"Bloody Cross" is definitely something for all of you who really enjoyed the "Fate"- series. Bloody Cross contains the same type of elements, but execute them in it´s own way. I will go in a bit in detail about how good I think this piece is, and why.
Story: 10/10
Bloody Cross has a type of plot I really enjoy. You are from the start thrown in to the story, that will throw you off board many times. Intriguing plot twist, intense characters and many agendas are colliding at several times during this read. Just like the Fate series the main plot centers around a Holy Crusade and magic, where the contenders are plotting and tries to outsmart their rivals. The one who wins the holy crusades becomes the new god, and to win the contender has to claim 13 divine relics that will appear on different locations and times. The god candidates them self has been given great power to reach their goal. I love this type of storytelling, it´s filling the plot with a lot of tension and mystery. Who´s gonna come out on top? Of course the one with the sneakiest plan, greatest skills, and a huge portion of luck, and that part varies a lot. We get temporary alliances, deals and trades. You never know what many of the characters true agendas and reasons are - it´s a war-like situation and everyone has something to gain, and everything to loose. The mangaka has done a great job of learning you about the crusades, the relics, the different kinds of seals and so on as the story progresses. Many factors are unknown to the contenders as well, which gives "Bloody Cross" a nice touch of mystery to it. We get angels and demons, different dimensions, sword- and magic fights, strategy and tactics, agreements and betrayals, interesting magic-tech and familiars.
And in this mess we have Tsukimiya and Hinata. They are getting involved when in their attempts to get rid of their half-blood curses, makes them collide with the god´s candidate Tsuduki and his demon companion Hanamura. Tsukimiya seems just to be getting involved by bad luck and circumstances, but Hinata´s involvement and motives are long unknown - what´s he after, and why? Our main due has one of hell of chemistry as well - may it be mind gaming, sexual, comical, thinking out a strategy, betray each other or making a pact, I always enjoyed their exchanges. They can go from enemies to lovers to one time allies in a heartbeat. This made up for a lot of entertaining moments.
Art: 9/10
I personally really liked the art. It´s very black and white and plays a lot with clear lines and symbols. I think it has certain elegance to it. You can tell that the mangaka has a thing for black and white suites, eye-patches and stockings. It personally think that it did work very well on the characters and the story. The magic was displayed very nicely with glowing effects and delicate symbols and patterns. I liked the characters design and mostly Hinata´s. That look suited his personality really well. The characters has long, lean bodies and some has interesting hairstyles. The backgrounds are nothing extraordinary, but fills their purpose and don´t get in the way of the display of the magic.
Character: 10/10
I can honestly say that the characters was the best with this read. I really enjoyed all main and supporting characters. Tsuduki and Satsuki (the gods candidates) was well fleshed out with backgrounds stories and much panel time. Even Hanamura, Izumi and Kanade get´s good invested time and interesting roles to play. Bloody Cross would have been many times less appealing to me if it wasn´t for it´s great characters. They are funny, characteristic, sarcastic, smart, intelligent, egoistic, determined, sneaky and all out entertaining. They makes this holy crusade into a multipurpose chess game, with their lives at stake. They build the tension, and many of the them was so brilliantly dubious. You never know what was gonna pop up around the next corner, their schemes was so complex that the outcome came and bite you in the ass. And how they came up with comeback plans was always something that tugged on my nerves. As I mentioned before I really enjoyed the chemistry between Tsukimiya and Hinata. Their relationship develops perfectly with the plot. Much of the time they don´t trust and use each other. But during the progress of the story they start to develop a "we against the world" bond. And they hide this new feeling for each other behind their typical attitudes. It´s clear form the start do, that they are drawn towards each other - they usually ends up making out and grouping each other (or mostly Hinata feellng up Tsukimiya), and often at the most random places. I liked how their journey played out. Both Hinatas and Tsukimiyas past will be explored but not until in later chapters. A bit of the intrigue and mystery is just their past and mostly Hinatas person. He acts in such a way that you just can´t figure out his motives, It makes up for a nice twist in the story.
Enjoyment: 10/10
This was truly a good read. I will buy it and have it in my collection. I read the whole thing in no time at all. The chapters just flow buy. I loved the complex and action packed schemes, all the funny and intriguing characters, the magic and powers, the brutality of the crusades, and Tsukimiyas and Hinatas relationship. They make up a hell of main duo - I enjoyed their interactions a lot, their development didn´t feel forced or boring at all. I will for shore read it again and again, Bloody Cross has become one of my favorites.
Overall: 10/10
I love action and mystery packed game/fantasy stories so this was a real hit for me. I liked that the characters was as sneaky as they were, and that their actions made me gap several times. The chemistry between the main duo was excellent, the crusades exciting and interesting, and the story didn´t drag out to long and managed to keep all the suspense and tension and release them at the perfect time. Awesome. I can warmly recommend Bloody Cross to everyone (ok, maybe not if you don´t like sneaky characters, dramatic plot twists and loads of blood).
