CHRNO CRUSADE
Maria von Trapp needed firepower like this
Review by: M.H. "The hills are alive" Torringjan
Length: 24 eps
Genre: Adventure, supernatural
Watched: 24 eps, subbed
I'm finally willing to admit it, I'm a SquEnix addict. ("Hi, M.H.!") When I saw the title of this, I thought, "Wow, a sequel anime series to Chrono Trigger?" Well, not quite. Although I felt gypped initially, my annoyance turned into genuine interest in this series after a few episodes.
Plot summary: New York in 1928: a battle rages for control of human souls between demons and a group of nuns known as the Order of Magdala. Rosette Christopher, one of the members of the Order, and her partner, Chrno, a demon himself, act as exorcists against the demons who try to cause trouble in the city. When an ancient evil known as Aion rises to threaten the balance between Heaven and Earth, the two of them must face their pasts and defeat their own demons in order to prevent Aion's plans from being complete.
Artwork: As far as series go, it's fairly standard. The backgrounds were pretty well-rendered, the animation was sharp, and the character designs were standard. The demon character designs are the best part of the artwork, although they're about the same as previous efforts to portray demons. A downside is that battle scenes get choppy at times, and there are shortcuts taken in the animation (close-ups, books covering mouths, and so on).
Music: Nuns had a better soundtrack when Rodgers and Hammerstein were in charge of them. The music was appropriate for the mood, and the battle music wasn't too overwhelming, but what there was was fairly generic and could have been done better. The opening and closing themes are the only two stand-outs in the soundtrack, and they're pretty darned good. Otherwise, I'd just download the Hellsing soundtrack again and listen to some real music to kill demons to.
Characters: Rosette Christopher is the top exorcist for the Order of Magdala. She's brusque, clumsy, selfish, and generally the type of nun that makes you wonder if god actually does exist. Her primary motivation is to find her brother, Joshua, who was taken away by Aion when she was young, prompting her to join the Order. She's virtually inseparable from her partner, Chrno, a demon with ties to Aion and his bunch of hooligans. Chrno has pledged to help her find Joshua, since it'll lead him to Aion so that he can settle up the score. He's a cheery, thick-skinned guy who seems ashamed of his past and desires to make up for it. Aion is an ungodly powerful demon who leads a band of demons in a revolt against heaven. He's "standard bad guy #243", since he'll go to any lengths to achieve his ends, he acts as a deceiver, turns against friends, yadda, yadda, yadda. No real depth to this guy, substitute "take over the world" for "challenge Heaven" and you've got any random adventure bad guy with demons. Father Remington is the highest agent of the Order, assigned with the task of investigating Aion's plot and the 
whereabouts of Joshua. He acts as the father figure for Rosette and seems to completely ignore the fact that she has a crush on him (probably because most of the girls in the convent do). Satella Harvenheit is a Jewel Master from a dead tribe who hates demons passionately. This doesn't lend to the relationship when she meets with Rosette and Chrno, since her stubborn personality clashes with Rosette's and Chrno's a demon. Azmaria is the series' "fluffy bunny" character. She's the most quiet, demure, willing, and friendly character of the series, and whenever you see her about to cry, you have to say "Awwwwwwwww" or your head will explode. Her holy powers make her a target of the demons, and end in her sadness because those she cares about are often dragged into the conflicts.
Plot: When I say "Nuns with guns" to people in connection with this series, they give me an odd look and decide it's better to go about their business, pretending they never heard anything. Unfortunately, the plot isn't that original, nor is the concept (although combining Hellsing with the Sound of Music wasn't something that I would ever have thought of). The way that the plot's handled is pretty interesting, but it's lacking something that would make this an unforgettable series. Maybe it's the lack of a badass or the lack of an original villain or something like that. Point is, it could have done better.
Chicks!! At least it tried. Rosette Christopher is a busty, feisty nun in the Magdala order who seems like she'd be willing to do a bit of the missionary position with the right guy, assuming she'd already saved her brother and taken out Aion. The girl's got a one-track mind, and unless you could find a way to get it fixed on you, you'll be in for a bit of a tough time. Azmaria *is* the cute one of the series, but she's also under legal age in most countries, so you might have to wait a while for her to mature. If she's anything like the other nuns, though, she'll grow up to be really nicely shaped, and as long as her personality stays about the same, she'll be a real prize some day. Satella is similar to Rosette, in personality, if not in form. Her increased bust and the lack of a nun outfit would make her a much more desirable target than Rosette for me. Finally, in a quick play to the catgirl audience, they decided to add a glasses-wearing catgirl as one of the villains. Other than she'd be very willing to play with a ball of string while performing medical experiments, not much development is done on her character. It's a shame, since she's the most attractive chick in the series. After all, she is a fluffy kitty, and that's how we likes 'em on this website!
Overall: Chrno Crusade tried so hard to be a top-line series with the epic battles and the fetish eye candy and the sweeping religious-based story-line, but in the end, it just didn't excel as much as other series in its genre because it was missing some important aspect of the things that make people want to watch it again. The series is worth a look for the things I mentioned above, but it might not make your top ten list.
IN A NUTSHELL
+ Nice fight scenes
+ Pretty interesting characters
+ Decent storyline
- Lack of originality
- Generic music
Final score: 7/10
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