# Anime-4ever | Witch Hunter Robin (TV)

Video: DivX 5.x 23.98fps
Audio: MPEG Audio Layer 3 48000Hz Stereo
Type: MKV
Size: 230MB (241823884 bytes) - 234MB (245439382 bytes)
Media Lenght: 00:24:21 - 00:27:33
Video Size: 640x480
Language: English & Japanese
Subtitle: English

Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Police, Supernatural


Witch Hunter Robin (ウィッチハンターロビン) is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise.
 It follows the STN-J, the Japanese branch of a secretive global organization,
 SOLOMON, that fights the harmful use of witchcraft, and mostly focuses on one
 of its members, Robin Sena.

Being a witch is a genetic trait, and the STN-J maintains a database of everyone
 with the trait and is empowered to eliminate or arrest them should their powers
 "awaken." Witches have a wide variety of abilities, though they usually possess
 only one each, and the powers can be anything from electrical generation or
 telekinesis to the ability to stop and start hearts at will.

The series originally aired across Japan between July 2, 2002 and December 24, 2002
 on TV Tokyo and Animax, who later broadcast the series across its respective
 networks worldwide, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America,
 and other regions.

The series was licensed for North American distribution by Bandai Entertainment
 and was later aired across the United States on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim network
 from February 16, 2003. It has also been aired across Canada on YTV's Bionix block
 from September 10, 2004.


Plot Summary: Witches are individuals with special powers like ESP, telekinesis,
 mind control, etc. (not the typical hogwart and newt potions). Robin, a craft user,
 arrives from Italy to Japan to work for an organization named STN Japan Division
 (STN-J) as a replacement for one of STN-J's witch hunters who was recently killed.
 Unlike other divisions of STN, STN-J tries to capture the witches alive in order
 to learn why and how they became witches in the first place.

Plot
***Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details may follow.***

The series begins with the recruitment of Robin Sena as a replacement for
 an STN-J member who was lost in action. Robin is a witch who was born in
 Japan and raised in an Italian convent. Robin's "craft" is pyrokinesis.

Initially, the series appears to take a "monster of the week" approach.
 About halfway through the 26-episode season, the characters and the
 relationships between them are established. At that time, the real story
 gets underway.

As the series goes on, Robin grows increasingly uncomfortable with her role
 in hunting and capturing other witches. She begins to question the treatment
 they receive while incarcerated in the mysterious "Factory".
 Eventually Robin begins to worry that she will become a target and
 grows to suspect that her partner Amon will welcome the opportunity to hunt her.


Analysis
In the story, Robin is a "craft user", secretly trained by the Roman
 Catholic Church in Italy to use her craft (fire) to hunt down witches.
 Witchcraft is a genetic trait, dormant within a number of individuals
 within the human population. However, powers can be "awakened" in these
 dormant human "seeds" at any time. Trained hunters, usually craft-users
 or "seeds" themselves, are needed to keep watch over "seeds" and hunt those
 whose abilities become active, serving in secret organizations, such as
 the parent branch "Solomon" (and the "STN-J" branch in Japan), as
 self-appointed police to curtail the use of witchcraft in society.

Robin is sent to Japan to gain information for Solomon headquarters about
 a fabled "secret technique," while acting as a new hunter to the STN-J in
 their efforts to capture witches. However, once there she finds that the
 STN-J are working on a liquid called "Orbo", capable of deactivating a
 witch's craft, though at the cost of weakening those who use it. Eventually,
 as the story progresses, Robin herself becomes a target of Solomon and
 labeled a witch, becoming "hunted".

Orbo is a green liquid that disables witch abilities. STN-J's hunters carry
 small vials of it on necklaces as a form of protection; the orbo bubbles
 and swirls when witches try to use their abilities against them. Hunters
 also carry air pistols which fire darts or pellets of orbo that dampen
 witch powers when it enters the bloodstream. Hunters who are craft-users
 or seeds can use orbo with little ill effects (their powers are reportedly
 diminished while using it), but the substance is initially debilitating
 to normal humans. By the end of the series, orbo has been "evolved" enough
 to be used safely by many humans, but can still have significant disabling
 side effects on some human users.


Characters
 (Notes: The formatting for the name is: given name, surname.
 Also: in the category "Witches", the episode each "Witch" appears
 in is listed for reference purposes; their appearances were often
 so brief that it was felt this was necessary. Furthermore,
 when it is felt to be illuminating, a character's title is included;
 the title does not affect the alphabetical placement of the character
 within the index)

- STN-J (Main characters)

Robin Sena (瀬名ロビン Sena Robin)
Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)
Robin Sena is a soft-spoken 15-year-old girl with a mysterious origin,
 given that she has power similar to the witches she helps hunt.
 She was raised in a convent in Italy before she joined the STN-J.
 Robin has pyrokinetic abilities that allow her to manifest varying
 amounts of fire. In addition, she can channel her energy into shields
 capable of blocking both solid matter and "crafts", or magical powers,
 from other craft-users like herself. However, any use of her power
 causes her eyesight to weaken—which in turn greatly reduces the accuracy
 and effectiveness of her pyrokinesis. This problem is easily solved by
 wearing glasses, but Robin doesn't like to use them — especially when
 she first gets them. Though good-natured, Robin has employed her gift
 to the point of lethal force when necessary to either save someone's
 life or for the good of others.

*Her powers rapidly grow as the series progress.
 They eventually get to the point where the Solomon orders her to be hunted.
 At the end of the series it is discovered that Robin is in fact a "Designer Witch",
 a Witch created with genetic engineering on "Project Robin".
 Her fate at the end of the series is unknown.

Amon (亜門)
Voiced by: Takuma Takekawa (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)
An S-Class hunter, 25 years old and Robin's partner. Originally,
 he was quite reluctant to join Robin, seeing her as more of an annoyance
 than an actual partner. However, seeing her worthiness in cases concerning
 highly prominent witches, he eventually accepts her. Some fans speculate
 that there's a love connection between Amon and Robin, as he puts his life
 on the line at points to save her, and also due to the opening cinema in
 which Robin is making unusual gestures about a TV set showing Amon.
 A bigger reason for this speculation is in the first episode Robin and
 Amon share a weird moment while passing each other in a hallway.
 It is revealed near the end of the series that Amon's father was a witch
 and his mother a "seed", indicating that Amon himself also carries the
 dormant witch trait.

Haruto Sakaki (榊晴人 Sakaki Haruto)
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
A Hunter working with the STN-J, Sakaki is brash, slightly hot-tempered,
 ambitious, and supportive. He is the newest member of the group after
 Robin and was initially afraid of being fired with her arrival.
 He usually winds up rushing headfirst into danger, resulting in
 regretting his previous decisions due to the circumstances that
 follow his actions. He's usually the one to either chase a witch
 for some time, get into direct contact with a witch's powers, or
 get into just about any mishap. Sakaki isn't biased about choosing
 friends however, and welcomes Robin to the crew.

Michael Lee
Voiced by: Hiro Yuuki (Japanese), Dave Wittenberg (English)
A hacker and technical support expert in the STN-J. He is confined to
 the STN-J building 24/7 by the director Zaizen after being caught hacking
 into the STN-J's computer network (the only network he was unable to
 avoid detection, as he states to Robin). He was then forced with the
 decision to either work for the STN-J until further notice, or die on
 the spot when confronted by officials in his apartment. Michael is
 somewhat avoidant of Robin at first, but then begins to warm up to
 her a little bit, particularly when they have discussions over coffee
 and doughnuts. He's the only character that (aside from briefing before
 a mission) is pretty much ignored, only Robin had bothered to listen
 to him on the side at first. Michael is able to dig up extensive
 information about various witches, police reports, and the like,
 all the while covering his tracks.

Miho Karasuma (烏丸美穂 Karasuma Miho)
Voiced by: Kaho Kouda (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)
An experienced hunter with the craft of psychometry.
 By touching something her power allows her to read strong emotions and
 thoughts a person had while holding it, and she can also sometimes see
 past events that happened to, or around an item or place. This power
 comes in handy when examining evidence or crime scenes and she is able
 to pass on useful information to the rest of the group. She gives
 Robin helpful advice on how to improve her control over her power and
 also acts as somewhat of a respectful adult to her. Though rather young
 (she's only nineteen), her level of professionalism and determination
 to get things done make her seem older. Towards the end of the series
 she is captured by the Factory in an operation planned by Zaizen for
 Orbo testing.

Chief Inspector Shintarou Kosaka (小坂慎太郎 Kosaka Shintarou)
Voiced by: Shinpachi Tsuji (Japanese), Doug Stone (English)
A rather short-tempered man, Kosaka works directly under Zaizen,
 passing on reports of the organization's progress as well as other
 related information. Not too much is known about his work as he is
 mostly seen criticizing the employees while they are investigating
 a case, or not doing work when he thinks they should. Although he
 may be an annoyance to the rest of the hunters, he shows some concern
 and acts as somewhat of an authoritative figure to them.
 The most noticeable feature is that his head is abnormally large,
 bald, and brightly reflects light. His constant yelling and scolding
 is also another reminder, as he mostly fusses over Hattori.
 He was originally a member of the city police force, thus possesses
 connections that come in rather useful when the hunters are unable
 to use the STN-J databases. At the end of the series, it is revealed
 that Kosaka has become the new administrator of STN-J, replacing
 the deceased Zaizen.

Shohei Hattori
Voiced by: Masaaki Ohkura (Japanese), Dave Mallow (English)
Not much is known about this man, except that he works with filing and
 other various jobs Kosaka requests him to do. His attitude towards his
 fellow staff is somewhat snobbish and uncaring, but around Kosaka,
 he acts as a suck-up and abruptly halts whatever he's doing to listen to him.

Takuma Zaizen (財前琢磨 Zaizen Takuma)
Voiced by: Michihiro Ikemizu (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)
Administrator of the STN-J and the Factory, Zaizen is portrayed as a
 prominent business figure. At first, Zaizen merely seems to be a boss
 giving orders, but in reality he was behind some of the most heinous
 events that proved to be most troublesome for the STN-J. Zaizen has
 found a way to transform "witch's blood" (main source of their power)
 into a substance called orbo to stop witches. But with Zaizen's hideous plan,
 Solomon took action and attacked the STN-J for information about the secrets
 of the orbo. He was killed by Robin during an unsuccessful attempt to murder
 her himself, and subsequently fleeing into an elevator shaft that was
 completely ignited.

Yurika Doujima (堂島百合香 Doujima Yurika)
Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)
Seen as carefree, lazy, narcissistic, vain, and immature,
 she would sooner go shopping than go on a mission any chance she'd get.
 She's consistently late for work and rarely does anything around the office,
 getting much negative attention from Kosaka. According to her,
 her parents had STN-J act as somewhat of her "caretakers" and
 had the authority to get STN-J in trouble. She also somewhat disappoints
 the other workers, acting somewhat stuck-up, and doing the most minimal
 work during missions, ditching them immediately when she no longer needs
 to play a role. Dojima doesn't exactly warm up to Robin at first,
 mockingly calling her "Amon's Girl", but towards the end of the series
 she begins to do a little more work and prove she has a little more
 insight and perception of her surroundings than originally presumed.
 Revealed to be a Solomon intelligence operative, Dojima was sent by
 Solomon to the STN-J to uncover more information about the Orbo.


Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 26

Opening Theme:
  #001: "Shell" by Bana

Ending Theme:
  #001: "Half Pain" by Bana (eps 01-14,16-25)
  #002: "Shell (instrumental)" by Bana (eps 15,26)

Episodes
  #001. Replacement
  #002. Addicted to power
  #003. Dancing in darkness
  #004. Stubborn aesthetics
  #005. Smells like the wandering spirit
  #006. Raindrops
  #007. Simple-mind
  #008. Faith
  #009. Sign of the Craft
  #010. Separate lives
  #011. The soul cages
  #012. Precious illusions
  #013. The eyes of truth
  #014. Loaded Guns
  #015. Time to say Goodbye
  #016. Heal the pain
  #017. Dilemma
  #018. In my pocket
  #019. Missing
  #020. All I really oughta know
  #021. No way out
  #022. Family Portrait
  #023. Sympathy for the Devil
  #024. Rent
  #025. Redemption day
  #026. Time to tell