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Witch Hunter Robin - Arrival (Vol. 1) With Series Box and Collectables

Witch Hunter Robin - Arrival (Vol. 1) With Series Box and Collectables

List Price: $59.98
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Okay but wish I didn't buy
Review: Okay series. Great intro and ending song. Drawing is very nice but the plot is definately taking it's time. I can see which direction plot might go. Probably won't buy the next dvd's coming out for this one. I'll just wait til the bootleg with the english dubbing comes out.. and even then I'll only buy the bootleg if it has good plot reviews... but so far, I'm not interested enough.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dark, passive, almost a silent film...
Review: Robin, a young girl, has just been transferred to Japan, to join the teams of the STNJ, a branch of a international organization that finds and combats witches with technology, super-powers and old fashion guts.
The DVD has five episodes, totalling about 125 minutes, lots of extras and even cool menus. The story is calm, powerful and dark with great artwork, perfect music and computer graphics, like Noir and Cowboy Bebop kind of mixed together with a touch of Ghost In The Shell.
With such great voices as Kari Wahlgren as Robin, frankly a perfect fit, Crispin Freeman as Amon and Wendee Lee as Miho Karasuma you get a great English dub as well as great 3D graphics and natural looking characters. It all fits together and makes for a great start to a series I plan to buy up to the last DVD!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Series Two Steps From Stardom
Review: Seems like series upon series appear on the anime landscape with the "Special Forces Hunting (Insert Evil Character Type Here)" premise. "Hellsing" and "Vampire Hunter D" specialized in vampires, "S-cry-ed" focused on mutants; "Witch Hunter Robin" makes a commendable effort to follow in the vein of these series, but falls just short.
The basic premise follows STN-J, the Japanese branch of an international witch-hunting organization; theirs is the only branch that captures, instead of kills, the witches, a point whose importance becomes more obvious as the series goes on. The group tracks X-Files-type, strange cases from the police database, and checks if any of the involved has a witch in his/her genealogical line. The group is armed with Orbo bullets and amulets, Orbo being a green liquid that somehow neutralizes witches' powers.
Enter Robin Sana, a teenager from the European sect of STN, sent as a replacement for a recently lost member of STN-J. Team members, particularly the shady leader Amon, are uneasy as Robin exhibits powerful, but raw use of witchcraft, particularly the use of fire, to control their targets.
The series is beautifully shot and animated--clean, quick, smooth animation with CGI used sparingly but effectively. Each character is portrayed well enough, with Robin's naivete and innocence captured perfectly. But looks aren't everything. The first half of the 26-episode series drags along with episode after unconnected episode of STN-J chasing down witch after witch. Few of their targets, if any, really cause problems for the team; Robin's skill, polished by Amon, is much too strong for the "criminal" witches.
Like most 26-episode series, "Witch Hunter" kicks into gear about midway, around the 13th-15th episode. The storylines from episode to episode begin to tie in to each other, and the line between villain and civilian begins to blur. STN-J begins to struggle internally, building to a climactic last few episodes that revolve heavily and importantly on Robin's past.
"Witch Hunter" finds itself just a few steps from being truly excellent; had the creators been able to sustain interest in the first half of the series as they did in the second half, it may have been so. Even the second half has a double-edged sword: most of the fun involved figuring out who's loyal to who, who's chasing who, and why...which can also be an overwhelming task.
This first volume will surprise you with its cool, depressingly gothic look, but the pace and repetitiveness hinders true enjoyment. If you have the patience to wait the series out, and if you want to collect a solid series, this one's for you. If you want a keeper that's quickly rewarding, you might want to pass.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Series Two Steps From Stardom
Review: Seems like series upon series appear on the anime landscape with the "Special Forces Hunting (Insert Evil Character Type Here)" premise. "Hellsing" and "Vampire Hunter D" specialized in vampires, "S-cry-ed" focused on mutants; "Witch Hunter Robin" makes a commendable effort to follow in the vein of these series, but falls just short.
The basic premise follows STN-J, the Japanese branch of an international witch-hunting organization; theirs is the only branch that captures, instead of kills, the witches, a point whose importance becomes more obvious as the series goes on. The group tracks X-Files-type, strange cases from the police database, and checks if any of the involved has a witch in his/her genealogical line. The group is armed with Orbo bullets and amulets, Orbo being a green liquid that somehow neutralizes witches' powers.
Enter Robin Sana, a teenager from the European sect of STN, sent as a replacement for a recently lost member of STN-J. Team members, particularly the shady leader Amon, are uneasy as Robin exhibits powerful, but raw use of witchcraft, particularly the use of fire, to control their targets.
The series is beautifully shot and animated--clean, quick, smooth animation with CGI used sparingly but effectively. Each character is portrayed well enough, with Robin's naivete and innocence captured perfectly. But looks aren't everything. The first half of the 26-episode series drags along with episode after unconnected episode of STN-J chasing down witch after witch. Few of their targets, if any, really cause problems for the team; Robin's skill, polished by Amon, is much too strong for the "criminal" witches.
Like most 26-episode series, "Witch Hunter" kicks into gear about midway, around the 13th-15th episode. The storylines from episode to episode begin to tie in to each other, and the line between villain and civilian begins to blur. STN-J begins to struggle internally, building to a climactic last few episodes that revolve heavily and importantly on Robin's past.
"Witch Hunter" finds itself just a few steps from being truly excellent; had the creators been able to sustain interest in the first half of the series as they did in the second half, it may have been so. Even the second half has a double-edged sword: most of the fun involved figuring out who's loyal to who, who's chasing who, and why...which can also be an overwhelming task.
This first volume will surprise you with its cool, depressingly gothic look, but the pace and repetitiveness hinders true enjoyment. If you have the patience to wait the series out, and if you want to collect a solid series, this one's for you. If you want a keeper that's quickly rewarding, you might want to pass.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Witch Hunter Robin, best since Cowboy Bebop!
Review: Sometimes everything can come together when crafting a good anime. It has happened again with Witch Hunter Robin. This is definitely not your fan boy's anime. You won't find any beauty contests, beach episodes, goofy pets, or other lighter anime standards. What we do find here; is a solid storyline, beautifully drawn, well animated scenes, excellent music, and interesting characters.

It's difficult to create the dark tone of an anime, without looking like its been forced. There is seriousness to the story, that's rarely seen in an animated show. In fact, it may be a small flaw, that it lacks sufficient comedy relief. The first few episodes, play like something out of early X-Files. Its important to stay tuned. As the show starts to heat up, it becomes a "must have more episodes now", by about mid-series. One word of warning, for buying later episodes, you may want to wait till they are all obtainable. You may not be able to stand the wait, for the final chapters.

On the story itself, it unfolds as characters are developed working within the context. This is not one of those series that wastes time doing mind-numbing introductions. The characters, and their roles become apparent, as the story plays out. This is the best way to learn about them, because it keeps the viewer involved, and does not pander to overly casual viewers.

The full series of Witch Hunter Robin spans 26 episodes, and does a nice job of completing the story. That is significant, as many anime designed for multiple seasons, have very poor endings. It appears this series was designed to start, and reach completion, within the 26 episodes made. I cannot speak for the dubbing, but the voice work on the Japanese track is quite excellent. Hopefully the dub will be just as good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brilliant Series!
Review: The artwork, style and characters are first-rate (not to mention a remarkable soundtrack). Its a great series, the characters are well thought out and each is different enough to add the interpersonal interest long running series need between it's characters. The first 10 episodes are not really related to the main story, they are more like separate x-files style episodes used to introduce you to all the characters before the main story kicks in around episode 10, this isn't to say the first 10 episodes aren't interesting.. they're a great deal better than your typical x-file episode (but then what isn't with the way that show went downhill).
Charles Solomon's covers the basics in his description above pretty well, if you can mentally remove the pompous remarks. Does this guy even like anime? (Check some of his other reviews on other anime series for sale at Amazon to see what I mean).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A smart, nicely animated, slightly eerie series
Review: The series is set in modern-day Japan, where there's been an increase in the witch population. An international organization called the STN has been monitoring witchcraft for years, maintaining an extensive database of known witches, their descendants and their various types of powers. When a witch poses a threat to humanity, it's eliminated. The Japanese branch is a bit of a maverick -- they don't kill witches; they neuter their powers and keep them alive.

Robin is a young witch with pyrokinetic abilities. She can start fires without blinking, but she needs a little work on her control. Headquarters sends her to Japan as a replacement agent, and she spends the five episodes on this disc going through the typical trials of the new kid on the block: making connections and gaining trust.

The mysteries in individual episodes are interesting, if a little easy to solve. There are plenty of questions for the series to answer but little hint where an overarching story, such as why there are suddenly more witches, might go. It's worth it, though, just to see how the characters' backstories will unfold.

DVD extras include a deeper look at the runes and symbols witches in the episode use. It's obvious the writers have done a lot of research into magic around the world to give the series authenticity

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Interesting character, somewhat boring plot and storyline.
Review: The truth is, the storyline/plot is very weak, quite weak, not very innovative, and has been done before. I also found that the blatant "worship" that Robin has for Amon (especially noted in each opening), is really quite, uncomfortable, almost too slickly made, and appears to be something right out of a Teenybopper video. Now, with these things in mind, would I purchase the next Witch Hunter Robin dvd? Most likely. Here are a few reasons why I would:

First of all, it's an easy anime to watch. It doesn't really make you think all that much, but it's got a dark, mysterious atmosphere to it that's interesting, and Robin, although her dubbed voice is not to my liking at all (she sounds very weak and easily taken advantage of), is a very interesting character. She is undoubtedly, a very interesting character, which makes me wonder what she sees in the conventionally handsome, but dull, Amon.

All in all, plot is a bit redudant, but then again, most anime rehack the same stuff over and over again. Despite its faults, I can't say I wouldn't recommend it, and I am actually curious to see what develops for Witch Hunter Robin, because she is the most appealing character in the anime as of yet.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Anime, highly recommended.
Review: This is a gret anime series. First, the drawing is amazing. It is extermely good quality. Second, the plot is original, and quite good. It's easy to get hooked on this series quickly. I highly recommend the series for anyone who likes dramatic series animes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everyone should buy this!
Review: This series is a very well done series that chronicles the exploits of Robin Sena, a 15 year old Witch Hunter who happens to be a Witch. The premise is a typical one in cinema-the hunter becoming the hunted but in this DVD it is more about getting to know the main characters and watching Robin grow within her powers. The first DVD features the first 5 episodes and the following can be said of these episodes-well done. The art is tremendous and the stories equally so. The whole backdrop is Modern Salem Witch Hunts in Japan, so all the episodes are fairly dark in scope with good voice acting both in English and Japanese. The stories initially focus on how Robin integrates with the STNJ-a Japanese government agency that specializes in hunting down witches-and her partner Amon. If you enjoy supernatural anime then this is right up your alley. It is well crafted both in story and presentation and is easily enjoyed with just enough plot twists to make you think. The special features on the DVD are also a nice touch as they include character profiles and an overview of some of the "magic" elements used in the first 5 episodes. The whole package is a great start to a good series. I recommend this DVD and the series as a whole-enjoy!


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