Chrono Crusade (クロノ クルセイド Kurono Kuruseido?), also known as Chrno Crusade, is an eight volume manga series authored by the Japanese mangaka Daisuke Moriyama. It was originally published by Kadokawa Shoten in Monthly Dragon Magazine which began serialization in November 1998. A 24-episode anime television series based on the manga ran from 2003 to 2004 on Fuji TV. The animation work was done by Gonzo. The series was released in North America by ADV Manga and ADV Films, titled Chrono Crusade. Set in the United States during the 1920s, Chrono Crusade follows the story of Rosette Christopher, and her demon partner Chrono. As members of the Magdalene Order, they travel around the country eliminating demonic threats to society, while Rosette searches for her lost brother Joshua.
PlotChrono Crusade is set in the height of the Roaring Twenties, where jazz is king, bootleg liquor flows freely, and the mob rules the streets. It is a time of prosperity, luxury and decadence, and the division between rich and poor grows even wider in the wake of the First World War. It is at such times of great change and upheaval that the dark things that lurk below the world of man can come to the surface. In the world of Chrono Crusade, a fictional organization known as the Order of Magdalene (or more specifically, the characters of Sister Rosette Christopher and her soul-bound demon partner, Chrono) exists to fight the demonic threats that appear with increasing regularity across America. Both Rosette and Chrono are revealed during the course of the story to be driven by a shadowy past, centered around a search for Rosette's lost brother, Joshua. Joshua is shown to have been taken from her by the sinner, Aion, a devil who shares a dark and bloody history with Chrono, and seeks nothing less than to overthrow Heaven and Earth. The anime follows the manga through the first half, but it diverges halfway through, creating different courses of events and endings. The characterization of some the characters, including Rosette and Aion, and their roles in the story were changed in the adaptation of the manga. Much of the story is driven by the individual pasts of the main characters and the complex relationships between them. SettingThe Order of Magdalene is an organization of the Catholic Church that banishes devils and demons to Hell. The Order has many branches around the country; each one is presided over by the Council of the Catholic Church. The New York Branch of the Order is headed by Kate Valentine and Ewan Remington, who lead the fight against the forces of darkness. The Order has many members; however, in times of great crisis, other less generally accepted individuals may be introduced into the Order to help fight the forces of darkness. They use various weapons, including various guns and swords. Guns use Sacred, standard bullets containing Holy Water, and Gospel, bullets with alchemized silver. Tetragramaton, a gun with high power against demons with low backlash, is given to Chrono. Besides using guns, there are members of Order with special powers as well, using devices like tomes, violins, or dolls. They also use Angel Capture Fields, specialized barriers that can repel demons, their power, and other astral based substances, and Soul Dive, an experimental system used to dive into souls. The order uses the Barrier Ship "Metatron" during great crisis. CharactersMain
Magdalene Order
Akuma
Sinners
ProductionIn an interview with ADV Manga, Daisuke Moriyama expressed his own opinion about the differences and similarities of the anime and manga, with one of them being the theme of the story. Although the bond between Chrono and Rosette and the idea of time running out were the same, Moriyama felt that the anime and manga showed this theme in different ways. While the anime centered more on the currents of time, fate and trust, Moriyama believed that the manga focused more on the Rosette's individual ideology and how the potential strength of her will can change her current situation.1 In producing the English language version, ADV did extensive research in keeping the slang words within 1920s canon. One word, "bimbo", is explained to mean a tough man in 1920s slang, while the modern version refers to a stupid female.2 The English voice actors for Rosette and Chrono (Hilary Haag and Greg Ayres) nearly lost their voices on numerous occasions due to the fast-paced voice work demanded by the anime.2 MediaMangaWritten and illustrated by Daisuke Moriyama, Chrono Crusade is comprised of 59 chapters, called "Acts". It premiered in the November 1998 issue Dragon Age and ran until its conclusion in the June 2004 issue.3 The individual chapters were published in eight tankobon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten from December 1999 to September 2004. The series was licensed for English language release in North America by ADV Manga in 2004. In addition to releasing all eight volumes of the series, ADV Manga published some of the series chapters in its anime and manga magazine NewType USA. The series was released in English in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. It was also licensed for regional language releases in France by Asuka Comics, in Mexico by Grupo Editorial Vid, in Italy by Planet Manga, Germany by Carlsen Comics, and in Denmark and Sweden by Mangismo.4 AnimeChrono Crusade was first aired on Fuji TV in Japan on November 23, 2003 and ran for 24 episodes until its conclusion on June 10, 2004. The series is licensed for an English language release in North America by ADV Films, which aired its English dubbed version of the series on on Showtime Beyond in the United States from February 17, 2006 to July 28, 2006. CDOriginal Soundtrack, Volume 1 and 2 were composed by Masumi Itō, under her pseudonym, Hikaru Nanase. NovelA light novel adaptation, Chrono Crusade: Wings, They are the Light of the Soul (クロノクルセイド: 翼よ、あれが魂の灯だ Kurono Kuruseido: Tsubasa Yo, Are Ga Tamashii no Akari Da?), was published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten on April 20, 2004. Written by Tominaga Hiroshi and illustrated by Miyazawa Hiroshi, the novel is an original side story for the series, in which Sister Rosette and Chrono investigate strange events in St. Louis.5 References
External links
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||