Chrno Crusade

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Chrono Crusade: 9/10

Definitely a series I don't hear being mentioned enough nowadays. I found out about Chrono Crusade (also known as Chrno Crusade) by picking up the complete anime box set at a Half Price Books for about $15. I got super invested in the story and after about 7 episodes I got into other series that unfortunately took priority. A couple months later I bought volumes 3-7 at the same Half Price Books and then 1 and 2 on amazon, hoping to finally get through this series. (Plus it was dirt cheap... I finally got volume 8. Currently, it's going for wayyyy too much ... online since it's out of print and considered kind of rare).

Only recently a couple weeks ago did I start to read the manga with intent to finish it. I got about 28 chapters in and once again felt completely invested. And somehow the same exact thing happened, I began to take priority over other series instead of finishing this masterpiece that was right in front of me. I finally said, screw it, sat down on a calm summers night and read from 29 to the finish. Within its 58 chapter span there were dozens of emotions at play and needless to say I ended up feeling all of them.

The setting takes place during the roaring 20's in the USA, which isn't very common in manga and I found it to be very interesting. Despite knowing the overall outcome of something that happens at the end (thanks google) I still found it to be enjoyable and very tragic. I almost shed a tear. The characters were outstanding especially Chrono, Azmaria, Aion, Rossette, Satella and Remington. The development was just perfectly fit into this manga's short span.

I will say Chrono Crusade isn't an extremely mind boggling or complex story, in fact I consider it to be quite simple. Very many classic manga tropes were present and the dialogue was very shounen at times but I found it to be charming. Please give this one a read and don't put it off like I did for so long because it's better to take it in all at once.

I have a lot I want to say about Daisuke Moriyama's Manga Chrono Crusade. One of which is that it is one of the BEST Mangas I've read to date. I'll also go as far to say that its much better than its Anime counter part.

I'm getting ahead of myself here so I go back to how I was first introduced to Chrono Crusade. A good friend of mine told me about this series and said it was one of his favorites, so I was interest but I watched the Anime first. The Anime for Chrono Crusade was pretty ... good in its own right but after I got a hold of the Manga and read it, the Anime doesn't come close to being as good as Moriyama's Original work.


Story:
The story of Chrono Crusade takes place in the 1920's America were Rosette Christopher, a Exorcist who's apart of a organization called the Magdala Order, hunts down demons who are going around causing destruction and harm to the citizens of New York. Unfortunately, she has a reputation of causing more destruction than the demons themselves. Aided by her demon partner and close friend Chrono, Rosette sets out on a journey to find her lost brother Joshua and along the way, they meet new friends, allies and powerful and dangerous new enemies. As the plot unfolded, I was amazed on how well Moriyama took a story about exorcists and demons and made it into story of never giving up and beating the odds. There were scenes that were so sad that I actually wanted to shed a tear, it was that powerful for me. Also it has some really funny scenes too, like Rosette getting drunk for the first time.

Also, I want to compare the Anime version which was done by studio Gonzo with the Manga version and how it told the story. For starters both versions start out same with little changes from the Anime version, but there are some parts that were left out or completely change from the Manga version. Like were Rosette becomes a wondering ghost at night, that was actually an amusing and enjoyable side story. In the Anime, however, this scene was left out and I think now that Gonzo should of keep it in.
Instead there were pointless side stories like zombies in Central Park or Chrono gets sick and Rosette going out to I find a cure. These stories were never really that interesting for me and were kind of boring. As for the ending, I don't want to give anyway anything but I will say that the Mangas was more sad for me. The Animes was sad as well but it didn't fell like it was as good as the Mangas in my opinion. I just could fell how Rosette and Chrono felt in the end in of the Manga version then in the Anime version.


Art:
The art is another thing I want to praise here. From the first page all the way to the last page, the art was fantastic and great to look at. The background detail of 1920's New York and all the way to the flying fortress of Eden look really well drawn. Even Moriyama's character designs look a lot better to Gonzo's design. The fight scenes are also well done and are easy to follow so that is also another plus for the Manga.


Character:
Now here's what I really wanted to talk about, the characters. The characters of Chrono Crusade were really fun and enjoyable. Rosette, Chrono, Azumaria, Satella and Aion had there own traits and personalities. With Rosette being a loud mouth and getting her own way and Chrono with his cheer-free attitude and trying to keep Rosette under control. Again, there were changes to these characters in the Anime. I won't talk about every character so I'll only talk about the main ones.

First Rosette, there weren't a lot of changes to her characters. She still had a attitude and was a handful at times but she keep moving forward and did the right thing. So not much change.

Chrono, not much change to his character ether but I will say he was more bad-ass in the Manga. In the Anime, he was kind of a wimp.

Azumaria, I'm going to say that she was more useful in the Manga than she was in the Anime. In the Manga, Azumaria had more of a role (even at the end) and she was more likable. In the Anime, all she really did was stand and look cute.

Satella, just like Azumaria; Satella was way more likable here in Manga. She wasn't a stuck bitch all the time like in the Anime and she actually showed that is did care for her friends. Again, way more useful here.

Finally Aion, Aion was a more calculating character here and at times (when Chrono's past was reviled) he didn't seem to be that bad. He kind of reminded me of Light Yagami from Death Note in way. Where in the Anime, he was just your typical evil character and was also a pervert.


Enjoyment:
I could go on and say how much I enjoyed this Manga but I'm going to keep it simple. I enjoyed the grand scale of the plot, the fine art-style, and the fun and likable characters as they went throw their journey. I enjoy it all and I would read it all again in a heart beat.


Overall:
Man, this is the longest review I've ever wrote, but that just shows how much I like this Manga. I'm really glad I was able to find all eight volumes of Chrono Crusade because now a days, its pretty hard to find them anymore, and their wroth every penny.
Chrono Crusade is easily one of my favorite Mangas of all time and trust me by saying it is wroth the read.

Final score: 10/10.

Honestly speaking, I didn't find the work very exciting, and I also believe it suffers from a lack of originality. The characters often use the typical phrases from the series, like "Once again, I couldn't achieve anything" or "I don't want to burden anyone anymore; I want to become stronger." Even the dynamics concerning the relationships between the characters follow well-worn patterns, such as the character seeking revenge who eventually befriends one of the protagonists after realizing a misunderstanding, or the character struggling to express and understand human emotions, learning to do so thanks to another character. All of this, of course, happens without any ... meaningful additions that could make it somewhat interesting.

Some characters find themselves in situations triggering their development, but it often seems as if this primarily serves to allow the character in question to overcome a specific situation without, except in rare cases, witnessing any genuine change leading to character growth, which we only see a bit of towards the end.

The author also attempts to delve into elements related to the world of demons in the work, but, even in this case, I must say that the demon cosmology and their culture don't bring anything interesting along with them.

Regarding the drawing style, I would describe the author's style as a well-executed but somewhat mundane one that effectively accomplishes its purpose. However, I must also mention that, at times, some onomatopoeias were so large that they hindered the comprehension of the scene in the panel.

Additionally, I found the design of some demons quite appealing. I particularly appreciated the brief part of the work that brought a Western atmosphere with it, complete with demons dressed as cowboys.