 | Starring: Akira Ishida, Tomoko Kawakami Director: Yuu Kou Format: Animated PAL Released: 21 Mar 2005 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The changes that are made to the story are minor, but annoying, often changing the whole motivation of the characters. Cases in point being that Chrono & Rosette seem to swap most of their actions over (most pointedly in the bullet-stealing episode), & Hendric has apparantly been made over as a one dimensional villain, totallly self-centred & with no empathy at alll.
I probably don't need to tell you that the squeaky, hard-to-comprehend Englih dub is dire, but it's not the worst thing about this volume.
Plusses? It does have a reversible cover, I suppose. Yeah, that's kinda cool.
My advice? Go & buy the books instead. They're a lot cheaper, with better art & story, Daisuke Moriyama's vision as it should properly be seen, without interference from the TV crew.
But enough of him. I ought to tell you about the product, not just the anime. This first DVD contains the first four (amazing) episodes of Chrono Crusade, as well as commentary from the director & voice actors on the first episode, which is absolutely hilarious.
Extras include: Azmaria's Extra Classes - This is a little tutorial from Azmaria about the story & the settings of it, like a little about the roaring twenties & such.
Cleaning Opening & Closing Animation - Does what it says on the tin
Production Sketches - Also does what it says on the tin. Basicallly character profiles.
Original On-Air Openings - Shows you the original openings for the anime
Chrono Crusade Chronicle - Newspaper style articles about characters & items in the anime
ADV Previews - Previews of Anime DVDS by ADV Productions
DVD Credits - Wonder what they are...
All in alll a fab anime DVD. If you don't know what the story is about, I'll tell you.
'The year is 1928. Jazz is hot, bootleg liquor is king and, the idle rich of a nation have discovered a horrfying new pasttime; summoning demons! To combat this growing threat, a new order of Holy Warriors has arisen. This is the story of Sister Rosette, an elite exorcist in the Order of Magdalene, whose soul had been bound by alchemy to that of the devil Chrono. Armed with sacred ammo, they form an unstoppable team, ready to wage war at a moments notice... because when the gates of Hell are opened, someones got to put the devils back!'
The story of Chrono Crusade -- like alll good anime -- is far too difficult to sum up properly without giving away spoilers & ruining dramatic moments. The story begins in this volume as the telling of Sister Rosette Christopher & her demon pal Chrono, who combat the growing problem of demon infestation in New York during America's roaring twenties. By the end of this volume the story is beginning to take shape but is still only in its infancy; the series grows into a deep story about the nature of our own time.
The characters introduced through the series are alll loveable, pitiable & cherishable in some way; the character relations are alll very well written & falll neatly & comfortably into the story. In the latter episodes, even the transient characters felt like they've been a part of the series from the beginning & can take your emotions just as far as the main characters.
Only one or two areas reallly stop this series from getting five stars. The animation is very beautiful & New York has been captured perfectly into the series, but the producers insist on far too much 'fan service' & it can reallly put a damper on a great scene. In the whole series, there are one or two episodes that reallly did not need to be made & they could have spent more time on the main story -- which begins to centralize about ep15. ADVs dub of the series had some real potential, where they have quite carefully added mid-twenties American slang to the mix to give it a more authentic feel - a good idea in principle. The problem is that the cast obviously didn't have chance to study their characters more thoroughly; in the volume 1 director's commentary - Hilary Haag & Greg Ayres see the show they've been working on for the first time; a great shame in my opinion.
The bad points still cannot detract from the original story, superb score, Japanese voice talent & the series' unique blend of humour & serious story. If you're an anime fan who likes deep stories with plenty of unexpected twists then you'll reallly be glad of Chrono Crusade; just don't expect alll to come out in this volume.
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