Violence: some
Sex/Nudity: None
Music:
Runtime Episodes: 24m/26
Overall Rating: A
Artwork: A -
Story: A -
Comments: None
Voice Acting English: A -
Voice Acting Japanese: A -
Genre: Gothic, police, supernatural powers
Extras: Two interviews with two japanese voice actors, more factoids about Japanese culture and mythology involved in the show.  Trailers for Galaxy Angel, S-cry-ed, and Yukikaze, reversible cover, cell of Amon, and an ultra small booklet of one of the characters.

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Date Reviewed: 12/30/06 Last Updated: 10/26/09

Basic Premise: Robin does not know who or what to believe anymore and fears for her life from unknown people and more specifically from Amon.  The STNJ is attacked and Robin manages to escape.  At this point in the dvd Robin goes into hiding and starts a new job making package deliveries where she waits for news from Amon.  Robin's new boss also has an underground railroad of sorts that he uses to smuggle witches to safety and to a new life.  Robin begins to help out as well.  Along the way she accidentally meets up with one or two people from the STNJ who she also helps out.  Things are still muddled for Robin.  Several witches are fighting each other for something called the fragment of wisdom which is in her posession, but is still trying to understand the significance of it.  
Review: One of the first things I noticed when I started this volume was that the camera work and animation seem to be better somehow.  The music and pacing are improved as well.

To start out the first episode seems somewhat different from the rest as there are people outside of the STNJ watching the office where our agents work adding to the sense of paranoia that we feel for Robin.  The pacing of these episodes take a very different track than the others.  Some of the episodes can be a bit slower or more dramatic than the others.  This first episode is the most dramatic and fast paced one.  After that things slow down.  Not by a lot, but you can feel it.

After the first episode there is a big division in the series.  I have to warn you that there are some plot holes in the series that crop up after the first episode of this volume.  I'll keep it short by posing one question:  If the bullets used in the first episode were fake then why do all of the shots clearly show exit wounds?  Zaizen's character changes a little more than I am comfortable with as well.  Oh, well.  It works better if you just assume that episode 15 on through the rest of the show is a different story or written by someone else that is less familiar with the story than he should be.  If you can do that then the show is still a lot of fun.  I'll try not to nit pick the inconsistencies of the series any more than what I have said here, because I think this show is well done and one of my favorites.  I had to mention it here though because the change from episode 15 to 16 is too significant to ignore.

Moving on, one month has gone by without anyone knowing what has happened to Robin or Amon.  For reasons unknown it is decided that Robin is to be hunted, but not by the STN-J.  I would love to explain a lot, but the fact is that while a lot of things are revealed a lot remains unexplained, like why was the STNJ attacked?  What happened to Amon?  Why did Robin get placed on the hunt list and by whom?  While Robin is on the list she is not being ordered to be hunted by the STNJ possibly because they all used to work together.  That's my guess anyway.

Some interesting changes have occurred with some of the personalities of the witch hunters with Robin and Amon missing.  Zaizen has gone missing, but no one knows or cares why.  Robin seems to be trying to find out what is real and looks to be slowly getting more confident and less afraid of being attacked at any moment, but she still is very hesitant now about who to trust.  Doujima is suddenly a lot more professional.  Karasuma is trying to be more like Amon.  Kosaka is a bit more friendly as well.  The rest seem about the same in personality.  

Besides being slightly better the audio and animation are much the same as in previous volumes, so it is still good and flavorful  There are no horribly annoying voice actors in this series and the plot, theme, and pacing flow very nicely in this DVD and series.  You become thankful for such things when listening to the english voice acting in shows like Noir.

Conclusion: It feels like the tension and quality have picked up with this DVD and is the changing point for the direction of this series.  The first DVD was not all that impressive, but not all that bad either.  This one makes you glad that you continued this far.

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Publisher: Bandai
Related Website: witchhunteronline
Where Found: amazon, Suncoast
Copyright: 2002/2003
Author: Shukou Murase
If you enjoyed this anime try: None yet.

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