Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Angels and Devils, December 20, 2003
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
anime lite -- now with less story..., January 26, 2004
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.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Story Develops, November 14, 2003
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!
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