STNJ is the Japanese branch of a secretive global organization that suppresses the illegitimate use of witchcraft. Being a witch is a genetic trait, and STN maintains a registry of everyone with the trait, watching them, and moving in to eliminate them should their powers ``awaken''.

STNJ recently lost one of its members, and morale is low. The office is run by a bureaucratic functionary who is mostly ignored by his staff of eccentrics. The real boss seems to be the grim, silent Amon and the mysterious man from ``the Factory''.

Headquarters sends them a replacement for their fallen comrade --- 16-year-old Sena Robin, born in Japan but raised in an Italian convent. Robin, who dresses in solemnly archaic long black dresses (does she really wear a bustle? --- it's a bit of a relief when she switches to bicycle-messenger gear around episode 15) is herself a ``craft-user'', though one who seems to have limited control over her abilities.

Initially, the series appears to take a ``victim of the week'' approach, reminiscent of the beginning of Noir. Also like Noir, by the eigth episode the world, the characters, and their relationships are established. At that time, the real story gets underway.

As the series progresses, Robin grows increasingly uncomfortable with her role in hunting witches. Some of her victims don't seem deserving of a fate at the hands of the creepily mysterious ``Factory'', and Robin herself begins to worry that she will become a target, and grows to suspect that her partner Amon will welcome the opportunity to hunt her.

One Liner: An awesome anime with X-Files overtone and mentality.

What was particularly enjoyable about the animation in Witch Hunter Robin was that the animation was not quite your traditional Japanese animation. Though I can't really point out where specifically (maybe it's because the proportions are much more, well, proportional), the animation has a rather Western appeal, which have possibly been done on purpose to match the Western themes, conflicts, and ideologies. Each character actually had their own unique physical characteristics which made them easily discernable amongst each other without unnatural hair color or striking eyes. The artists did a great job in creating a Gothic setting midst the blooming enterprise and economic prosperity that comes with the advancement of technology (the technology stuff they have is so cool!). The animation itself makes up half of the greatness of Witch Hunter Robin; which is really saying something since this anime is awesome.

Sound: Often times it isn't fair if the eyes recieve the pleasure of eye candy and the ears do not. The ears will not feel cheated at all after listening to Witch Hunter Robin. Aside from the awesome sound quality (the crispness of walking on pavement, the tapping on keyboards, or the zinging of bullets) that really help build up tension and enhance the action sequences, Witch Hunter Robin has one of the more delightful OSTS that fit each scene perfectly. Though the sound effects make the anime really good, the great audio should be credited to the OST, which made certain scenes incredibly touching. Much of the western Gothic mystic, mysterious setting is attributed to the tracks that express the mood perfectly.

In continuation of the Westerness of Witch Hunter Robin, the OP and the ED have a distinct Western sound to it. Instead of the usual Japanese pop, the OP and the ED are somewhat more rock (even though they still have some trouble speaking some English - but that's really forgivable.). In a nutshell, if you're one of those people who can't really stand the J-Poppy sound, Witch Hunter Robin doesn't have any, being that the only vocals are in the OP and the ED.

Story: The concept of Witch Hunter Robin is awesome - a hidden society of witches and a group of inidividuals who seek to keep the witch population in check with normal human beings. As can be expected, Witch Hunter Robin follows the story of such a group of individuals, particularly known as STN-J, a subdivision of an international society called Solomon. Already, one can tell that Witch Hunter Robin borrowed heavily from the X-Files, except that the "paranormal" activities present in the X-Files is more concentrated into the idea of witches and witchcraft. The Witch Hunter Robin approach upon this subject is rather interesting, with a refreshing perspective on what is taught in present day society as an evil. While the producers of the series acknowledge that the idea and practice of witchcraft could possibly be an evil, it is simply nothing more than a mere trivial stereotype; a theme very common in anime.