We won't choose between just "dead" or just "alive". We've chosen freedom.
"Taco, taco, tacos, delicious tacos!"
El Cazador De La Bruja (which means The Witch Hunter in Spanish) tells the story of Ellis, a young girl who finds herself chased by bounty hunters, the most skilled of whom is Nadie. Luckily, Nadie is not about to kill her, but instead sets herself up as Ellis' bodyguard on her journey to find out more about her Mysterious Past.Ellis has some mystifying powers, such as setting things on fire or freezing them; throwing people around with force fields; and inhuman strength, which allows her to jump several meters in one go. Unfortunately, she doesn't have complete control over those powers yet. Ellis is also haunted by memories of the killing of her former foster parent, whom she calls "the professor". Did she actually kill him? What is the role of the organization that sends one bounty hunter after another to obtain her? Who is the creepy guy who keeps stalking her all the time? And what is Nadie's role in this web of intrigue?The series is produced by Bee Train and is the Spiritual Successor to Madlax, which in turn is the Spiritual Successor to Noir. Together, the series form Bee Train's "girls with guns"-trilogy, with noticeable plot similarities. El Cazador de la Bruja is generally lighter in tone than the other two series and shares neither their ambiguous endings nor their particular focus on female gunslinger action.The relationship between the two female leads is also much less ambivalent and clearly develops a romantic slant. Fans who loved the dark, puzzling plot twists in the two first series might be disappointed by the comparative straightforwardness of El Cazador de la Bruja, since it focuses on the relationship between the main characters.The series should best be seen as a story of two people who find themselves and each other against a backdrop of the Mexican desert, crazy (and ineffective) bounty hunters, and of course, tacos.Not to be confused with the short-lived CrossGen Comics pirate title, El Cazador.
Angel Unaware: In the middle of Mexico/South of Mexico, there is an inn run by an old man; who apparently is really the Hopi Fertility Deity Kokopelli. He takes the form of a white author who died 3 years prior to the plot.
Badass and Child Duo: It has two: one is the main couple, Nadie and Ellis (at least until the latter learns to use her magic effectively); the other is Ricardo and Lirio, whose similarities to Lone Wolf and Cub are lampshaded early on. First is a same gendered pairing, the second is a pure example.
Bait-and-Switch Credits: The opening and ending both count. Nadie and Ellis never visit any floating land, no masked man ever follows them around and there is never a cat with a sniper rifle.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Ellis for Nadie. Particularly noticeable in episode 19, when she mentally dubs a couple's conversation over the conversation between Nadie and Ricardo.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Ellis uses her powers, she starts breathing heavily, and her expression and demeanor are rather... suggestive. It doesn't help at all the first time she does this that L.A. is watching her, also breathing heavily with the same expression, and the camera keeps switching between them.
Doing in the Wizard : Inverted. Ellis is the product of genetic engineering, but her powers seem to be genuinely supernatural.
Not to mention episodes involving a woman who can read the memories of others, the harvest spirit Kokopelli, and it is probable that the old fortune teller in the first episode was the real deal.
For the Evulz: Rosenberg arranged the whole stupid road trip through Central America so that Ellis and Nadie would get close enough that when he killed Nadie the grief would trigger the final awakening of Ellis' powers: just as the shredding of her favorite teddy bear initiated her first breakthrough and the murder of Dr. Schneider triggered her second.
He's a Yandere. A pedophiliac yandere in charge of the CIA...
Blue-Eyes suggests that he's seeking revenge for his father who was Driven to Suicide by the government after seeking the witches' power. He flat out denies this, though. Although it's hard to tell if he's being honest or not.
Note that Blue-Eye's grief at Nadie and Ellis's apparent deaths trigger her own latent witch powers. Maybe Rosenberg was on to something.
Generic Cuteness: Nadie is apparently mildly unattractive, or at least very plain judging by the reactions she gets from most men. Even the playboy mariachi only flirted with her to get money. The way she's drawn, though, the worst you could say about her is that she's a bit skinny for an Amazon.
Gory Discretion Shot/Take Our Word for It: L.A. gets mocked by some bar patrons in episode 7. He makes a Slasher Smile, and then the scene cuts to some minutes later, with the police at the scene trying to radio in "someone good with puzzles" so they can find out how many victims there were.
Healing Factor: Sort of — Ellis can only remove foreign objects from the body without harm. She can do absolutely nothing to the wounds caused by them, let alone to any kind of illness.
Heel Face Turn: Blue Eyes. Episode 21 is pretty much dedicated to this.
Hidden Depths: Antonio: mild-manner taco stand manager, former contract killer.
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: With the sole exception of "Maple Leaf", every episode begins with "A Woman" or "A Man" and then an adjective phrase to describe them.
Lolicon: Ortega's interest in Ellis in episode 12. Hell, anyone who has interest in Ellis tends to border on this. L.A. manages to avert this since he's the same age as her.
The Men in Black: In the OP only, there is one guarding a brainwashing facility for Rosenberg, but given he's wearing a sombrero and smoking a pipe, that sorta takes away the mystique. He's only in one episode, and doesn't do anything. Blue Eyes does utilize a couple of WIB henchladies though.
Mind-Control Eyes: L.A. in episode 24, and Ellis whenever she unconsciously manifests her powers. Her eyes still change even after she gains full control of her powers.
L.A.: Mamoru Miyano...the dub manages to be rather notable as well by casting Jamie McGonnigal, normally a New York VA and nowadays known for Barry and Trip in Pokémon and Omi in Weiss Kreuz.
Product Placement: this Pemex fuel station,◊ where Pemex is Mexico's national oil company. The public phones also look pretty much exactly as Telmex's phones, though this might be more Scenery Porn than anything else.
Roof Hopping: Ellis jumps inhumanly high, leaping up balconies in ep 17. Jumping from one to the one directly above it shouldn't be possible. In her case, A witch did it.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Rosenberg. The nameless bounty hunter in episode 9 also qualifies.
Shipper on Deck: By the end of the series, Ricardo is shipping Ellis/Nadie.
Shotacon: Seriously, that scene in episode 10 with Rosenberg whispering to LA.'s ears while the latter was naked... Then that strange hug in episode 24. Just seeing the attitude which with Rosenberg treats L.A. doesn't seem to make it too hard to believe that L.A. is, you know, not very virgin.
Shown Their Work: The portrayal of Latin America is generally good, at least tonally ringing true despite the artistic license taken in some particulars.
Smash Cut: Used in episode 21, to make the audience think L.A. has murdered a young flower girl. The next scene shows that she's just fine, and was happy that he bought all her flowers.
In episode 10, when a thug is holding Ellis hostage, Antonio thinks he has to go out and save her since he and his wife are the ones the thug's boss wants. At the same time, Nadie thinks she has to save her, since she and Ellis are so close. By the time they finish arguing and agree to BOTH go rescue her, Ellis has already knocked the guy out with a pair of maracas.
Played straight in episodes 24 and 25, both when Ricardo goes to finish things with Rambo L.A. and when Ellis and Nadie decide to finish their journey before the others catch up.
Villains Out Shopping: Once Rosenberg gets to his lakeside villa, there are plenty of cuts to him just fishing or playing chess. Of course, these scenes are often still set to his evil-sounding theme music. It doesn't help that he eventually ends up looking at a picture of Ellis a lot.
The Voiceless: Lirio (except for two instances at the end of the series). Despite this, she acts as a link between Nadie and Ellis and Ricardo, seeing as Ricardo isn't exactly the sociable type. Any interactions between them for much of the series is caused by their interactions with Lirio.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Antonio & Margarita in episode 10. A tubby taco stand worker married to one of the hottest women in the series. Apparently, he reminded her of a puppy she had as a girl.
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