Four guys work at a florist and seem to be normal folks. Truth is they all work for an underground organization, "Weiss Kreuz" ("White Cross"), and together they are a group of assassins who bring justice to society by eliminating those the Government cannot reach. All four - Aya, Youji, Ken and Omi - have their own dark secrets and pasts which lead them to this occupation, and by no means is it a glorious one either. As they carrying on their tasks, they encounter the seemingly invincible group "Schwartz", who possesses telekinetic (and other) powers and are standing in their way.

"Weiss Kreuz Gluhen" introduces two more characters to Weiss, namely Kyo and Sena. In this series the art has been advanced to a DVD-like quality and focuses on a more central and solid plot, exploring the role of the "Estet" and their experiments.

Weiss Kreuz is a well structured series with different stories with an underlying secret yet to be revealed. A spy/action thriller, Weiss Kreuz and Weiss Kreuz Gluhen offer the anticipation of any mystery subplot, waiting for the viewers to discover them.

Description: Kuroimisa

Story & Characters

What can I say about Weiss Kreuz that has not already been said? It is a good enough anime that can definitely make any fangirl look twice. It deals with ethics, morals and justice; three rather sensitive topics to anyone. Our story deals with four assassins: Aya (the strong ,silent type), Omi (the innocent, cheerful one), Ken (Sporty and sensitive) and Yohji (the player) posing as Florists; which is of course quite a contrast to thei real job. You have a great amount of fanservice and the typical soap-opera issues. There is love, blood and sex hinted behind the real story.

They are some sort of "Charlie's Angels" since they are given their missions by "Persia"; he only communicates to them via a screen where only his shadowed figure is shown, nothing else. Apparently their targets are the evil men in Japanese society that can not be touched by the police or other “justice� agencies because of their high rank and power.

It is a touching story in the sense that we get to see the distress of each character as they face the murders and situations, how they have to deal with it emotionally and the scars it leaves on them. And perhaps the phrase “never forgive the bad ones� (by Omi) can describe perfectly the synopsis and plot of the story.

Despite the different outlook on murder and killing in an anime it leaves many questions un-answered and the manga did not get too far either. There is another series afterwards but the character design changed and so did much of the original “plot� and in a very personal and subjective opinion the first one is quite better despite the difference in animation.

Rating: 8

Art

The character designs are nice enough and done by Tetsuya Yanagisawa (who also did the character design for Yuusha Shirei Dagwon). I must admit that each character has his own style and accommodates the attitude, although Omi is much too girly for my personal taste and Yohji has an annoying fashion sense they have been designed quite according to their character.

In a more in-depth analysis of the fashion and design of each character it is as follows: Aya’s trademark accessory is the earring he wears on his left ear (memento of his sister), he likes to wear capes and long sleeves. Omi seems to have a thing for hats and short shorts as well as all-around girly clothing. Yohji carries his sunglasses everywhere he goes and likes buttoning his t-shirt one button too low or not at all. Ken being the sporty boy is remembered because of his goggles, jeans and sometimes a long skirt.

It’s a whole different song when it comes to animation. It is clear that being an “old� anime and the project of the great Takehito Koyasu not much was invested. Its old-style hand type animation and the angles the camera takes sometimes are plain awkward as well as the un-smooth flow of the animation.

It was one of the first shows I watched so I was not quite sharp and bothered by the animation and spent too much time admiring the pretty boys and admiring the story progress.

Rating: 6

Sound

It would seem this anime was created for the sole purpose of promoting “Project Weiss� Which is basically the group of 4 seiyuus that represent the four main characters; Takehito Koyasu voices Aya and has also done Hotohori (Fushigi Yuugi),and Touga Kiryuu (Utena) among others. Next up is Shinichirou Miki who voices Yohji and has done Tsuzuki Asato (Yami no Matsuei) and Yuki (Kaikan Phrase) among others. Following is Tomokazu Seki , he voices Ken and may be perhaps the most famous of the four, he has also done Touja Kinomoto (CC Sakura), Shuichi Shindou (Gravitation) and Kamui (X) among others. Last but definitely not least is Hiro Yuuki who may be the least experiences but has done Taikoubou (Senkaiden Houshin Engi) and Dende (Dragon Ball GT) among others.

There have been at least 17 cd dramas and over 18 singles/soundtracks. It is well done music with a rocker touch and they have everything from ballads to metal. The openings and endings are beautiful and everything sums up to the fact that even though the animation was awful and a lot of plot holes were left uncovered the music makes up for it,.

Rating: 5

Presentation

You have to give it to the Koyasu, despite not being the greatest anime of all times it is a classic and the plot is a good one, but it would definitely take more than the 24 episodes, two ovas and second part of the series shown to wrap this one up. Too many doors are opened and not enough are closed behind. However, in spite of every single down point that goes to it the creativity behind it is nice enough. Although the four main characters fall into cliché because of their personalities together they make a good group which faces dramatic issues and sentimental problems well enough.

It could me much more unrealistic but all-together with the music, the voices and the plot make it work, perhaps if they were separate they wouldn’t be good but altogether they work.

In my opinion it is aimed at girls but because of the violence issues and the rawness which is treated upon it it would make a nice anime for boys. However there wont be many girls around that fanboys can feast their eyes upon.

It makes a nice anime to watch when you have nothing better to do. But be aware that this is a classic, so whether you are starting with anime or a veteran this definitely is something to have on your “seen� list, even if it is just to show you everything an anime shouldn’t be. Or to have a laugh on a quite Sunday afternoon and show it as well… a Parody.

Rating: 6

Final Verdict

6.5000 (above average)

Reviewed by coppelia, May 06, 2005

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