HomeAnimeEl Cazador De La Bruja Series Collection - Review

El Cazador De La Bruja Series Collection – Review

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El Cazador De La Bruja Series Collection - Review 1Title: El Cazador De La Bruja
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand)
Based on: Original Anime Series
Genre: Western, Action, Comedy
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9)
Runtime: 650 Minutes
Cost: $79.95 from the Madman Online Store
Classification: This title is classified M for Animated Violence and Mature Themes
Blurb: “Taking place in a western landscape, the bounty hunter Nadie takes protective custody of young Ellis, a lady with a mysterious past surrounding Project LEVIATHAN. This series starts off slow, however builds up into an intriguing action packed storyline with interesting characters to say the least. The design is solid and has some very strong instrumental tracks.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

I usually use this pre-review blurb to go on about something relative to this series, but this time I would actually like to share something a bit freaky with you all. As long time readers may know, when this was originally released in Japan during 2007, I did a uh…. review of the first three episodes. Upon watching the second episode, I proceeded to have a dream that night that all the characters were replaced by old fashioned British cars (Similar to say, the children series Brum) and was overall very surreal. So whilst this is a random tidbit of information, I cannot help but look at this series and smirk at the mystery which is my own mind. Anyway, this is a western anime series that takes place in a very modern world, so without further ado, read on to find out my thoughts on El Cazador De La Bruja. 

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Ellis is an amnesiac with a bounty on her head, and Nadie’s trigger finger is the only thing keeping her friend from falling into the wrong hands. They’re looking for pieces of Ellis’ past, and every mile of open highway brings the girls closer together – but their special bond is bound to be tested. As the dusty border crossroads where ancient spirits and modern science meet, a storm of conspiracy is brewing low in the desert sky. Someone out there can explain the hazy mysteries of Ellis’ past. If she and Nadie just keep moving south, the Hunter and the Witch will get their answers soon enough.

This is without a doubt one of the hardest series to get into, especially for those who like myself, are not fans of Western series. However, where in most events I would decide to drop a series, I was obligated to keep watching, and honestly, whilst the road is long, after the first half of the series, things actually do get much more interesting and far worth the wait. Throughout the first few episodes, they are what I would consider filler episodes where Nadie and Ellis do such interesting things such as staying at a hotel and looking after the suspicious loli character that pops up every episode to in more then one case, working in a cafe which in the series defense, more often then not ends up ruined by the end of the episode. There is some action during these initial episodes and they are nothing to scoff at, with there being plenty of *Pew* *Pews* of a gun, *Screeches* of tyres and the obligatory explosion to go along with it.

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However, whilst the episodes remain fairly spontaneous at times during the first episodes, they will occasionally grant you a short look at what the series you will be rewarded to is like. We all like hidden government projects that use genetic manipulation to produce witches right? We all like multiple organisations chasing after two innocent girls right? Well, if you watch on, whilst you will still continue to get the random episodes, they focus more on the history of Ellis and the mysterious stalker LA (Who successfully makes the thought of someone watching you sleep even creepier), the mysterious organization of witches which can’t decide if they want to save or kill the girl and for those who prefer more light-hearted action, what happens if Nadie and the other recurring bounty hunter Ricardo. Characters allegiances are hard to determine in this series, and who one day might be an ally, the next day is wanting you both dead.

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If anything, the series relies more on the action and occasional comedic routines to give the characters personality then the actual development of them. Ellis would be the only character to actually get some form of solid development, after all, she is the one with a bounty on her head so they delve into her deep past and about her life growing up under the watchful eye of Dr Schneider, who she is accused of murdering and therefore travels South to find out her missing memories of her path. She is also used as a means of ending the action, after all, she is what one would consider the last “Witch” and  has some control over her powers. Despite being more of a protagonist, Nadie doesn’t have any much in the way of development and has more personality development then anything, based on her shoot first ask later nature. Other characters such as Ricardo and even more-so Lirio, are only in the storyline to progress it, with Lirio saying a total of no more then a dozen words throughout the series, despite appearing in all 26 episodes. The other characters such as Blue-Eyes and Rosenberg only appear occasionally to remind us that they actually exist.

Overall, whilst character development is undeniably weaker in this series then I would have liked, if you continue through with the story past the first few episodes and keep your mind open to a western series, you will be rewarded with an interesting storyline filled with action, comedy and some really likable characters.

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In terms of design, it was an overall solid performance. I will not say that there was anything special in the graphics department, however they did a strong job at delivering the obvious fact to us: “You are in the desert, expect to see plains of nothing but sand or towns that are not metropolises”. If anything, I would say that is a slight bias I have whilst watching this series… I like modern design with bits and pieces of extra design work done, however this series doesn’t warrant that during most episodes. So trying to avoid this bias, I will say that for the setting this series is in, it does a solid job at bringing the desert to the screen. There are a few instances, usually with other characters where there is a more modern setting to the environment, and these show that they do have the ability to design well. Where else would you see a full banquet of food on one table with each dish individually designed? I am unsure where to place myself overall on the environmental designs. Character designs are actually rather good, and I do think the overall design choices for both clothing and appearance for all the characters were well suited to their environment and personality.

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Opening Sequence
Hikari no Yukue by savage genius

What is not to like about this opening sequence? First off, the song choice is undoubtedly perfect for the series, with that theme you would expect from a modern western series, with some nice lyrics and vocals from Savage Genius. The animation shows off all the potential action in the series and it goes along well with the pace of the song and is designed well.

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Ending Sequence
romanesque by FictionJunction YUUKA

I feel like I am often very strict when it comes to ending sequences, however this time, I am happy to say that I was very pleased with this one. Who would have thought guns, supernatural and romance could all be mixed into a perfect ending theme? The changes in colour tones and the consistent flow of animation really works well, and the song isn’t half bad as well.

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If there was one area that I thought this series succeeded in, it was the music department. It might be because I am not used to this genre, therefore this music sounds unique, but the music was all suited to the western environment but also had a strong presence when needed but if not required, usually let the sound effects set the tone. Also, the fight themes were excellent if I haven’t already made that clear. Of more interest to me is the voice acting, with Maxey Whitehead suiting the quiet and “emotionless…ish” character of Ellis whilst Trina Nishimura who I have heard many times before does a brilliant job at the loudmouthed character of Nadie and outdoing the Japanese voice actress in putting across her badass nature. Other special mentions would go to Clarine Harp who voices Blue-Eyes and Jamie McGonnigal who voices LA do brilliant jobs with their characters and their personalities.

El Cazador De La Bruja Series Collection - Review 13In terms of package design, for a collection it is very good. Similar to my previous review of Lucky Star, this is not a slim or fatpack of a series, therefore it is essentially Collections 1 and 2 as is, with a cover keeping the two together. The art of the main cover, as seen to your left does a good job at portraying the characters personalities, with Nadie more serious with her guns whilst Ellis, adapting to the world around her, is more happy to blow bubbles (Hey, bubbles can be deemed weapons if they get in your eyes right?). The back cover of it, as with the two DVD cases, is based off a wanted poster with fonts suitable to the western theme and the normal screenshots, blurb and so forth. The individual cover art is well designed, with Collection 1 having Ellis and Nadie in a bar whilst Collection 2 has Nadie walking through the desert with Nadie appearing in the background. Each of the two collections have unique inner cover art, with the first one featuring nekomimi Nadie and Ellis and the second one with Nadie and Ellis in a room infront of what I assume would be a fire, indicating althrough not displaying some sort of Yuri attraction. Each collection comprises of two discs, and each having artwork of characters from the series (Nadie & Ellis, Ricardo and Lirio, Blue-Eyes, Rosenberg and LA).

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There is sadly, nothing much in the way of bonus content on these DVD’s. There are textless opening and closings for the respective sequences which is a nice addition for brilliant songs, commentary for Episodes 1 and 26 or as they title it, the protagonists chat and the antagonists chat and then they have the obligatory trailers showing recent Madman titles for the time of release.

In my opinion, if you don’t mind a series that is often episodic in nature and likes to tease the interesting storyline to you every so often in the earlier episodes, then this may be the series for you. Whilst it hasn’t convinced me to take up watching other western movies and series, which like chick-flicks are usually off-limits to me, however it made me realize that the western genre in anime might still have something to offer from the usual good cowboy bad cowboy older cartoons and anime made me think it was.

Final Score

Storyline: B+
Character Development: C+
Design: B
OP/ED Sequences: A
Music:
A-
Voice Acting: A
Packaging: B+
Extras: C
Personal Opinion: B

Final Score: B+

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I always thought cats were evil…. even if a cat with a Sniper Rifle may be perceived by some to be CUTE….

 

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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