Weiß Kreuz

Plot

Four young men consisting of Omi Tsukiyono, Ken Hidaka, Youji Kudou, and Aya Fujimiya, are members of a group of assassins called "Weiß". They cover their operations by working at a flower shop during the day and solving crimes and fighting villains during the night. This is no ordinary group: they kill murderers, big corrupt businessmen, and other assassins and criminals that the law cannot touch. Each one is fighting for their own reasons, whether it is for revenge or to help the people that they care about. But they soon realize that there are connections between some of their cases and try to find out what is really going on behind the scenes. They use whatever they can to complete their missions and kill the people that are targeted by Weiß's mysterious leader known as Persia.

Characters

Weiß

An assassin group that is under the order of Kritiker ("critic" in German), a secret organization that falls under the Japanese police force.

Ran Fujimiya (藤宮 蘭, Fujimiya Ran)

Codename: Abyssinian

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Paul Juhn (Kapitel), Dan Green (Gluhen) (English)

He is known as Aya (アヤ), the name that belongs to his sister who is in a coma. His parents were killed and his sister was run over by Reiji Takatori, causing him to join Weiß seeking revenge. Aya's weapon is a katana named "Shion" after the previous owner and Aya's teacher. Before Aya became Weiß, he was a member of Sendai Kritiker, Tsushima Kritiker and Tokyo Crashers. Aya's car is a white Porsche 928.

Omi Tsukiyono (月夜野 臣, Tsukiyono Omi)

Codename: Bombay (Weiß Kreuz), Persia (Weiß Kreuz Glühen)

Voiced by: Hiro Yūki (Japanese); Jamie McGonnigal (English)

Due to his computer skills, Omi (オミ, Omi) is in charge of gathering information and planning Weiß's missions. He uses a crossbow, bow and poisoned darts as his weapons. Omi was kidnapped when he was eleven, and as his father refused to pay ransom, he was saved by Persia who trained him for a killer. Omi lost his memories due to shock and doesn't remember his life before Kritiker at the start of the series, but as the action unfolds he discovers he is in fact Mamoru Takatori (鷹取衛, Takatori Mamoru), son of Reiji Takatori - head of the Takatori family, who are in some way related to almost all the missions the boys have to take. Later, in the Dramatic Precious drama CDs, he finds out that he is really Shuichi Takatori's biological son. He assumes the position "Persia" in Glühen.

Ken Hidaka (飛鷹 健, Hidaka Ken)

Codename: Siberian

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese); Brian Morey (English)

Kritiker

Persia (ペルシャ, Perusha)

Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi (Japanese); Christopher Yates (English)

The head officer of the police force by day and head of Kritiker, an underground organization fighting for justice, by night. His real name is Shuuichi Takatori (修鷹取, Shū Takatori) and he is Reiji Takatori's brother and Omi's biological father (with Reiji's wife; that is the reason why Reiji did not pay the ransom for Omi when he was kidnapped). Persia's codename for Kritiker is "Marigold", and "King" for Crashers.

Manx (マンクス, Mankusu)

Voiced by: Mami Horikoshi (Japanese); Sue Gilad (English)

Persia's red-headed secretary, whom Yoji always flirts with but never gets anywhere with. She has feelings for Shuichi Takatori, but does not act on them due to their professional relationship and his remaining love for his brother's late wife. Manx is a cold and calculating woman who doesn't let the personal feelings of Weiß members influence her decisions. She uses the codename "Erika" when dealing with the non-lethal Kritiker teams. Her real name is Hanae Kitada (花枝北田).

Birman (バーマン, Baman)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue

In the early CD drama Birman is shown serving as a liaison between Weiß and Persia, along with Manx. In the anime she is introduced after Shuichi Takatori's death, as a private secretary of the new Persia, Yoshirou Karasuma. Like Manx for Shuichi, Birman also has feelings for the man she serves.

Botan (牡丹, Botan)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki

A Kritiker agent who assists Birman in guiding Weiß, and takes a particular interest in Aya due to his own personal reasons for joining the organization. He later dies in episode 17 from being shot, put on fire, and thus burned to death. His codename means "peony".

Civilians

Aya Fujimiya (藤宮 彩, Fujimiya Aya)

Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese); Rachael Lillis (English)

The younger sister of Ran who was run over by the car of Reiji Takatori on her sixteenth birthday. She has been comatose ever since. Despite the fact that she is now eighteen years old, her body has not physically aged at all. As a result, she becomes a target of Schwarz. Aya is commonly referred to as Aya-chan to differentiate her from her older brother.

Sakura Tomoe (巴 さくら, Tomoe Sakura)

Voiced by: Hiroko Kasahara (Japanese); Katie Adams (English)

A girl with a striking resemblance to Aya's younger sister. She becomes quite close to Aya, who pushes her away because he fears she will be in danger if she comes to know him, and somewhat because her resemblance to his sister brings him pain. She uses her physical resemblance to Aya's sister in order to protect Aya-chan from Schwarz later on. In the Dramatic Precious drama CDs she eventually goes abroad to study in Paris, France, acknowledging her feelings for Aya have been fading.

Ouka Sakaki (榊 凰華, Sakaki Ōka)

Voiced by: Minato Ayase (Japanese); Alissa Gordon (English)

A frequent patron of the flower shop, Ouka is a privileged schoolgirl who is especially fond of Omi. Unfortunately for both of them, she is also Reiji Takatori's illegitimate daughter, which results in her being caught up in Weiß's struggles against Schwarz and the Takatori family; the consequences, described in both the anime and the CD dramas, are especially gruesome; in the anime, she is accidentally killed by Schwarz, and in the Dramatic Precious drama CDs it is revealed that her body, along with her older brothers', has been preserved.

Ms. Momoe (百恵さん, Momoe-san)

Voiced by: Rachael Lillis

Enemies

The main enemies in the series are another group of assassins called Schwarz ("Black" in German), all of whom have supernatural powers. Schwarz begrudgingly work as bodyguards for the Takatori family, and this is how they meet Weiß. Later in the series, Schwarz is seen assisting a mysterious group known as "Eszett" (the name of the German alphabetic character ß) in resurrecting their deceased leader. Weiß is to Kritiker what Schwarz is to Eszett.

Brad Crawford (ブラッド·クロフォード, Buraddo Kurofōdo)

Voiced by: Ryoutarou Okiayu (Japanese); Michael Tremain (English)

Crawford is the leader of Schwarz. Though Crawford seems to follow commands without so much as a question, he is not someone to be trusted. He is very focused, although what drives him is unknown. Crawford has the ability to see bits and pieces of the future. Because of this, he has shown to be quite difficult to deal with on more than one occasion. He is 27 in the first anime.

Schuldig (シュルディッヒ, Shurudihhi)

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese); Jeff Swarthout (English)

Both sadistic and masochistic to an extent, Schuldig enjoys messing with people's heads, which is all too easy given his power of telepathy. He claims that people's minds taste like honey; however, he also complains that at times he can't tell which thoughts are his. Schuldig means "guilty" in German and Dutch. He is 22 in the first anime.

Nagi Naoe (直江 那岐, Naoe Nagi)

Voiced by: Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese); Chris Fuller (English)

Nagi was shunned as a child by the people around him because of his telekinetic powers. He was living on the streets for quite a long time, then taken in by a nurse who led an orphanage. Due to the fact that the nurse actually was using the children living in the orphanage to commit crimes, Weiss was ordered to kill the nurse. Ken, who knew a girl from the orphanage and thereby got to know Nagi as well, was the one to kill the nurse. Nagi witnessed the murder and as a result he made the church collapse by using his telekinetic powers - and from there on hated Ken in specific. He ran off and found shelter at Crawfords, who then took him in. Then he started to work with and for Schwarz to get revenge on both Ken and the world for the way everybody treated him when he was a child. He is very solemn and embittered towards the world. He is 15 in the first anime.

Others

The team Aya was on just before he became one of Weiß. Tokyo Crashers appear in Crashers: Knight and Ran I & II and Weiß Kreuz Glühen. Crashers is a non-lethal unit designed to supplement police activity.

Knight (ナイト, Naito)

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki

His real name is Yuushi Honjou (優士本庄). His parents died in an accident during which his sister Taiyou (太陽) lost her sight. He carries a weapon called a cundledargeon.

Rook (ルーク, Rūku)

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka

His real name is Masato Tanuma (将人田沼). Aya was sent to replace him after Masato got wounded during a mission.

Bishop (ビショップ, Bishoppu)

Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka

His real name is Reiichi Shirasagi (黎一白鷺). The team's mission planner.

Pawn (ポーン, Pōn)

Voiced by: Kōichi Tōchika

His real name is Naru Uhyou (成雨氷). The team's explosives expert. He is seventeen in the drama CDs.

Queen (クイーン, Kuīn)

Voiced by: Eiko Masuyama

Serves as a liaison between Crashers and King.

Media

Light novel

A light novel entitled Weiß: "Forever White" (ヴァイス 「Forever White」, Vaisu: "Forever White") was serialized from July 1997 to December 1997 in the anime and manga magazine Animage, published by Tokuma Shoten. It was written by Kenichi Kanemaki and illustrated by Kyoko Tsuchiya. It was put into a single book entitled White Hunters (白き匁人たち, Shiroki Kariudo-tachi).

Story

A short story entitled The Meeting can be found in the All That Weiß official artbook. It explains how the Weiß members met the first time. According to the official Weiß Kreuz chronologies, the version of how Weiß was formed from The Meeting is the one working with the series.

Manga

Weiß - An Assassin and White Shaman, illustrated by Kyoko Tsuchiya and story by voice actor Takehito Koyasu, was serialized in the shōjo manga magazine Wings, published by Shinshokan. The chapters were collected into two tankōbon, and the first one includes thirty-two color pages, and the second one includes twenty color pages. It takes place before Forever White and explains how Aya first joined Weiß. Due to the differences between the manga version and the anime version of Aya's back story, Weiß - An Assassin and White Shaman is not a prequel to the anime. Weiß - An Assassin and White Shaman is published in German by Egmont Manga & Anime.

Weiß Side B, illustrated by Shoko Ohmine, takes place after the events of Weiß Kreuz Glühen. It is published by Ichijinsha; the first twenty-one chapters were serialized in the monthly josei manga magazine Comic Zero Sum and chapters twenty-two through thirty-seven were serialized in the quarterly shōjo manga magazine Comic Zero Sum Zōkan Ward. Weiß Side B ended with the publication of chapter thirty-seven in the Summer 2007 issue of Comic Zero Sum Zōkan Ward. The last seven chapters have yet to be collected in tankōbon format. Weiß Side B is also published in German by Egmont Manga & Anime.

Initially, the series was supposed to end with Weiß Kreuz Glühen, as Aya died in the final episode, and Koyasu originally wanted Ohmine to do a manga adaptation of Weiß Kreuz Glühen, but then he decided it would be boring to tell the same story twice, so Weiß Side B ended up being a sequel and Aya was brought "back from hell."

Anime

Weiß Kreuz is the first of the Weiß anime series. It runs twenty-five episodes and follows Weiß in its mission to "defeat the dark beasts" that haunt Tokyo. The beginning episodes lend some back story to Aya, Ken, and Yoji, and show their motivations for being in Weiß. Omi's history becomes part of the storyline and is delved into halfway through. Weiß Kreuz introduces Kritiker, Schwarz, Eszett, and Schreient.

Weiß Kreuz uses the character designs created by Kyoko Tsuchiya, and features the lowest quality of animation of the three Weiß Kreuz anime series.

Because the last two episodes were aired as an hour-long special in Japan, this series is sometimes considered a 24-episode series. The Media Blasters' release has the episodes separate. Media Blasters released the series under the name Knight Hunters (which is TMS Entertainment's international title for the series), and Anime-Virtual kept the title unchanged for the German release.

Openings

"Velvet Underworld"

April 8, 1998 - July 29, 1998

Lyricist: Takeshi Aida / Composer: Kazuya Nishioka / Arranger: Kazuya Nishioka / Singers: Weiß

Episode Range: 1-15

"Piece Of Heaven"

August 5, 1998 - September 30, 1998

Lyricist: Takeshi Aida / Composer: Kazuya Nishioka / Arranger: Kazuya Nishioka / Singers: Weiß

Episode Range: 16-25

Endings

"Beautiful Alone"

April 8, 1998 - July 29, 1998

Lyricist: Takeshi Aida / Composer: Kazuya Nishioka / Arranger: Kazuya Nishioka / Singers: Weiß

Drama CDs

A large number of Weiß Kreuz drama CDs have been released. All of them are a part of the official timeline. A few detail Aya's, Ken's and Omi's past with Kritiker. Some show Weiß's missions before and during the first anime. Others explain what happened between Verbrechen & Strafe and Weiß Kreuz Glühen. Weiß Kreuz Glühen Dramatic Soundtracks II takes place during Glühen.

Crashers: Knight and Ran I

Crashers: Knight and Ran II

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Image Album I

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Image Album II

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Image Album III Schwarz Ein I

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Image Album IV Schwarz Zwei II

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Collection I The Holy Children

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Collection II ENDLESS RAIN

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Collection III Kaleidoscope Memory

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Precious 1st Stage SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Precious 2nd Stage TEARLESS DOLLS

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Precious 3rd Stage HOPELESS ZONE

Weiß Kreuz Dramatic Precious Final Stage DREAMLESS LIFE

Weiß Kreuz Wish A Dream Collection I~Flower of Spring~

Weiß Kreuz Wish A Dream Collection II~A four-leaf Clover~

Weiß Kreuz Wish A Dream Collection III~THE ORCHID under THE SUN~