Customer Reviews

Witch Hunter Robin - Fugitive (Vol. 4)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the attack on her apartment Robin is taken to headquarters, where everybody figures she will be safe. They're wrong. Robin is no longer the Witch Hunter, but a witch that now must be hunted. Or, at least, that's how it looks like to her. As she learns to live on her own, the rest of the STNJ, minus Amon who is now missing, are finding it harder and harder to do their job. Everybody in these episodes seem to be questioning the very facts behind witch hunting and the STNJ team seems to be splitting apart. Trust, is after all, at an all time low. Is Robin on the wrong side and who does Amon really work for? How many sides are there? Are her powers out of her control or are they just becoming stronger?
I love the fight at the end of "In My Pocket". Robin kicks butt and the music for the scene really fits the mood. Everything is dark and dirty, the underside of the city, as Robin tries to survive. She doesn't look good as a messenger (but somehow she's still dressed in black).
These episodes are some of the best and they are all linked together (no stand alones in this DVD). The extras include the normal notes, trailers and two voice actor interviews.

The violent attack at Robin's apartment at the end of the previous DVD signals a change in her relationship with the STNJ. She is no longer a hunter, but the hunted. How this has happened it not completely clear, but Solomon now perceives that her powers have become too great and the attacks continue, escalating at the beginning of this DVD to a direct attack on STNJ headquarters. Amon engineers Robin's escape but he is compromised, and disappears.

Robin goes undercover, working as an assistant for Nagira, an attorney who has a connection with Amon and with the underground community of witches who lurk in Tokyo. Despite her own desire to remain hidden, a string of coincidences keep renewing her Robin's contacts with the STNJ team, who are now too short-handed to be effective. Robin must step in several times to prevent disaster.

Surprisingly, adversity has changed Robin from a fifteen-year-old girl with only tentative self-confidence to a young woman who can make her own decisions and fend for herself. In addition something is affecting her powers, making them an order of magnitude stronger, and harder to control. Robin is being drawn into the politics of the magic user's subculture, and she is on the way to being a force to be reckoned with.

It's hard to pinpoint why, but the artwork on these DVD's also seems to have improved. A variety of new angles and framing are being tried, and conceptual design of the 'walled city' is superb, providing the perfect modern gothic, noir background for a story that has become more ambivalent and complicated as Robin realizes that witches are not necessarily evil and have the right to live their own lives.

If you have been undecided whether to jump into this series I think it's clear now that this is exceptional work, possible one of the best serious anime of 2004.

Witch Hunter Robin, Volume Four: Fugitive, reflects that Robin is now a fugitive from STN-J. Her place of refuge at the office with her co-workers and friends did not last long. She was soon escaping again as all her co-workers seem to be shot dead by a secret S.W.A.T. Team. She is aided in her escape by an unlikely helper - Amon. I am not spoiling anything, as all I have just described happens in the first ten minutes of the first episode.

There is a moment in the first episode of this DVD that deserves its own paragraph. We viewers of the first three volumes suspect Robin has fallen in love with Amon. Yet his treatment of Robin up until now has been distant at best, cruel at worst. There is a moment in episode fifteen when he catches her face in his hands like he is going to kiss her. My breath caught in my throat at that. We actually hear emotion, even passion, in Amon's voice in his parting words to Robin. I cannot WAIT for the two to reunite. HEART HEART HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is shaping up to be one of the greatest anime romances of all time.

Solomon, STN-J, and others are after the mysterious "Splinter of Knowledge," said to be left behind when the "Immortal" old lady whom Robin met in the previous volume died. We are not told how or when she died, just that she is dead. Robin is assisted by a gangster-type "lawyer" named Nagira. Nagira's curiousity about this alleged relic is going to get him in big trouble.

In Fugitive, there is more character development. We see for the first time how much Robin's co-workers at STN-J care for her as they worry when she is missing. We see the little shy Robin from the nunnery become strong, independent, and resourceful. Harry makes an appearance. Although he offers wisdom, kind words, and good food, I still feel there is a lot more to Harry than meets the eye. This character is being wasted.

This DVD contains episodes 15 through 18: Time to Say Goodbye, Heal the Pain, Dilemma, and In My Pocket. Extras include previews for other anime DVD's, two interviews with Japanese voice actors (Robin and Ms. Karatsuma), and a very brief Malifica Compendium.

This DVD brings a lot more to the story than the previous three. The plot that began to thicken from the third DVD really gets into it now.

Robin is forced to stay away from her friends in STN-J and Amon goes missing. Robin faces questions about herself, especially her role as a witch hunter, after her powers seem to go out of control. Each of the team members begin to question Solomon and their own boss's intentions.

The characters also become more developed. Robin's and Dogima's characters really stand out. We begin to see the cracks in Robin's somewhat calm and collected armor. Dogima is actually capable of not being sarcastic and shows that she cares about those around her.

The extras have been beefed up as well, which is a plus. This is a great DVD and a great series that should get even better as it goes on.

Things get darker, more complicated for Robin and her colleagues at STN-J. Granted: haunting witches has always been a gory activity; now, qualms begin to kick in. Is Robin really protecting society by getting rid of witches? Are witches innately evil --or are they redeemable? What is the fate awaiting those hunted down? Is Robin a witch herself who, sooner or later, will be hunted down because of her craft???

Slowly, Robin is beginning to realize she is a mere pawn playing a mortal game she doesn't yet fully comprehend. In this fourth volume we get more dilemmas than answers. Having decided to confront the all-powerful Zeizen, Amon is now gone. No one knows his whereabouts. Has he been captured? Or, is he hiding somewhere in Tokyo?

So far, this series has been superb in character development, particularly showing the inner struggles of Robin and Amon, STN-J's finest witch hunters.

The artistic qualities of this series are simply amazing, particularly its tempo, music, and atmosphere. This remarkable combination of different elements makes Witch Hunter Robin one best anime series I have ever seen. Highly recommended.

Ever since the raid on the STN-J Robin and Amon have gone missing for 6 months. Robin is in hiding disguised as a messenger hired by Amon's older brother Nagura. No quite knows where Amon is hiding, but it turns out he's been tailing Zaizen(Commander of the STN-J) and Robin for the 6 months. In later episodes Robin is considered a witch by HeadQuarters and is constantly hunted. It turns out that Amon is hunting Robin as well but doesn't show himself until he appears at Robin's apartment. Amon is unable to hunt Robin and instead joins her and the rest of the STN-J to find out the conspiracy behind Orbo(liquid that supresses witches powers) and rescuing Ms. Karasuma from the factory. I don't want to give away the ending, but if you want a good conspiracy ending this is the DVD to get.

Often times the Amazon review boards are mistaken for discussion boards or fan forums. This in mind, what I'm about to say is going to upset that crowd. I will do my best to be fair.

First, let's address the show itself. The show is starting to suffer from some production value issues during these later episodes. Things are starting to seem rushed. Mouths don't move when people are talking (i.e. Robin and Amen running down the steps in episode 15). People seem to be standing and sitting for quite a long period of time without moving their head (a quick way to fill up some air time without great effort). Perhaps I am being slightly petty on this point, but I've seen way too many good anime (with strong production values to the very end) to let it slide.

This brings us to the story and character development. The story is far from great and the characters remain lifeless and dull. I think many who disagree are bridging the many gaps in the plot with their imaginations or basing reviews on future episodes. I have not seen any of the future episodes and I didn't pay money to imagine the story.

The writers have given us one major plot twist on the third DVD and it's already going nowhere on this DVD. I'm not an extreme action junkie, I can appreciate well built suspense, but it seems to me like we should have been in and out of the factory, discovered what Orzo is, and introduces new levels of conflict by this point. The world of Robin is just too interesting to devote whole episodes on nothing. And this leads us to Robin's ultimate downfall...

It seems the writers are gearing this show towards a younger audience (which is fine). However, I like my anime to be a little more complicated than what is being offered. I'm used to the plot twisting and turning like a pretzel. Robin has let me down here. The only twists come in the curve of a boomerang that never quite takes off and keeps revisiting the same old threads.

To conclude, if this was ten years ago with virtually no anime market around, I might suggest owning Robin just to own something. However, it isn't ten years ago and, in my very humble opinion, you have MANY better ways to spend your anime dollar (Rahxephon, Cowboy Bebop, Last Exile, etc).

For the fans I upset, I apologize. Take solace in that this will be the last review I write. My Robin collection ends here.

she is at it again, hunting down witches!!! and her powers increasing without her even knowing it, solomon is on to something and so is stn-j!!! it is an amazing dvd that is a must have