The Gist:

When a bounty hunter happens on a young girl accused of murdering a prominent psychiatrist, she chooses to help the suspect instead of turning her in. The two embark on an adventure to uncover the secrets of the girl's past and solve the murder.

The History:

Directed by Koichi Mashimo (Noir, .hack//Sign, Madlax, Tsubasa Chronicle - Season 1), El Cazador de la Bruja (literally, The Hunter of the Witch is the final installment of the "guns with girls" trilogy from Bee Train, with Noir and Madlax being the first two.

El Cazador began airing on TV Tokyo in Japan in April, 2007 -- a manga adaptation was published in Champion RED Magazine from March, 2007 to September, 2007. FUNimation Entertainment acquired the North American rights to the anime series and released the full 26-episode series in two DVD volumes in December 2009.

Manga vs. Anime:

Interestingly, the manga and the anime were released within one month of each other, with the anime being considered the original work. Both follow essentially the same story line however, the manga serialization ended after just one volume and has some character differences. In the manga for example, both Nadie and Ellis are featured while L.A. and Rosenburg are not. Instead, a new character - Alice is introduced.

How to Watch:

El Cazador de la Bruja is available in two DVD volumes (Volume 1 - Episodes 1 through 13 and Volume 2 - Episodes 14 through 26), released on December 15, 2009.



Genres:

Adventure, action, drama, mystery, supernatural

Themes: Girls with guns, western

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Studios:

Distribution: FUNimation Entertainment

Animation: Bee Train Studio

Rating:

TV-MA

Learn more about anime and manga age ratings.

The Review:

This is the third installment in Bee Train's "girls with guns" trilogy however, El Cazador de la Bruja focuses more on the relationships between characters than it does gun fights. That's not to say there isn't some action -- there is, but the series takes its time.

The story revolves around Ellis, a young girl on the run from the law and suffering from amnesia. Nadie is a bounty hunter with plenty of moxie and some fancy shooting skills to boot. She is hired to keep an eye on Ellis by the mysterious Jody Hayward, aka "Blue Eyes", who turns out to be a spy for a mysterious group tasked with uncovering the secrets of Project Leviathan.

Ellis it seems has been engineered with "witch DNA" and has a wide range of impressive powers although she seems to lack the mental clarity to use them at will. Nadie quickly becomes Ellis' protector and the two set out to find some answers. Of course, there's plenty of people who have no intention of letting that happen.

Now, if you're thinking that this story line doesn't sound anything like it's predecessors, Noir and Madlax, that's because El Cazador de la Bruja is a "spiritual successor" of Bee Train's two other installments. So while the general "girls with guns" theme is a constant throughout the trilogy, the story lines and characters are considerably different.

El Cazador de la Bruja is also much more relationship focused than the previous two and qualifies as a shoujo-ai series. Nadie and Ellis clearly care for each other and although there's no sexual references, it is relatively clear that the attachment is more than just "friends".

Also worth noting, El Cazador de la Bruja takes place in an old Mexican town, an interesting alternative to the Japanese environment we normally see in anime shows.

So, what's the verdict? I like El Cazador de la Bruja. It's not edge-of-your-seat kind of action but it does have a solid mystery plot to it and the animation is very well done. Definitely worthy of a look, you can check out El Cazador de la Bruja by visiting the official website.