El Cazador is the third installment of the Girls With Guns Trilogy from studio Bee Train and it's surprisingly refreshing. Those expecting Noir II probably won't be pleased but those expecting something creative and highly inventive will be most happy. Going into El Cazador my self I really wasn't expecting much. The series didn't look like it had the same kick as MADLAX my personal favorite of the genre or the simplicity yet style of Noir. However when I started watching it, I simply couldn't put it down.
El Cazador is different from it's two previous predecessors in so many ways, it gives it the striking originality to make it a stand alone series not requiring the viewer to see the previous two. With a more adventure setting and much more of a blend of comedy and drama and a western flair through Central America, the series proves to be fun, enjoyable and a great anime take on the time honored Buddy Picture. The relationship of Nadie and Ellis develops episode by episode and we see the two become closer and even suffer some growing pains along the way. Being pursued by mysterious interests such as Rosenberg and Jody Heyward with the creepy stalker LA the bounds are clearly defined of good and bad.
There's no shortage of surprises and exciting moments in the series as well as the calm moments to sit back and enjoy the art and music culminate into a lovely atmosphere. Yuki Kajiura returns to provide the music bringing a Latin style along with other clever motifs such as the song "Maxwell's Witch" as music to Ellis' mysterious powers and FictionJunction YUUKA's "el cazador" written entirely in Kajiura's made up language but sounding Spanish all the same.
The series does suffer some pitfalls such as the lack of development for Nadie when compared to Ellis who gets an entire episode devoted to her backstory and can sometimes lack the style brought by Noir and MADLAX before it. The animation remains quite good and stays true to a style of simplicity but good looking all the same. Yoko Kikuchi contributes to the character designs once again as she did for Noir and they look fantastic.
Overall El Cazador is more than worth a look at even if you haven't seen the previous Girls with Guns series by Koichi Mashimo and his studio Bee Train. It's a fun adventure that you probably won't want to put down with funny and serious situations molded together making this an underrated triumph.
