Just to give you the basic information on this series is exceedingly difficult and can not be sufficiently done in a single post. Well, at least not a single post that would have you reading for hours on end. For this reason this series will be discussed in multiple posts, most likely in 2 possibly even 3 posts.

Weiß Kreuz (White Cross). The ß in the series’ title is pronounced with a “ss” sound. Many times, when using the ß character is not acceptable (or just tedious) the name is spelled alternatively with “ss” in place of the ß character. In the United States the series was released under a different name Knight Hunters: Weiß Kreuz. Most fans of the series however refer to it by it’s proper name.

The manga and anime series are both the brain child of the renown seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) Koyasu Takehito. The manga, entitled Weiß: An Assassin And White Shaman is a two-part collection published by Shinshokan and serialized by Wings in 1997 and 1998 respectively. The story was written by Koyasu and the art, contrary to some fans’ beliefs, was drawn by Kyoko Tsuchiya.

Now, the manga books for An Assassin and White Shaman differ from normal manga books. I took a photo of my copies so that you can better see what I mean, just click on the image to your right. The books are larger in dimension then the stereotypical manga book and include glossy dust jackets. Also note worthy is the fact that, aside from the stories down in black and white panels, there are also beautifully colored glossy pages of character art and fold outs included in each volume. It is important to note that the manga and anime do not run concurrently together as other series typically do, also some key events differ greatly from the manga and anime versions.

The events of the manga lead up to the anime series, and the various drama cds produced cover events between the end of the anime series and the start of the OVA as well as events set before even the manga. Confused? Good, that’s how a lot of fans are when they first find out there is more than just the manga and anime. In order to catch all of the nuances in the anime, as well as the appearance of characters never before seen in the second series, you really do need to read, listen, and watch all of the material. While you can watch and enjoy both anime series without reading the manga and knowing the events of the drama cds, you will still miss quite a bit of information. Not to mention, the anime then lacks the depth of story given in the other media and looses it’s sparkle so to speak.

Now, the anime series Weiß Kreuz follows the adventures of four bishounen who are assassins working for a secret agency called Kritiker. By day they masquerade as florists working in the florist shop (hana-ya) called Koneko no Sume which roughly translates to “kitten in the house”. The name “Koneko no Sume is a play on their code names, which are all cat breeds. The four main characters are voiced by four popular voice actors who came together to work on this project and who even formed their own band, briefly, whereby they composed and performed the songs that would be used in the anime series.

The protagonists of this series, from left to right are, Hidaka Ken, Fujimiya Aya, Tsukiyono Omi, and Kudou Yoji. These four, along with their contact “Manx” make up team Weiß.

Fujimiya Ran ( 藤宮 蘭 ) bears the codename of “Abyssinian” and is voiced by Koyasu Takehito and Paul Juhn in the English adaptation. For the majority of the manga and first anime series, as Fujimiya Aya by his teammates. Eventually they realize his real name is Ran, but continue to address him as Aya. Growing up, Ran and his younger sister Aya were the children of a prominent banker. Although not rich, they did not want for anything. When businessmen and politician, Takatori Reiji, is unable to convince Fujimiya senior to join in on his dirty dealings Takatori instead orders the family’s demise and leads a convincing paper trail that pins a good amount of Takatori’s embezzlements on Fujimiya senior. Although the manga and anime differ on the how, the result is the same. The attack is only partially successful, while both their parents are killed, Ran and his sister survive. However, Aya remains in a coma with little to no chance of waking up. Ran is contacted by Kritiker and agrees to join them so that he might someday kill Takatori Reiji and exact revenge. So that she will never be forgotten, Ran assumes her name and from that day forth wears one of the dangling gold earrings that he had purchased for her birthday, the day the attack occurred. Aya is a very stoic character who only looses his cool when faced with a Takatori. Although Omi is the official leader of the team, Aya’s decisions and opinions heavily affect the team’s actions. His preferred weapon is the katana, although he is proficient with any weapon.

Tsukiyono Omi ( 月夜野 臣 ), codenamed “Bombay” is voiced by Yuuki Hiro and Jamie McGonnigal in the English adaptation. In the sequel Omi assumes the position of head of Kitiker and thus the new codename of “Persia”. Omi is a very cheerful young boy who has no memory of his time before Kritiker and has spent his life working for the agency. Omi eventually gains back his memories and finds out that his real name is Takatori Mamoru. He learns that he is the youngest son of Takatori Reiji who was kidnapped. Rather than pay the kidnapper’s price, Reiji tells them to kill Mamoru since he has two other sons. He is saved by Persia. That is not the whole truth of the matter however. Omi is a genius and skilled hacker, as such he is in charge of researching their missions, developing the profiles of their targets, and performance management of the team. He is also the official team leader and has been in the organization longer than any of the other members.

Hidaka Ken ( 飛鷹 健 ) wields the codename “Siberian” and is voiced by Seki Tomokazu and Brian Morey in the English adaptation. Is a temperamental and hot-headed character who has the hardest time adjusting to his life as an assassin. He was a former star goalie in the J-League until he was falsely accused of throwing a game. After the shame and ridicule he was tricked into entering an abandoned warehouse where he thought the ones responsible for setting him up were. The building was torched to the ground and he was left for dead. Shortly after the incident he was approached by Kritiker and recruited.

Kudou Yoji ( 工藤 耀爾 ), codenamed “Balinese” is voiced by the talented Miki Shinichiro, who is best known for his current roles as Lockon Stratos in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Urahara Kisuke in Bleach, and is voiced by Marc Diraison in the English adaptation. Yoji is a very laid back character and the playboy of the group. He prefers to only take missions which will include women who are of legal age. Of the four members, he is the only one capable of grating on Aya’s nerves without any effort at all. Often times, Yoji shows up late or hung over for his shift in the flower shop. Prior to joining Kritiker, Yoji and his partner Asuka were private detectives. One day, while working a missing person case, the trail lead them to a sex trafficking ring operating out of one of the city’s most prominent hotels. While escaping Yoji is shot, his partner Asuka attempts to lure their pursuers away from Yoji and is subsequently shot and killed. Or so Yoji believes. Eventually Weiß are ordered to eliminate one of Takatori Reiji’s sons, Takatori Masafumi, a mad scientist sort of character. Four female assassins, Schreient (German for screaming), serve as Masafumi’s loyal protectors and assistants. Neu, one of the four, looks exactly like Asuka, down to the mole above her lip. However, Neu does not recognize Yoji and claims she loves Masafumi. Given Masafumi’s bizarre experiments and the fact that his father had control of the sex traffickers responsible for Asuka’s supposed death it is not beyond the possibility that Neu is Asuka.

The purpose of Kritiker, (German for Critic) and the assassin unit known as Weiß Kreuz is to hunt down the criminals that cannot be brought to justice for a number of reasons. Usually the targets are nefarious criminals who continuously evade law enforcement, due to their skill and or the lack of evidence gained through proper and legal channels. Also, the targets tend to be people in positions of high authority who cannot be touched for entirely different reasons and who run numerous black market and underground businesses. For example, in one of the very first episodes, Weiß must infiltrate a game for the rich and evil where humans become the chess pieces in a game for their lives.

Still to come in this explanation of Weiß Kreuz:
I will further illustrate the story line of the anime series Weiß Kreuz along with an illustration of the different version of events portrayed in the manga and anime. I will also discuss the second series Weiß Kreuz: Gluhen and provide a timeline of the media that build up the mythology of the entirety of this series. Please check back next week for the continuation of this post. For now I leave you with this…

Media Treat!

Do NOT direct link to these files or play them in your browser. Both are a needless waste of bandwidth. To download, please right-click and select “Save Target As” (IE) or “Save Link As” (FF). These files will be available for a limited time only.

No Reason by Weiß Kreuz
Velvet Underworld by Weiß Kreuz; first opening theme (full length).
Beautiful Alone by Weiß Kreuz; first ending theme (full length).
Piece of Heaven by Weiß Kreuz; second opening theme (full length).

These were taken off of the Weiß Kreuz BEST ALBUM (Die Bleibende Erinnerung). Perhaps, if anyone requests it, next week I’ll rip the entire album and upload it for ya’all to download. Would anyone be interested in that?

Last 5 issues of FAnime Friday:

• Issue #24, February 29, 2008: Anime Music Videos
• Issue #23, February 8, 2008: Souya Akira
• Issue #22, January 18, 2008: Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion
• Issue #21, December 28, 2007: Sky Girls
• Issue #20, December 14, 2007: Kage Kara Mamoru

Read the rest of the FAnime Friday issues on the FAnime Friday page! ^_^