El Cazador De La Bruja

Finally. How many years has it been? I kept delaying to watch Bee Train’s final trilogy of girls with guns. El Cazador De La Bruja for the dumbest and silliest of reasons. Maybe I wasn’t that interested to begin with. Even though it is my policy to finish what I started (in the loosest terms, anyway). And now, because of the Corona virus, the lack of animes to watch for that period had me decide to just pick this up and get it over with. Finally. FINALLY! For better or worse, now I can finally put this trilogy of girls with guns to rest. The back burner of my mind and those pesky inner voices won’t be bugging me from time to time now. Heh. Talk about ultimate procrastination…

Episode 1
An opening statement about the theory of Maxwell’s Demons, huh? Don’t understand… Ellis is doing a street performance. But nobody wants to donate. Only Nadie. Well, Ellis wants more and even so, not even a thanks! However Nadie is here to get Ellis. Though Ellis plays dumb she is that person, Nadie won’t be fooled as her face is all over the wanted posters. Nadie wants to take her away before bounty hunters arrive. Oh, they’re here. Don’t worry, greedy bounty hunters trying to outdo each other so the girls manage to get away. Douglas Rosenberg is in charge of Project Leviathan and it looks like Ellis is the main star. He is notified that Ellis has been found. Nadie talks to the granny whom Ellis has been living with. Granny takes Nadie’s fortune readings. A miserable life from now onwards and it’s only going to get worse! There goes her happy dreams. Granny believes Nadie can protect Ellis who has some wish to head south. She couldn’t leave because of granny in mind. Later Nadie talks to Ellis about this. Because now that Ellis is wanted, it puts granny’s life in danger. So now Ellis won’t go back? Ellis knows she is wanted because she is a murderer. Though, she can’t remember anything else. Then granny’s place blows up. Those damn bounty hunters. When both sides are at a standoff, Ellis’ stare causes the baddies’ gun to become hot and explode! Ellis then sees dying granny who then gives her a glowing stone and wants her to head south to some Incan eternal place called Winay Marka. She doesn’t want Ellis to blame herself for this as it isn’t her fault to begin with. Nadie follows Ellis since she made a promise to protect her despite Ellis warning her not to if she doesn’t want to be killed. Hey, her life is going to get worse from now on, right? Might as well take the bull by the horns and laugh! And off they go towards the south.

Episode 2
Their jeep broke down in the middle of nowhere. One of Ellis’ mysterious abilities is to see quite far ahead so she spots a diner. Run by Frida, they rest for a while but it seems Frida doesn’t like Nadie as she is a bounty hunter. She views people with such jobs as stupid. As luck would have it, Nadie accidentally breaks something so they are forced to work to pay for their food. The difference in treatment is startling. Ellis treated like a dear. A regular customer later reveals that Frida was once a bounty hunter too in her heydays. However her only daughter, Maria despises it so much that she went to live by herself in the children’s home. Frida gave up bounty hunting and opened a diner but attempts to reconcile with Maria failed. Meanwhile there is a creepy pretty boy stalker, L.A watching Ellis’ every move. As Nadie is out in town to do errands, she makes a call to Jody Hayward to update her about Ellis as well as to know who she is. But she is told nothing more than to continue protecting Ellis. Before she heads back, she spots Maria and takes her back. Meanwhile somebody sets fire on the regular customer’s bike. So Ellis having some asphyxiation. L.A having orgasm watching her breathe like that?! ARE THEY BOTH HAVING ORGASMS?! The fire is a distraction for a bounty hunter to kidnap Ellis. Luckily he can’t get away since L.A messed with the engine. Frida then confronts the bounty hunter and shoots him when he tries to draw. When Nadie returns, she realizes what is happening so she pretends to be the one who shot the bounty hunter so as to make Maria hate her. Nadie is okay with this lie because Frida helped to protect Ellis so it’s her turn to protect Frida. She hopes mother and daughter will reconcile. After their jeep is fixed, Nadie and Ellis continue their journey.

Episode 3
Nadie and Ellis barely escape from a policeman who recognized them as wanted. After travelling some distance, it seems the rainy weather has turned certain roads into rivers. So they seek shelter in a nearby cabin. So the owner’s dead (that skeleton bones in the corner). Feel free to make yourself like home. Shockingly, everything still in working order. How convenient. Also, for some reason, Ellis rescues a newt from the river. New pet? As they talk about stuffs, Ellis mentions about killing her professor so Nadie responds by viewing her as different but not weird. There will be those who view her positively and others negatively. Just ignore the hate and life will be easier to get by. Meanwhile that policeman talks to Ricardo who is his old friend and another bounty hunter chasing Ellis. He finds it weird that Ricardo is bringing a young girl, Lirio who isn’t even his daughter on this trip. But as a friend, he advises him to give up bounty hunting. However Ricardo doesn’t think so. A pair of gay bounty hunters have tracked them down and are about to ambush but L.A destroys the bridge. So they head back to their car and wait for the weather to clear up for a chance to ambush. Ellis accidentally cuts her finger while cooking so we see snippets of that murder. Nadie had to suck on it to stem the bleeding. After dinner, they thought they heard footsteps. Nadie goes to check it out but is put to sleep by L.A’s perfume. So L.A is here just to tell Ellis he has always been watching her? Creepy. He believes that he will become someone precious to her. Though, Ellis disagrees. When the weather clears up that night, the gay bounty hunters are about to move but L.A puts them to sleep. Don’t disturb Ellis’ rest… Next day, Nadie and Ellis give thanks to their great host before continuing their journey. Also, Ellis can’t take the newt so it’s goodbye too. And L.A continues to watch from afar. Damn, this guy is sure creepy as hell.

Episode 4
Nadie and Ellis are taking cover along with a few nuns from gunfire by those gay bounty hunters. Not sure how long it has lasted but Ellis has fallen asleep! Hayward narrates about the secret project, R-339 AKA Project Leviathan that Rosenberg is in charge with. As she is from the audit department, she is trying to get him to answer some few shady questions regarding the funds but he always keeps giving excuses. Of course she manages to trick him so he better check on those. And then something about Dr Heinz Schneider who is the professor tasked to watch Ellis. Not sure if Ellis actually killed him and even if she did, why? Back to the shootout, now it’s hide and seek? Gay guys too stupid to further check. Girls too naïve as they come out of their hiding as soon as they leave. Nadie and Ellis try to make a run for it so as not to get the nuns involve anymore. They slip up since Ellis dropped her stone and returned to retrieve it. Gotcha. The gays have them at gunpoint. Especially at Nadie who clumsily tripped over a statue?! When Ellis starts her weird breathing, as explained it is one of her unknown abilities to control the nature of the molecules. This is called Maxwell’s Demons. Ellis melts a shoe of one of the guys. Off balance, Nadie fights back. The other nuns also fight back and knock out the other gay. God forgives. Then it becomes some short car chase scene that turns into a chicken game. The ladies got more balls than the guys. Anyway they won. So they give up? The nuns thank the ladies for helping them overcome this trial of God? Oh, but Ellis isn’t a child of God… Meanwhile we see Hayward spying on Rosenberg meeting a senator. She claims her mission is to stop Project Leviathan. Next day as Rosenberg returns her audit queries, he notes he knew she was around. Ellis has a nightmare about some experiment but Schneider calmed her down. Then Nadie sees her crying in her sleep.

Episode 5
Once again, the jeep runs out of fuel. Didn’t Nadie just fill up? Thankfully a passing salesman takes them to the nearest remote village. A mechanic takes a look at the problem and realizes there is a hole in the gas tank’s bottom. He patches it up but since this is just an amateurish job, they have to get it really fix when they head town. However they can’t go now as the mountain pass is dangerous at this point. Looks like they’re staying here for the night. The salesman is also trying to sell clothes. High quality. You think anybody can buy? Except for local girl, Rita. In fact, she’s buying on credit? She claims she’ll pay him back once she hits it big in town. Rita is also pleading to Nadie to take her out of this town. She is sick of staying here and wants to get out. Rita believes she is ready to live on her own. However when Nadie explains she is a bounty hunter and Ellis is the target. However Nadie gets upset and thinks they’re lying just because they don’t want to bring her. That night, the salesman tries to kidnap Ellis. But Nadie anticipates this and is faster in drawing her gun. Nadie has suspected the salesman because she only told him her car ran out of fuel and it wasn’t damaged. Seeing he knew about the damage, this means he was the one who caused it. Then this WTF moment, the salesman pours oil into the room. Hah! Nadie can’t shoot, right? This allows Rita who is his accomplice to kidnap Ellis. So easy. They take the jeep and drive to town. They’ll strike it rich! Unfortunately with Rita driving too fast, the patch comes off and the jeep starts losing fuel. Nadie manages to borrow the mechanic’s car and go after them. Dumb salesman’s gun bullet ricochets off the rock and onto their own fuel trail. Off the edge. However Ellis didn’t fall with them and floated as the jeep falls off. I guess in the end they only save Rita. She is confined to bed but still hopes of getting out of this town one day. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because now Nadie can travel in the salesman’s caravan. What an upgrade.

Episode 6
Miguel is a bad mariachi. A few bounty hunters show him a picture of Ellis and if he can help capture her, they’ll share their reward. Miguel recognizes the other woman as Nadie. Meanwhile Ellis reads a romance story on Nadie and Miguel! Turns out it is fiction and so happen the protagonists name are the same! Nadie trying to lecture about love? Ellis might think she hates men! Oh look. Here comes Miguel! One punch in the face! That’s his same ol’ Nadie he knows! As they hang out, we see their short fling together. Nadie was hired as a waitress out of pity so Miguel helped her a lot. He told her about his dreams to be a top mariachi but if only he had money to get a better guitar. Nadie gave her pay to him. Hey, not like she needed money, RIGHT?! But then she spotted him spending it on some jewellery for another girl! Heartbroken, you bet that was where the first punch came from. Miguel claims he can pay her back and then wants her to meet tonight. He’ll wait forever till she comes. You think Nadie knows better and despite her mouth says no, you can tell her body is going to do the opposite. Yup, she actually meets this jerk! So while he takes her out to a fancy restaurant, when she returns from the toilet, she finds him gone. Asking about, it seems he just left. Stood up again, huh? It seems he went back to get Ellis! Sneaky. Yeah, how can Nadie leave her alone just for a guy?! And why the heck L.A allowed this?! Wasn’t he spying on sleeping Ellis?! For some reason, she finds out where he works but is told he was fired for being a lousy mariachi. Yeah, he can’t be trusted. You don’t say… By the time Nadie rushes back, Ellis is gone. She confirms with the receptionist Miguel took her away. Miguel tries to give Ellis to those bounty hunters for his reward. You bet they won’t! Besides, a wanted poster of Miguel is up. Looks like some gang boss wants him dead or alive for knocking up his girl???!!! So is Miguel going to die? Not if Nadie is here to the rescue! Yeah, she shoots the bounty hunter. But what’s this? Miguel also dead?! Who shot him?! Anyway, Miguel’s girlfriend somehow comes rushing in and sad that they’re supposed to leave this place together. Cue for Nadie to get Ellis and leave. Continuing their journey, Nadie sounds like a sourpuss talking about how men can’t be trusted and don’t follow them blindly. But Ellis points out she just did. Oh well… But Ellis starts crying?! Nadie too???!!! Is this love?! Damn, love so confusing?! Man, this episode is weird…

Episode 7
Looks like Nadie and Ellis no longer have any ride and have to walk. Nadie tries her sexy pose to hitchhike. Nobody takes the bait. She doesn’t think Ellis can do it but apparently she got it on her first go. Must be a lolicon. At the next town, they stay a night at a lavish hotel. Nadie notices Ellis’ hair shorter. Did she cut them? Nope. You see, last episode when Nadie went to Miguel, L.A not only kissed sleeping Ellis but also cut her hair as keepsake! Creepy! Yeah, he made it into a straw doll charm. And anybody who mocks it gets killed! Nadie and Ellis soon notice Lirio waiting at the lobby. She is waiting for Ricardo to return. Hence the girls hang out in the meantime like playing in the pool (you mean this is extra charge if you’re not VIP?!) and Lirio ordering a lavish meal! Oh well, Nadie has got money problems… Hence she calls Hayward for some help. I guess ATMs do not exist in this part of town so Nadie has to go off and wait till some pickup driver drops her the goods. Meanwhile, Ricardo is seen fighting L.A. The latter is superior but because he is cocky, Ricardo manages to surprise and knock him out. So that’s it? Didn’t dispose or the body or take him back somewhere or something? Nadie and Ricardo return to the hotel at the same time and both their girls are waiting. Ricardo thanks them for looking after Lirio before taking their leave.

Episode 8
L.A is interrogated by Rosenberg for not doing his job and being an Ellis stalker instead. Meanwhile Nadie and Ellis enter a bad part of town. Creepy guys keep staring at them until this tough dude, Sanchez comes by. Enough for them to just get the hell out. He warns the girls to get out of here and if they have money, it’ll be worse. But subsequently, Nadie gets caught in between a gunfire feud. OMG. She got shot! How could that even happen?! Luckily it’s not fatal but she is rushed to the hospital to get the bullet out of her waist. But with no doctors available, Ellis then uses her ability to extract the bullet out. Sanchez sees this and immediately brings her back to his family’s home to meet his father, Enrique who is also the family head. Looks like he is dying and he wants Ellis (whom Enrique keeps mistaking as Paulina) to heal him. He’ll pay or give her anything while explaining that with Enrique dying, there is now a fight to be his successor. Unfortunately Ellis can’t do that so Sanchez tells her he can’t let her leave until she does that or she’ll have to die. Once Nadie is discharged, she finds out where Ellis is and makes her way there. Sanchez tells his story of how Enrique picked him up as a street kid although he never felt like he was part of the family. I guess it is Enrique’s last moments so Ellis plays along as Paulina and makes him go in peace. Sanchez is glad that he was somewhat with his family then. Then they discovered a keychain in Enrique’s pocket, one that Sanchez thought he threw away a long time ago. So I suppose this means Enrique had considered Sanchez to be family too, huh? Finally he can cry. After the girls leave, it is narrated that Sanchez left the town too but his whereabouts unknown.

Episode 9
Nadie and Ellis are missing? Actually, they were from a run from a bounty hunter because Nadie ran out of bullets. So they ended up in an abandoned town. They meet a young woman named Iris Gonzalez and she is digging for silver. Funny, didn’t this town ran out of silver, that’s why it’s abandoned? More accurately, she is looking for a silver cross. Apparently she never thought what to do after graduating so father handed her some old map to let her look for it. Gee, I guess going straight to work after graduation must sound too cliché, huh? Anyway, Nadie and Ellis help look for it and meanwhile the baddie just arrived. He has a special ability and that is a very keen sense of hearing. Also, this guy has a penchant of using grenades so he is bombing the mines to bury them alive. So what the girls do? Don’t worry, this is fine, carry on mining! WTF???!!! I guess the rumblings in the mines and the danger it might cave in doesn’t outweigh Iris’ goal to find the silver cross, huh? Eventually with all the holes made from the bombing or digging, eventually Nadie and the baddie come face to face. Yeah, Nadie (borrowed a gun from Iris earlier) is faster and shoots him down. That easy, huh? But that guy isn’t going down alone. He is going to take himself out with everyone with his final bomb. Of course we know that won’t work because the girls jump for cover in time. So now the place is going to cave in? Oh right. Follow the map and bingo! A room with a giant silver cross! Jackpot! Gee, it’s so shiny as though somebody just polished it. But they have to escape since the place caves in. Then they dig the rest of their way out when they’re near the exit. Yeah, the mines so kind to let them dig out before caving in completely. As Nadie and Ellis part, Iris wants to stay back and dig out the silver cross. Yeah, she realizes her stuffs are all inside the mine. Oh dear. What to do? Nobody ever heard the retrieval of a silver cross…

Episode 10
Since Rosenberg is away, Hayward manages to sneak into his office to steal his papers on Project Leviathan. Speaking of him, Rosenberg has managed to brainwash L.A never to go after Ellis again. In the next town, Nadie and Ellis save Antonio from a tough guy jerk by pointing the gun at his balls. Yup, this guy got no balls and passes out. As thanks, Antonio brings them back to his taco diner and introduces him to his sexy wife, Margarita. Later, Antonio thinks Nadie is hired by Marcus to kill him. Of course she denies. So Antonio tells the whole story that he too lived a life of crime until 3 years ago where he messed up and got sent to prison. He met Marcus there who was in for life imprisonment. Antonio was released 2 years later and tasked by Marcus to kill Margarita who was his woman. Yeah, can’t see her anymore, might as well kill her! I guess there’s no such thing as visitation rights here. Of course Antonio can’t bring himself to kill this angel. He decided to put his past behind him and start anew. And not sure how Marcus found out so he wants them dead. Sick guy. Meanwhile L.A escapes and this is all part of Rosenberg’s plan so to awaken the real Ellis. That night, a sound is heard. Nadie and Antonio go to check it out but realize to late this diversion because Margarita got kidnapped. So this Marcus dude escaped prison or his life sentence got reduced? Anyway as they both argue about Antonio going back to this life, Margarita pops up. When the sound was heard, Ellis led her away to hide. So it is Ellis who got kidnapped by Marcus instead. I guess they have enough time for Antonio to tell Margarita the whole truth. The angel doesn’t get mad but hopes he won’t keep anymore secrets from her. How sweet. As Nadie and Antonio still argue who to go rescue Ellis, Margarita suggests they both go save her. Not sure about this plan of Nadie hiding behind Antonio. This guy is fat, right?! You wonder why things are taking too long because it looks like Ellis knocked Marcus out with her maracas! But not sure if Ellis actually killed the guy because they see his blood all over the floor! Oh my. Next they, they part as Nadie asks Margarita why she fell for Antonio. Well, he reminded her of her dog. That’s one good laugh for the road.

Episode 11
Some cult is thinking of taking action on Ellis but they have to be cautious since this might put them at a disadvantage. Once more, Nadie is shut down by Hayward regarding Ellis’ nature. Just do your job in protecting her until you receive further orders. In the next town, looks like they’re celebrating some holy event. The witch wowing the crowd by twisting swords but a few guys think she is a scam. Ellis reacts to it and passes out. The duo then find themselves in the nice luxurious house of Natarsha (that witch). Nadie recognizes her as a scam artist because she is famous worldwide quite a while ago. Natarsha admits to that and yeah, she has scammed so many and earned so much that her cat was able to live a luxurious life and died of diabetes!!! So she has been running and lying low for a while and stumbled upon this town where they had an ancient folklore about witches. So she’s trying to make a comeback? Further revelation reveals that Natarsha does have an ability, that is to read memories of the one she touches. She had this ability since young and was bullied. Nothing like scamming the world to get back at them, eh? That night, I guess the people have realized they’ve been scammed so they head down to Natarsha’s house to demand a refund. When a fire breaks out, Ellis goes into that weird asphyxiation to summon the wind to put it out. The people think this is the real witch’s magic and runs away. Now you believe? Stupid herd mentality people. As Natarsha catches an unconscious Ellis, she sees her true memories from the start. The next day after the duo leaves, Natarsha calls the White House to make a deal in exchange for Ellis. HOW THE F*CK?! Damn, she even negotiates for payment and guarantee of their lives?! CAN SHE?! Don’t tell me the White House is going to accept this sh*t?! But that won’t happen because those cultist send weird people to assassinate her and burn down her house. Karma finally caught up on her.

Episode 12
Hayward just arrived in town and calls Nadie. Too bad she is in a middle of a gunfight with those weird cultist goons. Man, I don’t know how long the phone receiver Nadie is for her to run, hide and talk to Hayward like that! Nadie and Ellis manage to run and take refuge in this custom armoured truck of this gun enthusiast, Ortega. Of course they have to continue running since those goons are hot on their tail and nonstop shooting. Thank goodness for the armoured truck, eh? Yeah, nobody tried shooting the tyres unless you tell me they’re bullet proof too. Not sure how Hayward knows the number of this truck because she calls Nadie just to tell them to hold out until dawn. Until then, keep safe from the rain of bullets. How many more hours is that? You can tell Ortega is smitten with Ellis and does anything she says. Even if it means ramming through those goons ahead! But the dumb part sets in. Yeah, the armour pieces now fall off from the constant shooting (WTF?!) and when a bullet grazes his cheek, he gets scared. Think of surrendering? The girls don’t think so. Ortega is so broken that he uses his secret gatling gun to fire at the enemies! Yeah, the enemies so dumb they just stand there to get shot. And then the truck stops moving. Oh dear. Need a miracle now. Yes, a miracle happens. Because it is now dawn. Phew. Looks like Hayward has left a brand new sports car for the ladies to continue their journey. They part but Ortega wants a kiss from Ellis since he doesn’t want money for his truck to be repaired (damn inheritance money). Yeah, he got trolled because he kissed Nadie’s hand glove instead. Do girls’ lips feel rough? Better go back playing your guns, rich boy.

Episode 13
Arriving at an abandoned town supposedly ravaged by an epidemic, it seems Ellis is drawn to the strange biohazard logo. Of course they have to hide from men in hazmat suits who are trying to take their lives. Though, they have indirect help from Ricardo and L.A from the shadows. While Nadie tackles the gunfire, Ellis goes to hide. They get separated and after a while, L.A shows up before Ellis to explain the whole truth. You see, long ago there were witches who can control the elements but they died out. So there is some experiment to recreate with their DNA or something. With so many failures, Ellis is the only successful one. Yes, Ellis is an artificial life form witch. But L.A claims he is also the same as Ellis but because he is male, he doesn’t have such powers. Meanwhile Nadie stumbles into a room with films. She sees a young Ellis in some of them. Don’t tell me she can tell the whole story by just looking at them?! Anyway she destroys them by overkilling it with her gun. Don’t waste bullets! L.A continues that Ellis cannot control her powers perfectly and can only invoke them indirectly. One day she’ll be able to do that. L.A doesn’t know or care if she killed the professor. He wants them to be one but Ellis keeps her distance. She doesn’t bat an eyelid to say she hates him and doesn’t want him to follow her anymore (despite he warns her about Nadie). After she leaves, L.A thinks he was too hasty but believes she will one day return to him. Ellis and Nadie reunite. Man, Ellis hugging Nadie like that, I guess this proves Nadie is better. They continue their journey south since this is not Winay Marka. Similarly, those hazmat men also pull out. Meanwhile Rosenberg sees some high profile politician and they have plans to benefit themselves greatly soon. Nadie has a new vow to protect Ellis even if it costs her life.

Episode 14
Flashback time. Schneider and Rosenberg were in charge in some experiment on Ellis. Because Ellis refused being tested, Schneider can’t force her. Rosenberg suggested some tactic via matters of the heart so Schneider hangs out and spends time with her. Even so, Ellis doesn’t change much and Rosenberg suspects Schneider might the one changing (since he claims Ellis is no different than a normal girl). After all, if this research is cancelled, he has nowhere to go. Of course Schneider rubbishes that. One day when Ellis’ teddy is torn, she started doing that weird ability to fix it. Schneider hugged her and things returned to normal. Rosenberg continued to suspect Schneider might be messing with the data because it looked the same as last year’s. Of course Schneider denies all that and even dared him to fire him if he thought so. Schneider spent more quality time with Ellis. Best time ever. But at the end, Ellis still refused to be tested. So Schneider promised to never test her again. One day they’re celebrating Thanksgiving so what’s the occasion if Ellis wants to give him a present? It’s not Christmas. It’s because she loves him. I don’t believe it’s on the romantic lines… That is when Schneider made up his mind. He wants them to get away from here. Then we hear a gunshot. Well, you fill in your own conclusions.

Episode 15
Ellis feels guilty and leaves Nadie. Thank goodness that was just a dream. This has Nadie resolve to tell Ellis the truth. So she’s going to wait for the right time? On the news, the FBI has arrested Senator Hanss Letogen for corruption. Rosenberg sees his superior in which Project Leviathan is explained. It is to revive witches and their powers will bring them great profits since they will be monopolizing them. However the project was suspended due to some accident and the team disbanded. Rosenberg has been secretly contacting Letogen to secure funding for the project’s revival. Since the scandal has come to light, this may put their organization in danger. Hence he requests Rosenberg to take leave. It will be good for him and the organization. He will plead for a lesser charge for Rosenberg although he must confess to his wrongdoings. Nadie and Ellis arrive at a closed hotspring facility. Not sure how long it is closed but damn, the hot water still working and it’s clean water! Even the electricity is working too! Anyway, Ricardo and Lirio are here. As the kiddies play in the water, Ricardo talks to Nadie that this will be their last time seeing each other because the contract has been cut. They will leave at the end of the day so he hopes the ladies can accompany Lirio then. Soon, Nadie gets a call from Hayward to meet. She gives her a big fat cheque with bonus as part of their agreement. This means Nadie is no longer required to protect Ellis and the contract is off. Nadie is disheartened. Because Hayward will not disclose further what will happen to Ellis, Nadie returns to cheque. She is going to stay with Ellis. Apparently Ellis > money. Suddenly the hotspring is on fire! L.A attacking. So why is he cutting so dangerously with his wire if he wants to smoke out Ellis? Lirio almost gets cut so Ellis jumps to protect her. Almost gave L.A a heart attack as he almost hurt her. This distraction is enough for Nadie to ride back and slam her bike onto L.A! A short chat but L.A will be back and wants Nadie to continue protecting Ellis. After Ricardo and Lirio depart, Nadie and Ellis have the hotspring to themselves. Of course Ellis already knew about her past. Nadie never asked. Of course Nadie isn’t afraid of Ellis’ true identity and doesn’t hate her.

Episode 16
Hayward freezes Nadie’s account so as to teach her a lesson over that impulsive childish behaviour. So how is Nadie going to make a quick buck? Street performance? Nobody’s buying it. Regretting she should’ve just taken the cheque? Lucky for them, there’s this tacos diner owner who hires them just because they find his tacos delicious. He trains them (didn’t they do this gig before?) and as they work, Ellis gets her butt touched by a sleazebag. Since she doesn’t know about sexual harassment, Nadie shows her how it’s done by beating up those punks if they think they can get funny with her. Then Ricardo and Lirio walk in as customers. After Ricardo leaves for a job and Nadie commissioned by the owner to hand out flyers, L.A drops in. Damn, this guy is borderline harassing Ellis! But damn, Ellis so patient! Customer service at its finest?! When all the customers are gone, L.A is now alone with her so he is going to get his way with her? Oh damn, he even tries to hurt her? Oh sh*t, showing his horny side wanting to be one with her?! Ellis is still ever patient. Until he picks up her stone and is about to destroy. That is when Ellis gets mad and remembers Nadie’s ‘teachings’. Oh damn! Ellis beats up this guy! HOLY COW! L.A gets a beat down! Ellis wouldn’t have stopped had Nadie tell her to not go overboard. Is it because Nadie wants a piece of the action too? However L.A claims he knows where Winay Marka is. If they kill him, they will not find the place. Thus Ellis protects L.A and lets him escape. She can follow him if she wants. No thanks. She’ll stick with Nadie. L.A is still recovering from the shock of Ellis hitting him like that. But he reasons this is their love! Oh God… I think I’ve hold my puke long enough…

Episode 17
Other than that tacos job, Nadie needs another way to make a quick buck. Something she knows. Yes, bounty hunting. Tired of camping outside and their car running out of fuel, huh? So we see Nadie telling Ellis the secrets of the trade. Does Ellis understand? So there’s even some secret bounty if you know your stuffs, you can get quite a lot of money. So looks like their next target is this Guerrero guy. Because of his high bounty, this guy isn’t going to be easy to find and is in hiding. Similarly, Ricardo has also taken up this job. You bet both of them are going to bump into each other. The best is they cooperate and split the spoils 50-50. Ricardo wants 60-40 but with Lirio taking a liking for them, I guess it’s 50-50. So we see them searching around until they find where Guerrero is hiding. They have to rush in when they hear gunshots. L.A somehow got ahead and trying to kill this dude. He would’ve had not Ellis flew in just to tell him not to kill this guy. I guess Ellis lover must obey. Guerrero makes a run for it in his car. Nadie pumps some shots into it but of course didn’t hit the guy. His car loses control and is about to hit the car Lirio is in. Ellis uses her ability to turn parts of the road into the ice so he crashes into the pole. As Nadie comes to get them, she gets shot! Ellis in shock. Before Guerrero could steal their car, Ricardo shoots him. Ellis is relieved seeing Nadie didn’t get shot but slipped on the ice. Phew. What a relief. Ricardo goes to claim the reward since he gets a lower commission cut and then shares it with Nadie. Nadie and Ellis continue their journey and Ellis still a bit shaken from it all, promises she won’t say about her bounty hunting job again. So now she cares? Okay. Whatever.

Episode 18
When Nadie accidentally causes Ellie’s souvenir to break, Ellis might not show it but she’s mad alright. They end up staying at the nearest inn run by an old man, Howard Heisman who was a famous author before retiring 10 years ago. Ellis is mad enough she doesn’t want to share rooms with Nadie! Oh, look who is here to stay too. Ricardo and Lirio. I swear these couple is stalking them… Things get worse when Nadie nonchalantly comments on Ellis’ flute playing. She sucks. Oops. Yeah, Ellis won’t let her come in to even talk. Meanwhile Howard can tell L.A and Hayward are ‘stalking’ outside. He welcomes them to come in but they rather not. Hayward is suspicious of Howard because he isn’t what he seems so Howard just tells her he is a spirit. That night after Ricardo talks to Nadie about the fragility of a child’s heart, Nadie is confronted by Hayward. She reveals the real Howard died 3 years ago and this imposter might be a bounty hunter. It seems she really wants her to not let Ellis go to Winay Marka. Do it for Ellis’ sake. You think she’d be happy? Then L.A joins the conversation. On the contrary, he wants Ellis to reach there. I guess Nadie is kept in dying suspense of what is at Winay Marka. Because both won’t tell and feel it is better she doesn’t know. Before a 3 way fight begins, some fire circle surrounds them and L.A and Hayward soon vanish. Then Ricardo comes out to tell Nadie that Ellis is missing. Well, Howard led her to open some door (after he ‘disabled’ Hayward’s subordinates by just smiling at them?!) and this led them to some fields of gold. So uhm, young Ellis and young Nadie… So you telling me they’ve met before? Then Ellis returns to reality and just like that, the animosity is gone. Back to being friends again. Next day, they continue their journey. L.A finds himself in some travelling bus. Hayward and her subordinates return to the inn but realizes it is all dilapidated and abandoned… So do you believe in ghosts now?!

Episode 19
The cultist narrates about how witches’ power were once needed from the world before they somehow became persecuted. Hence they hid their existence in the dark and legends even in this manmade situations. With Project Leviathan frozen, it is not wise to leave Ellis alone, let allowing her to set foot on that place. If that happens, their entire clan will be in danger. Nadie and Ellis see Ricardo trying to hitch a ride. Car busted? They tow his car to the next town for repairs. The mechanic teases them as a married couple. I understand they can’t give away their identity but WTF Nadie not happy? Even Ellis?! The mechanic then gives them tickets to a fancy restaurant as apology. So at the restaurant, I guess it’s their policy to just seat 2 at the table. No wonder Ellis looking so jealous at Nadie at the table with Ricardo. So the adults talk about their bounty hunting life. Nothing really special. A blackout happens a few times. Nothing really happens. So by the third time you’d think the customers would think nothing of it but luckily the bounty hunters are sharp to know that this is a trap to kidnap Ellis in the dark. Damn, it’s that easy to kidnap Ellis?! Nadie punches her way through the waitresses who are Hayward’s subordinates. Ricardo can’t do anything because Lirio is hugging him?! Unconscious Ellis in Hayward’s car as they speed away. L.A wanted to stop them but some bracelet on his hand turns him into some retard as he freezes in the middle of the street. Nadie and Ricardo catch up. Can’t miss the only speeding car in town. WTF Nadie and Hayward still want to exchange words? I though Hayward is through with the traitor? And then Ellis’ stone starts to glow. Damn it explodes the car door! Ellis flies! But Nadie catches her! Ricardo pumps a few bullets into the car to stall it! Woah. So amazingly convenient!!! Later they confront the mechanic and can tell all this has been a setup. Though he admits he was forced to do it by someone’s orders, as apology he won’t charge them for the repairs. Call it even. They leave town and Ellis is happy to get Nadie back next to her. Damn, she’s sitting so close. Like a married couple?! I hope she doesn’t have a new awakening…

Episode 20
Damn, L.A so jealous Nadie is close to Ellis that he literally destroyed an entire bar? What you policemen gonna do?! But when Nadie and Ellis arrive in town, the policemen want to take them into custody. Yeah, things are so dumb that the girls literally got away! And they would have made a clean getaway had Nadie not been clumsy! While Ricardo and Lirio manage to hide Ellis, Nadie gets thrown into prison. Apparently the policemen are cooperating with L.A to get Ellis for him because as promised, he will leave town. Impatient Ellis wants to go save Nadie but Ricardo tells her to calm down and wait. He’ll go rescue her when night falls. For some reason, as Ricardo talks to Nadie from outside her cell, he tells how she and Ellis are such a good combination. Apparently this is so to make jealous L.A mad. Yeah, that sicko is eavesdropping. Hence he just kills off the policeman and goes directly to kill Nadie! Since this guy is so mad, Nadie further mocks him that he is acting more and more like a human he detests. Even more so the reason he left Ellis in her care was because he was afraid to make a mistake that will make Ellis hate him! You mad? On another try to kill her, Ellis this time pushes Nadie out of harm’s way, getting slightly injured by his wire. Oh, the horror! At least for L.A. Ellis is mad enough to pin him down and warn him if he hurts Nadie, she won’t forgive him. L.A gonna be a good boy now? L.A then reveals Nadie’s true nature as she was hired by the organization to observe her. You don’t think Ellis will believe that, will she? Oh wait. Did she?! Weird asphyxiation again. Lighting L.A’s crotch on fire????!!!!! OMFG WTF???!!! Nadie snaps her out. Ellis hugs her. L.A more jealous. He leaves. Ellis says she doesn’t care because Nadie is Nadie. She wants to end this now but he says he’ll see her again and take her to Winay Marka. And Hayward laments they lost their chance?! Did they even had any????!!! Finally Ellis and Nadie getting close. Latter thanks former for saving her. L.A blowing bubbles naked while soaking in the pond and crying. Damn, this episode is so freaking weird!

Episode 21
Damn, L.A so sad that he buys all the flowers from a girl peddler? WTF. Meanwhile Hayward is captured and her boss isn’t happy with her work. Their goal is to capture Ellis and for that to happen, all obstacles must be taken out. This means Hayward is given the task to kill Nadie. Wow. Hayward got a mean sniper gun. She’s a deadly sniper too. But can she do the job? Meanwhile we see Nadie and Ellis trying to catch a buzzard?! WTF?! I think earlier on they got duped by some old man to catch or else they’ll have to compensate. So as they fail to catch a single bird, at the same time Hayward camps out to try and take a clean shot of Nadie. Heh. So she can’t shoot if the target is moving? Yeah, Ellis gets in the line of her shot too. Can she not just move to another spot? Nadie and Ellis take refuge underneath some small rock as Nadie talks bad about Hayward. You bet she has a tracker on them and can hear all her thoughts. I think the real kicker is when Nadie notes that what makes them truly different is that Nadie has freedom. So another round of trying to catch the bird. Yeah, another silly moment. I guess the bird is just so dumbfounded and just get caught. But then Ellis just releases it! Is it to signify the freedom? Hayward, you finish being distracted? Finally a clean shot. Will she take it? A gunshot is heard but did she miss on purpose? In the aftermath, she tells her subordinates that she is a descendent of real witches. Unfortunately she can’t use any powers and is unsure if they are dormant. She started thinking if Ellis’ power will awaken at Winay Marka, so might hers. Hence she never wanted to capture Ellis in the first place and has been confused all along. But now she has decided. She might be targeted and that’s why she’ll telling this to them and letting them go. She wants to be like them and walk her own path.

Episode 22
Nadie talks to an old man who believes the whereabouts of a witch village. Though it sounds far, he also notes it has been destroyed 10 years ago in a fire. He is not sure if all of them died or the survivors fled. Also, his late wife was a witch although she can only do small time powers. Money woes again for Nadie and Ellis but do not fear, Lirio thinks of sharing this next job with them. Thankfully it is not bounty hunting either. They have to catch this puma who has been killing villagers lately. The hunt for big kitty begins but Ricardo gets injured and a nasty scar on his leg. Hold up, Lirio. You don’t think that small stick is enough to get your revenge, do you?! So Nadie tasks her to take Ricardo to the hospital while they track the beast. Eventually somebody hurts it so its blood trail makes it easier for them to follow. When they finally reach a strange ruin, the puma is dead courtesy of L.A. In this area, there is a pole that contains the same stone as Ellis. It starts to activate. Ellis now experiences some awakening. L.A so awed with this version but as he approaches her, she blasts him away! That’s some mean power. Now it’s Nadie’s turn but Hayward warns her not to since this is no longer the Ellis she knows as she has received as great power and her soul is being released. Ominous clouds hover over and the ruins start collapsing. Nadie pushes Hayward out of the way but gets hit by a rock. Then everything just goes away as Ellis regains consciousness. Oh dear. What happened to Nadie? And Rosenberg has returned…

Episode 23
L.A is going crazy, realizing Rosenberg has been making him do all his sh*t. So did using a rock to break the bracelet did anything? As Nadie lies in hospital, this makes Ellis very sad and worried. But the stone resonates and suddenly Nadie is healed. Ellis so relieved she faints?! Cue for Hayward to reveal the truth. She is a descendent of witches and through the centuries, real witches have lost their real power. So when the government was researching ‘magic’, she became interested in researching it. Many methods were used but none worked. So when Ellis was the first successful manmade witch, she thought something in her would activate. That was her private motive and her official one was to protect the clan. As we know about to project to revive witches for profit, the clan will not allow it. Even more so an artificial witch. They manage to put a stop of it but Rosenberg stepped in to revive it. Hence her role was to keep his ambitions in check. Though, she abandoned it halfway. Because she wanted to see Ellis in person, she accepted her clan’s orders to capture Ellis. As Hayward has no successor, perhaps it’s the reason why they want Ellis protected now. Hayward is glad she didn’t carry out that order. As for what Ellis said during that possession, that was a line from the witches’ verse that contains strong power. Because witches of the old can control all elements like God, it is what Rosenberg wants. It is certain that Ellis possesses that power. Because Ellis heard it all, she is now further depressed. An old man even advises her to control her powers better so that one day she doesn’t have to hurt the ones she loves. Still confused, Hayward thinks of letting her be because that is what freedom is, right? Nadie thinks otherwise. She thinks Ellis is lost as she is trying to find the answer herself. Nadie knows freedom is not easy as she thinks because she has always been alone in her life. She may be able to do what she wants but nobody was there to guide her. Hence all Nadie wanted was somebody to support her. Now Ellis goes to see L.A. Best moment in his life because now Ellis wants to run away with him not to Winay Marka but to somewhere far. But can’t run on an empty stomach. So as they have a taco break, suddenly L.A starts to act violent, trying to get Rosenberg out of his mind. Yup, this scares Ellis so she runs back to Nadie! Cue for Nadie to assure she will always be there supporting her and has decided she will take her to Winay Marka. With that, the duo continue their journey but before them is Rosenberg and he has been expecting them.

Episode 24
Rosenberg fires a warning shot. This invokes Ellis’ trauma as she passes out. Rosenberg reveals everything that happened was part of his plan. He purposely set Ellis free and put a bounty on her head so when bounty hunters chase after her, the witches panicked and sent a bodyguard to protect her. How fortunate it was Nadie. To make Nadie and Ellis bond over the long journey, hence he sent L.A. Since this guy is insane, that’s why he hired Ricardo to watch over the ladies but also keep L.A in check. What Rosenberg wants is Ellis’ power and to awaken that, he needs to drive Ellis to a corner. That ultimate fact is killing Nadie. She is the sacrifice he has prepared for Ellis’ awakening. Because Nadie doesn’t have the answers yet, she can’t kill Rosenberg so he’ll gladly wait for them at the witch’s village. Rosenberg goes to pick up a broken L.A. This guy hates him but is afraid of him getting closer. Rosenberg being the smooth operator eventually brainwashes him and then gives him his next mission to kill Ricardo. Hayward has returned with more info on Rosenberg. It seems his dad who hailed from old Berlin was researching on Maxwell’s Demons. Basically, infinite power. However he lost everything when the state took all his research and he eventually took his own life. Hence Rosenberg is doing all this to get revenge. Ellis wakes up and we see clearer snippets that she shot and killed Schneider. Hayward’s subordinates get word that L.A is out to kill Ricardo. Macho guy wants to go it alone and not let Nadie help. If she dies, who is going to protect Ellis? Oh yeah? The same can be said about Lirio, no? Hence Ricardo has Nadie ‘hire’ him to go fight L.A. Sorry, a coin is all she’s got. Keep the change. Mission accepted. Now we see the showdown between Ricardo and L.A… Uhm… Skinny Rambo?! Anyway, L.A goes crazy and at one point wanted to just go look for Ellis. Ricardo won’t let him and used Nadie’s coin distraction to shoot one at him. L.A lies at death’s door as he hallucinates and talks about his darling Ellis. I guess Lirio is so cute she could be mistaken as Ellis. Yeah, loli watching a psycho stalker die… And she’s smiling?! Oh well, might as well give him a peaceful death. But hey. Who the f*ck was supposed to be watching over Lirio???!!! Because how did she get into the battlefield?! Anyway, RIP L.A.

Episode 25
Arriving at the witch’s village. This is Winay Marka but I think it’s no Machu Picchu. Waiting for them deep in the underground lair is Rosenberg. Man, he’s in a native priest garb already. With the power of the stone, he has some sort of barrier protection and Nadie’s bullets can’t directly harm him. Of course they can’t kill him until they know the truth. Hence as they charge towards him, I can’t believe Nadie’s bullets are better than Rosenberg’s earthly powers! Eventually they get close to him. Time to reveal the truth. Rosenberg admits he was the one who shot Schneider and not Ellis. He did so because Schneider’s role is like Nadie’s. He killed him to invoke Ellis’ power. Nadie claims they will not be tools for his father’s revenge. However he laughs it off and claims they misunderstood. From what I understand, this guy is in love with Ellis! CREEPY!!! That’s why he had no qualms when Project Leviathan was put on hold because he secretly took Ellis and put her under Schneider’s care. Rosenberg uses his power to separate the girls. Ellis will be his now. Ellis realizes her memories are fading and wants Nadie to kill her before it is too late. After some deliberating, Nadie is forced to do so because it’s better than being Rosenberg’s tool. Nadie shoots through Ellis. WTF, I thought Rosenberg had some protection?! Why didn’t it work now?! Nadie is sad and apologizes for failing to protect her but rest assured, he will be with her. I’m not aware of any injuries Nadie has because she dies next to Ellis! Did she die of heart brokenness then? Rosenberg so shocked and stood there that he didn’t react to Ricardo’s warning shot. Everyone so sad the girls are dead but shockingly Lirio speaks up. Not sure if this is her true voice or some witch is channelling her thoughts through her. Because she tells Hayward to invoke her powers too. With that, she gets enough power to bring Ellis back to life. Schneider grateful to Hayward and wants Ellis to journey with him. Ellis uses his powers to push him away. Then she hugs Nadie and brings her back to life! Was it Rosenberg’s stupid move because when Ellis revived, he threw away the stone and didn’t need it and then set bombs to collapse the place. Now he runs. Nadie and Ellis go after him. Showdown outside. Who will win this gun duel? With Nadie’s guidance, Ellis pulls the trigger on Rosenberg. I don’t think that man got the guts to pull the trigger with Ellis being in front but it made me wonder if he loved Ellis, why would he pull out his gun on her. Anyway, Rosenberg is dead. The end. Weird.

Episode 26
We see Nadie and Ellis living a peaceful life as a storekeeper in a small quiet town. Then there’s the sheriff Pedro and his son Joaquin. Nadie trolling us as she advises Pedro to marry again since his wife died. You think Nadie is in love with him but she offers Ellis instead. Oh, Ellis will do it if she says so?! Sorry, Pedro not a lolicon. Besides, Joaquin being a cheeky brat who keeps calling Nadie a manly woman… I think Pedro wants to confess something but a couple of fat biker dudes enter. However they quickly leave. More Nadie and Ellis bliss and it seems both of them have to hide their past and Ellis not using her powers if they want to live this peaceful life. Soon, Hayward visits them. She has been promoted as manager for this area in some company. She updates them on Ricardo and Lirio as they are doing well and travelling. Lirio trying to learn how to use a boomerang?! This prompts Ellis to ask if they should return to journeying but Nadie doesn’t want to since they have found a nice place to settle in. Nadie is shocked with the appearance of Rosenberg! Thank goodness he is Steve Beckmann and is Hayward’s assistant. The uncanny resemblance. Sure he is not a clone or his twin brother? No? Okay. However everyone is soon taken hostage by those fat biker dudes. Do you remember them? Nadie sure didn’t. Actually they’re those gay bounty hunters! OMFG! After they were done in by them, they were badly injured and spent lots of time recuperating in hospital. In order to get back in shape to hunt them, they ate a lot. So this is the result?! I CAN’T BELIEVE HOSPITAL FOOD IS THAT NUTRITIOUS AND TASTY?! Safe to say they got out of shape instead and they’ll use the reward to slim down. Can’t blame them for living under a rock. This isn’t the age of the internet either. So shocking news, boys. The bounty on Ellis is off. Since they still don’t want to lose, the turning point is when they call Hayward an old hag. I guess time to fight back. Hey, slim girls move faster than fat dudes. Pedro and Joaquin late to save the day, huh? But another moment of distraction has those fatties turn the tables again. This is when Ellis uses her powers instantly to heat up the gun and Nadie showing us she still has her sharpshooting skills. In the aftermath, the fatties are arrested and looks like the ladies’ secret are out so they have to leave. Even if the townspeople don’t care and will still love them, I guess Ellis wants to go on a journey. Yeah, she loves Nadie’s shining eyes than her crying eyes (because Nadie so touched with their kindness). And so, the duo return to journeying. Where to go next? Let’s go see Lirio for a start.

Road Trip: The Women Who Taco Chance With Fate
So I suppose the quiet and peaceful life isn’t the cup of tea for Nadie and Ellis. They just can’t sit around and do nothing or normal things because after that long dangerous journey, it would seem so out of character. Yeah, it’s crazy but I guess those girls have come to terms and love the dangers that come with it. And so once more they’re back on the road and with no particular goal in mind, maybe they can just sit back and enjoy the scenery. No crazy people trying to go after them anymore and even crazy creepy psycho stalkers. Take it slow and easy, girls. I’m just glad that I’m not going to follow them on this trip! Phew. That’s it, I’m out!

I might not remember much about Noir and Madlax, but I think this series is easily the worst and most boring of the trilogy. Yes, you heard me right. But hey, at least this is not the most complicated one. Yeah, the story is fairly simple and for the most part it was draggy seeing that it was trying to drag out the drama and adventure of the main characters. You see, for a big part of the series, many of the episodes as we seen Nadie and Ellis journey through, they seemed more like standalone episodes. It’s like they go into one town, get involved in some mini mess but always came out without a hitch and with that they get to continue their journey again. Heck, for those seemingly standalone episodes, at the end of those episodes, the narrator will even give a short account of what happened to the guest character of that episode. In case we are ever so interested in knowing their fate. I mean, do we even really care? But hey, at least they give us a closure of what happened to them. Yeah, we won’t really hear from them ever again after that. So please be assured despite never hearing from them again, they carried on with their own lives. Somewhat. Sort of.

Anyway, the long draggy drama of Nadie and Ellis stumbling into many towns on their way south is perhaps part and parcel of the formula to see them bond together. Imagine if we eliminate all those standalone episodes and get right to the real story, it would have ended too soon and everything would have felt rushed. So in order to see how Nadie and Ellis get close to each other, hence the draggy standalone episodes. They might not amount to anything story wise and sometimes can be boring and silly, but I supposed they need to show us how Ellis started to trust and open her heart to Nadie. So that when the end comes and the big truth is revealed, you can’t say that there was nothing going on between them. They’ve been through a lot of situations (the good, the bad and the silly) so you bet they’re going to look out for each other in the end. Though honestly, personally I don’t really feel that they are THAT close to each other. I don’t know, it feels like their relationship is mostly quite, uhm, robotic? Is that the right word? Unless something dramatic happens like the other party getting injured or experiencing near death, their odd relationship with some sarcasm and the likes feel a bit robotic.

In view of all that, basically I can’t say much about the characters too. Especially Nadie and Ellis who are the main characters and as said, the draggy episodes are supposed to show us how they bond and trust each other. Due to plot convenience, there’s a lot of dumb luck involved in getting them out of sticky situations. It’s either they are very lucky or some goddess (or a witch) is watching over them. For a very dangerous and long journey, I seem to observe that Nadie is quite laidback. Even when she sounds serious, there is this sort of easy going feel to her character. With her being the main character, you bet she has nothing to worry about because the clichés will take care of it. As for Ellis, because she is an artificial manmade witch, I guess she is made to look like a retard. And of course with all the journeying and experience with Nadie, it is one way to showcase to us that she is slowly learning what it is to be human. Honestly, I was still bored by the end that generally I see them still the same as they were at the start. Yes sir. Uhm, shouldn’t it be yes ma’am? Whatever. So witch or no witch, natural or manmade, Ellis will always be Ellis.

Rosenberg being the evil mastermind genius of all this, I realize he is just one of those dumb villains because he went and did all this elaborate setup just because he loves Ellis and wanted to be with her. I might be missing something here but I suppose don’t you think if you really love a person, do you not want to spend time with that person yourself? Instead, he went with this elaborate road trip plan to make it so complicated! I don’t know, was he using Schneider to test if Ellis would open up and love back like a human? Well, she proved it. So I’m guessing Rosenberg didn’t do this himself was because he was afraid of being rejected. Like as though he thought Ellis was like some angel far beyond his reach or something. And to think to make her spend time with the person she bonded with and then kill them off, do you seriously think Ellis would want to love you back?! I mean, you killed the people she loves! That makes you a villain, dumbass! Yeah, seriously. I don’t know what this guy is thinking.

And to think that his love for Ellis was the biggest twist to the series. Not the revival of a witch, not eternal powers and not even a revenge story! Thank goodness he died in the silliest way ever. Good riddance. And his last words were that he envied Ellis? Oh yeah. Ellis was way closer to Nadie than he is. But sorry folks, still no yuri. Yes sir. No wonder he’s so envious till his last breath. I don’t know too, during his leave from the project and as Nadie and Ellis continue to journey south, we see him and his female companion living in some luxurious mansion by the picturesque mountains and lake. Like what the heck is this for but wasting our time?! So when he finally made a move and left, was it an indication he is a lolicon than into mature woman?! Haha! Who cares anyway?!

Then there is Ricardo and Lirio who are unofficially Nadie and Ellis’ allies. Something tells me that there is a conspiracy for them to always bump into each other even after Ricardo has stopped taking orders from Ricardo. I don’t know if Ricardo is attracted to Nadie but from what I’ve seen, nothing. Call it fate but I’m calling it plot convenience because if Nadie is in a punch, Ricardo will somehow be there to help her out. For some odd reasons never explained (or maybe I was so bored I wasn’t paying attention or have forgotten), they never told us his relationship with Lirio. Is this his real daughter? Why bring her along on a dangerous mission? Unless he has no home. But still, to bring a kid onto bounty hunting missions, that is f*cking seriously dangerous. But don’t worry. Lirio is such a cute loli so she’ll be kept safe. Somehow. Yeah, she’s so cute that you won’t realize she is like a retard and mute. Each time Lirio smiles, it’ll warm your heart and make you go, “Awww… So cute this loli. I forgive you”. And then you forget everything was just dumb. Yeah. And now she wants to handle a boomerang just to help Ricardo just in case. Little girl, can you even handle your milk?!

Hayward being the latest ally to Nadie and Ellie, she too doesn’t fall very far from the tree of silliness. I suppose they have to make this cool beauty feel conflicted and lost about her goals since as the last descendant of witches, what else is there to do to protect her clan? I don’t even know if those witches (the cultists whom I keep referring to throughout my blog because that’s the vibe they gave off) have very deep pockets because somehow Hayward can fund Nadie and Ellis journey from cash to even a brand new car! And they’re not even the government! And his is during a time where the internet wasn’t such a global thing yet! And this is Mexico and Latin America, right? Damn. Awfully weird. Even weirder when those cultist have weird ‘action members’ that dress up in weird garb. Short of me calling them a spinoff of the KKK since their top isn’t a pointy triangle but limp like lamb ears. Like, WTF these people?!

Lastly, L.A. This guy is definitely creepy and the weirdest in terms of his personality. I think psychotic may be the right word because he too is an Ellis lover. Unfortunately like the rest, he is also plotted in for plot convenience. The occasional sparring with Nadie or Ricardo just to give us some action bits but you know how it all ends anyway. It’s a good thing they killed him off too because I can’t imagine him being part of the group. Somebody whom Ellis despises and though he isn’t as bad as Rosenberg, I suppose we have seen too much of his fair share of being a crazy Ellis stalker. Good riddance. RIP, L.A. You won’t be missed, though.

Speaking about the action bits, I think these parts are quite mediocre. They have to live up to the girls with guns theme but I don’t find the gun action here to be anywhere satisfying. Heck, I don’t think it is even passable. Dumb luck always has Nadie getting her out of sticky situations while her enemies have Stormtrooper aiming abilities. No wonder she gets to tell her enemies “If you have your last words, say it now” as the punch line right before she finishes them off. Yes, that I suppose is her favourite line. Also, I just don’t feel the impact of Nadie firing her pistol. This makes Nadie look like she’s firing a toy gun. And despite the gunshots, this anime also try to do away with blood. Just like Noir and Madlax, this series is also shy about showing blood. There are some scenes that show blood but it is just miniscule.

I didn’t notice it but apparently I found out there were quite a few references being made to Noir and Madlax peppered throughout the series. Some even paying some sort of tribute with cameo appearances in the form of outfits or items and since some characters were played by the same seiyuu in all the trilogy. Well, only myself to blame since I forgotten much about those series. But I do know they want to promote tacos here seeing Nadie and Ellis sometimes talk about it. How does the tacos song go again?

Artwork and animation are okay at best. I noticed certain scenes have drop in quality. And some characters look similar especially in the early episodes where there were several bounty hunters, I couldn’t tell them apart. I also though Schneider and Rosenberg were twins seeing they look closely similar to each other. Just sporting different hairstyles. Also, I just find Nadie’s poncho to be just in the way. I don’t know, it looks clumsy and not fit for many situations like fight scenes. But thank dumb luck and plot convenience to get her through as her poncho stays clean throughout. In fact, the characters all wear the same clothes and they don’t even get dirty. They’re going through the desert plains of Latin America, no?

Voice acting, there are a handful of recognizable seiyuus lending their talents here like Shizuka Itou as Nadie, Ai Shimizu as Ellis, Mamoru Miyano as L.A, Fumihiko Tachiki as Ricardo and Shinichiro Miki as Schneider. Because Lirio has no spoken dialogue throughout the series except for those cute loli huffs and puffs, only during penultimate episode that is when I could identify Marina Inoue behind her voice. The other main casts are Aya Hisakawa as Hayward (Maya in Tenjou Tenge) and Kenta Miyake as Rosenberg (All Might in Boku No Hero Academia). Anyway, the overall voice acting feels stiff as well as the dialogue. And to think L.A’s voice being the craziest and liveliest of the lot and that itself is just so-so.

The famed Yuki Kajiura handled the BGMs of the series (she also did them for Noir and Madlax) so if you find them pretty similar to other soundtracks she worked on like Tsubasa Chronicle, Mai-HiME, Princess Principal, Kimetsu No Yaiba and Fate/Zero, rest assured this is her trademark sound. Though I find the one with the choir voices to be a bit creepy and weird. It sounds like a song for a cult? Even in the songs with lyrics, Yuki Kajiura weaved her magic into them as you can hear her trademark tune in them all. While Hikari No Yukue by Savage Genius sounds rather okay while the ending theme, Romanesque by Fiction Junction Yuuka has some Latin feel to it. I’m just curious who that masked man is in the ending credits animation. Looks like Nadie’s lover or something but definitely not Miguel. Not sure if this guy had some reference too Noir or Madlax and if it does, I won’t be surprised. Come to think of it, this guy looks closely to that Friday dude from Madlax. There are other insert songs like Cazador Del Amour by Fiction Junction Yuuka, Forest and I Reach For The Sun (both by Emily Bindiger) and they sound okay too.

Overall, I find this final of the trilogy to be silly and boring. I find lots of mind boggling moments that are just dumb AKA laughable (yeah, I’m such a smartass, thank you). This is in contrast to what many reviewers have said as they sang praises and gave lots of good score for this series. I don’t know. Maybe I watched it like 10 years ago and not waited this long, would I have had reached a different conclusion? Gee, my taste in anime must be so different now, huh? Had I not overthink and held it to high expectations, would I have had a different opinion then? Sure, it’s a story of 2 main characters bonding and just like the age old saying that the journey is important rather than the destination. But at the end of the journey, looks like I’m exhausted from it all. And I’m not into tacos either. This means I’m not going back on that trip or rewatch this anime again to have a better opinion. You can burn me on the stake for all you like for that. That’s all I have to say and those were my last words. Yes sir. Adios amigos!