Witch Hunter Robin (TV)
My friend (and fellow Yahoo) David Miles first got me interested in “Witch Hunter Robin” several years ago. Knowing my affection for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” he bought me the first volume of episodes for my birthday one year. I’ve been trying to get finished with the entire series ever since.
Recently, I decided the time had come, and an interesting thing happened. As I began to rewatch the show’s 26 episodes, I was struck by the resemblance between the Anime favorite and one of my current favorite shows on American TV, “Bones.” True, “Bones” is inspired by the life and writing of real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reich, but as developed by Hart Hanson, it’s hard not to see similarities with “Witch Hunter Robin” (minus the supernatural angle, of course).
That doesn’t make either show less compelling to watch. “Bones”- which I’d like to review in the future on here- is a compulsively watchable- and wickedly funny- police thriller, while “Robin” uses Anime to create a distinct mood and atmosphere a live action show would find tricky to pull off (although Whedon did so beautifully with his “Buffy”-verse). But like “Bones,” the stories are primarily springboards to get into the lives of the characters.
While “Bones” is a true ensemble piece, though, “Witch Hunter Robin” is concentrated on Robin Sena, a 15-year old Craft User who is sent to STN-J- a supernatural outfit that hunts and captures Witches in Japan- to work with Amon, a mysterious veteran hunter and his team. But while Amon and his team use cutting-edge technology- including Orbo, a substance that negates Witches’ powers- to track Witches, Robin- who was previously in a convent- uses her powers. She’s a little rough around the edges, however; part of the pleasure of “Witch Hunter Robin” is the enjoyment of watching Robin discover herself on the job.
For the first part of that job, it’s mainly your typical “bad guy-of-the-week” formula, which is fun for a time- even more so when the writers are able to get some emotional heft behind a story (such as it is with episodes like “Faith,” “Raindrops,” “Stubborn Aesthetics”).
About halfway into the series, however, things really kick into overdrive, when Robin’s encounter with an old woman during a case- who claims to be one of the Salem Witches- awakens her to the source and extent of her powers, which leads to ruin for the team as she begins to unravel her own origins and a greater conspiracy taking place in STN. The writers’ exile of Robin is inspired for the character and for the plot, allowing us to see her in the vein of past heroes like Buffy, Angel, and other fantasy superheroes whose powers isolate them from those they care about, although she does have some interaction with her friends at STN-J at times, at first when they get into tough scrapes, others when she’s trying to get information about what STN is really up to, and the Witch artifact she finds herself in posession of.
Admittedly, when Robin is on her own- helped by an acquaintance of Amon’s- after an attack on STN-J, the larger story feels less intriguing than Robin’s searching for the truth. The vulnerability of her character is quite powerful at this time, while moments with the STN-J Administrator- who hasn’t been back since the attack- which reveal the larger plot are less interesting. It isn’t until the two coincide in the last several episodes, the team working together again, albeit cut off from the resources they had before, to save one of their own is when the story finds its’ juice again, leading to revelations about Robin that- while admittedly inspired by standard mythological archetypes- are thrilling to discover.
Is “Witch Hunter Robin” classic entertainment in the “Buffy” vein? I wouldn’t say that, but the animation’s rich detail and style, Taku Iwasaki’s terrific, equally-mourful and exciting music, and gripping act of watching its’ main character discover herself certainly puts it in league with Joss Whedon’s television masterwork.
