Demon-related anime are popular and abundant. From vampires, to half-demons, to demon hunters, there are many different stories that revolve around these inhuman creatures. Whether they be the good guys, bad guys also greatly affects how the take on demons affects the story. There are also many anime that pit demons against demons, having both "good" and "evil" demons in the same storyline. Chrono Crusade is one of those, with Chrono as the main "good" demon in the story, and Aion being the "evil" side.

Even though demons have been used many times over, the stories are never so repetitive that they get old. Chrono Crusade not only depicts demons, and how they co-exist with both humans, the heavens, and each other, it follows the Bible a great deal in it's telling, with many aspects directly from the bible itself. Unfortunately, since I've never read the Bible myself, I can't pick out the points quite as easily as some, but the likeness is still so great that even those who know little about the stories of religions can see things.

The storyline to Chrono Crusade is a particularly original one, focussing mainly on the main character, Rosette Christopher, in her search for her brother Joshua, who was stolen from her by the sinner Aion. Alongside her on her quest is Chrono (the other main character), who is also a Sinner, and whose horns were taken from him by Aion. A demon's horns hold their power, so it would be impossible for Chrono to go up against Aion's power without making a "contract" with a human. In turn, though, this greatly shortens the human's life, since the demon feeds off their life force in order to use their powers. Even knowing this, Rosette makes a contract with Chrono, and the two of them work together to achieve a common goal; to defeat Aion the Sinner.

Rosette's determination, Chrono's tainted past, Azmaria's shy and timid personality... All the characters, both main and side, have very defined personalities. They all have a wonderful ability to draw the viewer into the story even more, because you gain an attatchment to certain aspects of their "self", which makes you want to watch, just to see what happens to them next, and how they react to it in turn. It was wonderfully written, so that their relationships with each other would also change bit by bit, yet there was always a constant bond between them. This is seen particularly between Rosette and Chono. It leaves you wondering if there is more to their relationship than just their "contract", or even more than just friendship.

Set in an old New York / San Francisco setting, all the scenery animation has an older look to it, while still keeping the crisp, colourful look of a newer anime. There is also very apparant computer generated scenes, such as when the stopwatch that releases Chrono's power opens up to allow him to transform. The mix of animation styles, and the older more bland colouring of the backgrounds, with the brightly coloured character designs, all contrasts very nicely. Nothing looks particularly out of place at all in the artwork and animation. There are many fight scenes, and high speed movements that flow very nicely, and are very well done. Even just the character design itself is wonderfully done.

Since it's set in an old American scenery, the costumes and whole look of things had to seem older. The nun's habits, while very apparently spiced up to look alot more "modern" than the time the anime is set in, still have bits of an older look to them. Most of the girls wear bloomers and have older looking shoes and accessories. Chrono's outfit, which looks like an older styled long coat and long shorts with black leggings, has a cape-like flow to it, and is cut at the bottom to form points, which gives it a more modern touch. Alot of the clothing is a bit too elaborate for the time the anime is set in, but it makes it alot more interesting to see than just plain outfits would, giving the costumes more of an effect on the character design. Who would really want to see a Rosette running around in a long black gown all the time?

This is an anime that I would definitely care to see again sometime. It has an awesome story, which draws you in even more with the hints at how it follows the bible's story so closely. It gives it a very intriguing twist, since it doesn't follow it directly, yet still has many references. The characters are both courageous and lovable, even the evil ones have things about them that makes them a character that makes you want to see more. The background music for the anime also added to the whole effect, all aspects mixed together, creating a grade A anime.


~Reviewed By Lunaki