[US DVD] El Cazador de la Bruja Season 1 Part 2 Review

[Chris Beveridge]

Review by Chris Beveridge

Mania Grade: B-

In Summary:
As the closing piece of the Girls with Guns loose trilogy from Been Train, El Cazador feels the weakest to me both when it comes to the overall cast and the base storyline. I liked the overall setting, though they did find a way to include an actual Japanese hot spring, as the Mexican/South American locales definitely gave it a different flavor. And though familiar, I liked the character designs as well, though Lirio sort of left me a little unnerved at times because she's so small and cute. In the end, El Cazador felt like it's larger narrative storyline of what Ellis is searching for and what she's all about was never clearly defined. It's more of a subplot that lacks any impact when it does get revealed as you sort of wait for it to be over to get to what the real story is. El Cazador isn't bad but it didn't thrill me and it didn't captivate me. The things I like are negated by the things I didn't, leaving the show as a wash. It's definitely a show where your mileage will definitely vary.

[Suwako Moriya]

Compared to both Noir and Madlax, El Cazador worked much better for me. I couldn't even bring myself to watch more than an episode of Madlax. I guess El Cazador had something the others didn't...

[MadL]

El Cazador's ended up being my favorite of the "Bee Train trilogy" - and for me, it was mostly because of Nadie and Ellis. They've become one of my favorite duos in any show, and their back-and-forth alone put El Cazador ahead of Madlax and Noir for me. I found myself really caring what happened to them - even found myself welling up a bit during the final episode. Which is not to say I didn't like Madlax and Noir - I also enjoyed the other Bee Train "girls with guns" series, but I've had the most fun with El Cazador.

I'll agree that in terms of the plot, El Cazador was probably weaker than Noir or Madlax. It just happened that for me, the main characters more than made up for that. I think the commentary on the first El Cazador set described Noir as a mystery/thriller, Madlax as an action series, and El Cazador as more of a buddy action-comedy; IMO, that describes the differences between the three series nicely. Depending on someone prefers in a series, they may rank the three differently. At any rate, thanks to FUNi for a good job with the dub and for releasing the entire series at the same time.

[pianocello]

El Cazador is better than Noir and Madlax because it has a better love story.

[WTK]

I finished watching both parts a couple days ago. I really like the pair of Nadie and Ellis. I'm going to have to watch Madlax and Noir sometime next year, so I can get a better comparison.

[dragonrider_cody]

El Cazador can't hold a candle to Noir. It took me several episodes to even get into the show, while Noir hooked me from the first episode. The only thing El Cazador has is better animation, which is to be expected given it's age. Unfortunately, it has very little substance to back it up the production values.

[Fencedude]

Originally Posted by dragonrider_cody

The only thing El Cazador has is better animation,

Vastly better characters.

[Prede]

Originally Posted by dragonrider_cody

El Cazador can't hold a candle to Noir. It took me several episodes to even get into the show, while Noir hooked me from the first episode. The only thing El Cazador has is better animation, which is to be expected given it's age. Unfortunately, it has very little substance to back it up the production values.

Haven't seen Noir yet but this show hooked me from the very first episode. Madlax on the other hand took around 4 or 5 episodes for me to really get into it. This show drew me in instantly. It's a very compelling show. And I love the characters.

[pianocello]

Originally Posted by Fencedude

Vastly better characters.

And a better love story.

[something]

Originally Posted by dragonrider_cody

El Cazador can't hold a candle to Noir.

Noir is the weakest part of the Bee Train girls-with-guns trilogy by a pretty significant margin. I like it, but El Cazador blows it away.