El Cazador de la Bruja is said to be the spiritual successor of Noir and Madlax. Since I haven’t watched either anime yet, I have to take the ‘net on its word. The animation was handled by Bee Train. It is decent quality for the most part; the action doesn’t reduce to speed lines and other short cuts at least. This anime is said to be the last of Bee Train’s “girls-with-guns” trilogy.
The story follows the bounty hunter Nadie and a mysterious girl called Ellis. Bruja is a road anime so most of it consists of episodic events as Nadie and Ellis travel south. Their journey is guided by Ellis’ intuition and a strange stone that is her sole possession. Nadie is hired to protect Ellis who is wanted for murdering her scientist caretaker. Ellis has very few memories of her past. She just knows that somewhere south she can find the truth. Along the way they encounter another bounty hunter, Ricardo, and a young girl he protects, Lirio. They also encounter L.A, a strange young man with an unhealthy obsession for Ellis.
El Cazador de la Bruja takes place entirely in Mexico. Pesos, huipil, and Nadie’s ever present sarape gives the show a nice flavor. Spanish is also speckled throughout the series. Bruja has a similar feel to Trigun in many regards with the environment. It isn’t quite as wild as Trigun’s Wild West. The Law is rare to find, but there are a lot of good people for Nadie and Ellis to meet on their journey.
El Cazador de la Bruja translates to “The Hunter for the Witch.” But the main focus of the show is the developing relationship between Ellis and Nadie. They become younger and older sisters despite the danger and the mysteries surrounding Ellis.
I call El Cazador de la Bruja a decent anime. It held my attention for all 26 episodes and had likable characters. The pacing felt hurried and abrupt at the end after so much of the show being dedicated to getting to the final destination. The animation wasn’t excellent, but neither was it terrible. The quality remained pretty consistent throughout the series. I didn’t like the theme songs for the series, but I mostly skip opening and closing themes anyway.
El Cazador de la Bruja is a decent watch over all.
