or the "witch hunters" of STN, tracking down and killing crazed, often power-mad telekinetics, telepaths and other powerful individuals is apparently all in a day's work. For STN-J, the organization's Japanese branch, life is even more complicated. They don't kill their targets, they drug them and ship them off to "The Factory," a mysterious group that's field-testing a device known as the Orbo, which neutralizes witch powers. The Factory's studies require live test subjects—which STN headquarters would apparently disapprove of, given how secretive STN-J has been about the project.
To complicate matters further, STN-J lost one of their hunters in the field six months ago, and STN has just sent a replacement: a reserved, grave 15-year-old girl named Robin Sena, who is herself a "Craft User," a pyrokinetic. In the opening episodes of Witch Hunter Robin, she arrives at STN-J HQ, where disorganization and poor communication conspire to send her away. As small as the STN office is, and as crucial as its functions are, its members don't cooperate particularly well. >From crabby office chief Kosaka to lazy, self-absorbed Yurika Dojima to hotheaded, overeager field agent Haruto Sakaki to detached hacker Michael Lee, the STN's staff members tend to be more interested in their own agendas than in welcoming Robin or helping her adjust. And then there's Amon, head field agent and cold-blooded maverick, who treats his new partner like she's something unpleasant he found stuck to his shoe.
The initial five episodes of Witch Hunter Robin follow Robin as she arrives at STN-J and begins hunting witches, paranormals who often show up in a database of known witches' descendants. The more obvious targets include a rich businessman who kills with curses and a man who implants terror in his victims' minds, but the STN often gets involved with detective work, investigating unusual serial killings and trying to track down unknown, but likely psychic, perpetrators. As Robin tries to adjust to her new surroundings and get past Amon's aggressive contempt, she also begins learning how to use her somewhat erratic powers more effectively.
Gothic gunfights amid psychic warfare
It's initially a bit difficult to decide whom to root for in Witch Hunter Robin; the "witches" invariably seem to be insane killers, but STN's members act like killers of a colder, more controlled stripe, and with the exception of gentle scryer Miho Karasuma and thoughtful administrator Takuma Zaizen, they're universally unpleasant. Apart from Michael, who was forcibly press-ganged when he unwittingly hacked the STN servers, none of them give any indication why they work for STN, but for Amon and Haruto it occasionally seems like the job-mandated right to strike impressive poses and gun down other people factors high on the list.
But little is actually revealed about the group or its members in these initial episodes, which mostly deal with individual cases while doling out character revelations at a measured, meaningful pace. Even Robin herself is an enigma; she tends to keep her thoughts to herself, apart from her frustration and hurt over Amon's dismissive attitude. With her horizontal, ribbon-wrapped pigtails, narrow white face, and voluminous black dress, she's unusually odd-looking, and her strange design is mirrored in her compatriots' lanky, pale, trenchcoat-heavy look. Witch Hunter Robin has a fairly severe, almost oppressive gothic design, with a dark, washed-out color palette, and its focus on occult powers and messy murders contributes to its overall dark feel. Bandai's nicely subdued, hushed dub helps a great deal.
And so does the fact that Witch Hunter Robin spends so much time concentrating on little details of environment and experience. The series' pace picks up precipitously whenever its protagonists head into combat, but for the most part it proceeds slowly and seriously, tracking the particulars of Robin's life, the politics of her office and the look and feel of the world around her. Her story is a chilly and distancing one, which makes the contrast all the more impressive when the action heats up. Like so many secretive series, this one could stand to dispense a little more information earlier on, instead of trying to hold viewers by teasing them with mysteries. But so far those mysteries—including the nature and intentions of virtually everyone in this quietly tense show—are proving worth a wait.
It is frustrating to see a series proceed so slowly and still manage to end on a cliffhanger, but that's smart marketing on Bandai's part. Fans who pick up this initial volume of Witch Hunter Robin will almost certainly feel obligated to tune in next time to find out how the plot arc started in episode 5 comes out.
— Tasha
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