Before I start, this page (and any others I may need) are full of spoilers. Honest. I'm giving play-by-plays of the eps here. And any and all comments from the peanut gallery are my opinions and no one else's. If you don't like them, then there are plenty other sections to this site for you to explore. So without further ado, here comes the reviews!
Episode One: White Flames
Eyecatch: Fujimiya "Aya" Ran
We are first greeted with various shots of students who have committed suicide, along with phrases such as "I am a failure." "That's right. There's no need for you."... Next, a girl stands on the roof of the school. Sena spots her and tries to get help, to no avail. She jumps, and cracks her head open on the pavement below.
The episode title. Aya is walking to his class, with Persia delivering his mission as a voice over.[Note: if you concentrate, you can hear Omi's voice through the distortion!]
As you have heard about it, this world has recently suffered from a barrage of terrorist attacks.
*cuts to Weiß's basement HQ, and then the TV screen*
There have been 86 incidents in all. Interpol is doing their best, but have yet to discover the ringleader.In the latest incident, 4 terrorists commited suicide rather than be arrested. The identities of the terrorists were discovered. Two were German, one was American and one was Japanese. The japanese's name was (sorry, can't make out the name) Kenji, age 21. He was a very young man in his teens. But all that changed when he graduated. His alma Mater was Kouwa Academy. Kouwa Academy was built 3 years ago, with the aim of becoming a first rank elite school. Recently, there have been a series of unexplained deaths at the school. An investigation was launched. But here is where the problem begins. When the pressure was put on them to explain the deaths, they did nothing more than make excuses.
*screen cuts to Omi-Persia in his office, issuing the mission*
This mission is critical. Here is our mission: Weiß will infiltrate Kouwa Academy, and discover any links it has to the terrorists.
*Screen cuts back to Weiß' veiw of the TV*
White hunters of the darkness, expose these dark beasts and bring them to the light!
From here, we go back to Aya's history lesson. [Insert Aya butt shot here] He's going on about how history repeats itself cuz humans are stupid, when Izumi Sena shows up. He was late because he wanted to see the gir's body off to the hospital. He takes his seat. Sitting beside him is a girl named Miyazawa Nozomi. They quickly become friends. She wants to be promoted to the S-class... S-class students are very elite, and can even fire teachers. The S-class interrupts the class to take away one of their rejects at some point.
Cut to a staff meeting. The principal comments on how popular Aya is with the students [gee, I wonder why?] .. we also learn the School Chairman hasn't been to meetings in over a year.
Cut to a shady basement. The S-class reject is being tortured, and the S-class leader, a 15-year old named Todo, is talking to a shady man about a program, and about 2 S-class wannabes. They are admitted, with the reminder to "include them in the data"...
Cut to the Flowershop. [The sign on the door says 'close'] Aya runs a program from the desktop comps at Kouwa (all the desks have one)... to find a video with very grisly images and the words "Death, kill, destroy" and so on. Rex comments on how they're going to call in another Weiss to research it.
Cut to the school. It's nighttime. Kyou has gotten himself into the room where the school's servers are kept, and hacks into them. He finds a screen that reads "Epitaph"
Cut to the school. Daytime. Sena is in the library.[did I mention, all the students have their name on their uniform in Romaji?] Nozomi meets him there. She takes him to what looks like a bandshell on a lake, and tells him why she wants to be in the S-class. The curriculum is meant to raise future leaders, she says.
Back in History class, the S-class reject freaks out and dashes out of class, heading for the roof. HE tries to jump, but Sena manages to catch him and trhow him back up. [ I'm not kidding. He tosses this guy over the rail like a rag doll before vaulting over it again himself ] Todo is there, pissed that the dude wasn't able to jump. Aya confronts Todo on his way back, but Todo just says he has nothing to do with it, and Aya had better watch it, cuz he could get him fired.
Back in class, Nozomi is promoted to S-class. She's thrilled, but there is sinister music playing in the background... She is taken to the S-class dorm, where she has to kill the reject as an initiation rite... She doesn't want to, but other S-classmembers force her to pick up the short sword sitting there and kill him. Did I mention he was conscious and thrashing the whole time? Nozomi screams "NO!!!!!!!" and the episode ends.
Episode 2: God hurts those he loves
Eyecatch: Izumi Sena
The episode opens with a Kyou flashback: His little brother Suzumu says he's leaving, and does. Kyou charges after him, but he loses Suzumu. When he finally catches up with him, Kyou finds that Suzumu has hung himself. Suzumu wears the Kouwa Academy Uniform. Kyou screams, and wakes up. Kyou doesn't think his brother's death was just a suicide. He blames the school for it.
At the principal's office at Kouwa,The principal is meeting with Todo. The principal asks about the two new S-class students. One of them has what it takes, it seems, but the other will take some work. The meeting ends with the principal telling Todo to keep an eye on her, and to not let any information out.
Opening credits, and then we are taken into an S-class classroom. Nozomi-chan is there, but she can't concentrate. She's thinking of the guy she was forced to kill. (the S-class reject, remember?) The teacher calls on her, telling her to say "YOu are Trash!" to the girl sitting across from her. She can't do it, but the girl across from her has no problems. Nozomi seems to take it personally. The period ends.
At her next class, Nozomi-chan runs into the girl again. She's the other new S-class member, and she DOES fit right in, attitude and everything. "IF you can't keep up with the class, you shouldn't be standing with the rest of us." She tells her. Again, Nozomi takes it badly. She can't concentrate. She imagines a knife in her hand. A voice from the PA tells her to put on her headphones and get to work. [Get used to this] The voice says the same thing when she's supposed to sleep.
The next day. Zoom in on a hidden videocamera. It takes pictures of two important-looking people entering the school.
On to English class. [The teacher here is pretty friendly with Aya-sensei!] Sena isn't concentrating, either. He's thinking of the "death" screen saver, the mission, the class divisions and so on when he spots Nozomi-chan and the S-class out in the parking lot, greeting the "minister" and his secretary. Sena waves at Nozomi, and when she spots him, She struggles to keep from crying. Sena gets called on.
Back in the Principal's office, the minister is talking about the school, it's students, Todo in particular, and so on with the Principal. It seems the secretary (Shimojima's his name) graduated from the school that served as model for Kouwa. Todo and Shimojima make their exit together. The minister tells the principal not to worry about the 'incidents' happening in the school. He will cover it up.
In the hall, Todo and Shimojima chat like old buddies. They say that the two should be grateful they're not young. They'd never make it to B-class. [whatever that is]. The scene ends with Todo telling Shimojima that he expects a lot from him. Shimojima acknowledges.
Kyou and Aya are huddled over a bitty comp that Kyou has rigged up. Kyou's not having much luck in the hacking department [he's got a student uniform, too, BTW].. but Kyou's not done yet. He's placed a bug in the Principal's computer. Checking up on it, They hear the earlier conversation between Todo and the principal. With this tidbit, Aya asks Kyou to find the S-class schedule. (Aya checks his watch and complains about his measly one hour of lunch/marking/prep/general free time)
Nozomi-chan is sulking in the library when Sena comes in and spots her. Apparenly he came there because he figured he'd find Nozomi-chan there. Again, Nozomi looks like she's fighting back tears.
Eyecatch. It's now evening at Kouwa. Nozomi and Sena are talking in the gazebo. Aya and Kyou are spying from behind a nearby tree. Aya and Kyou talk about having noticed about 5 people. Sena and Izumi keep talking. Sena comforts her, saying if she has any trouble, he wants to help her. He will Protect her. She doesn't have to take it anymore. [Mm-hmm....] Nozomi starts to tell Sena how she doesn't want to be in S-class anymore. This about the time they get busted by a bunch of students in black uniforms with masks, repeating "Miyazawa Nozomi. Free time for the S-class is over. Please return to the dorm." over and over. Sena charges, and a fight ensues. Sena is outnumbered when Aya and Kyou show up. The black guys scatter.
Back in the Teacher's lounge, Aya asks Nozomi about her not wanting to be in S-class, when a colleague of Aya's walks in. When she asks why Nozomi's not in the dorm, Aya tells her her body couldn't cope with the changes, and that she should be put back in the B-class. (the class she started in) THe teacher agrees, and says she'll arrange it.
Back at Koneko, the news is on. It seems the car that the minister was in caught fire. This caused the engine to explode. Miraculously, his secretary, Shimojima has survived with only minor burns. They were in the front. It happened not long after his meeting at Kouwa. Shimojima vows to continue in the Minister's footsteps, by running for the same office. At this point, everyone looks suspicious: the principal, the S-class, the dudes in black, and Shimojima (they know about the school he went to).. [At this point, Rex, Aya, Sena and Kyou are present]..
The dudes in black are part of the G-class, which is a class for army and marine hopefulls, publicly, but the G-class dorm is under WAY too much security for that.
Back in history class, Sena is staring absent-mindedly out the window when the door opens and Nozomi-chan walks in, in the B-class uniform. She takes her seat beside Sena.
Cut to a surveillance room, manned with S-class students. The principal is talking to Todo about getting rid of Nozomi. He has to. He can't let anyone live who knows about the S-class. Their brainwashing attempt failed. Todo speaks up, saying in order to meet the goals set for him, he needs more people, but the principal countervenes, telling Todo to follow orders.
Cut back to History. The class is working on something. Sena is STILL staring into space, when he gets an email from Nozomi. He goes to check it, and Nozomi's screen flickers. Nozomi's email says that she was in the library hoping that someone would meet her there and help her, and when Sena did just that, it was like a dream come true. She was SO happy. Meanwhile, Nozomi-chan's screen is acting strangely, with words like "Murderer". Sena looks up at Nozomi. She's hearing similar messages over her headphones, and freaking out. She screams and stands up, and begins staggering for the window. Sena tries to talk her out of jumping, but Nozomi's still having visions, and Sena's concerned face turns into one of fright. Sena screams again, and jumps. This time, Sena's too late to catch her. The end of the email reads "Someone, Help me..."
Back at Kouwa, the principal is talking on the phone, presumeably to the man Sena was talking to earlier. He asks if any information on the S-class got out, then leaves the rest to him. [ The principal sort of looks like Botan, in profile ^^;]
On the grounds, Sena stands in the spot where Nozomi landed, and looks up at the window from which she jumped. Insert flashback of the incident. Then the standard angsty "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" scene. He cries. Just before the scene ends, Sena whispers "Kaasan" (mother)
In a room, Todo talks to more S-class members. On a monitor is a collage of Izumi Sena pictures. "I see. So it wasn't a mouse, but a wolf. No wonder a G-class student couldn't win. Interesting... He's perfect for the main role in the show." He orders surveillance of Sena to be increased. The others reply, turn, and leave in perfect unison. It's kind of creepy.
In yet another part of the grounds, guys in black bodysuits [nice tight ones ^-^] practice fighting. G-class students, presumably. Todo makes an appearance in a balcony in the self-same gym. Instantly the G-class stops what they're doing and fall into rank, facing him. They bow before him, and he is addressed as "Führer" (Leader). Todo is told that the principal is waiting for him,so he leaves.
In the principal's office again, the principal grills Todo about killing the minister. He gets pissed when Todo says he did that on his own. All Todo needs to do is follow orders. Todo counters by saying the minister was incompetent. The principal disagrees, and says that starting tomorrow, Todo is no longer in charge of the S-class students. On his way out, Todo mutters to himself that the principal will be the one out of a job.
Cut to the Koneko basement. In light of the discovery of the G-class, Persia wants the investigation of the school accelerated. Persia wants to know what's going on in the G-class dorm. [random thought: Kyou looks like Ken on Steroids, with a haircut.] The plan is to go in at night, since Kyou and Sena will be watched during the day. In fact, they could start that very night... but Sena is fed up with investigating. He wants to kill the guy who killed Nozomi. Aya reminds him of what Weiß' purpose REALLY is, and that killing the guy who was directly involved in the killing won't solve anything. [Sena calls him "Aya-sensei" again, and Aya puts on the familiar Glare]... Sena doesn't care. Nozomi-chan was his first friend EVER. The others don't care about her, or about the 'tail' that killed her [as opposed to the 'head', the target.] He starts to leave, but Kyou punches him out, and him and Aya go to investigate the G-class.
On the drive to Kouwa, Kyou thinks of his brother. It seems Sena reminds Kyou of him. Aya tells him to forget that for now, as it will only interfere in his judgement. Kyou seems taken aback.
When Sena wakes up, Rex is still there. [what, does SHE work the flowershop now, or what ?] He tells Sena of Kyou's brother. Everyone has emotional scars they can't forget, she tells him. That's Weiß.
Aya and Kyou break into the G-class building, to find things completely dead. Then the lights turn on and they find themselves surrounded by G-class members in white masks.
Meanwhile, Persia tells Rex the same thing over the TV [video-chat, I assume]. For the time being, she is only allowed to contact the others by that means. That does mean they can't call Aya and Kyou back, but there is no other choice.
Sena is on his motorbike in mission gear, also off for Kouwa, for his own reasons. After he leaves, a pair of legs in black pants steps into view. More S-class members at Koneko.
Cut to Todo's office. He asks for the surveillance to be continued. He says he's going to make a fabulous stage for Sena.
Eyecatch. In the G-class building, the G-class guys take out their weapons. Aya orders Kyou not to go all out, since they ARE still students. They make a show of Aya switching his Katana about, so as to strike the G-class with the back. It's pointless, since you can see through the rip Aya's just made in one uniform that they're all wearing bullet-proof vests. Aya mangages to block flying knives with his Katana [looks very cool doing it, too.]
Sena is aiming for the S-class dorm. Out of said dorm, more dudes in black are coming out, takign a coffin and shovels with them. Sena follows. You can see that Todo is among the dudes in black... they bury the coffin, and Sena is jumped by more G-class guys. He puts up a good fight, and they stand up without attacking. Todo applauds. Weiß trains their people well, he says. He never imagined he'd meet one in person...Todo manages to convince Sena that the principal is the guy behind the brainwashing without offering much proof, and Sena takes off after him. Nozomi-chan is the body inside the coffin.
The principal is debating brainwashing ALL the students, and not just the S and G-classes with a silhouette on his monitor. The failures are to be sent to the Z-class laboratory. It is "Epitaph's" orders.
More of Aya and Kyou's fight. Something is wrong. Aya and Kyou feel like the G-class is trying to keep them inside their building, probably because of Sena-kun. They make up their minds to break through. Aya is now using the front of his sword. Kyou's Tomohawk flies off its handle, and a chain comes out. The two Weiß Swing to freedom. When they get outside, Rex pulls up and tells them that someone has been eavesdropping on them.
Sena is in the principal's office. He follows the usual mission protocol: Cut the phone line and the lights, and bodyguards, then make your entrance. He kills the principal with his chakram. His last words are "Could you be.... Kaken?". It's Sena's real name. Principal Inagaki is Sena's uncle, and by the time Sena realizes it, he's already killed him. Sena screams.