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Moribund Innocence : analyzing Tsukiyono Omi of Weiss Kreuz
OMG, that's one out of two done. *drops to the ground in exhaustion* Now I start my Edward essay and my panic attacks. But much love to both ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
losthitsuzen and Julie for looking through this essay for me. ^__^ *kiss* I'll give you guys my Edward essay when I finish (which means I have to actually start...)
Subject Line: Tsukiyono Omi (Weiss Kreuz / Gluhen)
Title: Moribund Innocence (I was going to call it A Killer Smile, but that's been overdone.)
Author: Shamera K. Tsukishirou
Spoilers: Keen spoilers for the first season of Weiss Kreuz, tiny bits of the second season and OVA, Dramatic Precious, and Gluhen!
Email: w_shamera@yahoo.com
Website: Burning Desire
Written for:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
reflections_2
Notes: Ahh, I already packed away my Weiss DVDs at the bottom of my suitcase a while ago, and don't really want to unpack and repack everything to get to it, so this was written entirely without quotage. >_O Sorry about that.
(LJ cut quote by Mark Twain.)
Seeing as I don’t think I could ever match up to some of the great essays in this community (ones written with lots of love and dedication, their words filled with adoration for their character), I've decided to take a slightly different approach to the character- hopefully one that bring out at least a smile or two, and maybe a few laughs. Doesn’t mean I don’t love him any less! I’ve adored Omi for too long to not tease him a little.
First Introduction?
My introduction to Tsukiyono Omi was about four years ago; I first started watching fan-subbed Weiss Kreuz on some pretty badly copied VHS tapes at a friend’s house after my theatre classes. And since then, my obsession with the series has continued to wax and wane... but never truly going away. I have the artbooks, I have various gadgets to put around my room, I have the boxed set of DVDs, and I’m dutifully awaiting the release of Gluhen on DVD. To be quite honest, I wasn’t very interested in the series when I first heard about it, and it took a while before I could be convinced to watch it.
Four bishounen florists who become assassin at night? It didn't really sound that appealing.
But I watched anyway, and- despite all the other bishounen characters in the show- completely fell in love with Tsukiyono Omi... although it certainly took a while for that to happen. Omi's character was first portrayed as the cute, sympathetic one; the smallest and youngest of the group of assassins, always with a kind smile and perhaps even a flower for those who were down. At first I thought he was cute to the point of being ridiculous- he was still a teenaged boy, after all, and his sweetness and genkiness were scarily akin to Card Captor Sakura.
And, he was wearing a pink hat.
Okay, so he got rid of the pink hat right away (we never see it again past the first episode) and his sweetness is toned down a lot once the angst-fest starts, but I think introducing his character in the series with uber happy-happy vibes might not have been the best idea if you wanted people to love the character. But it very effectively told you that Omi is perhaps one of the most innocent in the series, that he continues to hold on to his (illusory?) ideals of the world even after the things he sees and the things he has to do.
At least... he does in the first series.
But, being as I think that all the characters of Weiss Kreuz are actually extremely complex and more mind-boggling than our poor brains want to understand, Omi doesn't stay as innocent as when he first started out in the series. His wide-eyed naivety and genuine cheer dies throughout the series, although he's still the most genki. The real twist for Omi's character comes in Gluhen, though, and that is certainly a history that needs to be revealed. He changes drastically, doing an about-face on the viewers and leaving most of us going, "WTF?!" at the end. And perhaps it was this complexity that drew me to him rather than the sweet and deceptive "Killer Smile."
Omi’s Past
Tsukiyono Omi's real name is Takatori Mamoru, but the number of other names he has to answer to are enough to make one's head spin. His entire family history should be made into a tragic television soap opera- but even that wouldn’t do justice to the many twists and turns of the Takatori family. Omi was born on February 29th, the special leap day that only comes around once every four years. His image flower of Weiss is the Freesia, which, according to the language of flowers, means "purity" and "innocence." His code name within Weiss is "Bombay," the cat known for having pure black fur and golden eyes that greatly resemble an Indian black leopard. The Bombay cat is known for the pleasure it finds in human companionship, and it's disaffinity to being alone.
Throughout the first season, Omi's past is gradually exposed to the viewers, especially his relationship with his family.
The Takatoris are a very powerful family, with each member in a powerful position in politics or science. Omi’s mother, Takatori Kikyou, was married to the politician Takatori Reiji, but had secretly been in love with his younger brother, Takatori Shuichi. Now there’s a situation where big brother finding out is a definite no-no.
It isn't certain whether Takatori Hirofumi and Masafumi were also the sons of Kikyou, since it's hinted that she had been in love with Shuichi before she married Reiji; and Hirofumi and Masafumi would signify that she had been with Reiji for a long time (Hirofumi looked very adult in the flashbacks before her death, after all). But since it is not said otherwise, most people would assume that both Hirofumi and Masafumi are also her sons.
Or, perhaps she had been in love with Shuichi but only started the affair ten years after her marriage with Reiji. Perhaps she's been having an affair with him the entire time. Perhaps she had only given in once. No matter whichever scenario really happened, Omi was the result. Omi is, officially, Takatori Mamoru and the youngest child of Reiji and Kikyou Takatori. In reality, he’s the bastard son of Shuichi and Kikyou Takatori.
Mamoru's (Omi's) story is sketchy at best. His two older brothers, Hirofumi and Masafumi, are many years older than him. The anime only shows one flashback for Mamoru- one of him running towards his brothers happily, falling and approached by Hirofumi, and then Mamoru running towards Masafumi with a giddy expression on his face. Many fanfiction authors think that this memory means his brothers tortured and abused him- I prefer to think that it is because Mamoru loved and was definitely loved by his brothers in return.
We never see any intimate interaction between Mamoru and Reiji; the only other thing Omi remembers about being Mamoru is his kidnapping, when Reiji refused to pay the ransom.
Ouch. Certainly a very effective way to tell his son "I don't love you- sorry, you're of no concern to me."
There is speculation that Reiji even arranged the kidnapping himself so that he could get rid of Mamoru- all because he found out that his youngest son wasn't his son at all. But whatever the real reason, it was Takatori Shuichi that rescued Mamoru from the kidnappers, and then recruited him to the Kritiker organization of assassins and whatnots. This is, of course, one of the biggest and saddest ironies in the entire series: Shuichi rescues Mamoru only to train him as an assassin, so that Reiji would be hunted down by his own "son." It is unfortunate that he didn't know Mamoru was his own son until moments before his death, seeing that the Drama CDs hint he is quite cruel to Omi during his training period.
Mamoru was twelve when he was first recruited, and it was soon afterward that Tsukiyono Omi was created; Mamoru ended up developing amnesia and thus forgot all about his past.
Strengths and Weaknesses?
Omi is an expert on projectiles- long distance weapons such as darts and crossbows and the bow and arrow. He was the first member of the current Weiss team. It's also speculated that Omi’'s not too hot in close-range combat... but that's not a fact yet, as you never see him get into a hand-to-hand fight. He's the resident hacker, information gatherer, strategist, and mission planner for Weiss. There are times in the series where he complains about the others not helping him, because he stays up to do all the research for the missions.
Omi's past also lends to both his strengths and weaknesses. The resurfacing of his past memories pretty much rendered him useless to Weiss the first season of the anime. However, finding out who he really was became his strength, foundation, and paved his way to fame in Gluhen. Omi is very much a genius- his understanding of computers, mechanics, and security systems has proved invaluable to Weiss time and again.
In the original series, he was a high school senior who worked at a flower shop by day, and was an assassin at night. It might sound cheesy, but if you really think about it, it would take a lot to keep that up; most teenagers already complain about school and dealing with family. Omi doesn't have family to be annoyed about; rather, he has a very dysfunctional family working to take over Japan/find immortality- but they don't count because he doesn't have to live with them or go to family reunions. On the other hand, he does have to deal with his teammates on a regular basis... so that should be enough to count as family. On top of that, he has a job as a florist to keep up. And on top of THAT, there’s the mind-numbing, nerve-wreaking, angst-inducing job of being an assassin and all the morals and mindwarp that it entails.
Make no mistake, people: Weiss Kreuz is an angst-fest loaded with eye candy, the eye candy being the bishounens angst-ing, because the fans almost always love to see their favorite characters in pain.
Another "weakness" might be Omi's empathetic abilities. Omi is meticulous and calculating- he’s not the type to rush into situations unprepared, unless it has hit him close to the heart. He has a soft spot for just about anyone about to break out in tears. He also has a hard time dealing with his past and his real family, but considering? That’s some pretty heavy shit anyway.
Most of first season's episodes dealt with Omi's past, starting with the kidnapping in episode seven, where he is suddenly hit by waves of fear and helplessness in the middle of the mission room- remnants of his past emotions. From then on, it deteriorates pretty rapidly... remembering the kidnapping meant remembering that his father refused to pay the ransom, which led to the questions such as "why didn't papa save me?" and (the real slammer)- "who am I?"
A viewer could just see all that stress and uncertainty adding up in the following episodes: the mission assigned for them to kill Takatori Masafumi ending only because Masafumi hesitated when he saw Omi, Omi researching on the Takatori family and finding out about a third and missing son of Reiji Takatori, and Omi finally confronted with a mission to kill his oldest brother Hirofumi. Omi finally breaks down when Hirofumi recognizes him as Mamoru, and insists that his "little brother" come back with him.
There are some people who easilydismiss Omi as a "crybaby." As far as I remember from my DVDs, Omi never cries after the first season. In the OVAs, he tears up appropriately for the choreographed act that Weiss had set up, but in the end his voice was cold and mocking. It’s sad, really. I thought of his ability to cry so easily as a strength, even though it might have annoyed the hell out of some other fans.
Omi’s relationship with Weiss:
I like to think that Omi is the glue that holds Weiss together; a romantic and idealistic notion. He's the youngest member of Weiss (by age, and by experience). He's portrayed as the cute one, offering flowers to those in need of a kind heart, with a warm smile for everyone. He’s managed to burrow his way into his teammates’ hearts, whether you want to think of them as "close" or not. And even if there are people who want to claim that the members of Weiss aren't very close at all (perhaps because their personalities just rub each other wrong), you can’t claim the same with Omi. He has cute scenes with all three of his teammates.
Omi is also the closest member of Weiss to Manx, who was the first secretary for Persia that we see in the original television series. It's hinted that she took a large part in raising him during the time Omi was training to be an assassin, and the interaction between the two of them when Omi starts to regain his memories suggests that she cares for him very much like an older sister or a mother figure.
Yohji is always teasing Omi about one thing or another, whether it be the time spent on the internet doing research, being a bishounen (pretty boy), or Ouka (the one girl he learns to love in the series). Yohji’s the one who comes up with the most nicknames for Omi in his spare time, going from "bishounen" to "Omittichi" to "chibi.
He's also the one most likely to get constantly nagged by Omi for smoking around the shop. They share the position for long-ranged weapons, so they are the most likely pair to get pitted against each other in the OVAs.
Omi's close relationship with Ken is pretty obvious in the series, and perhaps that's why the fangirls love to put them together in relationships so much. If there are solid relationships in Weiss, they’d be the closest. They’ve worked together the longest (as Ken was the second member of Weiss), and can be seen many a time talking about very personal things. It should be canon for them to be best friends, although it is never stated. As seen in the OVAs, they’re very comfortable around each other (i.e., falling asleep on next to each other) and it’s obvious that Ken has a protective streak for Omi about a mile wide.
Omi’s relationship with Aya is more complicated, and as such is covered more thoroughly in the series than his connection to either Ken or Yohji. For one thing, it's obvious from the very first episode (when Aya abandons a target to chase after Takatori Reiji) that the redhead absolutely hates anyone bearing the name "Takatori." After all, the bastard Reiji destroyed Aya's happy life at home. And when Omi revealed that he was a Takatori as well...
Well. Poor Omi.
But it certainly made for a few more angsty episodes and a good resolution to some of the crap that Omi was going through. There are small hints throughout the series that Omi may have a case of hero worship for Aya, and looks up to his older teammate for strength. Aya’s rejection of him because of the name he was born with devastated Omi, especially when the poor kid was going through a period of serious denial (when he was convinced that his family, or at least his brother Hirofumi, had at least some semblance of good in them).
It must be tough being the only white sheep in a family full of black sheep.
It was only after being rescued by Weiss, after being kidnapped by Shulderich and tortured by Hirofumi for information (which, although it’s never been written down as far as I’ve read- I suspect is mostly the doing of Shulderich’s mind warps added to natural suspicion, ‘omg, my little brother was actually there to kill me, but didn’t have the heart to do it! *gasp*’), that Aya confronts Omi with his resolution on how he didn’t hate him because of his name. In his typical, tactless-but-oh-so-sexy Aya manner, of course.
And naturally, after Aya tells him that, Omi finds the strength to carry out the mission and kill his remaining brother, cutting off another link to his past.
But it doesn't stop there. During the time when Omi had been in doubt, Omi had confronted Persia, the leader of Weiss and head of Kritiker, about his identity. It was a shock to his system to find out that Persia was actually his "uncle," and the head of the police division of Japan, Takatori Shuichi. It was just more angst for Aya to find out that not only one of his teammates a hated Takatori, but that his superior also.
True Love? Or Just Brotherly Affection?
Throughout all of Weiss Kreuz and Gluhen, there is only one "love interest" in Omi's life.
Ouka: Omi-kun~! *latches*
Omi: *stammers* Ouka-san! *tries to edge away*
--Just about any episode where Ouka appears
I have to admit, I found the pretty, blue-haired and wide-eyed "Ouka-san" plenty annoying at first. Why? Because she was doing what any true fan of Omi's would do: targeting him and not giving up. To put it simply, I was jealous. But she was such a fangirl that I couldn't stay mad at her for long. She was spoiled and had a pretty normal life besides the whole "no one in school will talk to me" thing and the "I was a product of some side-affair mom had with an important politician, but that's okay because he loves me anyway!" thing. (No, those are not actual quotes.) Fangirls usually don’t have as hard a life as the bishounen in an anime series, anyway.
Their relationship is somewhat of a strange one. She chases diligently after him, he shies away, she insists, he falls in love, then it all falls apart.
Ouka appears in the series as a rich girl who is much too spoiled when she comes to buy (almost all of) the flowers from the shop all the time. It’s easy to see that she does this only so she can stay and talk to Omi, rather than be kicked out by Aya (like the other girls who linger but don’t buy anything). Omi's reactions to her in the beginning were of nervousness and unease, perhaps intimidated by her rather strong come on. He tries his best to keep a professional distance from her, as she was still just one fangirl out of the dozens he had to deal with daily.
It's only when she follows Omi on a mission does he realize that, yes, she was very serious about him and was going to get hurt if he didn't protect her because she was now in a dangerous situation. Ouka then demonstrated her kindness and naivety by jumping in front of danger for a stranger and not knowing that she was in danger until she got hurt. (Or in that case, it was trying to chase away hunting dogs from a hunted man with a short stick, and having the dogs turn on her instead.)
Perhaps it was that action coupled with her still strong determination to woo him that gave Omi a second opinion about her. To calm her from her injury, he agreed to go with her to her father’s social event.
But, seeing as her father is actually Takatori Reiji, things were bound to go very wrong.
It was Shulderich (who is from Schwarz, the nemesis and arch-rivals to Weiss, and the bodyguards of Takatori Reiji as well as a small part of the world organization Esstet- but we don’t need to get too deeply into that at the moment) that found Omi at the social, and decided to have fun playing mind games with the currently, at the moment, most vulnerable member of Weiss.
Omi appears to be Schulderich's favorite victim in the series. Not only does he mess about with Omi's relations with his brother and who he really is, but he also seeks to torture Bombay with threatening Ouka, as well. He follows Omi out onto the streets, mocking him with Ouka's supposed reaction if she ever found out that the boy she crushed on was really an assassin who was targeting her beloved father. He also revealed to both of them how they were actually siblings, both sharing Takatori Reiji as their father (which wasn't true for Omi, but it was what he believed. They were actually cousins, in the end.)
Schwarz tried their best to turn Weiss away from Omi, giving fake messages and creating false photos. Luckily, Omi’s teammates knew him too well and didn’t believe any of that, although they did figure out that something was wrong and still fell into Schwarz’s trap (when Schulderich kidnapped Ouka). Sadly, she died in the end as the ultimate part of Schwarz's greater plan- to fool Takatori Reiji into believing that it was Weiss that killed his only daughter.
Gluhen prospects
How do you identify Omi in a Weiss picture if you've never seen the series before and therefore don't know who's who? He's the one with the widest eyes, the biggest smile and the shortest pants. (Technically, Omi’s always wearing shorts in Weiss Kreuz, but you see a significant shrinkage of those shorts into the OVAs. Fanservice? You decide.)
But it's not so easy in Gluhen. In fact, because of the change in character design, the only similarity you see in Gluhen are the blue eyes. Omi’s hair goes from bright blonde in the manga (technically, the Weiss manga is just a doushinji), to a dark honey blonde in the original television series, to grey (although I prefer to call it ash-blonde) in Gluhen. The changes of hair color for Omi is almost like the "color theme" of the series... from the light Assassin and White Shaman to the angst-fest that is Weiss Kreuz to the super omgANGST "death, death, oh welcome death" that is Gluhen.
Although I suppose that if you really look at it, it's a good thing that the character designs changed. We wouldn't want the all-powerful Persia, leader of Weiss and head of Kritiker, to look like a seventeen year old brat in shorts that could pass for twelve years old (I've seen the old character designs for Gluhen before it was changed- they all looked and dressed exactly the same).
But the change that Omi went through to get to Gluhen can be very hard to swallow at first unless you’ve listened to the Weiss drama CD Dramatic Precious. But that drama CD is dark, twisted, and evil in the way that all the members of Weiss are not getting a happily ever after, but instead the fans are informed that their psyche is now screwed for LIFE.
Accordingly, after the end of the OVAs, Omi is discovered by his last remaining relative- his grandfather. In Dramatic Precious, you find out that it was his grandfather that started Kritiker, and Weiss in general. Omi leaves Weiss for nearly two years to study under his grandfather’s tutelage, and then returns in Gluhen as the VIP of the show. You see in Gluhen that he’s forsaken the name of "Tsukiyono Omi," and has taken up his old name of Takatori Mamoru.
Takatori Mamoru, the 19/20-year-old rising star of politics, is the head of Kritiker and the leader of Weiss. He's depicted as constantly calm and composed, and perhaps a bit melancholy- a far cry from the happy, bubbly kid in the original series. He's made decisions that have trapped him in this life of deception and lies. One thing he retains from his life as "Omi" is his desire to free the rest of his teammates from the life of bloodshed and guilt that they just can't seem to escape.
By the end of Gluhen, he has announced the death of "Tsukiyono Omi" and has become the manipulative political bastard that he had once loathed, and was afraid of becoming in the original series. But there has to be a reason for it. Just because his charismatic persona and beautiful smile make him a great candidate for politics on television, and his fast-tracking mind and strategic skills will make sure that he survives in such a world, does not means he has to become a politician.
There has to be a reason. In Gluhen, you discover that he's gained a new ally who had once been his enemy in Weiss Kreuz... a very powerful ally who's now acting as his bodyguard; furthermore, someone with whom he's on personal terms with.
Well, that's what I assume when Omi addresses him as "Nagi-kun."
He also has a steadfast loyal subordinate in Rex, his secretary, and the entirety of Kritiker wrapped around his fingers. But there is unease in the ranks about the organization being run by someone as cold-blooded and unfeeling as Takatori Mamoru. In fact, it's almost as if Tsukiyono Omi and Takatori Mamoru are two entirely different people. On one hand, there's the boy who's only wish is to sell flowers with his friends, and on the other- there's a young man who knows he can manipulate the world to his favor... and works unfeelingly to do so.
Perhaps he has a hidden motive to doing what he's doing. Perhaps Takatori Mamoru is just a façade to cover Omi's hurt and determination to do good. Perhaps he's doing this because he knows that he has the power to, and that if Mamoru continues on as Omi, then his talent and future would be wasted... because only once in a blue moon someone come along with the genius, drive, experience, and name to change the world. If Mamoru doesn’t work for a future, then things will continue to stay the same and nothing will improve until someone else like him is born.
Or maybe the transference of power really has corrupted him. I don't like to think that, as there are moments in Gluhen when Mamoru’s expression just turns so sad… but that could either be taken as regret for what he has to do, or the rare moment of guilt for past actions.
Are there still some semblance of Tsukiyono Omi in Takatori Mamoru? Well, I guess we’ll all find out in Side B.
Conclusion
I love Omi/Bombay/Mamoru/Persia (boy, does he have an identity issue). I was pleasingly enchanted (yes, strange phrasing- but it's true!) by his sweetness and innocence in the first series, and absolutely enthralled by his manipulative knowingness in the second. It’s like (please pardon the Harry Potter reference) watching a Hufflepuff turn Slytherin.
He's one of the most enigmatic characters I've seen so far, yet has so much history already revealed about him. You feel that with all this information gathered on him, you should know his motives and intentions, but you don't. All his actions and his decisions can be taken more than one way. He's grown so much as a character... he has turned from the most childish to the most jaded. He's changed from the most innocent to the one with the deadest eyes. It's as though everyone, except for him, has escaped their sorrows and guilt (somewhat). He is the one trapped in the web of deceptions he’s created, where once upon a time he was the most innocent of the members of Weiss.
Where did that innocence go? Did it die out while we were watching, and we just somehow never even noticed? I can only hope that as Weiss Kreuz: Side B continues on, we'll get to understand Omi/Mamoru’s motives on why he does everything he does. He's such a breathtaking character to watch, and not just because he's a beautiful character, but because it’s so hard to figure out his thought processes.
Reccs:
LiveJournal communities:
_tsukiyono_omi_
weissomi14
Omi Fanfiction Archive
Fanfiction (fics that didn't have pairings and aren't too brain damaging):
Happily Screwed - Annonymouse
All I'd Give... - Taiitsu no Miko
Sometimes, He Would Dream -shamera
The Bombay Cat Flu - Tenshi no Korin
Now looking at it... there's not a lot of fics that don't pair Omi with someone and doesn't have anything psychologically disturbing... o_o Well, I guess I hope you like shounen ai and psychologically disturbing fics, then. ^__^;;
losthitsuzen and Julie for looking through this essay for me. ^__^ *kiss* I'll give you guys my Edward essay when I finish (which means I have to actually start...) Subject Line: Tsukiyono Omi (Weiss Kreuz / Gluhen)
Title: Moribund Innocence (I was going to call it A Killer Smile, but that's been overdone.)
Author: Shamera K. Tsukishirou
Spoilers: Keen spoilers for the first season of Weiss Kreuz, tiny bits of the second season and OVA, Dramatic Precious, and Gluhen!
Email: w_shamera@yahoo.com
Website: Burning Desire
Written for:
reflections_2Notes: Ahh, I already packed away my Weiss DVDs at the bottom of my suitcase a while ago, and don't really want to unpack and repack everything to get to it, so this was written entirely without quotage. >_O Sorry about that.
(LJ cut quote by Mark Twain.)
Seeing as I don’t think I could ever match up to some of the great essays in this community (ones written with lots of love and dedication, their words filled with adoration for their character), I've decided to take a slightly different approach to the character- hopefully one that bring out at least a smile or two, and maybe a few laughs. Doesn’t mean I don’t love him any less! I’ve adored Omi for too long to not tease him a little.
First Introduction?
My introduction to Tsukiyono Omi was about four years ago; I first started watching fan-subbed Weiss Kreuz on some pretty badly copied VHS tapes at a friend’s house after my theatre classes. And since then, my obsession with the series has continued to wax and wane... but never truly going away. I have the artbooks, I have various gadgets to put around my room, I have the boxed set of DVDs, and I’m dutifully awaiting the release of Gluhen on DVD. To be quite honest, I wasn’t very interested in the series when I first heard about it, and it took a while before I could be convinced to watch it.
Four bishounen florists who become assassin at night? It didn't really sound that appealing.
But I watched anyway, and- despite all the other bishounen characters in the show- completely fell in love with Tsukiyono Omi... although it certainly took a while for that to happen. Omi's character was first portrayed as the cute, sympathetic one; the smallest and youngest of the group of assassins, always with a kind smile and perhaps even a flower for those who were down. At first I thought he was cute to the point of being ridiculous- he was still a teenaged boy, after all, and his sweetness and genkiness were scarily akin to Card Captor Sakura.
And, he was wearing a pink hat.
Okay, so he got rid of the pink hat right away (we never see it again past the first episode) and his sweetness is toned down a lot once the angst-fest starts, but I think introducing his character in the series with uber happy-happy vibes might not have been the best idea if you wanted people to love the character. But it very effectively told you that Omi is perhaps one of the most innocent in the series, that he continues to hold on to his (illusory?) ideals of the world even after the things he sees and the things he has to do.
At least... he does in the first series.
But, being as I think that all the characters of Weiss Kreuz are actually extremely complex and more mind-boggling than our poor brains want to understand, Omi doesn't stay as innocent as when he first started out in the series. His wide-eyed naivety and genuine cheer dies throughout the series, although he's still the most genki. The real twist for Omi's character comes in Gluhen, though, and that is certainly a history that needs to be revealed. He changes drastically, doing an about-face on the viewers and leaving most of us going, "WTF?!" at the end. And perhaps it was this complexity that drew me to him rather than the sweet and deceptive "Killer Smile."
Omi’s Past
Tsukiyono Omi's real name is Takatori Mamoru, but the number of other names he has to answer to are enough to make one's head spin. His entire family history should be made into a tragic television soap opera- but even that wouldn’t do justice to the many twists and turns of the Takatori family. Omi was born on February 29th, the special leap day that only comes around once every four years. His image flower of Weiss is the Freesia, which, according to the language of flowers, means "purity" and "innocence." His code name within Weiss is "Bombay," the cat known for having pure black fur and golden eyes that greatly resemble an Indian black leopard. The Bombay cat is known for the pleasure it finds in human companionship, and it's disaffinity to being alone.
Throughout the first season, Omi's past is gradually exposed to the viewers, especially his relationship with his family.
The Takatoris are a very powerful family, with each member in a powerful position in politics or science. Omi’s mother, Takatori Kikyou, was married to the politician Takatori Reiji, but had secretly been in love with his younger brother, Takatori Shuichi. Now there’s a situation where big brother finding out is a definite no-no.
It isn't certain whether Takatori Hirofumi and Masafumi were also the sons of Kikyou, since it's hinted that she had been in love with Shuichi before she married Reiji; and Hirofumi and Masafumi would signify that she had been with Reiji for a long time (Hirofumi looked very adult in the flashbacks before her death, after all). But since it is not said otherwise, most people would assume that both Hirofumi and Masafumi are also her sons.
Or, perhaps she had been in love with Shuichi but only started the affair ten years after her marriage with Reiji. Perhaps she's been having an affair with him the entire time. Perhaps she had only given in once. No matter whichever scenario really happened, Omi was the result. Omi is, officially, Takatori Mamoru and the youngest child of Reiji and Kikyou Takatori. In reality, he’s the bastard son of Shuichi and Kikyou Takatori.
Mamoru's (Omi's) story is sketchy at best. His two older brothers, Hirofumi and Masafumi, are many years older than him. The anime only shows one flashback for Mamoru- one of him running towards his brothers happily, falling and approached by Hirofumi, and then Mamoru running towards Masafumi with a giddy expression on his face. Many fanfiction authors think that this memory means his brothers tortured and abused him- I prefer to think that it is because Mamoru loved and was definitely loved by his brothers in return.
We never see any intimate interaction between Mamoru and Reiji; the only other thing Omi remembers about being Mamoru is his kidnapping, when Reiji refused to pay the ransom.
Ouch. Certainly a very effective way to tell his son "I don't love you- sorry, you're of no concern to me."
There is speculation that Reiji even arranged the kidnapping himself so that he could get rid of Mamoru- all because he found out that his youngest son wasn't his son at all. But whatever the real reason, it was Takatori Shuichi that rescued Mamoru from the kidnappers, and then recruited him to the Kritiker organization of assassins and whatnots. This is, of course, one of the biggest and saddest ironies in the entire series: Shuichi rescues Mamoru only to train him as an assassin, so that Reiji would be hunted down by his own "son." It is unfortunate that he didn't know Mamoru was his own son until moments before his death, seeing that the Drama CDs hint he is quite cruel to Omi during his training period.
Mamoru was twelve when he was first recruited, and it was soon afterward that Tsukiyono Omi was created; Mamoru ended up developing amnesia and thus forgot all about his past.
Strengths and Weaknesses?
Omi is an expert on projectiles- long distance weapons such as darts and crossbows and the bow and arrow. He was the first member of the current Weiss team. It's also speculated that Omi’'s not too hot in close-range combat... but that's not a fact yet, as you never see him get into a hand-to-hand fight. He's the resident hacker, information gatherer, strategist, and mission planner for Weiss. There are times in the series where he complains about the others not helping him, because he stays up to do all the research for the missions.
Omi's past also lends to both his strengths and weaknesses. The resurfacing of his past memories pretty much rendered him useless to Weiss the first season of the anime. However, finding out who he really was became his strength, foundation, and paved his way to fame in Gluhen. Omi is very much a genius- his understanding of computers, mechanics, and security systems has proved invaluable to Weiss time and again.
In the original series, he was a high school senior who worked at a flower shop by day, and was an assassin at night. It might sound cheesy, but if you really think about it, it would take a lot to keep that up; most teenagers already complain about school and dealing with family. Omi doesn't have family to be annoyed about; rather, he has a very dysfunctional family working to take over Japan/find immortality- but they don't count because he doesn't have to live with them or go to family reunions. On the other hand, he does have to deal with his teammates on a regular basis... so that should be enough to count as family. On top of that, he has a job as a florist to keep up. And on top of THAT, there’s the mind-numbing, nerve-wreaking, angst-inducing job of being an assassin and all the morals and mindwarp that it entails.
Make no mistake, people: Weiss Kreuz is an angst-fest loaded with eye candy, the eye candy being the bishounens angst-ing, because the fans almost always love to see their favorite characters in pain.
Another "weakness" might be Omi's empathetic abilities. Omi is meticulous and calculating- he’s not the type to rush into situations unprepared, unless it has hit him close to the heart. He has a soft spot for just about anyone about to break out in tears. He also has a hard time dealing with his past and his real family, but considering? That’s some pretty heavy shit anyway.
Most of first season's episodes dealt with Omi's past, starting with the kidnapping in episode seven, where he is suddenly hit by waves of fear and helplessness in the middle of the mission room- remnants of his past emotions. From then on, it deteriorates pretty rapidly... remembering the kidnapping meant remembering that his father refused to pay the ransom, which led to the questions such as "why didn't papa save me?" and (the real slammer)- "who am I?"
A viewer could just see all that stress and uncertainty adding up in the following episodes: the mission assigned for them to kill Takatori Masafumi ending only because Masafumi hesitated when he saw Omi, Omi researching on the Takatori family and finding out about a third and missing son of Reiji Takatori, and Omi finally confronted with a mission to kill his oldest brother Hirofumi. Omi finally breaks down when Hirofumi recognizes him as Mamoru, and insists that his "little brother" come back with him.
There are some people who easilydismiss Omi as a "crybaby." As far as I remember from my DVDs, Omi never cries after the first season. In the OVAs, he tears up appropriately for the choreographed act that Weiss had set up, but in the end his voice was cold and mocking. It’s sad, really. I thought of his ability to cry so easily as a strength, even though it might have annoyed the hell out of some other fans.
Omi’s relationship with Weiss:
I like to think that Omi is the glue that holds Weiss together; a romantic and idealistic notion. He's the youngest member of Weiss (by age, and by experience). He's portrayed as the cute one, offering flowers to those in need of a kind heart, with a warm smile for everyone. He’s managed to burrow his way into his teammates’ hearts, whether you want to think of them as "close" or not. And even if there are people who want to claim that the members of Weiss aren't very close at all (perhaps because their personalities just rub each other wrong), you can’t claim the same with Omi. He has cute scenes with all three of his teammates.
Omi is also the closest member of Weiss to Manx, who was the first secretary for Persia that we see in the original television series. It's hinted that she took a large part in raising him during the time Omi was training to be an assassin, and the interaction between the two of them when Omi starts to regain his memories suggests that she cares for him very much like an older sister or a mother figure.
Yohji is always teasing Omi about one thing or another, whether it be the time spent on the internet doing research, being a bishounen (pretty boy), or Ouka (the one girl he learns to love in the series). Yohji’s the one who comes up with the most nicknames for Omi in his spare time, going from "bishounen" to "Omittichi" to "chibi.
He's also the one most likely to get constantly nagged by Omi for smoking around the shop. They share the position for long-ranged weapons, so they are the most likely pair to get pitted against each other in the OVAs.
Omi's close relationship with Ken is pretty obvious in the series, and perhaps that's why the fangirls love to put them together in relationships so much. If there are solid relationships in Weiss, they’d be the closest. They’ve worked together the longest (as Ken was the second member of Weiss), and can be seen many a time talking about very personal things. It should be canon for them to be best friends, although it is never stated. As seen in the OVAs, they’re very comfortable around each other (i.e., falling asleep on next to each other) and it’s obvious that Ken has a protective streak for Omi about a mile wide.
Omi’s relationship with Aya is more complicated, and as such is covered more thoroughly in the series than his connection to either Ken or Yohji. For one thing, it's obvious from the very first episode (when Aya abandons a target to chase after Takatori Reiji) that the redhead absolutely hates anyone bearing the name "Takatori." After all, the bastard Reiji destroyed Aya's happy life at home. And when Omi revealed that he was a Takatori as well...
Well. Poor Omi.
But it certainly made for a few more angsty episodes and a good resolution to some of the crap that Omi was going through. There are small hints throughout the series that Omi may have a case of hero worship for Aya, and looks up to his older teammate for strength. Aya’s rejection of him because of the name he was born with devastated Omi, especially when the poor kid was going through a period of serious denial (when he was convinced that his family, or at least his brother Hirofumi, had at least some semblance of good in them).
It must be tough being the only white sheep in a family full of black sheep.
It was only after being rescued by Weiss, after being kidnapped by Shulderich and tortured by Hirofumi for information (which, although it’s never been written down as far as I’ve read- I suspect is mostly the doing of Shulderich’s mind warps added to natural suspicion, ‘omg, my little brother was actually there to kill me, but didn’t have the heart to do it! *gasp*’), that Aya confronts Omi with his resolution on how he didn’t hate him because of his name. In his typical, tactless-but-oh-so-sexy Aya manner, of course.
And naturally, after Aya tells him that, Omi finds the strength to carry out the mission and kill his remaining brother, cutting off another link to his past.
But it doesn't stop there. During the time when Omi had been in doubt, Omi had confronted Persia, the leader of Weiss and head of Kritiker, about his identity. It was a shock to his system to find out that Persia was actually his "uncle," and the head of the police division of Japan, Takatori Shuichi. It was just more angst for Aya to find out that not only one of his teammates a hated Takatori, but that his superior also.
True Love? Or Just Brotherly Affection?
Throughout all of Weiss Kreuz and Gluhen, there is only one "love interest" in Omi's life.
Ouka: Omi-kun~! *latches*
Omi: *stammers* Ouka-san! *tries to edge away*
--Just about any episode where Ouka appears
I have to admit, I found the pretty, blue-haired and wide-eyed "Ouka-san" plenty annoying at first. Why? Because she was doing what any true fan of Omi's would do: targeting him and not giving up. To put it simply, I was jealous. But she was such a fangirl that I couldn't stay mad at her for long. She was spoiled and had a pretty normal life besides the whole "no one in school will talk to me" thing and the "I was a product of some side-affair mom had with an important politician, but that's okay because he loves me anyway!" thing. (No, those are not actual quotes.) Fangirls usually don’t have as hard a life as the bishounen in an anime series, anyway.
Their relationship is somewhat of a strange one. She chases diligently after him, he shies away, she insists, he falls in love, then it all falls apart.
Ouka appears in the series as a rich girl who is much too spoiled when she comes to buy (almost all of) the flowers from the shop all the time. It’s easy to see that she does this only so she can stay and talk to Omi, rather than be kicked out by Aya (like the other girls who linger but don’t buy anything). Omi's reactions to her in the beginning were of nervousness and unease, perhaps intimidated by her rather strong come on. He tries his best to keep a professional distance from her, as she was still just one fangirl out of the dozens he had to deal with daily.
It's only when she follows Omi on a mission does he realize that, yes, she was very serious about him and was going to get hurt if he didn't protect her because she was now in a dangerous situation. Ouka then demonstrated her kindness and naivety by jumping in front of danger for a stranger and not knowing that she was in danger until she got hurt. (Or in that case, it was trying to chase away hunting dogs from a hunted man with a short stick, and having the dogs turn on her instead.)
Perhaps it was that action coupled with her still strong determination to woo him that gave Omi a second opinion about her. To calm her from her injury, he agreed to go with her to her father’s social event.
But, seeing as her father is actually Takatori Reiji, things were bound to go very wrong.
It was Shulderich (who is from Schwarz, the nemesis and arch-rivals to Weiss, and the bodyguards of Takatori Reiji as well as a small part of the world organization Esstet- but we don’t need to get too deeply into that at the moment) that found Omi at the social, and decided to have fun playing mind games with the currently, at the moment, most vulnerable member of Weiss.
Omi appears to be Schulderich's favorite victim in the series. Not only does he mess about with Omi's relations with his brother and who he really is, but he also seeks to torture Bombay with threatening Ouka, as well. He follows Omi out onto the streets, mocking him with Ouka's supposed reaction if she ever found out that the boy she crushed on was really an assassin who was targeting her beloved father. He also revealed to both of them how they were actually siblings, both sharing Takatori Reiji as their father (which wasn't true for Omi, but it was what he believed. They were actually cousins, in the end.)
Schwarz tried their best to turn Weiss away from Omi, giving fake messages and creating false photos. Luckily, Omi’s teammates knew him too well and didn’t believe any of that, although they did figure out that something was wrong and still fell into Schwarz’s trap (when Schulderich kidnapped Ouka). Sadly, she died in the end as the ultimate part of Schwarz's greater plan- to fool Takatori Reiji into believing that it was Weiss that killed his only daughter.
Gluhen prospects
How do you identify Omi in a Weiss picture if you've never seen the series before and therefore don't know who's who? He's the one with the widest eyes, the biggest smile and the shortest pants. (Technically, Omi’s always wearing shorts in Weiss Kreuz, but you see a significant shrinkage of those shorts into the OVAs. Fanservice? You decide.)
But it's not so easy in Gluhen. In fact, because of the change in character design, the only similarity you see in Gluhen are the blue eyes. Omi’s hair goes from bright blonde in the manga (technically, the Weiss manga is just a doushinji), to a dark honey blonde in the original television series, to grey (although I prefer to call it ash-blonde) in Gluhen. The changes of hair color for Omi is almost like the "color theme" of the series... from the light Assassin and White Shaman to the angst-fest that is Weiss Kreuz to the super omgANGST "death, death, oh welcome death" that is Gluhen.
Although I suppose that if you really look at it, it's a good thing that the character designs changed. We wouldn't want the all-powerful Persia, leader of Weiss and head of Kritiker, to look like a seventeen year old brat in shorts that could pass for twelve years old (I've seen the old character designs for Gluhen before it was changed- they all looked and dressed exactly the same).
But the change that Omi went through to get to Gluhen can be very hard to swallow at first unless you’ve listened to the Weiss drama CD Dramatic Precious. But that drama CD is dark, twisted, and evil in the way that all the members of Weiss are not getting a happily ever after, but instead the fans are informed that their psyche is now screwed for LIFE.
Accordingly, after the end of the OVAs, Omi is discovered by his last remaining relative- his grandfather. In Dramatic Precious, you find out that it was his grandfather that started Kritiker, and Weiss in general. Omi leaves Weiss for nearly two years to study under his grandfather’s tutelage, and then returns in Gluhen as the VIP of the show. You see in Gluhen that he’s forsaken the name of "Tsukiyono Omi," and has taken up his old name of Takatori Mamoru.
Takatori Mamoru, the 19/20-year-old rising star of politics, is the head of Kritiker and the leader of Weiss. He's depicted as constantly calm and composed, and perhaps a bit melancholy- a far cry from the happy, bubbly kid in the original series. He's made decisions that have trapped him in this life of deception and lies. One thing he retains from his life as "Omi" is his desire to free the rest of his teammates from the life of bloodshed and guilt that they just can't seem to escape.
By the end of Gluhen, he has announced the death of "Tsukiyono Omi" and has become the manipulative political bastard that he had once loathed, and was afraid of becoming in the original series. But there has to be a reason for it. Just because his charismatic persona and beautiful smile make him a great candidate for politics on television, and his fast-tracking mind and strategic skills will make sure that he survives in such a world, does not means he has to become a politician.
There has to be a reason. In Gluhen, you discover that he's gained a new ally who had once been his enemy in Weiss Kreuz... a very powerful ally who's now acting as his bodyguard; furthermore, someone with whom he's on personal terms with.
Well, that's what I assume when Omi addresses him as "Nagi-kun."
He also has a steadfast loyal subordinate in Rex, his secretary, and the entirety of Kritiker wrapped around his fingers. But there is unease in the ranks about the organization being run by someone as cold-blooded and unfeeling as Takatori Mamoru. In fact, it's almost as if Tsukiyono Omi and Takatori Mamoru are two entirely different people. On one hand, there's the boy who's only wish is to sell flowers with his friends, and on the other- there's a young man who knows he can manipulate the world to his favor... and works unfeelingly to do so.
Perhaps he has a hidden motive to doing what he's doing. Perhaps Takatori Mamoru is just a façade to cover Omi's hurt and determination to do good. Perhaps he's doing this because he knows that he has the power to, and that if Mamoru continues on as Omi, then his talent and future would be wasted... because only once in a blue moon someone come along with the genius, drive, experience, and name to change the world. If Mamoru doesn’t work for a future, then things will continue to stay the same and nothing will improve until someone else like him is born.
Or maybe the transference of power really has corrupted him. I don't like to think that, as there are moments in Gluhen when Mamoru’s expression just turns so sad… but that could either be taken as regret for what he has to do, or the rare moment of guilt for past actions.
Are there still some semblance of Tsukiyono Omi in Takatori Mamoru? Well, I guess we’ll all find out in Side B.
Conclusion
I love Omi/Bombay/Mamoru/Persia (boy, does he have an identity issue). I was pleasingly enchanted (yes, strange phrasing- but it's true!) by his sweetness and innocence in the first series, and absolutely enthralled by his manipulative knowingness in the second. It’s like (please pardon the Harry Potter reference) watching a Hufflepuff turn Slytherin.
He's one of the most enigmatic characters I've seen so far, yet has so much history already revealed about him. You feel that with all this information gathered on him, you should know his motives and intentions, but you don't. All his actions and his decisions can be taken more than one way. He's grown so much as a character... he has turned from the most childish to the most jaded. He's changed from the most innocent to the one with the deadest eyes. It's as though everyone, except for him, has escaped their sorrows and guilt (somewhat). He is the one trapped in the web of deceptions he’s created, where once upon a time he was the most innocent of the members of Weiss.
Where did that innocence go? Did it die out while we were watching, and we just somehow never even noticed? I can only hope that as Weiss Kreuz: Side B continues on, we'll get to understand Omi/Mamoru’s motives on why he does everything he does. He's such a breathtaking character to watch, and not just because he's a beautiful character, but because it’s so hard to figure out his thought processes.
Reccs:
LiveJournal communities:
_tsukiyono_omi_weissomi14Omi Fanfiction Archive
Fanfiction (fics that didn't have pairings and aren't too brain damaging):
Happily Screwed - Annonymouse
All I'd Give... - Taiitsu no Miko
Sometimes, He Would Dream -
shameraThe Bombay Cat Flu - Tenshi no Korin
Now looking at it... there's not a lot of fics that don't pair Omi with someone and doesn't have anything psychologically disturbing... o_o Well, I guess I hope you like shounen ai and psychologically disturbing fics, then. ^__^;;