Episode 33: Shonen September Part 2
Disclaimer: The following consists of material owned by Daisuke Moriyama, Funimation Entertainment, and Studio Gonzo the current rights owners of Chrono Crusade this review is my property and is covered under the fair rights usage law.
The Classic Critic sat at his desk this time with an American flag unfurled in the background behind him. "Hello I'm the Classic critic; I remember it so you're not required to, Happy Patriot day, and welcome to week 2 of Shonen September." He said as this time a bunch of devils tried to swarm him on the title screen until he threw holy water at them while the banner got all wet.
"Originally I was going to do one of the big three of this generation; however with what's coming up on Sunday, I decided to review an anime that was set in America, unfortunately the number of those kind of anime is few and far between so I had to choose between two of them that I did know about; Baccano!, or Chrono Crusade." Airnaruto said as a cutaway gag kicked in
Cutaway gag
The gag showed Airnaruto earlier trying to figure out which anime he should review for Patriot day then pulled a coin out. "Okay if it's heads I do Chrono Crusade, if it's tails I do Baccano!" He said to himself before flipping it into the air and catching it. "Hmm, well Chrono Crusade it is." He said to himself before the gag ended.
End gag
"So with that in mind here's my review of Chrono Crusade." Airnaruto said as the opening theme for the show played in the background.
History:
"Chrono Crusade is a 24 episode religious, romantic, action, comedy series based on the manga of the name written by Daisuke Moriyama that debuted back in 1998 while the anime was released by Gonzo in 2003." Airnaruto said before making a shocked remark; "What the Hell another Gonzo installment?" He asked; "I didn't think I'd face them again this soon! There's no hope that this one could be any good. I might as well get this over with." He said as the plot and characters box appeared.
Plot:
"So this series is set in America during the roaring 20s or rather in the year 1928, where demon summoning has become the new pastime, but unfortunately there are some demons that you don't want to summon and when those demons start running amok, who you gonna call?" Airnaruto asked.
Crowd: GHOST BUSTERS!
"Very funny guys but no, you call the Order of Magdalene." Airnaruto said rolling his eyes at the Ghostbusters joke while the crowd just showed a blank look on their faces.
"Basically the Order of Magdalene is to Chrono Crusade what the Iscariot organization is to Hellsing. A special ops military unit of the American Catholic church only it's the nuns not the fathers going out kicking demonic ass." Airnaruto explained to the crowd who nodded in understanding.
"Among the order is our heroine Rosette Christopher, a 16 year old nun and exorcist with a zest for life." Airnaruto said before cutting himself off; "and fortunately unlike the exorcists from D. Gray man, Rosette and the order actually look the part and are exorcists though granted they use guns with alchemically blessed or enhanced silver bullets." Airnaruto said in retrospect.
"Anyway joining Rosette is the young devil Chrono and together they hunt down renegade devils known as sinners or more specifically one sinner in particular named Aion who had abducted Rosette's little brother Joshua and turned him into a devil." Airnaruto explained before adding one last other tidbit of info, "However despite the fact that Chrono Crusade borrows elements from shows like Trinity Blood, Hellsing, and D Gray Man, the approach the story took was similar to the original FMA series in the sense that they followed the manga faithfully through about half the volumes and then because of lack of source material they had to back write what they had and take the story in an alternate direction and much like with Full Metal Alchemist, I think it worked. While the comedic moments are just full of epic levels of slap stick in my opinion and the really emotional moments are just enough to make you cry your lungs out especially the ending which I won't spoil." He said before getting to one other fact.
"If you're also wondering how Chrono could go from a humble modest young devil boy to one deep voiced fighting badass. It's like this…" Airnaruto said after he held up both photos of Chrono that he had on him before switching to his photo of Rosette and circling a certain trinket around her neck. "You see this thing that looks like a cross between a locket and a pocket watch?" He asked the crowd who nodded back.
"Well in Chrono Crusade, a devil's power is reliant on the soul of his contractor, so in order for Chrono to go from a modest, kind, and innocent little boy, to this beast he has to have Rosette unseal the watch so he can feed off her soul but once that watch runs out Rosette will die." Airnaruto explained before moving on to the animation aspect.
Animation:
"As earlier mentioned this a Gonzo series, and personally I think that along with Gankutusuou, Chrono Crusade shows them at their best, the characters move pretty fluidly, the pallet has some nice use of vibrant colors for both the bright and fun going parts and the dark action and horrifying parts, It's also clear that the creators took a lot of time researching every locale to get the feel and atmosphere of America during the 20s and it just looks beautiful. The action scenes are just fast paced, well executed, and smooth as silk." Airnaruto said before moving on to the Sub vs. Dub aspect.
Sub vs. Dub:
"No contest watch the English Dub especially since they use all the 20s slang to give it a feel that's just era appropriate like; cat's pajamas, hot dog, everything's Jake, and applesauce just to name a few." Airnaruto said before listing off the voice actors; "Out of all the voice actors that will cast I think that Hilary Haag and Greg Ayers are no doubt the stand out performers in this show as Rosette and Chrono respectively especially since both of them lost their voices on several occasions while performing their roles due to all the heavy acting and some screaming." Airnaruto said before moving on to the supporting cast "However aside from them; Jason Douglas does a better job than I would give him credit for as Father Remington, Jessica Boone plays the young Azmariah pretty well for someone who's been in the industry for as long as she has if you ask me. Andy McAvin plays the sinisterly sneaky Aion, though what I found to be odd was who they cast for Joshua's voice actor, you know they picked?" Airnaruto said before showing the scene of Rosette and Joshua meeting Chrono for the first time.
Joshua: You're a devil? Wow I don't believe it!
"Yeah believe it or not that's Chris Patton." Airnaruto said before he got cut off by Zim.
Zim: HE LIES!
"Shut up Zim." Airnaruto said to the Irken invader as the music category of the review appeared.
Music:
"The music I find to be pretty well done with a nice combination of Jazz, Blues, and some choir singing as well to give it that holy atmosphere, and Azmariah's singing voice being just beautiful when you hear it, that it just soothes your soul." Airnaruto said as Azmariah's singing was heard in the background.
Final Rating:
"Overall while Chrono Crusade has some issues, with small amounts of fan service a few animation hiccups, touchy religious subject, frightening demon enemies and lack of background lighting in some spots, it is a definite anime masterpiece for anyone to enjoy. It has a great story, a well rounded cast, and an ending that will just make you cry buckets but at the same time give you a sense of comfort." Airnaruto said before giving his verdict. "I give Chrono Crusade 4 and ½ stars out of 5." He said before the camera cut back to him. "Well that's it for now tune in next week when I truly will look at one the current generation's big three so until next time, I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to and Happy Patriot Day folks." He said giving a salute while God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood played in the background.
Final Analysis:
Pros: Great animation
Original plot
Character development is pretty strong
The English dub makes use of the 20s slang very well
Ending will leave you in tears
Action scenes are fluid and slick
The backgrounds are just beautiful
Fan service moments are subtle for the most part
Cons: Some backgrounds are difficult to see
Religious subject matter may not be for everyone
Some monsters and demons look frightening
Animation has a few hiccups though not many.
Final score: ****1/2 out of 5
Well folks that's it for now so until next time read and review