Witch Hunter Robin (2002–2003) User Reviews

Strange yet interesting.

[Arcana_Pontifex · 8/10 · 1 May 2006]

Witch Hunter Robin is an interesting show which has an X Files feel to it. It focuses more on characters and investigation than it does on high concept storytelling. Though it deals with cases on an episodic level, subplots dealing with the characters continue through out the series and it's not a good idea to watch the out of sequence.

That said it has great character design and storytelling and makes good use of limited animation. Pace is a little slow and the viewer is kept at a certain distance from the story, giving it a sort of detached but suspenseful atmosphere. Like Cowboy Bebop, which comes from the same studio, WHR is more like live action shows than animated cartoons.

It's a good show, I just wonder why it seems like it never got as big here as Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion, which have become household names. This show hit the US a little too late. Now that Western Countries have become Anime Saturated, shows like this only get noticed by lucky accident (as with me) or by word of mouth. And while it has its devoted fans, I think it deserves better recognition than it has.

It may not be for everyone, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Better on second viewing

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 29 July 2008]

I had wanted to see this for a while and when I did I was somewhat disappointed, it isn't bad it just wasn't as gripping as I'd expected, however after watching it a second time I enjoyed it far more. It took a while for me to get into the story as the early episodes seemed fairly similar. Thankfully it picked up quite a bit later on once Robin was on the run so it is worth persevering with if the early episodes don't grab you.

Robin works for STN-J, an organisation that attempts to catch witches. The hunters themselves are "craft users", in Robin's case she can summon fire. As the series progresses she begins to wonder why they are hunting witches and when her own powers develop further she finds that she is the one being hunted.

I have no complaints about the animation as it was beautifully done throughout. Unlike a few animes I've seen they played down the violence so if you don't like the sight of blood it is okay. I watched some episodes with subtitles and others dubbed and found them both to be pretty good which surprised me as I'm not usually a fan of dubbing.

A failed combination of Hellsing and Ghost in the Shell

[siderite · 7/10 · 30 May 2006]

This series is good, but considering the direction it came from, I say it was a failed project. You've got a secret commando style governmental organization like Section 9 in the Ghost in the Shell SAC series, but they fight people that discover their "witch" powers and use them for bad purposes, kinda like in Hellsing. Leave it to the Japanese to make a show about Genome X :)

Anyway, the things that made the named series good are missing or trimmed in this one. The violence is completely censored, like it was supposed to be a children's show. The content, though, with people switching sides from one organization to another, with betrayals and complex decisions, are not suited for a child. So what's with the non-violence thing? The way everything seemed to crumble beneath a gigantic gray force of state, the thing that made anyone really scared in the last episodes of Ghost in the Shell, it's present here, but also trimmed down, as if the show was made for heart patients. They start one direction and when the tension gets high enough to get interesting, the whole thing stalls. The interesting dialogs and ideas from GITS are missing, the true threats from Hellsing are not there...

In conclusion, this could have been a great, even if a clone, series, but it's not. Somehow, somebody made the decision to strip it down to a minimum. Add to it the fact that the whole series ends when things get more interesting and you have a failure. Sorry.

Is everything as it seems? Can we trust all those around us? The lines suddenly become blurred in this suspenseful and action packed anime!

[kilalamiko06 · 1 April 2004]

Those of you who like "Cowboy Bebop" are sure to be pleased with "Witch Hunter Robin". I do believe that the same people who did "CB" also did "WHR". The animation is absolutely wonderful! It's dark, but nothing too graphic. The character designs are skillfully drawn and their scripts are written so well that it pulls the viewer into their world so we can't escape! The plot has depth and continues moving throughout all twenty-six episodes. The series does leave you hanging till the very end and even then there are still some questions, but all in all, it is a defenite show to see! The art is gorgeous and the story is great! If anything, see it once on television. I highly recommend it!

Looks pretty but nothing much else

[Octocow · 6/10 · 28 February 2012]

Boring and slow series with horrible pacing.

Characters don't seem to have a clue about anything, nobody's given proper motivation for doing anything and the scary Solomon organization seems to be more disorganized than kindergarten aged children's "My Little Pony" fan club. The main character seems like a melodramatic parrot, whose only offering to any conversation is repeating the last word from previous speakers sentence.

For some reason the music is happy j-pop instead of darker, more heavy metal/rock/classical which would have fitted the series better. Art and characters look pretty, but animation is actually quite lazy, with the characters just mostly sitting or standing around and maybe moving their heads a little bit.

There is no atmosphere of mystery, oppression or horror, just boredom.

Seems to be "Love it or hate it" - I love it.

[Sparrow_in_flight · 10/10 · 16 November 2007]

I'll admit - when I was first introduced to Witch Hunter Robin, back when Cartoon Network aired it in 2003, I wasn't very interested. Well, at least, not until episode 6 (Raindrops). Somehow, the idea of Witch controlling a bunch of what appeared to Barbies grabbed me. And I watched when I could.

But I didn't see the series in its entirety, or even the end of it, despite the fact it's only 26 episodes long. I forgot about it until a friend picked up the DVDs in 2006. When I borrowed them, I was hooked from the beginning.

As fans and non-fans alike have pointed out, Witch Hunter Robin appears to take a while to get to its actual plot. Subtle hints are given, however, in the beginning episodes. For instance - if Witches are so dangerous, why is the STNJ so unique in that they capture the Witches instead of killing them? Where's the benefit? And you have to wonder what Robin finds so disgusting about the Orbo, without even knowing its origins.

Once WHR does find its footing, however, it takes off. This is not an action series, not really. Or, at least, I never viewed it as such. There is action, but it's not as important as character development (even stock archetypes can be interesting when handled correctly, which Witch Hunter Robin does indeed).

This show is meant to make you think - what seemed black and white (Witches are bad, Hunters are good) turns into gray as the series progresses. Those Hunters who are Craft Useres can be Hunted themselves, if Solomon brands them a Witch. Some Witches commit crimes using their powers, but not out of malice (episode 8: Faith). And then Robin herself becomes the hunted, labeled a Witch shortly after killing someone during a Hunt.

Obviously, there's more to it- after all, Solomon routinely executes Witches on Hunts - the STNJ is an exception. By the end, we know Robin is a manufactured Witch, and we also see that she's no longer the same person from the first episode. But is she as large a threat as Solomon believes, or not? Witch Hunter Robin is a show of questions. Some of them are resolved, some of them are left for the viewer to provide an answer for. In this sense, WHR strongly reminds me of Fullmetal Alchemist (another show in which you can say good and evil isn't always clear cut and finding humanity within yourself can be difficult). Some will find the slow buildup to a rushing, only partially resolved finish boring. Others will enjoy it immensely.

Plot aside, I'd also like to note that the English dub is filled with exceptional talents. It is equally enjoyable to view in both Japanese and English, something I've not encountered with most anime.

Also, the art and the soundtrack - again, these seem to be on a love/hate level, same as the plot. Personally, I found the tone and style of both art and music fitting, and that they made the emotion of the story more real.

Moody Atmosphere, Feels like the X-files

[bill_allison · 7/10 · 28 November 2022]

The first 2 episodes are a bit slow as it creates the atmosphere and introduces the fine cast of characters. Stay with it and you will be rewarded. However, this is not intended to be an action show, nor will you find any "fan service". The animation is 2D, but gives the look of a night-time TV crime drama. For its genre, this is a fine, memorable show. It would be great if they remade it as a live-action series or movie.

The first half of the series focuses on investigations of "abnormal" crimes and the capture of "witches", people who have developed powers. Some of the people who hunt these witches also have powers but are labeled "craft users". You are either a hunter or the hunted. The hypocrisy is obvious.

The second half of the series focuses less on "captures" and more on investigating and revealing secrets about Robin and the agencies. Conflict develops between the agencies.

It has a good ending and leaves me wanting more.

Give it some time.

[johnslegers · 9/10 · 24 February 2010]

"Witch Hunter: Robin" starts slowly as what seems to be a fairly unimportant Blade-ripoff and at first I thought I had wasted my money by buying all 26 episodes, but once I got to having seen a dozen episodes I slowly emerged into an intrigue that pulled me further and further into the story.

Labeled at Wikipedia as an "occult detective story", "Witch Hunter: Robin" is a thriller that gives you a believable world set in near future Japan where the Witch Hunts of the old days have continued up to the present by covert organizations. Our main character is a cute 15-year-old girl in a gorgeous dress with dormant magic power who joins such an organisation but ends up in the most dangerous and confusing situations as a consequence of it. The story is impelling, combination of CGI and hand drawn graphics works well and the film noir atmosphere at times is genuinely creepy while maintaining a sense of realism to it. There are few series I've ever seen that I find this enjoyable to watch and I therefor recommend everyone who's seen the first few episodes and got a little bored to at least continue watching until 15 because once they pass the first 12 episodes, the story should just suck you right in....

A Great Show

[brandonm-9 · 10/10 · 7 February 2009]

This is a great and intense show!! I do have to say it was a bit slow in the beginning, but it picked up very quickly. Many don't like this show because the don't understand the plot since it is complex, but the story is good. The music is one of the greatest contributions to this show. The opening and ending theme are very catchy, and the music during the actual show is great too. My favorite part of this show is the complex storyline. Some other nice things about this anime is the action and conflict distributed between the characters. Another cool thing about this anime is that everything connects. Any die-hard anime fan will want to check this one out.

Violence = Necessary?

[auuus · 10/10 · 19 November 2006]

Some people complained about the censur of the violence, but, even though it perhaps a bit uncalled for, it doesn't bother me.

I do believe that the lack of violence was an idea to try something new, and perhaps move the focus away from the violence. Most animes are rather bloody and gory, so I think it's kind of cool when they try to be different.

I have to confess that I really like this anime, so that might be the reason that I'm more than happy to defend it, but still, violence isn't something necessary to make a good anime. Some of the censur where a bit uncalled for, I agree, but it didn't bother me all that much. And besides, they made quite a good job visually while censuring it.

Over all, I must say that it's an excellent anime, I love it! ^^

Didn't get much from this anime.

[Kaleko · 4/10 · 9 December 2012]

This anime is a serious anime. You don't have the off-the-wall characters reacting in extremes. Except for Robin, even the hairstyles are realistic and average. The clothing is modest. The characters act human and mature. The humor is subdued and infrequent. I appreciated the maturity of the show.

This anime is also a dark anime. Most of the time you are indoors or in a dark city atmosphere. However I did feel the art was well-done. There is a somberness in both the environment and the characters. Characters cry but rarely laugh. You see some anger, fear, and insanity in side characters. The leads seem to try to hide their emotions or simply are not very emotional at all.

The situations you see involve law-force-like action, investigation, office work environments, and supernatural powers.

The storyline is mildly interesting. The first half doesn't build much on the story, but the second half is more dynamic and leads up to the point of the series.

Honestly, I didn't get much from this anime so far as making me think, sending a message, or even evoking emotions. Because of this, I do not consider watching this anime worth it. Two points in the story did touch me - One involved a mother and her lost child. The other involved a scene with the heroine when she entered a well.

There is a theme of hidden intentions, bureaucracy, and knowing what is right and who to trust. And perhaps a theme of loyalty to friendship. But there is nothing striking or eye-opening in the way these themes were presented, at least not to me.

great show

[lotrlover-3 · 8 August 2005]

when i watched this show i was immersed in a sophisticated storyline with great artwork and awesome characters. i totally recommend this show. this show gives a sort of humane drama which makes it entertaining to watch. The characters are the most humane characters i have ever seen in anime with real emotions. nothing too dramatized. The twists in the storyline are shocking which get you thinking. everything in there seems connected . the beginning and ending themes are very nice even though they are in Japanese. Witch hunter robin makes you actually believe the storyline. it is a melting pot horror, science-fiction, humane drama, and a tinge of violence to make the perfect anime series. Overall, Witch Hunter Robin is a must see and a great series.

Good but left to opinion.

[sephiroth-clone-0 · 9/10 · 20 July 2006]

It's a good series. It DOES have a slow start, as people have pointed out, and the real plot doesn't start evolving- or rather, developing- until episode 11 (in other words, you can skip the first two DVDs and not really miss all that much, just back-story and character development). The first time I'd seen this series, my sister-in-law bought two DVDs she found for me, not knowing which DVDs they were (incidentally, the first two DVDs weren't at that store anyway, but she bought episodes 11-18). The real plot starts developing right then, with the introduction of what would end up being labeled the Methuselah witch. Episodes 1-10 just introduce the characters and their personalities, and the kind of work they do. The plot twists aren't awe-inspiring either, or anything, but they're not altogether predictable... but the secret about Orbo was sort of blatantly hinted at before the characters ever found out the truth, so it wasn't very shocking for the viewer. But then, there aren't any annoying stereotypical lame-anime moves, either (even to make fun of the stereotypes), so it balances out fairly evenly, being an anime that won't scare off people new to anime (but then, it might not overly impress them, either, like a Mamoru Oshii or Studio Ghibli film would.) Also, any romantic relationships are sort of implied but not directly stated, so if a viewer gets all up in arms... well... you could choose to ignore it.(to explain, Robin, the main character, is around 15-16, and a romantic relationship is hinted at between her and another character, Amon, who is in his early twenties.) All in all, this is a well-balanced anime that is mostly left up to the viewer's opinion- some aren't going to like it much, some are going to be obsessive.

Witch Hunter

[WeAreLive · 9/10 · 22 February 2023]

Robin Sena is a powerful craft user drafted into the STNJ-a group of specialized hunters that fight deadly beings known as Witches. Though her fire power is great, she's got a lot to learn about her powers and working with her cool and aloof partner, Amon. But the truth about the Witches and herself will leave Robin on an entirely new path that she never expected!

I thought this series was a very fun ride with memorable characters and a brilliant choice of OST. I also thought the animation was very well done.

The English dub was excellent too with great voice actors including Crispin Freeman, Johnny Yong Bosch, Kari Wahlgren, Michelle Ruff, Dave Wittenberg, Wendee Lee etc. My only bad quality is the amount of characters Kirk Thornton and Michael McConnohie were casted as. With Steve Blum only being in one episode.

My other bad quality with the series is probably the Ending with how I found it to be very anti climactic.

Aside from that I thought this was an excellent series.

This show was worthless...

[kardo-rostam · 1/10 · 14 November 2012]

I can't believe that some people actually liked this show. Halfway through I felt robbed of both time and life energy. Everything was cheap. There was nothing special with the story whatever people say. It has been made over a thousand times before and it will sadly be made over a thousand times again. The characters that made the show so "fantastic" were weak. WEAK!! Weak and f#¤%&$g pathetic! The only reason why I watched all 26 episodes of this anime was because of some idiots reviews that tricked me into believing that the end would be something to remember, but the anti-climatic end couldn't even give me that. This show starts slow and ends painfully slow. So people, do yourself a favor and don't watch this show.

Mean & Moody

[bilgeboybob · 9 December 2005]

I've only seen about half the series so far because there is annoyingly little anime airing in the UK currently, DVD being the most accessible media for it.

What I've seen, I like. WHR is a dark and atmospheric series. A nice simple idea, a sort of modern inquisition hunts the supernatural "bad guys" with some very dirty grey morality underpinning the story (Are there really any "good guys"?) It's got a quite a few of the usual anime themes and devices, but has a wonderfully subdued and underplayed pace to it.

A welcome change!

Mediocre

[jmfanslau · 26 April 2004]

I actually took the time to submit this series to IMDB.. though in retrospect I'm not sure why.

I sat through all 26 Episodes as they aired on the cartoon network, and barring some major stuff being edited out, this series suffers from some terrible pacing. The episodes aren't that hard to follow, even though the dialog is pretty darn weak at times, but it builds very little tension, and my interest in the charachters *which there really seemed to be a bit to many of* wasn't that high.

There were a couple of standout episodes, the one with the Shootout and Escape in the STNJ actually gave Robin and Amon some slight chemistry and also exhibited some good overall story and suspense. However episodes like that seemed few and far between.

While I don't think Witch Hunter Robin is a total waste of time, I wouldn't put it up in my must see category. More of the.. if its on I might watch it if nothing else holds my interest.

4 out of 10 bleh

Heading into the future?

[Puddlemini · 10 December 2004]

Despite the monotony of the first couple of episodes ( the first 7 episodes are about capture and action without any depth) this has been remarkably refreshing.

Each and every character is created with some reality and several of the most well written mysterious characters are all bunched into this show of excitement, fact, fiction and a tremendous amount of action.

Just to name two...

Robin: Named after the king of witches must be the least annoying heroines/heroes of the anime lot and with her supposed innocence it is hard to believe she in caught up in such devious acts.

Amon: Even though nothing is remotely known about him and his actions are hard to determine he is the ideal cool punk guy, which makes you wishing for the next episode.

Yes, yes this is about witches and hunters but the cliché exterior fools many. The twists turns and unexplainable reasoning in this series makes you wanting more. 8/10

True Horror

[gilad-lever · 8 April 2004]

Witch Hunter Robin is one of the worst Anime titles I have ever had the agony of sitting through. I watched the English version on Cartoon Network. Of multiple weak points, the worst must be the storyline. Beginning with a dull introduction of the characters in a string of generic action 'witch hunts' the series gets of to a horrendously slow start. I found myself waiting 20 minutes through the shallow development of pseudo-detective work, and clichéd and cryptic dialogue leading up to only 5 minutes of mediocre action. Most of the story development happens in the last 3 episodes and even this development is far too shallow and predictable to serve as a reward for watching the entire series. The show uses an unacceptably high amount of stills, composed of 'Cowboy Bebop' style drawings and effects. These would be quite nice, if only they were not presented in such a static and non-stimulating manner. The characters mostly conform to the normal Anime stereotypes: The quiet heroine with a hidden past, the stoic fighter dude, the angry boss, the bad guy with a master plan. it goes on. To top it all off, the series soundtrack suffers from a serious lack of diversity. It consists of probably 3 main themes, the first of which you will know off-by-heart by the middle of the second episode. It seems to me that in Witch Hunter Robin, some well learned Anime techniques from previous titles fell into some very bad hands and were misused to create this muted, repressed, and wholly dull series.

A Witch

[KellyeB123 · 7 July 2006]

I have the whole series of this on DVD, and as I view each episode and watch the story unfold, it just brings me down and totally depresses me. Must ALL Witches be hunted? What if a Witch doesn't even want to use their powers for evil? Is simply being a Witch just enough for the STN to want to hunt you? I suppose in Amon's case, a Witch must always be hunted, regardless of how one only CHOOSES to use his or her own power, for good or for evil. And as for Robin, just what IS the difference between a Craft User and a Witch (between using a "Craft" and actual Witch power)? She herself was considered and called one, because her "Craft" was "too dangerous." So does having a power or "Craft" automatically suggest that you are a Witch?

Why does it all have to depend on all the things Solomon Headquarters believes about Witches, or what many other people believe about Witches, even the people in Japan? There is either belief or disbelief, certainty or doubt, what's true and what's lies...but do any of us really know the TRUTH? Are ALL Witches evil? Should all of them be hunted? Shouldn't the way they CHOOSE to use their power determine whether they are good or evil, or does it not matter just as long as a certain individual who is suspected and accused of being a Witch is actually a Witch? That's how it was in both cases of Akio Kurosawa and Minori Nakayama. Just what IS the difference between a Hunter and a Witch? A Hunter and a Human? Aren't they all alike in one way or another? All the true answers lie deep within us viewers and the true craft deep dormant within Robin. There are just some things and secrets that can never be revealed or answered.