Weiß Kreuz

Knight Hunters

Also Known As: Weiss Kreuz, White Cross

Genre: Action/Drama

Format: 24 Episodes

Allegiance: Koyasu Takehito/Project Weiß

Director: Tanahashi Kazutoku, Egami Kiyoshi

Vintage: 1998

Intelligence Agency Report by: Kuzu Ryu Sen

Tsukiyono Omi, Kudou Yoji, Hidaka Ken, and Fujimiya Aya seem like normal everyday young men. Omi is the friendly one, Yoji the womanizer, Ken the soccer player, and Aya the cold quiet one. Together, the four run a flower shop in Tokyo, which happens to be a very popular destination for local high school girls. But to every coin, there are two sides. In the case of Omi, Yoji, Ken, and Aya, they are members of an assassination group called Weiß Kreuz, dedicated to changing the futures of those who hide in the shadows.

Field Agent Report by: Kuzu Ryu Sen

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

8.25
7.75
8.00
6.50
9.00

Overall

7.50

(not an average)

To be honest, I was not going into this series with much in the way of expectations. The concept of a mysterious group of bishounen just seemed like it was going to work about as well as it did in Gundam Wing. Luckily, that didn’t happen, and this series turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise.

First off, the series is the brainchild of Koyasu Takehito, so one thing is guaranteed right off the bat: excellent voice acting. Weiß Kreuz does not disappoint, featuring Koyasu, Midorikawa Hikaru, Miki Shinichirou, Mitsuishi Kotono, and Seki Tomokazu all in the same production. The opening and ending themes are excellent, sung by the seiyuu themselves. Weiß Kreuz also provided a decent amount of characterization. While the four protagonists may seem on the surface to be stereotypically angst driven bishounen, the series allowed a deeper look into their lives and pasts, showing why they do what they do. The plot is also surprisingly decent, managing to stay away from the monster of the week syndrome just enough, and throwing in some major twists in the first half of the series.

However, Weiß Kreuz is not without its flaws. The action scenes are sort of blah, and the animation varies tremendously throughout the series, but mostly keeping to the bad side. Throughout the series, character development is unbalanced. In the first half of the series, it’s the Aya and Omi show, and in the second, it’s just the Aya show. While Ken and Yoji did receive a few moments in the spotlight, I would have liked to see more about them. Furthermore, especially during the second half of the series, things just pop out of nowhere without explanation. The ending to the series was also a particular disappointment, creating pointless loose ends that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Still, Weiß Kreuz managed to surprise me with its quality. The characters wound up far better than Gundam Wing’s monotone bishounen, thanks to excellent seiyuu work and a twisty plot that created ample opportunity for character development. This series is good for action fans, drama fans, or well...bishounen fans. However, the series is rather dark, so people who aren't ready for those sorts of themes should probably stay away.

Field Agent Report by: Lady Sage

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

4.50
4.75
5.25
3.00
8.75

Overall

4.75

(not an average)

Ten years ago, Weiß Kreuz was a big hit with the fangirl scene. And why not? On paper, the concept sounds very cool. Four pretty boys with dark pasts working as florists by day, assassins by night, voiced by some of the top actors in the industry. Sure, a little cheesy and B-movie-ish, but fun. But no, Weiß Kreuz is a train wreck of ridiculously overdone angst, improbable plots with more holes than Swiss cheese, and shockingly awful animation.

The people who wrote the series clearly forgot that even if a series is directed at squealing teenage girls, it should not be like something a teenage girl would write. The story unfolds like a bad soap opera fanfiction, with heaping helpings of angst and a completely nonsensical plot. All of the characters have some dark past they are haunted by. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, when they run around weeping and wailing about it constantly rather than ever actually growing past it, it gets obnoxious very fast. It seemed like a full 50% of the air time had one of the boys whining about how terrible things are for him. It might be better if it all eventually came together in a cohesive way, but it really did not. They try to intertwine the characters’ pasts, but it turns out completely illogical, like trying to make a pretty bow and ending up with a snarled knot.

“But Lady Sage,” you might say to me, “Nobody is actually watching Weiß Kreuz for the plot, and if they do, they’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s all about the pretty boys and the men who voice them!” And you would be right, but still oh-so-wrong. To those with a weakness for 90s’ bishounen character designs, the boys of Weiß look very nice in the stills, with their large, shining eyes, shaggy hair, and varying stylish, cosplay-able outfits. They also fall neatly into the various archetypes: the mysterious brooder, the sweetheart, the playboy, and the wild card (in this case, a jock), and it’s easy to tell which is which with a glance at the publicity stills. But once you see them animated, it all falls apart. Weiß Kreuz has got to have the worst animation I have laid my eyes upon. It looks like it was animated by blind, retarded lemur. Not even a chimp. Characters are frequently drawn completely off-model, sometimes with hilarious results, like one particular time when Ken is drawn with his eyes pointing in completely different directions.

However, it would be unfair to ignore the vocal aspects. All of the male roles in Weiß are performed by big-name voice actors, including greats such as Koyasu Takehito, Seki Tomokazu, and Midorikawa Hikaru. All the actors let loose for their roles, yelling and screaming without an ounce of restraint or subtlety. As terrible as everything is, it’s also sort of fun to hear familiar voices in such a cheese-fest. The VAs for the four main characters (Koyasu, Seki, Shinichirou Miki, and Hiro Yuuki) also sang all the songs for the series, plus dozens of CDs spun off from the series. That’s right, it’s all a thinly veiled excuse to make a voice-actor boy band. If you like Japanese boy band music, this stuff should be right up your alley.

Really, the point of Weiß isn’t the series itself; it’s the fandom that surrounds it. It’s the (mostly homoerotic) fanfiction, doujinshi, and merchandising that is the fangirl’s playground. If you’re into all that stuff, Weiß is worth checking out. It’s also kind of fun to laugh at, because it’s quite rich fodder for ridicule, and it only gets more absurd as it goes along. But people actually looking for a good series they can enjoy for its own merits needn’t give Weiß Kreuz a second glance.