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Knight Hunters - Dead Ringer (Vol. 1)

Knight Hunters - Dead Ringer (Vol. 1)

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Always wanted to get these with English subtitles
Review: now I finally can understand what is going on in the first real Anime I ever saw and got hooked on. I loved the outtakes in the extras section! They were so funny! A very well put together DVD.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: wicked? yes, but...
Review: This is really a lovely DVD... the third volume is better plot-wise, but this is still just...wonderful.

Omi finds out some disturbing details about his past... details which could interfere with missions.

Meanwhile, 2 new assasin teams appear- Schwarz, Takatori Reijei's personal assistants, and powerful psychics. Not to mention they are generally wicked beyond belief...

Schrient- they are the bodyguards of Takatori's son, Masafumi. They are strong fighters, and also pose a challenge to the Weiss as they are women... Youji in particular has qualms about fighting women. Not to mention there is a mysterious masked member of Schrient named Neu, whom he -unmasks-. It is revealed that she looks exactly like his girlfriend Asuka, whom was thought dead... could Asuka really be alive?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An extremely good DVD purchase
Review: I've been into this series, Weiss Kreuz, for years; named Knight Hunters for its commercial release here in the states. I normally dread to see releases of series that I like commercially, but in this case, the DVD edition of this series is truly one of the better that I own. The quality of the image and sound are both very high, and at five episodes a disc and a good amount of extras it is well priced.

In the case of anime in general, I normally do not support dubbing of anime, believing that it takes away from the original work. For this release, Media Blasters/Anime Works has done the series justice in both languages. While I don't necessarily prefer the dub, it is worth watching for some of the completely ad-lib lines that you don't find in the subtitled version. The American voice actors are not spectacular in my opinion, but they aren't terrible either. I do like the voice actor that does Yoji's voice for the simple fact that he can ad-lib lines so perfectly and they fit in with the character's personality. Sometimes there are points when the English just doesn't seem to go too well and comes out sounding a little weird. Still, my opinion might be a little biased since three of the four main Japanese voice actors (seiyuu) are among my favorites, and it's hard to accept any English voice for those characters. I do consider that the dubbing is above average and it would be fine for someone who does prefer dubbing rather than subtitles. While there are slight changes to the script it does not take away much from the translation itself. Since it is a DVD though, there is always the choice of both Japanese and English vocal tracks, so if you prefer one version rather than the other you can just change the setting. Both the dub and sub translations are thorough and true to the original script.

In addition, the extras on the DVDs are a wonderful addition. I was extremely excited to find out that the voice actor talk sessions from the original Japanese VHS release made it into the American DVD release (starting in the second DVD). I thoroughly enjoyed those subtitled topic discussion sessions since the only time I saw them before was years ago without subtitles and before I had an adequate understanding of Japanese. The production sketch gallery was very interesting, sketches being taken from the Japanese artbooks, and the English outtakes were hilarious. Overall, this DVD and the others in the series are "must buys" for any anime fan that likes action series, bishounen/pretty boys or really neat extras.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Weiß kreuz rocks.
Review: This anime has long since been a big hit in Japan and is a must have for anyone who likes the idea of florists by day, assassins by night with more angst than you can shake a katana at. Very much recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Definitely not a DVD for everyone
Review: When I first came across this title, I was interested. Aya, Yoji, Ken, and Omi are the four young men who are florists during the day but at night, comprise Weiss Kreuz, an assassin group who eliminates certain menaces to society.

Animation is superb, action is generally well done and the amazing music are actually sung by the seiyuus(voice actors) themselves whom have formed a singing group. Despite this, I find the plot to be slow at times and uninteresting, which caused me to fastfoward the certain sections. I also found the story displayed in a rather choppy manner. At one moment, you see Ken die and in the next, he's fine. I quickly caught on to the plot again, but the moment of confusion pops by more than a couple of times. Not a show for kids with its mature themes. I'm thinking PG 15 or so.

In general, each episode is worth some time and can stand on its own. You get the villian of the week and some action. There are also bits and pieces of the greater plot involving the Takatori's and you get to know the Weiss gang on a personal basis.

That was what stopped me from giving this show a three star rating. This show is pure bishounen, meaning that it has been loaded with so many hot guys so that it is impossible not to fall in love with one of them. Not only are they cute, but they actually got personality and alot goes into understanding what makes these guys tick.

As for the DVD, I liked the clear menu, though flipping through each episode kinda annoyed me. There are some nice extras, such as the outtakes. In general a show that has something for the mature guy and girl. Definitely not a DVD for everyone. I would suggest renting it if possible before purchasing it to see if this is to your taste.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ....
Review: Overall, I think this was really great! I love the manga and I've been waiting for this for a long time.... I really DON'T like the voices. They [stink]. But anyway, the main reason I only gave this 3 stars is: WHERE IS NAGI?!?!...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Show, Bad Dub
Review: Alright, I am madly in love with this series, it has a decent plot, good characters, and all sorts of things, that make it not as simple as it seems. But, unfortunately, the Dub is horrid! I am not very fond of Media Blasters dubs, but this is probably the worst. 1) they change the title (Knight Hunters?!?! come on!!) 2)They voices don't have much enthusiasm in their work, like it was volunteer work. And then, their voices don't match the character well. Omi sounds like he's 30. ='( The subtitle one is MUCH better. Get that one while you can. Get the subbed one, if you want to truly value the show, get the dubbed if you want to shorten your life.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Oh boy...
Review: ...On the upside, the packaging and DVD menu for this are quite nice. Anime Works does a great job with their DVD's--it's packed with features, my favorite being the outtakes by the English dub cast. But I digress.

To put it simply: this anime is of poor quality. The opening sequence is allright, but once it gets to the actual show the quality goes down tremendously. My first thought when the show started was, "Was this made in 1985?!" The art and animation quality are THAT bad. Now, something like that can be overlooked when there is a good story there, but there simply isn't. This series, to put it simply, is about four men who are florists by day, and part of some big assassin ring by night. They garner the affections of young schoolgirls who pass by their flowershop, and are masters of disguise. For a show with such an out-there premise, it takes itself WAY too seriously.

Now, I was scratching my head as I suffered through the five episodes on this DVD wondering, "What could anyone possibly see in this show?" and the answer was clear. Obviously, if you have an infatuation with any of the voice actors on the show you are going to love this. To be honest, I'm a bit of a Koyasu Takehito fan myself, but this is hardly his best work [check out Master of Mosquiton to see him in something fantastic!]. Sure, the songs at the opening and closing are allright, but that's about it.

This show definitley had promise, but the sloppily done animation, cheesy storyline, and weak plots bring it down. If you REALLY, and I do mean really, like the voice actors and must have every work they have done, then go ahead and buy it. But if you're not like that, then don't. If you like "bishounens" then go for another series, like Earthian or something. This is simply not worth it--save your money!

The only reasons I'm not giving this 1 star [but 2] are that the DVD quality is great--lots of features; like I said before, the English dub outtakes are hilarious, and the opening sequence is actually pretty good. Needless to say, I won't be continuing on with this series, but I'm glad I've seen it for myself and am now happily de-mystified.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Been waiting SO long for White Cross!
Review: Big fan of the manga (especially Yohji-kun ^_^), and now I'm a definite fan of the anime! Sure, Omi's outfits are awful, and the atmosphere can go from heartbreak to indigestion in a second, but Japanese girls (like myself) love that kinda thing! I mean, it's soooo Rurouni Kenshin -- except Schuldig and Aya are prettier redheads than Kenshin, any day.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Angsty Cheese Soup
Review: Now I've been waiting to check out this series for quite some time. I mean, who can resist when the main characters are flower shop boys by day and assassins by night? This sort of campy set up is difficult to pass up, especially when done well.

Unfortunately, while definitely an interesting idea, serious angst tends not to mesh well with cheese and general campiness. There are some particularly hilarious scenes when it does (the biker guy and van at the beginning of the first episode for example), but it's a very twisted kind of humor. Think along the lines of the pubes episode of South Park, the revelation at Cartman's Chili-con-Carnival. However, much of the atmosphere just comes across as forced (The guy licking the axe? Come on.) I cringed several times throughout the disc, embarasses that certian things made it through the original edits.

However, the plot has potential, and I would like to see the rest of the series. The overall aniation could definitely have been better, but it's not bad. The background music is good (I'm partial to Aya's theme myself), and the vocal songs aren't bad either. The quality of the english dub depends on your personal preference. The dub outtakes are pretty good (the wedding scene is classic, but again, twisted), with two or three shining about the rest.

This disc isn't everyone's cup of tea (and I don't know about the series as a whole yet), but with five episodes on this first disc, it's a pretty good deal.


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