) and that more than makes up for the lack. I would suggest getting it used.

"Belief" is the second volume of episodes of the anime "Witch Hunter Robin," which is about the STN-J team that protects Japan from the threat of modern day witches. In the first volume the team's primary objective was to track down people who have the witch gene in their ancestry and take care of them before these latent abilities emerge and they hurt the general population. Of course, STN-J usually does not get there in time and there ends up being a fight. Our entry to this world is Robin Sena, a 15-year-old girl born in Japan but raised in an Italian convent who returns home to be the team's new "witch hunter." Robin is a "craft-user" whose ability is to create and manipulate flame and while she has trouble getting accustomed to the other teenagers on the STN-J team, she obviously has feelings for its leader, Amon.

Volume 2 brings together episodes 6-10 of the 26 in the series: (6) "Raindrops" begins innocently enough with Robin's car running out of gas in a rainstorm. She is given a ride by a woman who is killed in an accident after dropping Robin off and the young witch hunter suspects a witch might be involved and asks Amon to help her investigate. Nice use of the show's theme song as a poignant piano piece at the end. (7) "Simple-Mind" begins when a thief's car is pulled from the harbor. STN-J is in pursuit, but the thief (or somebody else) is able to crush Karasum'a car and get away. (8) "Faith" has STN-J facing a moral dilemma when they investigate a miracle worker who takes the life-energy of people he considers unworthy and uses it to save the lives of others. If they bring Dr. Karosawa in, then lives will be lost. (9) "Sign of the Craft" finds Robin being investigated because bodies are showing up burned from the inside out. When the team investigates their prime suspect, Aki Yoshioka, they find a pile of ash and a confession, but, of course, that is not the end of the chase. (10) "Separate Lives" has Robin and Dogima going undercover as waitresses as Harry's bar to capture Yutaka Kobari who was once betrayed to STN-J by his own father. Unfortunately, somebody else is after Yutaka as well.

"Witch Hunter Robin: Belief, Volume 2" is an improvement over Volume 1 because the STN-J cases are more subtle this time around. Dealing with megalomaniacs each time out was going to get old really fast, so the anime stops seeing the world of witches in black and white to now provide some ambiguity that sets a much better tone of the episodes. Robin is making some headway with the other members of the group, but they are not yet one big happy witch hunting family. In fact, at this point the episodes are developing the individual characters more than making the team more cohesive, and I am totally fine with that given I think the lower key approach of the anime is a step in the right direction.

I have watched this series before, but it is great to watch over and over again. it has been entertaining and the art in it can be amazing at times. I highly recommend this series for anyone who is looking for a great show to watch.

Now i like witch hunter actualy but its just too typical you know? For example it is very repeteive each episode seems to begin with someone dying and witch apears than hunters solve bunch of "puzzles" and it ends with 3 minute make 1 minute fight
witch dies some thoughtfull eyes THE END.