Chrono Crusade, Complete Series

Chrono Crusade.This review of Chrono Crusade is going to be lightweight (I’m not a fan of spoilers). I’d love to write an in-depth article featuring my thoughts on all the characters, story and so on. However, I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who don’t want to know everything. Plus I’m a terrible writer (and a worse speller). So here’s my attempt at a review:

STORY!

Chrono Crusade flat out rocks. I liked it a lot. It’s now one of my fave anime series, blah blah blah. So what’s it all about? Well, without giving too much away, it’s set in the 1920s. I was about to make a really funny joke here, but realized that it inadvertently gave away the ending. Close call. Rachel will know what I mean.

Basically, the Order of Magdaline is a Catholic group of demon fighters (think ‘Hellsing Lite’). Rosette Christopher (equals = hot) is the main character (kinda like…um…a demon-fighting nun). Sister Rosette is teamed with Chrono – her companion (with an unusual connection to her) who is a demon (but doesn’t always look like one). Rosette’s beloved brother Joshua disappeared a few years prior, she is eventually driven to find him no matter the cost.

Does that explain it with as little detail as possible to get you interested but not enough to ruin any surprises? I hope so. A few highlights:

CHARACTERS!

Chrono Crusade features a team of really strong, individual characters. Relationships become essential as the series moves forward – they really draw you into the story. Here’s the main cast of characters (the main ‘goodies’ are in bold):

• Chrono
• Rosette Christopher
• Joshua Christopher
• Aion
• Satella Harvenheit
• Florette “Fiore” Harvenheit
• Duke Duffau
• Azmaria Hendric
• Ewan Remington
• Edward “Elder” Hamilton
• Kate Valentine

Great Anime Character Design™ is also an important element to a character-driven show like this. The series has that in spades – thanks to character designer Kazuya Kuroda. Each character is instantly recognizable and doesn’t suffer the same fate of some series – people who all look the same. The colors choices are excellent and expressions are emotive. Very memorable.

MUSIC!

The music is largely traditional orchestra-style, which gives it a larger-than-life feeling. It’s almost as if this is a huge, super-long feature film. It kinda plays in the background, so it isn’t overwhelming. Not strong enough to rock out to, but effective.

Music composition: Hikaru Nanase / Noriyasu Uematsu (OP) / Yuki Kajiura (ED)

ANIME PRODUCTION!

The production values are excellent. I can’t remember the last time I saw such crisp color, attention to detail, a high level of consistency and explosive effects.

Production Studio: GONZO

CONCLUSION

Overall, the Chrono Crusade anime series is an excellent show that I really enjoyed. The characters are memorable, well-designed and original – to me the strongest part of the series. The story was very interesting, the action well-plotted (I didn’t mention that earlier) and the music was well-done. Oh and the other demons are really cool.

A little production information for you:

• Director: Yuu Kou
• Script: Atsuhiro Tomioka/Natsuko Takahashi
• Storyboard: Hiroyuki Kanbe/Koh Yuh
• Music: Hikaru Nanase/Noriyasu Uematsu (OP)/Yuki Kajiura (ED)
• Original Manga: Daisuke Moriyama
• Character Design: Kazuya Kuroda
• Art director: Toshiro Nozaki (Studio Hoo Bow)
• Mechanical design: Tomohiro Kawahara
• Art design: Akihiro Hirasawa (Studio Bihou)
• Cgi director: Atsushi Takeyama
• Co-director: Hiroyuki Kanbe
• Director of Photography: Katsuaki Kamata (Studio Twinkle)

Read the complete list of cast & crew.

Ultimately, I would recommend watching the entire series as close together as possible because it’s worth your time. Well, it’s been fun. Time for the rating:

4 out of a possible 4 Kasugai™ Gummies!