Ranked #157

Chrno Crusade (Manga)

Some of you may be looking at this manga and are probably thinking: "Is this actually good?" Well, in my opinion it's almost like asking: "Is the pope catholic?" Speaking of catholics, this manga uses a lot of catholic references in a very clever way. However, the catholicism in this manga is what sort of turns readers away from Chrno Crusade. I know it did to me, but when I gave it a chance, it turned out to be one of my favorites.

The story is actually a little slowly paced. I mean, it's a very original story, especially in the way that the catholicism was used was brilliant. The only thing I have against it, is that it takes a little while for you to get the full story. However, once you get the full stoy, this manga really takes off and soars. Which means that the action doubles, and the excitement tripples. Not to mention the story leaves a lot of room for an unforgettable manga.

The art is pretty interesting. It's actually one of those styles that if you saw it in a different manga you'd say: "Hey! That's Daisuke Moriyama's Art Style!!" This manga also has great cover art that is very smooth, and has a lot of depth to the color. The character's personalities are also immediately revealed just from the way they look. The characters are also consistant with their looks throughout the entire series. So, to make a long story short: The art is great.

The characters of Chrno Crusade are tremendous. They truly are. Each new character is introduced flawlessly and you are also immediately able to get into them. They are also very likable. Another great aspect of the characters is the development. You can actually see the relationship between Chrono and Rosette develop along with their trust for each other. The development is also smooth and not rushed. Not to mention that each of the characters have an interesting past that allow to get more and more into them, and you also sort of get to know them. The characters definintely deserve a 9.

All of this leads to the enjoyment.
Chrno Crusade is definitely not a boring manga. It may take a while for you to really get into it, but if you give it a chance, and are patient, this manga may very well become one of your favorites. Just like it did to me. Chrno Crusade delivers a perfect amount of excitement, a fair amount of necessary comedy, and pure fun. It's fun to read, and will keep you glued. Don't be fooled by thinking that catholicism will ruin this manga. I will asure you, it doesn't. In fact, it really just makes it better. I recommend this series to those who want a manga that's a fairly quick read, (8 volumes, 56 chapters) or to those just want something that's entertaining, and a fun read.

Verdict:
Rating: 8.3/10
Bottom line: Good plot, good characters, good art, very unique. read more

The first time I encountered Chrono Crusade (I called it 'Chrno' Crusade for many years!) was when the anime was still being fansubbed. It was random; I saw it was being subbed by a group that was subbing something else I was watching at the time and I decided to give it a go. I ended up following it weekly until the depressing (yet satisfying) conclusion, later going on to buy the lovely R1 slimpack box set. While I didn't give the anime top marks due to the rushed Gonzo 'original story' second half of the anime, I do think of it as a very solid 8/10 series that's great to watch.

Until last month, the above was the end of Chrono Crusade ('CC' from this point onwards) and me - I hadn't started reading lots of manga until long after my memories of the anime had faded and by then I didn't have the motivation required to read the manga online. However, I saw an auction for mint copies of Vol. 1-8 (the entire series) and, since I've always wanted to see the real story in full if I could get my hands on the series for a good amount, I won it.

It's safe to say the cover art of the volumes is the best I've seen up to this point. All of the cover art is wonderful and all of the covers have vivid colours that would catch the eyes of a wandering manga reader in a book store. And, to sweeten the deal further, the lovely colour artwork doesn't end with the covers, every volume having at least one colour page inside the book, the early chapters having quite a few and the near end volumes having only one or two. These volumes were the first I've read that included some colour pages, and I hope to see more of the same in my future purchases.

As for the standard black and white pages, the art quality is excellent throughout, thanks in no small part to the manga having been serialized monthly, which means the author had a lengthy amount of time to do his work in. While I'm not exactly knowledgeable when it comes to good and bad art, my uneducated brain failed to spot any flaws in the drawings.

The only problem with reading the panels I had was following certain parts of the action. A problem that I'm sure certain manga authors have is with planning fights and how the fights should flow from one panel to the next - it must be very difficult to accomplish when they're restricted to a set amount of pages. Some manga authors are good at putting stories together and others are good at putting action sequences together, and I think the author of CC is better at creating stories than he is at making action flow from panel to panel. But don't get me wrong; the fights weren't put together badly and I was able to understand what was going on most of the time, it's just I noticed how I wasn't following the action as well as with some shounen manga that I've read recently.

Before getting into anything else, it's best I give a description of the plot for people who, unlike me, haven't already watched the anime before getting into the manga...

CC comes across as rather silly at first. A nun/exorcist working for the Magdalen Order called Rosette Christopher and her demonic partner called Chrono go on trips around America killing demons. In between these character introduction missions is lots of comedy; some of it as a result of perverted jokes and the majority coming from the dialogue between the main two characters...or rather, coming from Rosette's short tempered personality and poor Chrono getting hit. Thankfully, the story becomes much more interesting and gains depth after the opening chapters - it isn't long before you're shown the tragic events that occurred in the past that resulted in Rosette agreeing to a contract with Chrono where she would give him the power to use his demonic abilities at the cost of her own life (Rosette wears a clock around her neck that ticks away when Chrono uses his powers from that point onwards). Without spoiling too much, all I can really say is that the reason behind Rosette joining the Magdalen Order and fighting together with Chrono is her brother, who went missing prior to the start of the story.

Forgetting about Rosette's brother, the heart of the story is about Chrono and his past as a sinner of Pandemonium (In the CC universe, Pandemonium is the equivalent of what we consider to be hell in our world). Chrono once betrayed his own kind by fighting for Aion (the leader of a group Pandemonium view as sinners) in order to be free from the chains of Pandemonium. However, after the friendship the two shared soured due to a certain person, the two became enemies who walked different paths, leading to the start of the CC story.

What makes the story of CC special is the main theme of the story, which is how people can use what little time they have to the fullest. Rosette is fighting the clock throughout the story as her contract with Chrono causes her to lose a little of her life each time Chrono transforms into his adult/demonic form (he disguises himself as a youngish boy in order not to use his powers and hide his identity) and uses his abilities. Chrono, being the soft-hearted demon that he is, always tries his hardest not to use any of his demonic power, fighting like a human and often simply supplying Rosette with ammunition for her guns. As Rosette selflessly throws away years of her life in order to save her brother and Chrono tries his hardest not to use his powers in order to keep Rosette alive, you can almost feel the unbreakable bond the two share just by reading the pages; they're the best of friends and yet, by fighting together, Chrono can't help but drain the life of the person he cares about the most - it's both touching and tragic.

It's very rare in any fictional story for a relationship between two characters to reach out and touch the heart of its reader/viewer, but that's exactly what Chrono and Rosette's relationship did, in my case at least. What kept me interested in the series wasn't the fact it has nuns with guns (and fairly large buns); it was the relationship of the two main characters. Most of the dialogue came across as natural as the two bonded over the course of the story. They argued and they cried but it was always clear that the two had strong feelings for each other, even if they didn't always express their feelings in words.

Just before shutting up about the story, let me add one complaint about the story that made me give it 8/10 instead of 9/10. I felt that too much story was crammed into the final chapters and not enough was spread over the other volumes. When I was reading the last two volumes I couldn't get rid of the thought that an easy to follow story had suddenly become far more difficult to follow due to the author not pacing it brilliantly. Some of the plot elements, one near the end in particular, lost me and it probably could've been avoided if more time had been spent explaining certain parts of the story.

Now that the most important bits are out of the way I can focus on the less important bits, starting with manga and anime differences. Apart from a death scene in volume seven, the anime diverges completely from the manga towards the end of volume six. But even before the plot diverged completely, there was lots of filler added. For example, Aion appears much earlier (in the flesh) in the anime then he does in the manga, his anime appearance occurring during a zombie outbreak filler story, with him somehow ending up with his tongue down Rosette's throat. Aion also has another filler episode later where it's shown that he uses a human woman (who happens to be madly in lust with him) to kill humans in order for him to use their souls as energy... with Aion somehow ending up nearly raping Satella. Just going on those two examples, it should be clear that both the anime and manga are very different and show the characters in different lights, Gonzo seemingly wanting to turn Aion into a sex pest.

Before my back refuses to allow me to bend over my keyboard typing, the last thing I want to touch upon is the ending of the manga. Surprisingly, both the anime and manga endings are very similar: both end in the same sort of way (I can't elaborate without spoiling) and both stories fast-forward to the future in the epilogue. If I was to choose between the endings, the winner would be the anime ending because... well, it ended the story in a depressing yet peaceful way. And, though I'm sure it was just thrown in to make the story appear far deeper than it really is, I also liked the surprise at the very end of the final episode.

Overall, I loved the story to bits and would recommend it to anyone. If you're looking for a very well done story about someone shortening their own life to achieve their dream, this is for you.

Rating: 9/10

I'm now going to try to rest my poor back. Here's hoping the review helps someone! read more