"Witch Hunter Robin" Not Exactly Be-Witching Me!

After finally catching up on what I own of "Fairy Tail," I decided to check out a classic.  I spent most of today watching "Witch Hunter Robin," which Hubby Christopher Wanamaker purchased for me at Katsucon 2012.  "Witch Hunter Robin" is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise. It follows the STN-J, the Japanese branch of a secret global organization called "SOLOMON" or the "Solomon Toukatsu Nin'idantai" (roughly "Solomon Executive Organization"), abbreviated as "STN".  Solomon  fights the harmful use of witchcraft using a database of witches, which includes those who have obtained the power of witchcraft through genetics and others who carry the gene (called "seeds") in order to arrest or eliminate them should their powers "awaken". The series focuses on one STN-J member, Robin Sena. 
Robin Sena is a "craft user", born in Japan and raised by the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. She is trained to use her craft of fire to hunt down witches. Witchcraft is a genetic trait, dormant within a number of individuals within the human population. Powers can be "awakened" in these dormant human "seeds" at any time, which seems to also drive the awakened witch into various forms of homicidal madness or sociopathy. Trained hunters, craft-users or "seeds" themselves that have not become full witches, 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 witch police to curtail the use of witchcraft in society, and to keep the witch kind a secret from the public. Even the police, who cooperate with STN-J in abnormal criminal cases, do not know what STN-J does.
The series begins when Robin arrives in Japan to gain information for Solomon headquarters about a fabled item that holds the "secrets of the craft", while acting undercover as a new hunter to the STN-J in their efforts to capture witches. It is hinted that she subconsciously understands something of the STN-J's use of Orbo.
Orbo is a green liquid that negates witch abilities. STN-J's hunters carry small vials of it on necklaces in the shape of a cross as a form of protection against their targets' craft. Hunters also carry air pistols which fire darts or pellets of Orbo that dampen witch powers when it enters the bloodstream of the target witch. Hunters who are craft-users or seeds can use Orbo with little ill effects, although their own powers are reportedly diminished while using it. Robin, a craft-user herself, says that she will not keep Orbo on her because she says it is "disgusting" ("気持ち悪い" or "bad feeling" in japanese).
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". After the discovery of "secrets of the craft," she is entrapped and attacked twice by "witch bullets". Subsequently, the STN-J is attacked, presumably for "secrets of the craft," although the Solomon attack was carried out to find what Zaizen, the director of the STN-J, was planning.
Robin begins to worry that she will become a target and grows to suspect that her partner Amon will hunt her. Eventually, Robin does become a target of Solomon and labeled a witch, becoming "hunted". In the end, Robin finds out more about her craft and that of witches than she knew at the beginning.
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 and the main plot gets underway.
I'm not sure how to express my thoughts and feelings about this anime. I can't say I actually hated any of the characters, except for the old man (I think his name was Zaizen) who showed up in the last few episodes. I also cannot offer any protest with regard to the storyline progression.  I guess this is another one of those anime that falls under the "darker than normal" category, which I normally do not veer toward. (In spite of my love of "Black Butler").   Whether or not I will re-watch this in the future is something I have yet to sit down and consider.  In the meantime, I think I will finish today's anime marathon with "Kiki's Delivery Service, a "be-witching" anime movie I love! (And have previously blogged about!)

Dead Wrong about "High School Of The Dead?"

I spent a portion of New Year's Eve watching High School Of The Dead with Hubby Christopher Wanamaker.
I decided to watch it again today just for the "hell" of it!  LOL!!!!
The broadcast series High School of the Dead (2010) opens on an ordinary day at Fujima Academy in Tokyo--until hordes of zombies begin attacking people. Anyone who's bitten by them is either devoured or turned into a zombie. Sophomore Takashi Komuro, four of his friends, and Ms. Shizuka, the overendowed school nurse, fight their way out of the school and struggle to survive in a world gone mad. Using swords, baseball bats, and an arsenal of high-tech weapons and vehicles, the teenagers beat, blast, and flatten their grisly foes. The cause of the zombie plague is just one of the many important plot points that's never explained, but director Tetsuro Araki isn't really interested in presenting a coherent story. He keeps the camera looking up the girls' skirts, down their blouses, or at blank walls that get splattered with blood. In one shot certain to go down in fan-service history, he follows a projectile over one girl's breasts and under another's skirt--in slow motion. Hormonal adolescent boys who enjoy the juxtaposition of jiggle shots and blood baths are the obvious audience for High School of the Dead; other viewers should approach it with caution.   Needless to say, this is one anime that is definitely NOT FOR CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, it reminded me of the 1968 film classic, Night Of The Living Dead. However, unlike its classic counterpart, High School Of The Dead  does not blame the zombie attacks on nuclear radiation waking the dead.   As I stated before, no obvious explanation was offered for the events that unfolded during the anime. Though,  self-proclaimed genius Saya Takagi suggested that the cause might be a pandemic!   Of course, there were some characters worth mentioning.  The school nurse, Shizuka Marikawa,  was an idiot, and Saya Takagi  is bossy and conceited!  At least, in my opinion!  On the upside, Monica Rial, my fave voice actress, had a  role in this particular anime--that of  Shizuka Marikawa.  Also, Jessica Boone, whom I loved as Misaki Suzuhara in Angelic Layer, voiced Rei Miyamoto in High School of the Dead! (Incidentally, Monica Rial also provided the voice of Tamayo Kizaki in Angelic Layer!)   Aside from no logical explanation for the events that unfolded throughout the course of the anime, the ending was inconclusive.  Does this mean that a second season looms on the horizon?    If it does, I'll probably get it just to see how the story ends!!!!!!!!! 

Shakespearean Anime?

After being unsuccessful in my search for "Nana" at FYE's "Animania" event last Sunday, I found myself with no new anime to watch on this cold Saturday!  So what did I do?  I pulled out a classic!  For some inexplicable reason--or possibly inspired by the upcoming "Gnomeo & Juliet" film--I got the urge to watch "Romeo x Juliet" (released by Funimation Entertainment).  Since I have the entire series on DVD, I settled in for a relaxing post-birthday anime fest!  I have seen several renditions of this classic tragic love story, but I think that I like the anime take on it best!  Don't get me wrong--the 1968 and 1996 renditions were noteworthy--it's just that the anime, and I'll say this without spoiling the story for those who've never watched it, gave the story some happier twists that Shakespeare himself probably would never have imagined.
 http://www.gnomeoandjuliet.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=gnomeo%20and%20juliet&utm_content=Gnomeo%20and%20Juliet%20-%20HV&utm_campaign=Title

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_x_Juliet

http://www.funimation.com/romeoxjuliet/