Weiss Kreuz Live: The Reviews

Concert: Gluehen
Date of Recording: 15th March 1998 (three days from Miki-shin's 30th birthday, hence the birthday cake candle blowing in the message at the end!)
Track Listing: Velvet Underworld
                         Caravan (Seki Solo)
                         Suicide Seaside (Yuuki Solo)
                         Black Angel (Miki Solo)
                         Kami Wa Taisetsu Na Mono O Kizutsukeru (Koyasu Solo)
                         Beautiful Alone
                         Drama "Monologue" Part One (Yuuki/Miki)
                         SLIM (Yuuki/Miki)
                         Drama "Monologue" Part Two (Seki/Koyasu)
                         Bosanova Casanova (Seki/Koyasu)  
                         Drama "Monologue" Part Three (All)
                         Tokyo Sling  
                         Oh Mercy
                         White Flames
                         Meguriaeta Koto (Yuuki/Seki)
                         Perfect Stranger (Miki/Koyasu)
                         Velvet Underworld (reprise)


General Review
This DVD/VHS is a pain.in.the.backside.to.get.a.hold.of. (Much blood, sweat and pain later). But it was worth the hassle. The four solos from this concert are songs I consider more obscure Weiss tracks because of their appearing on drama CD releases not actual CD albums. There are also four duets, and the old favourites - the openings and endings "Velvet Underworld" and "Beautiful Alone". This concert is a nice range of Weiss's repertoire, basically. And Miki-kun has fluffy, fluffy hair! (ahem).

Performer Review
~Koyasu Takehito
I'm a little biased here but Kami Wa Taisetsu Na Mono O Kizutsukeru is my favourite of Aya's image songs, and that was one of the driving reasons for me wanting to get this DVD. I wasn't disappointed. It's beautifully performed - dare I say it's a better rendition than the actual studio version? Somehow the live backing works for it really well. Koyasu-san is a crack on stage - you never really know what he might do next (witness Ewige Dasein's review if you don't believe me) but overall he's fairly well behaved throughout the Gluehen concert. His duets with Miki and Seki are both really nice tracks too, and work really well. I tend to think of Koyasu-san as the 'bendy guy' when he's performing on stage for Weiss - this disk kinda emphasises that (It's probably where I first came up with the concept, actually, watching him during Beautiful Alone and the duets...). Weiss is obviously Koyasu's brainchild, and he's the band leader, so he does a lot of the talking during the MC periods as well. One thing I will say for him, though, is that he's harder sometimes to hear than the others when it comes to the speaking. This is especially true during the drama monologue segment where once he's on the floor it's really hard to hear what he's saying without upping the volume. But I'm splitting hairs...you don't really need to know what he's saying to understand what's going on after all.
Koyasu-san also has his classic 'Aya' hairstyle during this concert. It's sort of spooky *lol*.


~Miki Shinichirou
I don't care what anyone says about it, I like Miki-san's singing. He's not as gifted a vocalist as either Koyasu or Seki are, and sometimes he does lose his notes. But in this concert that doesn't happen an awful lot and I've come to the conclusion that he tends to rise to the big occasion. I think Miki's voice is sort of unique (and nothing like his speaking voice), so it's the sort of voice people either like or they don't like. I like Miki. :D So all's good :D
Black Angel is one of Miki-shin's nicer solos, too. I've never quite made out whether it's a Youji song or not - I think it should be, since I'm pretty sure it's from a drama CD. But either way, he delivers it well. I think the boys really tried to look something like their characters in this concert, too, because Miki-san has very fluffy blond hair as well as his requisite shades. (I've never quite known whether Weiss were designed based on Weiss the band or vice versa, to be honest, in terms of appearance...Youji's as fond of his shades as Miki, so it's not impossible). It's nice that he takes the shades off for the encore, however (I'm not a fan of the style of shades he wears for Black Angel and the earlier songs).
The long black coat is also very fetching, as is the long white one for the encore (but I'm not quite sure how I feel about the brown top...lets not go there...).
Kudos also to Miki-san for, erm, convincingly acting how to blood-puke on the stage during the drama segments. However you feel about his singing, acting is definitely his forte and he's capable of putting a lot into his voice depending on the mood. But blood-puking is beyond the call of duty. Hat's off to him.

~Seki Tomokazu
Chi-ichi is, as ever, full of mischief, full of life, full of beans. Bouncing around the stage like an idiot, belting out his solo (I'm not sure he's actually breathing, to be honest, just singing!) and shouting at the crowd in his usual happy way. Seki-san always makes me smile no matter what he's performing as. His solo is Caravan - a nice Ken song, if not the best of Ken's solo repertoire - and his duets with Koyasu and Yuuki are both top notch. (Why there is no duet with Miki-san I don't know. Sniff. Not fair!). I have to give props to Seki's acting as well, during the drama monologues. Not only does he fall backwards down the stairs (deliberately done, I hasten to add), but he's also adding little hints of shounen-ai-ness for the screaming fangirl audience (no, I am not a screaming fangirl - I repeat, no, I am NOT a screaming fangirl) with both Yuuki-san and Koyasu-san. (If I have to favour an anime pairing, I've always seen Omi/Ken as the logical one, but I have to admit that the stage show makes it look more Aya/Ken and I guess I can live with that).
It's my opinion that of all of Weiss Seki-san has the best singing voice, and he doesn't disappoint. His sections are sung well and he's as up for it as ever. :D Yay :D

~Yuuki Hiro
Outside of Weiss, I'm not really familiar with Yuuki Hiro's work, although I've heard him voice a few things he's not one of the seiyuu that I tend to follow. However, in a Weiss capacity, I really like his inclusion. He's such a sweetheart - he's good-naturedly teased a lot, and teases back - and he's a real character. His singing is also pretty unique. Is it wrong to say effeminate? I don't think it's a bad thing, since Omi is such a young character, and he's a first rate actor. But there is something gentle and light about his voice...it's a nice contrast from the others.
His solo is Suicide Seaside. I don't want to know who came up with that title or why they did. It's a cute song. Let's leave it there. :) I prefer this performance to some of his other ones for the simple reason that it doesn't give him much occasion to dance. (Yuuki-san should stick to singing and acting and forget about anything related to dance). His harmonising in some of the songs is also first rate...Beautiful Alone is the one that springs to mind.
He is wearing hot-pants however. True, Omi wears shorts a lot - but hot-pants? Yuuki-san...wtf?

Song Review
I spent time and effort tracking this disc down because Kami Wa Taisetsu Na Mono O Kizutsukeru was on it. But it's not the only good performance nor the only good song. I like the range that this concert provides, particularly into material that wasn't readily released on later albums like the best of disk. Many of the songs appear on the early Gluehen album (hence the tour title, duh), or on Drama CDs. All of these are no longer in production, so getting hold of them is hard. Certainly the four solos only appear on one or other of the Eternal Angel Drama CDs. For this reason I consider them character image songs, and this concert is probably the only one where the songs are so easy to tie to the characters (although Weiss like their tie-ins, so you never can be entirely sure). A mention must be given to the excellent band Mind Dive who play all Weiss's back-up music, too. They're top notch.
Of course, the disk includes the original opening and closing themes (Velvet Underworld - twice, once as an encore reprise - and Beautiful Alone). It does not include Gluehen the song, because Gluehen the song probably didn't exist when Gluehen the album or Gluehen the concert were being devised. The Gluehen series came later, after all. Some of the tracks (like Oh Mercy) feature in brief during the Kapitel series (I think Mercy is actually on the Ewige Dasein album, however). It also does not include the second opening and closing themes for Kapitel, which are instead on the Ewige Dasein concert performance. This is, after all, the first live release for Weiss and as such, delves into some pretty early material.
The emphasis on duets is nice too. Although I have never really been a fan of the song Slim and I'm still not sure about it even having seen it live. Bosanova Casanova and Perfect Stranger are excellent, however, and Megiuraeta Koto is very cute and Omi/Kennish. There are some interesting Aya/Ken overtones in the Bosanova performance also...yep, I think the guys are trying to tease the fangirls just a little bit. (I repeat, I am not a fangirl. Ahem).
It's somewhat amusing to me too, but for some reason in lives there's a passage of Velvet Underworld they just can't seem to hit right. It's true in both of the performances in the Gluehen show - everything works up till that point...I guess they are live, though, so I'll let them off...

Particular Highlight: Kami Wa Taisetsu Na Mono O Kizutsukeru. And the drama monologues...for showing how well the boys can act being in pain. Um. Yes :) Weiss angst.

Best Perfomances: Kami Wa Taisetsu Na Mono O Kizutsukeru, Black Angel, Perfect Stranger, Bosanova Casanova.

Overall Remarks
Worth the hassle of tracking it down. I like this concert a lot. It's probably not quite up there with Ewige Dasein in terms of being my favourite but it's not far off. The fact it has so many "obscure" songs on it also makes it a must see. Weiss at their best. Good stuff. (And I hope Miki-kun had a happy birthday, after blowing out all those candles on his cake!)

Current Availability: It's not, basically, unless you find a second hand seller. Gluehen is out of print. It was released as a separate VHS and then later as a DVD two in one set with Ewige Dasein. But that too is out of production. It's something you have to hunt for. Ganbatte yo!

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Concert: Das Ewige Dasein - Final Live
Date of Recording: 29th December 1998 (In Yokohama - it was the final performance of three and so, truly, "Saigo no Live". At least...for that moment...)
Track Listing: Piece of Heaven
                         Honeyrider
                         Tokyo Sling
                         My Bloody Valentine
                         Rhodesia  
                         Other Side Of The Moon
                         Brain Damage (Yuuki solo)
                         Mizu No Naka No Chiisa Na Taiyou (Yuuki solo)
                         Li-Bi-Do (Miki Solo)
                         The Minority (Miki Solo)
                         Carnival 2000
                         Saigo No Bansan
                         It's Too Late
                         Shindemo Ii (Seki Solo)
                         Living In The Pleasure World (Seki Solo)  
                         House Of Love (Koyasu Solo)
                         The End (Koyasu Solo)
                         Mind Dive Solo segment
                         Oh Mercy
                         Jeepstar
                         Velvet Underworld
                         Beautiful Alone
                         White Flames
                         Last In My Winds

General Review
*squeals* two solos each. TWO! (ahem). Ewige Dasein is really a no holds barred end of the road show, in my opinion. There are a lot of tracks. A lot of good tracks! Not all of them come from the Ewige Dasein album, even though that's the title of the concert. One or two come from Schlag Des Herzens (which I think is one of those obscure Weiss disks that people don't tend to look for unless they know it exists) and a couple from Gluehen (my favourite songs from Gluehen's CD, incidentally...woot!).
This whole concert is a somewhat emotional rollercoaster from bouncing excitement to humour (there's a fun chat on the chairs before Saigo no Bansan where Miki gets called "Weiss Mama" and Yuuki pretends to be filming them with a video camera) up until real tears by the finale. Maybe that's why I love it so :) It's also the concert in which Koyasu-san has free range to be as odd as he likes...the infamous House of Love performance with the mannequin features on this release. Its sort of something you have to see to believe...

Performer Review
~Koyasu Takehito
Ok, it has to be discussed. The infamous mannequin-fondling song, House of Love...
I said earlier on on this page that Koyasu-san does some pretty odd things on stage, sometimes - quite aside from the make-up wearing and the bendy man dancing, this one rather takes the biscuit. It appears that the entirety of the song is being sung too this mannequin, which is not clothed (I can't even say scantily clad) and with which Koyasu-san seems to be fairly intimately acquainted. I think I'll leave my assessment at that...I wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or just...stare, to be honest. (Mind you, I give him props for doing it. It stands out, that's for sure).
His other solo, The End, is a (fortunately mannequin-free) up-beat, lively performance. I've always thought that elements of that song (considering it's verse speed) must be a tongue twister even if Japanese is your native language (for example, "odagai aishi-aeta") but he doesn't seem to have any problems with it.
I have to mention also his attire, because for the early part of the concert he wears a top with English words written on it. It took me about ten seconds to realise they weren't just words, but song lyrics - Blur song lyrics, to be exact, to the song Boys and Girls. It struck me as kinda cool because so many people walk around with Japanese characters on their clothing - and here's Koyasu-san with his Blur top singing live in Yokohama. Nice touch, ne? :) I also must add that I really like Koyasu's hair in this concert. That's a fangirl thing to say, but I don't care. It's cute :) Also, for the opening, he seems to have caught the sunglasses bug from Miki - but eh, it works for him. (Digressing majorly here, though, so now back to the subject at hand).
The most touching and the best Koyasu moment for me in this concert (being the softie I am) is Beautiful Alone and the reprise after which he's wiping away tears. Weiss is his baby, after all, and this is literally, 'The End'. Aww.

~Miki Shinichirou
Miki's two solos in this concert are Li-Bi-Do and The Minority. When I first discovered that I was ecstatic on the one hand (Li-Bi-Do is my favourite Miki song, somehow his voice does work better with the up-beat, racy numbers and this is a really good performance t'boot) and worried on the other (if you've heard the studio recording of Minority, you'll know that it sounds very much like Miki's about to expire at the end. You almost wait to hear for the corpse hitting the floor...). But the live performance, thankfully, wasn't quite in the same vein. Actually, live, Minority was a hundred times better than the Schlag Des Herzens release, because there was none of the 'spoken' echoing lyrics and, yes, no expiration at the finish.
Considering both his songs were up-beat numbers, and the fact he was jumping around the stage like a lunatic to peform them, it's little wonder he didn't collapse at the end of it. I give him credit for that!
I've seen Miki with various hair-styles (including blue), and his Ewige Dasein coiffure-de-choix seems to be bleach blond and spiky, with shades to match. I guess he's cut himself loose a little from his Youji persona here! Personally I prefer him with longer hair, but I guess its all a matter of taste. He takes his shades off again for the encore, too. And he has a Union Jack tie! He and Koyasu-san are both emitting British vibes this time around! (I'm British. Humour me).
The stage chemistry between Miki and Seki is pretty funny in this concert too. There's a hug, and a general "rock out" in the intro to Tokyo Sling (which of course they sing the first section of as a duet). IMO Miki's at his best in this concert. Though where he got the energy from to still be leaping around by the end of White Flames in the finale, he only knows. And he might just be on remote control in Tokyo Sling...

~Seki Tomokazu
What can I say. Shindemo Ii, live. Seki. On stage. Singing his little heart out. Yes, I really can die happy (hah, bad pun, sorry about that).
Shindemo Ii is my favourite Weiss song, and one of my favourite Seki Tomokazu songs. And I really, really wanted to see him sing it live. He has an awesome voice, and this is no exception. It's beautiful. That's all I can really say about it - just beautiful. Shindemo Ii is a song I consider 'Ken's', probably because it's a: quite romantic (makes me think of him and Yuriko, and, eek, maybe him and Omi? LOL!) and b: because it's on the Gluehen disk and somehow I associate those solo songs with their characters somewhat. Don't ask me why. My brain doesn't make sense :)
Moving - with great difficulty - away from Shindemo Ii, Seki's other solo is "Living In The Pleasure World". I've never been a particular fan of this song - probably because it's not entirely a Ken song in my mind, but it's growing on me. Seeing it live does make a difference...Seki-san puts so much into his performances that you can't help but go along for the ride.
As ever, he's a live-wire, cheeky and bouncy and yelling to the crowd.

~Yuuki Hiro
I must say it. I *must* say it.
Yuuki-san...should not...be allowed to dance.
(Sigh)
There, I said it. I promise, that's the last unkind thing I'm going to say about him.
Because on the whole, all in all, Yuuki-san is excellent in this concert. Brain Damage is one of Omi's cuter songs (this is where the dancing came in..) and he delivers it well. Mizu No Naka No Chiisa Na Taiyou is also really well performed (another obscure one from Schlag Des Herzens, but a really pretty song nonetheless). I was also, as ever, really impressed with his harmonising, especially in Beautiful Alone and a couple of the other group songs (since this concert has several of those). His voice is pitched such that when he sings with Koyasu (as he does in Tokyo sling) the effect is really quite striking, and they do make best use of it. I do like his singing voice. As I've said before - it's cutesy and a little girly. But it works for him. And it works for Weiss. He's also such a character on stage too - he's really funny in the MC talks, and he takes all the teasing into his stride. More hotpants, admittedly, but I'm learning to live with that. If only they stopped him dancing - he'd have a perfect score :)

Song Review
I have to say that this concert has the best performance bar none of Beautiful Alone. (As an ending theme, that features on all three concert disks, but this is the best one, for sure). It's full of emotion, because they're all holding back tears and Koyasu-san at least has to stop to wipe his away before he can speak after the performance. Beautiful Alone is one of the nicest Weiss songs anyhow - that extra feeling really works for it, and it's top rate.
The solos - two for each - are really neat, too. They span three albums - Ewige Dasein, Gluehen and Schlag Des Herzens - and give a good idea of what the boys are capable of. Shindemo Ii is beautiful - did I already say that? :D The mannequin is...er...eyecatching. Miki makes me exhausted just watching him.
Saigo no Bansan is very nicely sung too - seated, so no bouncing - but really well performed. There are quite a few quartet songs on this concert, too - including Rhodesia (or Ro-deh-sha, as they give it), Jeepstar (what is that song about? Do we care? Don't we just want to see Seki and Miki hug and then them all jump around like lunatics waving their arms? Of course we do!), and others which feature on Ewige Dasein and the best of album. And for the first time there are live performances of Kapitel's second opening and closing themes - the concert opens with "Piece of Heaven" (the 2nd Kapitel opening), and also features "It's Too Late" (the closing theme). I don't think either are as nice as Beautiful Alone, but they're good songs :).
There's also Oh Mercy (because, we presume, it appears on the Ewige Dasein album, so it gets another outing - though I can't decide if I like it better in this concert or Gluehen's), but for the most part the songs are different from Gluehen. There are no duets, and no drama performances, but a lot of crowd talking and a lot of, er, jumping and arm-waving to make up for it.

Particular Highlight: Shindemo Ii :D And the encore Beautiful Alone (hankies at the ready)

Best Perfomances: Shindemo Ii, Beautiful Alone. Li-Bi-Do. And a special mention for Koyasu and his mannequin ;)

Overall Remarks
My favourite Weiss performance because of the enthusiasm and life pumped into every song. And because of Shindemo Ii. The boys have a great chemistry on stage and it really works. Top rate.

Current Availability: Difficult to find. I don't think it's still in print in VHS, though it might be. The DVD with Gluehen is really difficult to find, though, and out of print, so I don't suppose Ewige Dasein is still in production. You can find it on the second hand Japanese market on VHS...or through some diligent specialists. It's worth the attempt, but be prepared to spend good money for it. (My recommendation is to look for the Gluehen/Ewige Dasein DVD set and kill 2 birds with one stone!).

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Concert: Tagesanbruch - Weiss Last Live
Date of Recording: 30th November 2003
Track Listing: Weiss Scene One (Opening)
                         Velvet Underworld
                         Piece of Heaven
                         White Flames
                         Honeyrider
                         Bosanova Casanova (Seki/Koyasu)
                         It's Too Late
                         Epitaph (United version)
                         Carnival 2000
                         Tokyo Sling
                         Beautiful Alone
                         Weiss Scene 2
                         Wallpaper For Soul
                         Miserable Lies
                         The Road (Miki/Seki)
                         Something In My Eyes (Koyasu/Yuuki)
                         I Do
                         Gluehen
                         Interstellar Soul - Hoshizora No Souru.
                         Sora Ni Naretara
                         Stone Roses
                         Tomorrow
                         Love Of My Life
                         Jeepstar
                         Last In My Winds

General Review
There's no getting away from this. Tagesanbruch is a darn good CD album. And this concert was something of a five year reunion show, one imagines, considering its date. But it isn't as good as the earlier concerts were. There are some good tracks and there are some...not so good tracks. What doesn't help is the size of the arena it's being recorded in, and the modernised, DJ-ish aspect to some of the backing. It makes it vast and impersonal somehow...and I think it also intimidated the boys too, somewhat, because they weren't fully on their game. It's sad, because some of the songs were never performed live at any other show, including the themes for the Gluehen series.
I'm also being somewhat critical because I have a real hatred of bad notes, and because I have very sensitive pitch, I hear every single one. It makes me very picky with my listening, so I might be making more of it than I should be...but the harmony is not up to Weiss's usual standards.
I'm also sad that No Surrender didn't appear in this concert. I wanted to see Miki-san rap, live...(cries).
On the positives, the intro to this concert was brilliant. Persia (!) introduced it and each of the boys had their own little bits of monologue. Yuuki-san even had a crossbow, and Seki had claws. They also dressed as their Gluehen-animation counterparts later in the concert - in something very like the attire the animated characters adopted.
My feel is though that - as with the change in animation style, this show never quite matched the original stuff. :D

Performer Review
~Koyasu Takehito


~Miki Shinichirou
It has to be said - this isn't Miki's best ever concert performance. I've defended his singing and I'll continue to do so because he's better at it than some people give him credit for, when he's on form - but this wasn't his top day. There's not much more to say on it except that.
His saving grace, however, was the fact that with his hair longer, his shades and the occasional hat, he's worth watching even if you're not listening to him sing. Hopeless kind of observation, I know, but he's surprisingly attractive that way...dressed in his Weiss gear. (Am I getting fangirlish again? Sorry...)

~Seki Tomokazu

~Yuuki Hiro


Song Review


Particular Highlight:

Best Perfomances: Wallpaper For Soul, Gluehen, Interstellar Soul.

Overall Remarks


Current Availability: Still in production/print from places like amazon.jp, CD Japan, etc. If you can only afford one concert, though, I'd spend the time to track down one of the earlier two :)