The events of these series seem to occur in 1990s Tokyo. There is a "good behind the scenes group" - Kritiker. There is the bad family - the Takatori. Behind the bad family there is a powerful "bad behind the scenes group" - Estet. There are three mercenary outfits - one good one, two bad ones. Each of these consists of four members. The good mercenaries, Weiß (or Weiss) Kreuz (German for "White Cross") spend their nights fighting crime. The two bad mercenary groups - Schwarz (German for "Black") and Schreient ("Screaming") - are each essentially on body-guard duty and "on-call" to a member of the Takatori family. But while the members of Shwarz despise Reiji (their Takatori), the women of Schreient are enamored of Reiji's son, Masafumi, and are loyal to him to the point of sacrificingn their own lives.
As the series unfold, we find out the story behind the four main characters (the members on Weiß Kreuz), and the mysterious circumstances that drove them to become the assasins they are today. As for the rest of the characters (the members of Schwarz and Schreient) - we learn very little about them.
"I'm just a murderer"
code name: Abyssinian
weapon: Katana (Japanese sword)
His real name is Ran. However, after his family was killed and his younger sister (the real Aya) ended up in a coma curtesy of the Takatori family, Ran became Aya. Obviously, he hates the Takatori. Whenever he isn't hunting down criminals, he is visiting his comatose sister at the hospital. He is the moody, quiet one. In his left ear he wears a dangly gold earring that belongs to his sister. The other earring she holds in her hand.
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code name: Balinese
weapon: Harigane (a thin metal wire)
He used to be a private investigator. After his partner, Asuka, was killed in mysterious circumstances, he ended up joining Weiß. He is the hedonist and womanizer of the group. The tattoo on his left shoulder says: "Sin...when you gonna learn?"
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code name: Siberian
weapon: Bugnuk (Gloves with retracting claws)
Once a successful soccer player, he was set up to lose a big game. He ended up losing his career and his best friend, Kase, as well. He is the really nice guy who trusts people, and loves children, soccer and bikes.
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code name: Bombay
weapon: Darts, bow and arrows
He is the cheerful computer geek of the group, who was actually raised by a member of Kritiker. We later discover that he is a member of the Takatori family, but things are not what they seem.
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code name: Oracle
power: predicting the future
He accepts orders from Takatori and Estet. But he leads Schwarz according to his own plans. While he does not appear to regard other members of Schwarz as friends, he seems to actually care about what happens to his group. Although he occasionally says things like "I have forseen this", we never really find out the extent of his powers, nor do we learm his past.
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code name: Mastermind
power: telepathy
His name means "Guilty" in German. While the whole naming scheme of this series has a German theme, this is the one and only character who appears to be German. Like with Crawford, we don't get to see just how telepathic Schuldich is. He does seem to hear/reply to people's thoughts. He also makes a comment to another character that implies that being telepathic isn't a happy experience. He tends to move very fast. Seems to have a problem with authority. Wears a fake smile most of the time. Real motivations are unknown.
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code name: Berserker
power: seems to feel no pain
An Irishman. Pretty good with martial arts. Seems to like knives to the point of fetish, but, as the rest of Schwarz, also has no problem with just shooting people. Seems to dislike the Church. Sees himself as a victim of circumstances.
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code name: Prodigy
power: telekinesis
As opposed to Weiß, who are all Japanese, Nagi is the only Japanese member of Schwarz. We get clear demonstrations of his considerable telekinetic powers. He is obsessed with Tot, the blue haired, airheaded youngest member of Schreient.
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- Ken discovers that it was his best friend who set him up. Kase is actually not dead, but working for the bad guys, and still trying to get Ken killed. Ken kills him, and loses his innocence.
- Ken befriends a nice girl bike rider. She leaves for Australia and asks Ken to go with her. But Ken stays with Weiß.
- Omi discovers that he is a Takatori. He is torn between the familial loyalty to his father and brothers, and his layalty to Weiß. In the end, he finds out for himself that the Takatori are evil.
- Weiß meets Schuldich and we see just how fast he can move. "I've seen your faces, I have your lives"...
- Oka turns out to be Omi's sister. But Farfarello shoots her.
- Ken meets the nice nun who turns out to be Farfarello's real mother. We find out that Farfarello's real name is Jei, and that he was a regular kid in Ireland until one day he killed his whole family and decided that he hates God. He kills the nun, too.
- Yoji meets Neu (Noi?), the mysterious member of Schreient. She reminds him of Asuka. She is Asuka. But all she cares about is Masafumi Takatori. She tries to kill Yoji over and over, mocking his unwillingness to defend himself. Finally Yoji kills her. Her last words are of her love for Masafumi.
- Omi's real father finds out that Omi is his son. But he gets killed before Omi can find out, too.
- Nagi floats flower petals for Tot.
- Nagi begs Tot to stay out of the way in the faceoff between Schwarz and Schreient. But Tot gets herself killed all the same.
- Weiß faces Estet and kicks their ass.
- Schwartz and Weiß have their final showdown. Weiß gets their asses kicked. But the building collapses around them before we can see who would win.
warning: queer relationships, graphic sex, violence, language, rape, drugs, prostitution, zero sweetness
Violation & A Price for Madness 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (Yoji/Aya & Ken/Omi)
Grausame Maskerade 1, 2, 3 (Yoji/Aya & Ken/Omi)
Sunde (a really good Schuldich story)
Understanding (Aya/Yoji)
Rasberry and Lime Shampoo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Yoji/Ken)
[Aya]
[Yoji]
[Ken]
[Omi]
[Brad]
[Schuldich]
[Farfarello]
[Nagi]
[Official Site (Jpn)]