El Cazador de la Bruja

El Cazador (エル・カザド), subtitled El Cazador de la Bruja (The Witch Hunter), is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and animated by Bee Train studio. It is a spiritual successor of Noir and Madlax and the final installment of Bee Train's "girls-with-guns" trilogy. The series has been airing on TV Tokyo since April 2, 2007. A manga adaptation began serializing in the Champion RED Magazine in March 2007, and is releasing chapters monthly.

The series was announced for international release by FUNimation Entertainment on February 19, 2009. It was released in two complete season sets in early December 2009.

The series made its North American television debut on March 22nd, 2010, when it started airing on the FUNimation Channel.

Plot
A fateful encounter between Ellis, a fugitive girl with amnesia, a troubled past, and supernatural powers, and Nadie, a feisty bounty hunter, leads to the two of them traveling south together in search of the key to unlocking Ellis' past. The only clues they have are a mysterious stone given to Ellis by a fortune teller she was staying with, and Ellis' notion that she has to go south.

Characters

 * Ellis (エリス).
 * A girl wanted as a suspect for Dr. Heinz Schneider's murder. She heads south in order to seek the truth of the incident, as well as to find her birthplace; based on the vague memories she holds and an old fortune teller's advice. Ellis has "Witch DNA", but her abilities are accidental and incomplete. These include superhuman strength, temporary levitation, and heating as well as freezing of physical objects. She cannot control her abilities at will, usually becoming active only in times of need. She speaks whatever is on her mind in an almost expressionless way of talking, she could almost be classified as a comic relief character because of some of the things she does. Throughout the series Ellis falls in love with Nadie and is quite open about her feelings towards her.


 * Nadie (ナディ).
 * A maverick female bounty hunter and a top marksman, she carries an old Colt M1911 .45 pistol as her weapon of choice. She holds an optimistic attitude but in actuality, Nadie was the sole survivor of an attack on her hometown. Working for Hayward, Nadie accompanies Ellis on her journey. Before killing her opponents, Nadie has a habit of saying, "If you have any last words, say them now". She is feisty and can lose her temper very easily, although when it comes to protecting Ellis she doesn't joke around. She's willing to please Ellis in numerous ways, and even puts up with Squenchy when Ellis keeps the salamander indoors with them overnight.


 * Jody Hayward (ジョディ・ヘイワード) alias "Blue-Eyes" (ブルーアイズ).
 * First appearing to be a member of the Central Intelligence Agency's accounting department, Jody is actually a mole for another mysterious group. For the first part of the series she is tasked with watching Rosenberg and uncovering information on Project LEVIATHAN. After uncovering the true nature of the project she breaks her cover and is assigned to work more directly to disrupt Rosenberg's plans. From this point on she is only referred to by her code name "Blue-Eyes". It is never made clear whether Jody Hayward is her true name or only part of her cover. It was Blue-Eyes who hired Nadie to protect Ellis.


 * Douglas Rosenberg (ダグラス・ローゼンバーグ).
 * A director in the Central Intelligence Agency and a shrewd agent, Rosenberg serves as the main antagonist of the story. He appears to have a great number of connections, using them at least once to attack Nadie and Ellis with military forces. He hired Ricardo to observe Ellis and Nadie and to subdue L.A. when he got out of control. While his true intentions and motivations never truly become clear, he always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else.


 * Dr. Heinrich "Heinz" Schneider (ハインリク "ハインツ" シュナイダ).
 * A doctor of physics, he is a German immigrant who has no family and thrives on his study. He is a key player in developing and researching "Project LEVIATHAN" and was in charge of caring for and studying Ellis during her childhood. In flashbacks, he appears to have been generally kind to Ellis.


 * L.A. (エル・エー).
 * A mysterious young man who harbors a deep obsession for Ellis. L.A is always constantly watching her but he has a deep hatred for humans. He and Ellis are the last survivors out of the five whom were artificially engineered with witch DNA. Though he doesn't have witch-like powers himself, he does possess superhuman agility and strength. L.A uses metal threads as a weapon.


 * Ricardo (リカルド).
 * A taciturn bounty hunter who was hired by Douglas Rosenberg. He is a retired mercenary. In the later Episodes Ricardo and Nadie find themselves working together in order to thwart Rosenberg's plans to capture Ellis. He is generally quiet and would do anything to protect Lirio. It is possible that he either lived or worked in Australia as he is teaching Lirio to use a boomerang in the last episode.


 * Lirio (リリオ).
 * A young girl who is being raised by Ricardo and is seen constantly following him around. Lirio seems to be very attached to both Nadie and Ellis. She is not very talkative, only speaking in one episode.

Anime
The music is handled by Yuki Kajiura. The opening theme "Hikari no Yukue" is performed by savage genius, while the ending theme "romanesque" is performed by FictionJunction Yuuka.

Manga
A manga titled El Cazador de la Bruja by Hirose Shū started serialization in the shōnen manga magazine Champion RED on March 19, 2007. The manga finished serialization, with only one bound volume being released on September 20, 2007.