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Bishonen-loving fan girls take heed, your dream Anime has arrived! At least, that's what Weiss Kreuz (Or Knight Hunters in America) appears to be. Don't get me wrong, it's jam-packed with yummy men, but there's much more to it than that.
Weiss Kreuz (German for 'White Cross') follows an assassin group of four men called Weiss through their endeavors. So what exactly are they endeavoring on? Well, they work for an organization called Kritiker (German for 'Critical'), and their main objective is to basically do whatever Kritiker tells them (usually killing other assassins, corrupt politicians, and the like), but the leader of the group, Aya, has a personal vendetta against a corrupt politician by the name of Reiji Takatori. Why? Well, if I told you, that'd be spoiling, now wouldn't it?
So, who are Weiss? Simply put, Weiss is an assassin group consisting of an angst-ridden man (Aya), a sexy playboy (Yohji), a soccer-playing, kid-loving guy (Ken), and a 17 year old computer whiz balancing out his life of high school and killing (Omi). Now, a world-class group like this needs to have a nemesis. Who is it? Another assassin group, of another four men, aptly named Schwartz (In German, Weiss means 'White' and Schwartz means 'Black'. Coincidence? I think not.) So, who does Schwartz consist of? A cold-hearted, future-seeing bastard with a stick up his butt (Crawford), A slick, sexy German with the ability to seep into peoples minds (Schuldich), A psychopath who is immune to pain and has a sick infatuation with sharp, shiny objects (Farfarello), and a 15 year old psychic computer whiz (Nagi). Despite what you may think, Schwartz is the best group of bad guys I've ever seen in an anime. Watch the show, you'll see what I mean.
Now, while we're on the subject of the show itself, in order to review Weiss Kreuz properly, I need to guide you through all the different aspects of an Anime in order to give you the full picture. This is fully because, as you will soon see, this anime is very bipolar in the fact that some aspects of it are incredible, while others are just plain terrible. Lets begin, shall we?
CHARACTERS: The characters in this show are incredibly deep, and although their personalities vary, the characters mesh very well with the other characters. The only problem I had with the character development is that I think Schwartz should have been developed A LOT more. Episode 18 centers completely on Farfarello and his past (thus explaining why he's such a psychopath), but other than that, no other real back story on Schwartz or any of its other members are given, in the show at least. There are Drama CD's (CDs that are kind of like a radio show) released in Japan for this anime (something that's quite common among animes in Japan) called Dramatic Precious. In them, some back-story to the Schwartz characters is introduced, but you won't get to indulge in the goodness unless you can understand Japanese. There are some sites on the net that have translations, though. Good luck finding them. (9/10)
ANIMATION: There's only one way to really describe the animation in Weiss Kreuz: It sucks. Terribly. When you're introduced to the huge fire that happens in Episode 1 that is animated using a black crayon, you'll understand what I mean. There are plenty of other instances in which whole scenes are animated using only 2 or 3 frames, and it can get ugly, even downright hilarious. Also, when far away, the characters faces look like unrecognizable. In general, the animation is okay, the characters look cool and have some cool moves, but I can't even express in words how horrific it can get. (2/10)
SOUNDS: The voice actors in this anime are everywhere these days in Japan, and their singing talents are amazing, making the 20 gazillion soundtracks to this anime an absolute delight and pleasure to listen to (Just wait until you hear them sing in Engrish. Oh, the fun!) The sound effects are nothing to complain about, but the voice acting itself, like the singing, it's absolutely top-notch. The entire show is music to the ears. (9/10)
STORYLINE: The storyline in Weiss Kreuz is extremely unique, full of action, comedy, romance, and almost anything else you can think of. Although each member of each assassin group (There are three main ones, the third is an all-girl one that doesn't quite play a major part in the story) works really well with their respects group members, they each seem to have their own troubles (Aya is brooding over this mysterious women in a hospital who his visits frequently, Yohji is haunted with memories of a deceased lover, and the list goes on and on). These troubles add greatly to the storyline and make the character development roll right along in time with the storyline. In a general view, the plot has plenty of twists and turns that will have your jaw dropping to the floor in utter shock and surprise. If you like an anime with twists and turns, you'll love this one, it'll leave you begging for more. (9/10)
PACKAGING AND EXTRAS: The packaging is nothing special, but they have outtakes, and I've had people who hate this show tell me that these outtakes are among the funniest they've ever seen. They have a few other extra bits in there, but who cares? Outtakes! (8/10)
IN A NUTSHELL: This anime is packed with amazing characters, excellent plotline, hilarious extras, and stunning voice acting and music. Its only weakness: The incredibly horrific animation.
FINAL SCORE: Mathematically, a 7/10 (The animation really dragged the grade down), but personally, I give it a perfect 10/10. I absolutely love this anime!
Media Blasters released the DVD's of Weiss Kreuz, called Knight Hunters in America. All 5 DVDs are out, and a very rare complete set of the entire 26 episode series is out as well. Want more Weiss Kreuz? Japan just finished airing the new Weiss show titled Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen, a 13 episode series which takes place after the Weiss Kreuz series, but completely disregards the storyline from the Drama CDs. Go figure.
So, looking for a new anime to try? Are you just a hormone-crazy girl with a taste for yummy Bishonen? Either way, Weiss Kreuz is definitely worth checking out for your self. Just don't just this anime by its cover, whatever you do!
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