rix
in
reflections_2
Izumi Sena - Weiss Kreuz Gluhen
Title: Death be not proud.
Author: May, _mayflower
Spoilers: This whole essay is rife with them. Tread carefully or not at all.
Email: maybot@gmail.com
Personal Website: Mayflower.
---
Someone's lost a glowing white cross...
Once upon a time, in a land called 'Japan' (that's fangirl for 'All things good and wonderful') there was a flowershop. We assume it's in Japan because all the characters in this story spoke Japanese before they were dubbed into other languages. Anyway, back to the flowershop. This flowershop was run by four young men - we're fond of calling them bishounen - and a little old lady. And there's a cat, but it's grossly overlooked and rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. So, as of yet, we have a really cute little premise: four guys, some flowers, and their adoring fangirls. Sounds like the perfect shoujo anime. Okay, maybe not. The florists are also assassins. They kill people with everything from swords to darts to wire to something that gets compared to Wolverine's claws (they're called 'bugnuks'). But wait! They're the good guys. They seek out justice and good things and 'deny dark beasts their tomorrows'. They're called Weiss - that means 'White' in German - and they're the protagonists of an anime called 'Weiss Kreuz'. This is all very well and good, but I'm not here to tell you about any of these four guys. Yeah, I know, I've been leading you on.
But it was really absolutely a neccesity that I do so. You see, Weiss Kreuz isn't the whole story. After Aya, Ken, Omi, and Yohji finished twenty-six (unbearably long) episodes doing battle with evil, kidney thieves, and those Schwarz guys... well, there was more. The 'more' is Gluhen. Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. So we've gone from a regular 'Weiss Kreuz' (White Cross) to a 'Weiss Kreuz Gluhen', or 'White Cross Glowing'. This one still has good ole Aya, Ken, Yohji, and - this is where I begin to jump into the spoilers - Omi, though he's no longer 'Omi' so much as he is Mamoru. It's tragic, but this essay is not about Omi/Mamoru. This essay has to do with one of the new guys. There are two of them. Aguri Kyou is the older brother, possessive, bent on revenge type. He gets along really well with Aya. This doesn't surprise about half of my audience. The other is Izumi Sena. Now we're getting around to the meat of my tirade.
Beef: it's what's for dinner.
Izumi Sena is a new addition to Weiss, and if you didn't look twice, you might think you were seeing Omi again. No, Sena is not Omi. They aren't related and they don't share DNA, although I have heard some interesting theories - both in good fun and in varying degrees of suspicious seriousness - to the effect that Sena is a clone made by Kritiker to take Omi's place. Sena does have a tendency to fill Omi's shoes; his role is that of the younger, more immature member. At least, on the surface. Sena, like most of the members of this group of assassins, does not have a happy past. Most of it is shrouded in mystery (and, quite literally, shadow) for the first eight or so episodes of this thirteen episode series. When you do find out the reasons for Sena's drive, coupled with his supposed angst, you cannot help but ache for him. I can't, any way.
However, you begin to get a taste for his 'angst' long before that. During the course of the first four episodes, Sena is already suffering losses to his circle of friends. This anime just goes to show that you really can lose a substantial number of characters early on - if only for the sake of increasing the emotional distress for those left behind - and still have a great run. Not that I'm belittling any of the aforementioned losses, it's just they're rather prolific. In order to understand Sena, you have to understand the people around him - both living and dead.
From beyond the grave.
-- Spoiler intensive! Read no further if you don't want to have some things spoiled for you. --
When you first meet Sena, he is already revealing his emotional sensitivity - although, to be fair, the situation would probably affect anyone, the kiddies at Koua Gakuen are a little deprived in that area - as the first minute of the anime illustrates nicely. Already Sena is showing concern for people, for those who appear to be in pain and/or suffering. He shows regret when he is unable to save a young girl from commiting suicide and yet again when his first friend at the school is accepted into the mysterious 'S Class' and eventually ends up commiting suicide as well. This first real relationship that gives you insight into Sena's personality is his budding friendship with Nozomi Miyazawa, the aforementioned 'S Class' inductee.
Let's get a little background before we go on. The premise of Gluhen is based around an experimental school - Koua Gakuen - that is secluded in the mountains, far from civilization. It quickly becomes obvious to the viewer that this school is not quite right. Everything from ritualistic killings to students staging a coup... you might forget you were watching Weiss Kreuz and get a few Battle Royale flashbacks. Maybe Lord of Flies. As it is, Weiss has come to this school to investigate a series of mysterious deaths, which can only mean one thing: undercover job! If you've ever had naughty thoughts about Aya playing the role of a schoolteacher, well, be prepared to swoon. Aya, Kyou, and Sena are all undercover (the latter two as students) at this unusual educational establishment. Which explains how Sena becomes involved with a girl from - or rather, going into - the elite 'S Class'.
See, Koua Gakuen has different levels: Sena and Nozomi start out in B Class and Nozomi is latter transfered to S Class. Other classes of note are 'G Class', they're the fighters, and 'Z Class' (or Zeta Class, depending on which version you're watching). The classes are starkly divided and students from the less elite classes are extremely eager to be promoted. Enough that they are willing to capture and/or kill other classmates in order to be accepted into the more elite ranks. Not your average happy playschool.
Nozomi discovers the harsher side to 'S Class' when she is forced to kill -- yes, kill -- a former 'S Class' member. What a way to welcome her to the fold, eh? She becomes distraught and inadvertantly seeks Sena's comfort. Sena is visibly moved by her situation and promises to protect her, almost immediately enacting this promise when they are cornered by members of G Class -- a buncha creepy guys in masks that act like a group of robots, in other words -- and he puts them in their place. The fangirl in me has to take a moment here and tell you that this is really quite cool looking coming from a teenager with moderately fluffy hair and large doe eyes. Beware the cute ones!
Ahem, back to the essay. Sena is obviously affected by Nozomi's situation and when she drops out of 'S Class' it's plain to see he's glad for her. This happiness quickly turns to deep regret and sorrow when he is unable to save her when she jumps from a classroom window and subsequently dies. This regret carries over into the rest of his life, impairing his judgement - apparently - and causing him to attain a sort of tunnel vision when it comes to their missions. At one point, Kyou - the other new member - punches Sena in the stomach.
I guess that's assassin code for 'this is your last wake-up call'. Anyway, it doesn't work. Partially because Sena's just so stubborn and partially because Kyou ends up retracting his actions by letting Sena loose after he's locked in his room (again, consequence of his sometimes rash personality), which leads to a long series of events culminating in Kyou's death. Again, Sena has lost someone close to himself and is deeply affected.
He discusses it briefly with Aya, later on, and we begin to get some insight into his past in this moment. He says that Kyou is not the only one to have lost someone. Kyou's brother had commited sucide as well, which was his main reason for joining Weiss and taking this mission. Sena makes that comparison to himself, this being coupled with a few sketchy flashbacks into his own past -- flashbacks which ultimately reveal that his mother killed both his father and sister and shot him. Sena's feelings toward his mother never seem embittered or vengeful in the least, in fact, up until the very end he seems to want nothing more than to be loved by her. She is, for the most part, incapable of returning this love and this ends in her once again shooting Sena.
---------
Death be not proud.
All of Sena's actions lead you to believe that he is rash and childish, yet strong and sincere. He's a good kid in a bad world. I guess that may be why he appeals to me, but it's not a bad attraction. He's headstrong and justice driven, yet -- as shown with Nozomi -- he is also thoughtful and sensitive. This combination -- plus the fact that he is cute, cute, cute -- leads to me placing Sena at the top of my list within the entire 'Weiss' enterprise. (See below for more information.)
---------
That voice, it's so melodic!
No character is complete without a voice, and I cannot go without mentioning a little about the voice behind Sena Izumi.
Sena's seiyuu is one Kappei Yamaguchi, who will sound familiar to fans of Gravitation, Inu-Yasha, and One Piece. A few comparisons that might capture your interest if you haven't seen Gluhen, or have only watched the dub: Sakuma Ryuichi (Gravitation), Inu-Yasha (Inu-Yasha TV and OAVs), Usopp (One Piece), Sumeragi Subaru (Tokyo Babylon), Artemis (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon), Saotome Ranma (Ranma 1/2), and in the Miyazaki film 'Kiki's Delivery Service' as Tombo. Quite a list there, eh? I'm biased, I know, but Sena's voice is still one of my favorites in this anime. Information found here.
Why don't I offer up any information on the English voice actor? Or really, any information on the English version at all? Because I haven't seen it and I wouldn't trust myself to guess. I also would recommend seeing it in Japanese, but that's only because I know Dan Green plays Aya and I've seen enough English Yuugiou to not even want to touch that one with a ten foot pole.
---------
Who's fighting fire with fire and what side is Side B?
Weiss Kreuz is kind of a monopoly in and of itself. Aside from two anime series and an OAV, you have more than one manga series and a slew of drama cds. Weiss is its own universe. Sena may pass on in Gluhen, but he appears briefly in the manga that follows Gluhen - Side B. Now, when I say 'briefly', I do mean 'briefly'. But it's still nice to know that he wasn't completely passed over. He also makes an appearance in the Gluhen Dramatic Soundtrack, although I know next to nothing about it and won't try to tell you either way how good or bad or long or short it is.
---------
And all the thorny branches have roses on the ends...
--- Sena-centric fanfiction
Sleepwalker by Kira (kirakins) is technically Kyou/Sena, but it's very much centric to Sena's point of view, which is why I'm filing it here. It's an excellent fic, by an excellent author and I highly recommend it.
--- Ken/Sena fanfiction (kenxsena for more)
Somehow We Get There, by Sephy (sephyeylsian) is a personal favorite for a personal favorite. Sephy always does a very good job of showing this relationship in its most realistic light. I have a tendency to over-fluff it, which is why none of my fanfiction is on this list - you wouldn't get an accurate picture of Sena by reading anything I wrote. However, back to the actual fic I'm recc'ing here... this story gives a very good portrayal of his character and is at the top of my list.
Home, by Sephy (sephyeylsian) is a very close second. Again, I really love Sephy's characterization of Sena and the way the story progresses.
--- Other Sena-related fanfiction
Untitled, by Raven Wings is actually Kyou-centric, but where there is Kyou; there is inevitably Sena. Again, Sena's importance in this fic isn't significant, but this offers a good view of how Kyou sees Sena - if only in a very out-of-the-way fashion.
Echo, by Goth Kitten is another one of those fics that is more Aya than Sena, but you get a good deal of Sena by osmosis.
Driftwood, by dolphin is an Aya/Sena/Kyou story, which centers in turns on Kyou, Aya and Sena's relationship, and finally, the relationship between all three of them. This one garners an 'R' rating, so tread carefully.
Swap Meet by Kasra (kasra_c) and Lady Cosmos (ladycosmos) is a must have. Regardless of whether or not they think it counts, I love this fic. It has to be read, I can't summarize it. Pairings include Aya/Sena, Aya/Omi, Ken/Sena, and Ken/Omi. This fic also gets an 'R' rating.
--- The Links
Glowingcross.Net, the fiction archive I gathered my fic recs from. Excellent site.
Animenewsnetwork.Com, the location of the seiyuu information and any episode titles that may have been referenced.
Marine Entertainment. They own it, among others, not me.
weiss_gluhen, the Gluhen livejournal community.
kenxsena, the livejournal community for the pairing Ken/Sena.
wk_fiction, a Weiss Kreuz fanfiction community on livejournal.
Author: May, _mayflower
Spoilers: This whole essay is rife with them. Tread carefully or not at all.
Email: maybot@gmail.com
Personal Website: Mayflower.
---
Someone's lost a glowing white cross...
Once upon a time, in a land called 'Japan' (that's fangirl for 'All things good and wonderful') there was a flowershop. We assume it's in Japan because all the characters in this story spoke Japanese before they were dubbed into other languages. Anyway, back to the flowershop. This flowershop was run by four young men - we're fond of calling them bishounen - and a little old lady. And there's a cat, but it's grossly overlooked and rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. So, as of yet, we have a really cute little premise: four guys, some flowers, and their adoring fangirls. Sounds like the perfect shoujo anime. Okay, maybe not. The florists are also assassins. They kill people with everything from swords to darts to wire to something that gets compared to Wolverine's claws (they're called 'bugnuks'). But wait! They're the good guys. They seek out justice and good things and 'deny dark beasts their tomorrows'. They're called Weiss - that means 'White' in German - and they're the protagonists of an anime called 'Weiss Kreuz'. This is all very well and good, but I'm not here to tell you about any of these four guys. Yeah, I know, I've been leading you on.
But it was really absolutely a neccesity that I do so. You see, Weiss Kreuz isn't the whole story. After Aya, Ken, Omi, and Yohji finished twenty-six (unbearably long) episodes doing battle with evil, kidney thieves, and those Schwarz guys... well, there was more. The 'more' is Gluhen. Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. So we've gone from a regular 'Weiss Kreuz' (White Cross) to a 'Weiss Kreuz Gluhen', or 'White Cross Glowing'. This one still has good ole Aya, Ken, Yohji, and - this is where I begin to jump into the spoilers - Omi, though he's no longer 'Omi' so much as he is Mamoru. It's tragic, but this essay is not about Omi/Mamoru. This essay has to do with one of the new guys. There are two of them. Aguri Kyou is the older brother, possessive, bent on revenge type. He gets along really well with Aya. This doesn't surprise about half of my audience. The other is Izumi Sena. Now we're getting around to the meat of my tirade.
Beef: it's what's for dinner.
Izumi Sena is a new addition to Weiss, and if you didn't look twice, you might think you were seeing Omi again. No, Sena is not Omi. They aren't related and they don't share DNA, although I have heard some interesting theories - both in good fun and in varying degrees of suspicious seriousness - to the effect that Sena is a clone made by Kritiker to take Omi's place. Sena does have a tendency to fill Omi's shoes; his role is that of the younger, more immature member. At least, on the surface. Sena, like most of the members of this group of assassins, does not have a happy past. Most of it is shrouded in mystery (and, quite literally, shadow) for the first eight or so episodes of this thirteen episode series. When you do find out the reasons for Sena's drive, coupled with his supposed angst, you cannot help but ache for him. I can't, any way.
However, you begin to get a taste for his 'angst' long before that. During the course of the first four episodes, Sena is already suffering losses to his circle of friends. This anime just goes to show that you really can lose a substantial number of characters early on - if only for the sake of increasing the emotional distress for those left behind - and still have a great run. Not that I'm belittling any of the aforementioned losses, it's just they're rather prolific. In order to understand Sena, you have to understand the people around him - both living and dead.
From beyond the grave.
-- Spoiler intensive! Read no further if you don't want to have some things spoiled for you. --
When you first meet Sena, he is already revealing his emotional sensitivity - although, to be fair, the situation would probably affect anyone, the kiddies at Koua Gakuen are a little deprived in that area - as the first minute of the anime illustrates nicely. Already Sena is showing concern for people, for those who appear to be in pain and/or suffering. He shows regret when he is unable to save a young girl from commiting suicide and yet again when his first friend at the school is accepted into the mysterious 'S Class' and eventually ends up commiting suicide as well. This first real relationship that gives you insight into Sena's personality is his budding friendship with Nozomi Miyazawa, the aforementioned 'S Class' inductee.
Let's get a little background before we go on. The premise of Gluhen is based around an experimental school - Koua Gakuen - that is secluded in the mountains, far from civilization. It quickly becomes obvious to the viewer that this school is not quite right. Everything from ritualistic killings to students staging a coup... you might forget you were watching Weiss Kreuz and get a few Battle Royale flashbacks. Maybe Lord of Flies. As it is, Weiss has come to this school to investigate a series of mysterious deaths, which can only mean one thing: undercover job! If you've ever had naughty thoughts about Aya playing the role of a schoolteacher, well, be prepared to swoon. Aya, Kyou, and Sena are all undercover (the latter two as students) at this unusual educational establishment. Which explains how Sena becomes involved with a girl from - or rather, going into - the elite 'S Class'.
See, Koua Gakuen has different levels: Sena and Nozomi start out in B Class and Nozomi is latter transfered to S Class. Other classes of note are 'G Class', they're the fighters, and 'Z Class' (or Zeta Class, depending on which version you're watching). The classes are starkly divided and students from the less elite classes are extremely eager to be promoted. Enough that they are willing to capture and/or kill other classmates in order to be accepted into the more elite ranks. Not your average happy playschool.
Nozomi discovers the harsher side to 'S Class' when she is forced to kill -- yes, kill -- a former 'S Class' member. What a way to welcome her to the fold, eh? She becomes distraught and inadvertantly seeks Sena's comfort. Sena is visibly moved by her situation and promises to protect her, almost immediately enacting this promise when they are cornered by members of G Class -- a buncha creepy guys in masks that act like a group of robots, in other words -- and he puts them in their place. The fangirl in me has to take a moment here and tell you that this is really quite cool looking coming from a teenager with moderately fluffy hair and large doe eyes. Beware the cute ones!
Ahem, back to the essay. Sena is obviously affected by Nozomi's situation and when she drops out of 'S Class' it's plain to see he's glad for her. This happiness quickly turns to deep regret and sorrow when he is unable to save her when she jumps from a classroom window and subsequently dies. This regret carries over into the rest of his life, impairing his judgement - apparently - and causing him to attain a sort of tunnel vision when it comes to their missions. At one point, Kyou - the other new member - punches Sena in the stomach.
I guess that's assassin code for 'this is your last wake-up call'. Anyway, it doesn't work. Partially because Sena's just so stubborn and partially because Kyou ends up retracting his actions by letting Sena loose after he's locked in his room (again, consequence of his sometimes rash personality), which leads to a long series of events culminating in Kyou's death. Again, Sena has lost someone close to himself and is deeply affected.
He discusses it briefly with Aya, later on, and we begin to get some insight into his past in this moment. He says that Kyou is not the only one to have lost someone. Kyou's brother had commited sucide as well, which was his main reason for joining Weiss and taking this mission. Sena makes that comparison to himself, this being coupled with a few sketchy flashbacks into his own past -- flashbacks which ultimately reveal that his mother killed both his father and sister and shot him. Sena's feelings toward his mother never seem embittered or vengeful in the least, in fact, up until the very end he seems to want nothing more than to be loved by her. She is, for the most part, incapable of returning this love and this ends in her once again shooting Sena.
---------
Death be not proud.
All of Sena's actions lead you to believe that he is rash and childish, yet strong and sincere. He's a good kid in a bad world. I guess that may be why he appeals to me, but it's not a bad attraction. He's headstrong and justice driven, yet -- as shown with Nozomi -- he is also thoughtful and sensitive. This combination -- plus the fact that he is cute, cute, cute -- leads to me placing Sena at the top of my list within the entire 'Weiss' enterprise. (See below for more information.)
---------
That voice, it's so melodic!
No character is complete without a voice, and I cannot go without mentioning a little about the voice behind Sena Izumi.
Sena's seiyuu is one Kappei Yamaguchi, who will sound familiar to fans of Gravitation, Inu-Yasha, and One Piece. A few comparisons that might capture your interest if you haven't seen Gluhen, or have only watched the dub: Sakuma Ryuichi (Gravitation), Inu-Yasha (Inu-Yasha TV and OAVs), Usopp (One Piece), Sumeragi Subaru (Tokyo Babylon), Artemis (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon), Saotome Ranma (Ranma 1/2), and in the Miyazaki film 'Kiki's Delivery Service' as Tombo. Quite a list there, eh? I'm biased, I know, but Sena's voice is still one of my favorites in this anime. Information found here.
Why don't I offer up any information on the English voice actor? Or really, any information on the English version at all? Because I haven't seen it and I wouldn't trust myself to guess. I also would recommend seeing it in Japanese, but that's only because I know Dan Green plays Aya and I've seen enough English Yuugiou to not even want to touch that one with a ten foot pole.
---------
Who's fighting fire with fire and what side is Side B?
Weiss Kreuz is kind of a monopoly in and of itself. Aside from two anime series and an OAV, you have more than one manga series and a slew of drama cds. Weiss is its own universe. Sena may pass on in Gluhen, but he appears briefly in the manga that follows Gluhen - Side B. Now, when I say 'briefly', I do mean 'briefly'. But it's still nice to know that he wasn't completely passed over. He also makes an appearance in the Gluhen Dramatic Soundtrack, although I know next to nothing about it and won't try to tell you either way how good or bad or long or short it is.
---------
And all the thorny branches have roses on the ends...
--- Sena-centric fanfiction
Sleepwalker by Kira (kirakins) is technically Kyou/Sena, but it's very much centric to Sena's point of view, which is why I'm filing it here. It's an excellent fic, by an excellent author and I highly recommend it.
--- Ken/Sena fanfiction (kenxsena for more)
Somehow We Get There, by Sephy (sephyeylsian) is a personal favorite for a personal favorite. Sephy always does a very good job of showing this relationship in its most realistic light. I have a tendency to over-fluff it, which is why none of my fanfiction is on this list - you wouldn't get an accurate picture of Sena by reading anything I wrote. However, back to the actual fic I'm recc'ing here... this story gives a very good portrayal of his character and is at the top of my list.
Home, by Sephy (sephyeylsian) is a very close second. Again, I really love Sephy's characterization of Sena and the way the story progresses.
--- Other Sena-related fanfiction
Untitled, by Raven Wings is actually Kyou-centric, but where there is Kyou; there is inevitably Sena. Again, Sena's importance in this fic isn't significant, but this offers a good view of how Kyou sees Sena - if only in a very out-of-the-way fashion.
Echo, by Goth Kitten is another one of those fics that is more Aya than Sena, but you get a good deal of Sena by osmosis.
Driftwood, by dolphin is an Aya/Sena/Kyou story, which centers in turns on Kyou, Aya and Sena's relationship, and finally, the relationship between all three of them. This one garners an 'R' rating, so tread carefully.
Swap Meet by Kasra (kasra_c) and Lady Cosmos (ladycosmos) is a must have. Regardless of whether or not they think it counts, I love this fic. It has to be read, I can't summarize it. Pairings include Aya/Sena, Aya/Omi, Ken/Sena, and Ken/Omi. This fic also gets an 'R' rating.
--- The Links
Glowingcross.Net, the fiction archive I gathered my fic recs from. Excellent site.
Animenewsnetwork.Com, the location of the seiyuu information and any episode titles that may have been referenced.
Marine Entertainment. They own it, among others, not me.
weiss_gluhen, the Gluhen livejournal community.
kenxsena, the livejournal community for the pairing Ken/Sena.
wk_fiction, a Weiss Kreuz fanfiction community on livejournal.