Zagreus Cross

Zagreus Cross (Japanese: ザグレウスの十字路, Hepburn: Zagureusu no Jūjiro, lit. Crossroads of Zagreus) is a Japanese manga and anime series that has fringe popularity in certain demi-human communities for its exploration of themes including individual identity, grey morality and mutuality. It follows the story of Ueivus, a holy knight who fights for the fictional world religion of the Order of the Cross (Japanese: 十字架の騎士団, Hepburn: Jūjika no Kishidan). She fends off demons and undead that have regularly threatened her nation for many centuries, who finds a renewed understanding for her enemy after an encounter with the necromancer Nichol, and discovers the corrupt truth of the Order.

Characters

Early translations and promotional material provided calqued versions of the surnames cited in the original Japanese. This localization decision has been widely contested, usually deemed "too literal" or "unfaithful", and certain fansubs opt to instead transliterate the Japanese names directly.

Main characters

Ueivus Rain (霧雨ウエブス, Kirisame Uebusu)

Ueivus is a human warrior and holy knight, who wields a magical sword bestowed upon her by the Order of the Cross. Her hair and eyes are colored salmon pink, and she has a light complexion. She is described as having "delicate features" and a slender body. She wears a suit of full plate armor which is reinforced with scales to provide protection against magic and is decorated with an emblem of the Order, although she abandons the emblem later on as she discovers it does not empower her and is only holding her back. Later in the series, she mainly wields dark magic. She is shown to have a strong sense of duty, which is occasionally used against her by her enemies. Critically, Leonard is shown to have a great deal of psychological leverage over her.

Leonard Chester (栗山レナード, Kuriyama Renādo)

Leonard is the High Priest of the Order of the Cross and Ueivus' superior. Despite his renowned title, he has little to know magical power of his own. He is extremely narcissistic and demonstrates a ruthless inferiority complex, and shows no remorse for his actions, considering everyone around him as purely a means to an end. Though initially kept a secret, he had two older brothers, Luca and Horace, whom he had killed during his youth, presumably out of jealousy for their magical power.

Leonard is shown to be emotionally unstable, particularly around Ueivus, who he initially tries to manipulate into serving him. When he unlocks his own psychic power toward the end of the series, he attempts to use it to hypnotize Ueivus and reclaim her loyalty, and manages to drive her to kill Naila. Later, he is nearly killed by Ueivus in retaliation for his crimes, and narrowly spared under the condition that he either exile himself or commit suicide. The manga ends with a panel of his silhouette hanging from a noose, followed by a matching silhouette standing on the ground in front of him, implying he did not actually die. However, this scene was withheld from broadcast due to international television code.

Nichol (ニコル, Nikoru)

Nichol is a necromancer, who previously served the Order of the Cross until Ueivus and Naila drove her away. She eventually defected from the Order after her suspicions of Leonard came to a head, studying necromancy under the tutelage of Maou. She is extremely skilled in magic, consistently claiming the highest performance in the training academy she and Ueivus attended. She fights using a combination of dark and holy magic, the foundation of the art of necromancy. She has an extremely high threshold for pain, and is shown to be deeply willing to sacrifice herself for humankind and demonkind alike. She has emerald green eyes, blonde hair and a pale complexion.

Maou (魔王, Maō)

Maou is the pseudonym used by the demon queen, the current leader of the Nation of Demons. She is shown to have mildly hedonistic tendencies and presents herself in an extremely licentious, vulgar manner, but truly cares for her subjects. She does not believe demons are any more inherently evil than humans even though they preside over sin, and claims she leads attacks on the Order out of necessity to protect her kind. She has a pair of bladelike horns that extend from her forehead, and a set of large, batlike wings.

Supporting characters

Naila (ナイラ, Naira)

Naila is a healer and a member of the Order of the Cross. She is a childhood friend of Ueivus and Nichol, and was later excommunicated by Leonard for her association with the two, then considered a traitor. Though she was not personally witness to the true nature of the Order, her excommunication drove her to side with them as the conflict developed. She never fought on the frontlines, but cared for Ueivus' and Nichol's wounds and, in later acts, used support magic to empower them. In the penultimate act, she was killed by Ueivus while under Leonard's control.

Lilith (リリス, Ririsu)

Lilith is the direct aide of Maou. She is characterized as shy and clumsy, and is depicted occasionally as a comic relief character, with her mishaps as the catalyst of minor drama. Ueivus disparagingly describes her as "too damn cute for being such an idiot" when they first meet. Despite this, she maintains a secretly calculative and sadistic side, and is in fact a master tactician who helps command Maou's army. Even on occasion, though, her military plans are derailed by her clumsy mannerisms. She has purple eyes and black hair, which is styled with twin pigtails tied together by ribbons, and she is a full head shorter than Ueivus.

Media

Manga

The manga was initially serialized in 1992, and later collected and rereleased as four individual tankōbon volumes in 1994. The manga was not officially translated to English until 1998, in light of the moderate international success of the anime adaptation.

Anime

An anime adaptation of the original manga was announced in April 1995, and began broadcasting in Japan on April 10, 1996 with an initial run of 13 episodes. The first season adapted the full manga, while the second season covered an original story directed by the original author and director of Zagreus Cross and aired from January 3 to March 27, 1999. The entire series was eventually released in a box set with various extras included.

A total of 13 episodes were released on Blu-ray, and the entire series on DVD, on the show's 20th anniversary in 2016. The home releases featured a new English dub with closed captions, intended to address many of the concerns fans had with the original official subtitles. A total of two films were later released: "The Sacred Rune", and "The Secret of the Demon Lord".

The first opening theme is "Crossroads" (クロスローズ) by Kotomi Saito. The first ending theme is "Monochrome" (モノクローム), performed by Ayumi Yoshino. An extended mix of "Monochrome" was used in episode 9, "Tears in the Sky", which plays after Ueivus is temporarily separated from Nichol, and plays during the episode's final scene.

No.	Episode title	Summary	Airdate
1x01	Crossroads (Japanese: 十字路, Hepburn: Jūjiro)	A young woman, Ueivus, is a knight of the Order of the Cross. While she is on patrol she encounters a young boy, who has been resurrected as a zombie by a powerful necromancer. He appears to not understand what has happened to him. His body seems to have been recovered from a mass grave, alarming Ueivus as the desecration of the deceased's bodies is considered one of the gravest sins by the Order.	April 10, 1996
1x02	Rebellion (Japanese: 反乱, Hepburn: Hanran)	Ueivus traces the origin of the ghost boy back to the necromancer Nichol, who she recalls from her childhood in a vivid flashback. She is appalled that Nichol would have defected from the Order, but is harshly reminded that it was her own actions and Naila's that tore them apart. Nichol expresses a sense of kinship with the ghost boy, talking about him as if he was her child.	April 17, 1996
1x03	The Holy Sword (Japanese: 精霊の剣, Hepburn: Seirei no Tsurugi)	Ueivus' hometown is overrun by demons and undead minions, and she defends against them ruthlessly with her holy sword. Naila, Ueivus' childhood friend and a healer, shows her compassion to the undead, even while fighting them. Eventually, Nichol interposes and demonstrates the assailants are more sentient than believed, merely starved. She pleads for Ueivus to stop attacking, and demonstrates her ability to reason with them to curtail the attack.	April 24, 1996
1x04	The Rebellious Priest (Japanese: 反逆の司祭, Hepburn: Hangyaku no Shisai)	Ueivus is troubled by her violent reactions to the undead and her lack of sympathy for the demon army she is fighting against, which seems to be protecting the lives of its inhabitants. She wonders if she should venture out to the Nation of Demons to try to understand them better, and is persuaded by Nichol. However, she still does not fully trust Nichol and believes it is an elaborate ruse, since she has personally witnessed and defended against the attacks headed by the demon army.	April 31, 1996
1x05	The Demon Queen's Castle (Japanese: 魔女の城, Hepburn: Majo no Shiro)	Ueivus travels to the Nation of Demons to speak with Maou, the demon queen, but is captured and held captive by her guards. After several hours in captivity, she is freed by Lilith, who explains her detainment was the result of an accounting error. She learns about the daily life of the demon army and is shocked that the demons are not inherently evil, as she was raised to believe, and that they are fighting to protect their own people and the rest of the world from a larger threat. As she leaves Maou's castle, she is stopped by Lilith to inform her that Leonard is not the innocent man she thinks him to be, citing her photographic memory spanning many centuries.	May 7, 1996
1x06	The Demon Lord's Conspiracy (Japanese: 魔女の計画, Hepburn: Majo no Keikaku)	Ueivus confronts Leonard, the head priest of the Order, in an effort to determine the truth of what he has been told about the Nation of Demons and its intentions. While she cannot verify the demons' innocence, she becomes convinced that Leonard is not a good person after witnessing his overt attempts to manipulate her. Leonard aggressively and subversively belittles Ueivus, suggesting that she is nothing without his guidance and the Order, and implying that any further attempt to question the Order will have her dead. Recalling her youth when she would bully Nichol, she grows spontaneously disillusioned with the Order.	May 14, 1996
1x07	For the Best (Japanese: 最高のために, Hepburn: Saiko no Tame ni)	Under the tutelage of Maou and Nichol, Ueivus begins to study and practice dark magic herself. She accepts that she must derive the power of her magic from the deceased, and rationalizes it by comparing herself to decomposer animals and microbes, simply returning the energy they leave behind to the rest of the world. She gets into a heated argument with Nichol over the merit of human and demon life, which eventually escalates into a physical altercation using their dark magic powers. Ueivus is handily defeated, but Nichol refuses to deal the finishing blow, claiming she cannot finish the fight alone. Her ego shattered, Ueivus jokingly claims she is suffering a fate worse than death, and obstinately forgives Nichol.	May 21, 1996
1x08	Ashes to Ashes (Japanese: 灰から灰へ, Hepburn: Hai kara Hai e)	At this point completely estranged by the Order of the Cross, Maou accepts Ueivus as a "honorary demon", a title she swiftly rejects. Ueivus overhears Lilith in her private quarters, planning an attack against the Order of the Cross, and follows her to investigate. She finds that the Nation of Demons had been secretly preparing for a massive assault on the Order, with Lilith serving as a general and strategist. She attempts to convince them to back down, insisting they will only face defeat, but they refuse, having become fed up with the Order's endless oppression of their kind. Instead, Ueivus is roped into fighting alongside Nichol and the demon army.	May 28, 1996
1x09	Tears in the Sky (Japanese: 空に涙, Hepburn: Sora ni Namida)	Ueivus and Nichol reunite after a time apart. Despite their prior conflict, Ueivus is rejuvenated by seeing her former friend return to fight by her side. However, the battle with the demons goes horribly wrong when she is separated from Nichol in battle, and subsequently disarmed and cornered by members of the Order. She is rescued from the brink of death by Naila, who has since been excommunicated from the Order. Naila explains that she values her role as a healer far more than her affiliation, and has turned her back on Leonard in pursuit of altruism. The demons are forced to retreat, and Ueivus sees Nichol in another infirmary tent, whose wounds are also being tended by Naila.	June 4, 1996
1x10	Mirror, Pt. 1 (Japanese: 鏡、その１, Hepburn: Kagami, Sono 1)	Though relieved by the success of the most recent battle despite having to fight against three of his most prized former soldiers, Leonard becomes increasingly unstable, and begins to have psychotic hallucinations. He imagines himself meeting with Maou, who tells him of the existence of a cursed mirror which can allow him to see into the world of the dead. Leonard intends to use the mirror to track down Ueivus, but instead sees his own deceased brothers in the mirror. They taunt Leonard for his weakness, and ultimately cause his sanity to slip entirely. He smashes his head against the mirror to shatter it, and loses consciousness. The episode ends showing Leonard passed out on his desk, an empty flask in his hand, implying he hallucinated the entire encounter.	June 11, 1996
1x11	Mirror, Pt. 2 (Japanese: 鏡、その２, Hepburn: Kagami, Sono 2)	Ueivus rallies Nichol, Maou and Lilith to devise an actual attack plan against the Order, who have fortified themselves even further since the last failed attack and intimate their plans to commit genocide against the Nation of Demons. They directly target Leonard, but Nichol cautions the team about a powerful magical aura emanating from his stronghold, explaining that a head-on attack would be paramount to suicide. Ueivus, having lost her holy sword in the prior battle, resolves to fight entirely with dark magic, while Nichol plans to use her staff, normally a complement to her magic, as a melee weapon.	June 18, 1996
1x12	Sacrifice, Pt. 1 (Japanese: 犠牲、その１, Hepburn: Gisei, Sono 1)	In preparation for their attack on Leonard's stronghold, Ueivus begins to question whether a demon victory will truly usher in an era of peace. Maou assures her that she has no plans to rule as a despot if the conflict dies down, and explains how her reactively violent ideology was forged in fire. Ueivus instructs Lilith to manage the demon army, providing a distraction for the knights of the Order, while she and Nichol can fight Leonard directly. Naila pledges to help proactively, using support magic during the battle rather than only using healing magic after injuries are already sustained. Ueivus and Nichol fight through Leonard's elite knights, but he himself does not appear to be present.	June 25, 1996
1x13	Sacrifice, Pt. 2 (Japanese: 犠牲、その２, Hepburn: Gisei, Sono 2)	Unlike the former episodes, this episode has a runtime of 90 minutes. Ueivus and Nichol eventually locate Leonard, but find him standing in front of the cursed mirror. A shadowy presence lurks in his reflection, but Leonard dismisses its existence, laughing maniacally. He demonstrates his newfound magical powers, acquired through the loyalty of his knights, by casting a hypnotic spell on Ueivus, rendering her unconscious and taking her captive. Determined to rescue Ueivus, Nichol initially desists, but refuses to leave without her. When she goes to confront Leonard, Ueivus reemerges, her eyes vacant, wielding her holy sword. With Leonard's control over her, Ueivus swears to protect him and attacks Nichol and Naila, fatally striking the latter. Maou narrowly intervenes, urging her to consider that Leonard is manipulating her, reminding her that she was fighting for the freedom of humans and demons alike. In attempting to resurrect and use the bodies of deceased knights of the Order in the fight, Nichol revives Naila as a zombie. She resolves to continue the fight in her degraded form, but she is too weak to fight. As such, she uses the last of her energy to instead recite her dying wish to Ueivus, telling her to understand how powerful she is and fight for what she believes in. Stirred by her friend's plea, Ueivus regains her consciousness and realizes Leonard's deceit. She battles him with everything she has, using both her holy sword and dark magic in a synergistic display. Before she can deliver the finishing blow, she is restrained by Nichol and Maou, the latter of which demands she should not follow in her path, and should not stain her hands with unnecessary blood. She agrees to spare Leonard under the condition that he either exiles himself or commits suicide, under the supervision of the zombified Naila. In a scene excluded from the television release, the silhouetted, hanging corpse of Leonard is shown over a blood-red background, before a living version of Leonard walks past the dead body, mirroring the final scene of the manga.	July 2, 1996
OVA	The Secret of the Demon Lord (Japanese: 魔王の秘密, Hepburn: Maō no Himitsu)	An alternate story that takes place two years after the end of episode 13, which does not conform to the series' continuity. Ueivus, now a human diplomat who works closely with the Nation of Demons to ensure peace is kept, vacations to the Beaches of Caellun to unwind. She is confronted by the demon king Maou, who offers to spar with her. After she denies to engage in combat, the offering is rephrased as a volleyball tournament, pitching the human Ueivus and Nichol against the demonic Maou and Lilith. The match becomes fiercely competitive, and the players talk and act as if they are fighting to the death, despite the low stakes of the tournament. Ueivus narrowly wins the match using a "Cosmic Spike of Death", parodying the names she attributes to her attacks in actual combat, but concedes she still has much to learn as a volleyball player. The zombified Naila watches from a distance, noting the ridiculosity of the situation, but seeming happy that the group is getting along well. In the last moments of the OVA, Maou asks Ueivus if she wishes to be an ally or an enemy of the demons. She responds that she is not an enemy, but not an ally, either, and states that she is only on the side of peace.	March 30, 1997