Chrono Crusade Recommended

Publisher
ADV Manga
Writer
Daisuke Moriyama
Artist
Daisuke Moriyama
Country of origin
Japan
Length
2 volumes
Year
1999

Chrono Crusade

By Eric
19th Sep 04

Well, I've finally had a chance to read this manga for myself. I can happily say that it was worth the ten dollars I spent on it. From beginning to end, Chrono Crusade is a mixture of both humor and action, neither one disappointing.

True, the story doesn't have an original bone in its body. I'd bet money that every single anime/manga/gaming fan has seen a demon hunter, and probably one that works for some holy organization as well. The main protagonist, Sister Rosette, is the typical tomboy troublemaker who is constantly generating disapproval from the other nuns (Hm...can we say SOUND OF MUSIC?!?). Perhaps the only saving grace of the story lies within Rosette and her demon assistant, Chrono. Chrono's powers are sealed, yet Rosette can unleash them in a desperate situation through a contract she made with him. Only problem is that doing so takes a few years off her lifespan.

Despite a mostly predictable storyline, the manga is still plenty of fun to read. The high point of Chrono Crusade is arguably the dialogue and artwork, which are so silly yet well-made that you can't help but enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, a few of the action scenes can sometimes be hard to make sense of, due to the simple fact that there's a lot of effects to draw (glowing light, blood, explosions) and that they can only be done in various shades of black, white, and grey. However, this seems to be a problem many mangas have, so I don't blame Chrono Crusade too much for not figuring out a way around this yet.

I'm sure that the creator of this manga wasn't planning to release something that the world had never seen before. After all, the story clichés are hard to ignore. It's more likely that he wanted to put out something that everyone could just sit down and have some fun with, which is just what he's done. I've said it before and I'll say it again: When it comes to anime and manga, the most important thing of all is whether or not it's fun, and Chrono Crusade is a shotgun-toting, demon summoning, car-wrecking good time.

-- Eric 19th Sep 04