Robin Sena (Witch Hunter Robin)
Title: The Eve of Witches
Author: snuzzie [avid Robin x Amon shipper.]
Spoilers: I tried to exclude as many spoilers as possible for the benefit of those who have not seen the series, but I do mention a bit of what is revealed about Robin in the last episodes, so I would proceed with caution. For those who truly wish to remain unspoiled because they have a desire (after reading my essay, of course. :D:D:D;;;) to see the series, I will put a spoiler warning before I begin revealing things.
Email: elementalmagic@gmail.com
---
Robin Sena is the main character of the recently aired-on-Cartoon-Network anime Witch Hunter Robin. To introduce Robin, I am going to first describe a few aspects of the show itself.
WITCH:” Who the hell are you? You bastard!”
AMON: “Your powers will have no effect on me.”
WITCH: “Are you one of those... Hunters?”
AMON: “Perhaps.”
Witch Hunter Robin is a rather serious and sometimes dark anime, which starts off slow but picks up as the episodes go on. It is centered around the STNJ. The STN is a worldwide organization that hunts witches (the J denotes that it is the branch in Japan). Witches are defined as those who have great psychic powers which they misuse and/or cannot control-thus the need for the STN. The witch hunters pinpoint dangerous witches and go out on missions to subdue them. The witches are then taken away in vans by the Factory. The Factory plays a key role in the latter part of the series and it is (later) discovered what exactly is done with the witches that are taken into custody.
There is a distinction between the witches and similar powered characters. Witches are those who have powers that have fully awakened. Related to witches are the Seeds. Seeds are those who carry witch blood within them. These ‘Seeds’ have not fully awakened to their witch powers, but when they do, they undoubtedly do not know how to control them. Craft users are another type of characters in the series. Crafts are specially trained and molded powers that are used by witches and witch hunters alike. Craft users are those, such as Miho Karasuma, who use the craft, but are not witches themselves.
One more important piece of material to know is that of the Orbo. The Orbo is a green, syrupy liquid found in the crosses that most STNJ members wear and the ammunition of their guns. The Orbo is, apparently, made from witches and neutralizes the powers of witches or seeds. I mention this, because the Orbo is another very crucial element to the storyline of the series.
Just had to get that out of the way. It’s quite a complex plot once you sit down and try to type it all out. :o).
KARASUMA: “Witches, who eliminate people who contaminate
Their world... witch hunters, who eliminate witches who
contaminate the human world. Surprisingly, what we're doing could
be the same as them.”
Witch Hunter Robin begins by introducing the viewers to a young female in a black dress. She has just been transferred in from Italy to act as a replacement for a recently lost member in the STNJ. This is Robin Sena. She is a fifteen year old craft user who was born in Japan, but raised in an Italian monastery by Father Juliano.
Robin’s craft is that of fire and she is a very powerful craft user. However, it seems as though whenever she uses her craft, her eyes become a bit blurry and unfocused. This causes her to lose her aim and the end result is that of fire spreading everywhere. This is how Robin’s character is truly introduced to viewers. Her first hunt, in the first episode, ends with fire rapidly spreading and her partners becoming more than a little incensed.
Robin’s character is very soft spoken and quiet. It is one of the many things that first attracted me to her. She holds this enchantment to the viewers. Although she talks very softly and seems almost timid, you can see through her posture and facial expression that she is really quite strong. She has an inner strength that, I believe, truly shines through. This becomes quite apparent as the series progresses and she learns more about witches and her own past.
“Why do hunters always cause so much trouble in such
rapid succession?”
--Chief Kosaka Shintarou
Robin is one very lucky girl. I think so anyway. I mean she gets to work side by side with some of the most awesome (and yummiest, I might add) characters.
Robin is very close friends with Michael Lee. She develops this relationship very early on over a cup of coffee and donuts no less. This actually becomes a very dependant point between the two of them. It seems that Robin always brings Michael coffee and donuts when the team is very stressed out and on an important mission. This may seem a bit odd when just said on the spot right there, but there’s more to Michael’s story. It seems that Michael tried to hack into one of the STNJ’s mainframes. He was caught and the Factory was dispatched to retrieve him because they assumed that he was a witch. When the Factory found out that he was nothing more than a human with amazing hacking abilities, he was given the choice of working for the STNJ or dying. He chose to work for the STNJ, but is now imprisoned inside the STNJ office; forbidden to leave. It is Michael who retrieves all the data for their missions and his importance is never overshadowed in the series. Nor is his close relationship with Robin.
Yurika Doujima is one of the two other females on the team. Although she seems very ditzy, there is a secret to Doujima’s affiliation with the STNJ. She is a very caring character who respects Robin and is good friends with her.
Haruto Sakaki is the rookie of the group. He is a “teenage punk” as the stereotype goes and is a rather new recruit to the team. He is quite impulsive and finds himself prey to many attacks from witches that he is hunting. Sakaki is very caring and, apart from a hinted relationship with Doujima, does not play that big of a role. He does seem to genuinely care for Robin, though.
Miho Karasuma is the other female in the STNJ. She has a special relationship with Robin on the grounds that she too is a craft user. Karasuma is a psychic who is able to scry; that is, she is able to tell what a person feels from an object they’ve touched or handled. Robin has Karasuma “scry” for her in episode four.
Another character that one must mention, at least briefly, when talking about Robin is Nagira. Nagira is Amon’s (half)brother, with whom Robin takes refuge after episode 15 or 16. Nagira takes Robin in as his messenger and does not question why his brother would send her to him (I would elaborate more, but this is a core point in the series). From thereon out, Nagira protects Robin and provides her with shelter and becomes almost as a big brother to her. It is always amusing to hear Nagira’s secretary mutter on about how much time he spends with ‘the new girl’ and how she believes an affair to be going on between them.
KARASUMA: “Amon... partner... left alone... why always?”
And so we arrive at the character who captures everyone’s attention. He is the quiet, brooding, mysterious leader of the STNJ who is, might I say, absolutely delicious (what with his long, messy, black hair and black trench coat…). We arrive at Amon, the one that everyone either loves or despises. Amon is the leader of the STNJ and a very high class witch hunter. He lost his partner six months previously (the cause of this loss is addressed around episode 15 of the series) and Robin has come to take her place. Amon is not very thrilled with the prospect of having Robin as a partner. Not only is she young, but she quite resembles a witch when using her craft. Amon’s cool attitude towards Robin is shown throughout the entire series. He is very cold and callous with her, though perhaps not mean; at least not completely outright. Robin spends much of the beginning of the series wondering why Amon is so uncaring towards her. He does not let her participate fully in the hunts and he refers to her as more of a nuisance than anything else.
As the series progresses, however, Amon does show a bit more respect for Robin. This begins after Robin starts to get more of a grasp on her powers. Amon plays a factor in this. He gives her a pair of eyeglasses (in one of the beginning episodes), which help her focus when using her powers. Thus, her accuracy with her flames increases tenfold. Little actions like this are the extent of Amon’s exposed feelings towards anyone. After episode 15, however, one begins to wonder if Amon really does hate Robin or if he, perhaps, feels something else…
NAGIRA: “Listen, trusting someone is not just based on their
past. It's about whether you can trust their heart or not. It
might not have been much, but you must have trusted her heart
when you entrusted me with her!”
There are those who would disagree with me, but I personally feel as though Amon and Robin truly have feelings for each other. (It is one of the theories that I base my life on. 8D;;;) Although it is seen through small things such as gestures and incomplete sentences between Amon and his “lover” Touko, one can see hints of the feelings that each Amon and Robin develop throughout the series. It is especially evident in episode 15 and the episodes near the end in which Amon has to show what little emotion that he ever shows during the series. It is in these episodes that his trust is established, even a little bit.
I believe that it is this mixture and confusion that each feels for the other that truly triggers the development of each character. Robin develops both emotionally and physically from the beginning of the series. I believe that this has, in large, had to do with Amon. She becomes increasingly stronger, especially as she finds out the truth to her past near the end of the episodes. She comes to accept the coldness that Amon has towards her, but does not let it sit simply at that. Robin confronts him and shows him that she places her trust in his. This is an incredible leap for both characters as neither of them, as has been mentioned, previously show much emotion at all.
Spoiler Warning!
"Overwhelming power will guide people to eternal darkness."
-Inquisitor Kushon
The real storyline of the series lies around the Orbo and the Factory and Solomon Headquarters and it’s all very messy. I’ve finished the series and I’m still trying to sort out what fits in where. The one thing that is apparent, though, is that Solomon (a covert worldwide organization that hunts witches-the STN is a section of Solomon) was experimenting on creating the “perfect witch”. This witch would be genetically engineered and according to the lead researcher, Toudou Hiroshi, would be the next step in human evolution. This project (called Project Robin or Project Devil’s Child) became very unpopular with Toudou’s theories and its funding was cut. Soon after, Toudo himself was murdered. Without going into much more detail, I will conclude by saying that Robin is, indeed, the Devil’s Child. She is a genetically engineered witch-the “perfect witch” with incredible powers. She was called by her mother (Toudou’s wife) “the hope for witches” which was translated to mean that she is the “Eve of Witches”.
After the point of discovering this, the series truly becomes confusing and interesting and Robin’s powers increase tenfold. That is when Robin truly finds her potential and her true inner strength is revealed.
End of Spoiler!
Robin Sena is a most interesting character. From her facial expression and emotions and perhaps even voice, one might not be able to quite place her character beyond a soft spoken witch hunter. Robin is much more than that, however. Through the interactions with her friends and enemies and her courage when needing to defend herself for survival, Robin Sena truly unleashes her inner power throughout the series and has enchanted me from the very beginning.
ROBIN: "Everyone has some amount of evil in their heart.”
AMON: "That may be true, but there is a difference between grey evil
and pitch black evil.”
Good Witch Hunter Robin Interactives--
Informational and Interactive Websites:
The Official Witch Hunter Robin Website
The Witch Hunter Robin Fanlisting
Collaboration of WHR and other fan webrings
The Unofficial Witch Hunter Robin Website
[Full of episode summaries, character summaries, terms, interactives, etc. Highly recommended.].
Fanfics:
A Handful of Dust by Vitany Fyrewolf
A drabble piece by koijewel
WHR Fanfic Suggestions
LJ Communities:
witchhuntrrobin
whricons
the_craft
Author: snuzzie [avid Robin x Amon shipper.]
Spoilers: I tried to exclude as many spoilers as possible for the benefit of those who have not seen the series, but I do mention a bit of what is revealed about Robin in the last episodes, so I would proceed with caution. For those who truly wish to remain unspoiled because they have a desire (after reading my essay, of course. :D:D:D;;;) to see the series, I will put a spoiler warning before I begin revealing things.
Email: elementalmagic@gmail.com
---
Robin Sena is the main character of the recently aired-on-Cartoon-Network anime Witch Hunter Robin. To introduce Robin, I am going to first describe a few aspects of the show itself.
WITCH:” Who the hell are you? You bastard!”
AMON: “Your powers will have no effect on me.”
WITCH: “Are you one of those... Hunters?”
AMON: “Perhaps.”
Witch Hunter Robin is a rather serious and sometimes dark anime, which starts off slow but picks up as the episodes go on. It is centered around the STNJ. The STN is a worldwide organization that hunts witches (the J denotes that it is the branch in Japan). Witches are defined as those who have great psychic powers which they misuse and/or cannot control-thus the need for the STN. The witch hunters pinpoint dangerous witches and go out on missions to subdue them. The witches are then taken away in vans by the Factory. The Factory plays a key role in the latter part of the series and it is (later) discovered what exactly is done with the witches that are taken into custody.
There is a distinction between the witches and similar powered characters. Witches are those who have powers that have fully awakened. Related to witches are the Seeds. Seeds are those who carry witch blood within them. These ‘Seeds’ have not fully awakened to their witch powers, but when they do, they undoubtedly do not know how to control them. Craft users are another type of characters in the series. Crafts are specially trained and molded powers that are used by witches and witch hunters alike. Craft users are those, such as Miho Karasuma, who use the craft, but are not witches themselves.
One more important piece of material to know is that of the Orbo. The Orbo is a green, syrupy liquid found in the crosses that most STNJ members wear and the ammunition of their guns. The Orbo is, apparently, made from witches and neutralizes the powers of witches or seeds. I mention this, because the Orbo is another very crucial element to the storyline of the series.
Just had to get that out of the way. It’s quite a complex plot once you sit down and try to type it all out. :o).
KARASUMA: “Witches, who eliminate people who contaminate
Their world... witch hunters, who eliminate witches who
contaminate the human world. Surprisingly, what we're doing could
be the same as them.”
Witch Hunter Robin begins by introducing the viewers to a young female in a black dress. She has just been transferred in from Italy to act as a replacement for a recently lost member in the STNJ. This is Robin Sena. She is a fifteen year old craft user who was born in Japan, but raised in an Italian monastery by Father Juliano.
Robin’s craft is that of fire and she is a very powerful craft user. However, it seems as though whenever she uses her craft, her eyes become a bit blurry and unfocused. This causes her to lose her aim and the end result is that of fire spreading everywhere. This is how Robin’s character is truly introduced to viewers. Her first hunt, in the first episode, ends with fire rapidly spreading and her partners becoming more than a little incensed.
Robin’s character is very soft spoken and quiet. It is one of the many things that first attracted me to her. She holds this enchantment to the viewers. Although she talks very softly and seems almost timid, you can see through her posture and facial expression that she is really quite strong. She has an inner strength that, I believe, truly shines through. This becomes quite apparent as the series progresses and she learns more about witches and her own past.
“Why do hunters always cause so much trouble in such
rapid succession?”
--Chief Kosaka Shintarou
Robin is one very lucky girl. I think so anyway. I mean she gets to work side by side with some of the most awesome (and yummiest, I might add) characters.
Robin is very close friends with Michael Lee. She develops this relationship very early on over a cup of coffee and donuts no less. This actually becomes a very dependant point between the two of them. It seems that Robin always brings Michael coffee and donuts when the team is very stressed out and on an important mission. This may seem a bit odd when just said on the spot right there, but there’s more to Michael’s story. It seems that Michael tried to hack into one of the STNJ’s mainframes. He was caught and the Factory was dispatched to retrieve him because they assumed that he was a witch. When the Factory found out that he was nothing more than a human with amazing hacking abilities, he was given the choice of working for the STNJ or dying. He chose to work for the STNJ, but is now imprisoned inside the STNJ office; forbidden to leave. It is Michael who retrieves all the data for their missions and his importance is never overshadowed in the series. Nor is his close relationship with Robin.
Yurika Doujima is one of the two other females on the team. Although she seems very ditzy, there is a secret to Doujima’s affiliation with the STNJ. She is a very caring character who respects Robin and is good friends with her.
Haruto Sakaki is the rookie of the group. He is a “teenage punk” as the stereotype goes and is a rather new recruit to the team. He is quite impulsive and finds himself prey to many attacks from witches that he is hunting. Sakaki is very caring and, apart from a hinted relationship with Doujima, does not play that big of a role. He does seem to genuinely care for Robin, though.
Miho Karasuma is the other female in the STNJ. She has a special relationship with Robin on the grounds that she too is a craft user. Karasuma is a psychic who is able to scry; that is, she is able to tell what a person feels from an object they’ve touched or handled. Robin has Karasuma “scry” for her in episode four.
Another character that one must mention, at least briefly, when talking about Robin is Nagira. Nagira is Amon’s (half)brother, with whom Robin takes refuge after episode 15 or 16. Nagira takes Robin in as his messenger and does not question why his brother would send her to him (I would elaborate more, but this is a core point in the series). From thereon out, Nagira protects Robin and provides her with shelter and becomes almost as a big brother to her. It is always amusing to hear Nagira’s secretary mutter on about how much time he spends with ‘the new girl’ and how she believes an affair to be going on between them.
KARASUMA: “Amon... partner... left alone... why always?”
And so we arrive at the character who captures everyone’s attention. He is the quiet, brooding, mysterious leader of the STNJ who is, might I say, absolutely delicious (what with his long, messy, black hair and black trench coat…). We arrive at Amon, the one that everyone either loves or despises. Amon is the leader of the STNJ and a very high class witch hunter. He lost his partner six months previously (the cause of this loss is addressed around episode 15 of the series) and Robin has come to take her place. Amon is not very thrilled with the prospect of having Robin as a partner. Not only is she young, but she quite resembles a witch when using her craft. Amon’s cool attitude towards Robin is shown throughout the entire series. He is very cold and callous with her, though perhaps not mean; at least not completely outright. Robin spends much of the beginning of the series wondering why Amon is so uncaring towards her. He does not let her participate fully in the hunts and he refers to her as more of a nuisance than anything else.
As the series progresses, however, Amon does show a bit more respect for Robin. This begins after Robin starts to get more of a grasp on her powers. Amon plays a factor in this. He gives her a pair of eyeglasses (in one of the beginning episodes), which help her focus when using her powers. Thus, her accuracy with her flames increases tenfold. Little actions like this are the extent of Amon’s exposed feelings towards anyone. After episode 15, however, one begins to wonder if Amon really does hate Robin or if he, perhaps, feels something else…
NAGIRA: “Listen, trusting someone is not just based on their
past. It's about whether you can trust their heart or not. It
might not have been much, but you must have trusted her heart
when you entrusted me with her!”
There are those who would disagree with me, but I personally feel as though Amon and Robin truly have feelings for each other. (It is one of the theories that I base my life on. 8D;;;) Although it is seen through small things such as gestures and incomplete sentences between Amon and his “lover” Touko, one can see hints of the feelings that each Amon and Robin develop throughout the series. It is especially evident in episode 15 and the episodes near the end in which Amon has to show what little emotion that he ever shows during the series. It is in these episodes that his trust is established, even a little bit.
I believe that it is this mixture and confusion that each feels for the other that truly triggers the development of each character. Robin develops both emotionally and physically from the beginning of the series. I believe that this has, in large, had to do with Amon. She becomes increasingly stronger, especially as she finds out the truth to her past near the end of the episodes. She comes to accept the coldness that Amon has towards her, but does not let it sit simply at that. Robin confronts him and shows him that she places her trust in his. This is an incredible leap for both characters as neither of them, as has been mentioned, previously show much emotion at all.
Spoiler Warning!
"Overwhelming power will guide people to eternal darkness."
-Inquisitor Kushon
The real storyline of the series lies around the Orbo and the Factory and Solomon Headquarters and it’s all very messy. I’ve finished the series and I’m still trying to sort out what fits in where. The one thing that is apparent, though, is that Solomon (a covert worldwide organization that hunts witches-the STN is a section of Solomon) was experimenting on creating the “perfect witch”. This witch would be genetically engineered and according to the lead researcher, Toudou Hiroshi, would be the next step in human evolution. This project (called Project Robin or Project Devil’s Child) became very unpopular with Toudou’s theories and its funding was cut. Soon after, Toudo himself was murdered. Without going into much more detail, I will conclude by saying that Robin is, indeed, the Devil’s Child. She is a genetically engineered witch-the “perfect witch” with incredible powers. She was called by her mother (Toudou’s wife) “the hope for witches” which was translated to mean that she is the “Eve of Witches”.
After the point of discovering this, the series truly becomes confusing and interesting and Robin’s powers increase tenfold. That is when Robin truly finds her potential and her true inner strength is revealed.
End of Spoiler!
Robin Sena is a most interesting character. From her facial expression and emotions and perhaps even voice, one might not be able to quite place her character beyond a soft spoken witch hunter. Robin is much more than that, however. Through the interactions with her friends and enemies and her courage when needing to defend herself for survival, Robin Sena truly unleashes her inner power throughout the series and has enchanted me from the very beginning.
ROBIN: "Everyone has some amount of evil in their heart.”
AMON: "That may be true, but there is a difference between grey evil
and pitch black evil.”
Good Witch Hunter Robin Interactives--
Informational and Interactive Websites:
The Official Witch Hunter Robin Website
The Witch Hunter Robin Fanlisting
Collaboration of WHR and other fan webrings
The Unofficial Witch Hunter Robin Website
[Full of episode summaries, character summaries, terms, interactives, etc. Highly recommended.].
Fanfics:
A Handful of Dust by Vitany Fyrewolf
A drabble piece by koijewel
WHR Fanfic Suggestions
LJ Communities:
witchhuntrrobin
whricons
the_craft