Video Backlog: "Chrono Crusade"

Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 24 episodes x 23 minutes
Production Date: 2003 - 2004
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes (Funimation re-release)

There are a number of TV shows and movies which depict the church, more specifically the Catholic church, and their fight against literal evil such as demons and vampires. One would think that it would have been better to fight against the internal problems of the church as such as paedophiliac priests and the associated cover ups, forced adoptions and of course the Magdalene Asylums... But really, criticising the Catholic church is like shooting fish in barrel. This TV series by Gonzo (which seems to have the same basic core idea as “Trinity Blood”) is set in late 1920’s New York, where the Magdalene Order fight demons. And judging by their name, they also make young women who have become pregnant out of wedlock or who have been raped or are plain just a pain the arse and not being docile and submitting to men, do laundry at slave labour rates for the remainder of their life. Oh sorry, there I go again with the Catholic bashing....

Sister Rosette and devil Chrono are the two main characters in the show. Because you know that the Catholic church would approve of a woman exorcising demons. Sorry... Anyway the story revolves around these two. Naturally the church is a little bit displeased that Sister Rosette is working with a demon that she has a contract with, but still they allow the partnership to keep going. One can only wonder why as Rosette can be a one woman “Dirty Pair” most of the time. While the first half is all about killing off demons supposedly summoned by bored rich white folk (however this is frustratingly never shown), the second half delves into Rosette’s search for her long lost brother and Chrono’s dealings with Aion, a devil that wishes to destroy the balance between the demon and human world. Naturally both threads are interlinked.

Look, it’s not a bad show by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just a little tedious and generic, mostly in terms of storytelling, designs and the way it’s animated (looks so early 00’s). It really takes a lot suspension of disbelief to believe that it is set in the 1920’s. None of the designs or characters or their personalities help in this regard. Nor does a lot of the technology, which is way beyond any technology of the day. Gonzo certainly plopped out a lot of similar looking and fan pandering material in the last decade. I suppose you could call them the 00’s version of late 90’s AIC, but that’s maybe being a bit cruel. Despite this, I was mostly entertained by the show. It is all rather clichéd and rather confused at times, the character Azmaria Hendrich is such a fan pandering anime caricature, the climax was such a fizzer and the finale was emotionally manipulative piece of stupidly. Add in the final scene, set some 52 years latter with a rather dishevelled, most likely homeless secondary character that has seemingly not aged at all during that time. Oh, and the Japanese screenwriter have absolutely no idea about Catholicism.

So despite my complaining, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t all that great either. Mildly entertaining is how I’d describe it. That’ll teach me to buy up random discs from the Right Stuf’s bargain bin. I was going to give this one a higher score, but upon some more thought have decide I can only give it 5.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 24 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).