Schwarz in the Weiß Kreuz Timeline and Media

Ah, the simplicity that is the Weiß Kreuz timeline. Not.

In actuality this is one fandom with two different accounts, one manga and one anime, of the origin story of Fujimiya Aya, arguably the main protagonist of Weiß Kreuz. Schwarz is directly involved in the destruction of his family in the manga origin story, and although not evident in the anime origin story, would have been Takatori's bodyguards at the time.

The first long story arc, the anime series 'Kapitel', is followed by several different stories - in novels, manga, anime, OAV and dramatic CD (there's also songs, music and music videos). Continuity and logic don't always follow through in all of these and they often contradict themselves.

In fandom, this complex situation is further complicated by fans ignoring various parts of the canon timeline, either because they haven't seen it (most Weiß Kreuz media is still only in Japanese) or because they dislike it (usually Glühen, which is vastly unpopular with many fans, but which also has its die-hard adherents).


Weiß Kreuz media which Schwarz appear in:

Dramatic Collection I: The Holy Children
MMCC-1003, Marine Entertainment, 1st Press: 21.10. 97, 2nd Press: 20.10.99
The back-story for Nagi Naoe of Schwarz and Hidaka Ken of Weiss. Crawford appears in it briefly a couple of times.
According to the official timeline that was published on the Marine Entertainment Weiß Kreuz page, The Holy Children took place after episode 6 of Kapitel. genkischuldich did a translation of the timeline here. I have, however, left this first for various reasons - the main one being Nagi's about 10 in the Drama CD, yet 15 in Kapitel, which is only 3 years later. Another of those wonderful "WTF?" Weiß Kreuz moments. . .
(thanks to genkischuldich for the translation & adrenalynnrush for the tip)

An Assassin and White Shaman
Manga series. The original 'base' Weiß Kreuz story, telling how Weiss get together as a foursome and including Aya's origins. Schwarz all appear.
Scan with translation can be found here:
Aya no Weiß
This is an excellent site for all things Weiß Kreuz. There also used to be an online scanlation of this manga with a slightly different translation but alas, I can no longer find it.

Kapitel [aka Knight Hunters]
Anime series. This starts after Weiss have worked together for a little while. Includes conflicting origins for Aya to An Assassin & White Shaman.

'Verbrechen' und 'Strafe' ['Crime' and 'Punishment']
OAV, 2 of them. Set after the Kapitel series. Crawford and Schuldig appear briefly at the end.

Dramatic Image III: Schwarz I
MMCC-1023, Marine Entertainment, First Press: 28.06.00 2nd Press: 27.06.02 Creator: Project Weiß
Pre-Glühen story about what happened to Schwarz after the Verbrechen/Strafe OAV. Details a bit more on Farfarello's powers, as well as Crawford and Schuldig's backgrounds. Explains what happened to Farfarello and why he doesn't appear in Glühen in the flesh.
(Personally, I consider this a Mary-Sue story of awe-inspiringly saccharine proportions. I have to suppress the urge to vomit every time I read it)

Dramatic Image IV: Schwarz II
MMCC-1020, Marine Entertainment, 1st Press: 20. 07.00, 2nd Press: 25.07.02
The second half of the above.

Carnival
Music video about which the less said, the better.

Glühen
Anime series, set after the Kapitel series and the Verbrechen/Strafe OAV. Different writer and character designs. Includes Schwarz in episodes 10 to 13.
"Glühen" is the biggest 'Love it/Loathe it' feature in Weiß Kreuz fandom. On the plus side, it has interesting points and plot devices, and the original characters of Weiß become even more tortured. On the negative side, the hysterical melodrama of the overall story and dialogue are OTT, the visual mutilation of the characters is horrific, and the original characters of Weiß become even more tortured.


In conclusion:
A webpage that succinctly explains the origin and publication history of the Weiß Kreuz media:
http://www.lelola.net/wk/history.shtml

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Jargon buster:
Anime - Japanese animated cartoons
Drama CD - audio drama (i.e. radio play). A sound-recording story with the anime's seiyuu and usually also theme songs for the characters, as well as intro and ending themes.
Manga - Japanese comic books
OAV - Original Animation Video - usually prequel or sequel movies with better animation than the series they're based on. Especially true for Weiß Kreuz!
Seiyuu - Japanese voice actor