Chrono Crusade Review

story 8/10

As always with GONZO, you can expect high class animation, fanservice here and there, action, comedy and dramatic moments -- Chrno Crusade is no different. The story follows the same pattern as Full Metal Panic. It kicks off with some action and lighthearted moments then goes into smaller arcs while there is an underlying plot being developed. The story jumps around like that for 2/3rd of the series and you get to know the characters, background etc. It's done in a standard, fully OK way. The last third is then decidated to serious action so to speak. Hardly any comedy, just action, drama and strong feelings. There are still some moments of fanservice (although very small and very few) during these times which I personally found inapropriate. It kind of kills the whole mood. They've done the same in the past with animes like Kiddy Grade. This is just a minor thing however and is rather easy to just ignore, though it's still unnecessary from my point of view. But such things as intended audience and standards plays a role I guess.

animation 9/10

This is GONZO we are talking about, and they tend to hold the trophy in this department. That being said, Chrno Crusade had fluid animation, nice character designs, vibrant colors and awesome CG integration. The CG is used heavily during the dramatic moments in the form of shading, smoke, lighting, and explosions. Very crisp animation in general.

The character design is of the more "traditional" doctrine. We have the younger characters with big eyes (not as big as in dating-sims though), smooth face outlines and wide smiles. The older characters have narrow eyes and a more pointy and accentuated face.

sound 6.5/10

It's discreet. I liked the OP and ED tune very much (8/10 on that) but the music in the anime is okay, nothing special. Actually, while I sit here writing this, I am trying to actually remember the music, but I find it very hard. The music is, in other words, okay and it blends in nicely with what happens on the screen. The instruments used in the tracks vary -- some tracks are created solely with classical instruments, whereas others utilize a synthesizer.

I have to praise some of the VAs in this show. I don't know their names but they have once again proven that Japan has some highly skilled VAs. I cannot go into specific details since that would spoil. but there are moments which depict desperation, sadness and fear in an extremely moving way (not necessarily all of those at the same time). It was a frequent occurence that I felt I had to wipe my eyes if a scene didn't end soon, but that was just a fact in this series.

characters 8/10

We've got some nice character development here. Not so much in the beginning, but the development department kicks in every here and there and really kicks in during the last third of the series. The characters are by no means deep or special in that way. They are rather generic, per say, with the happy girl who carries a big burden inside and the strict person who acts cold but in reality is very caring. Regardless, they did a good job at giving these generic characters time to develop, and it's done smoothly.

overall 8/10

Nuns, devils, sinners, angels...Pistols, rifles, swords, holy crosses, barriers and so on, one helluva mix. Chrno Crusade is an anime which has been heavily criticized by some groups for being too mainstream -- I do not quite agree. While it does have many elements combined which just screams "lots of different audiences at the same time", I think everything is wrapped together in a neat package. Or to put it like this: It might be mainstream, but it's very good mainstream. There are some elements, as I wrote above, which I found unnecessary and from what I have heard these elements do not exist in the manga which I am currently collecting. I have, however, not read it yet.

I will have to give it 8 out of 10. I can't give it more because the first 1/3rd is too generic with a 'Monster of the day' theme. The remaining 2/3rds is nice in the aspect that this is when the character development kicks in for real, and the underlying plot becomes more visible. The last third is just awesome with action, lots of drama and quirks. Although some things feel very cliché (what doesn't nowadays) there were unforeseen moments all the time. I don't know if it was because I saw the last parts around 2 AM, but that was how I saw it.

All in all, check out Chrno Crusade if you like action, drama, some spiritual and Christian stuff wrapped up in a package consisting of top-of the line TV animation.