Chrono Crusade

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Chrono Crusade
クロノクルセイド (Chrno Crusade)
Genre	Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Manga
Authored by	Daisuke Moriyama
Publisher	Asuka Comics Carlsen Comics Kadokawa Shoten Chuang Yi ADV Manga
Serialized in	Monthly Dragon Magazine
Original run	November 1998 – 2004
No. of volumes	8
TV anime
Directed by	Yuu Kou
Studio	GONZO
Network	Fuji TV Showtime Beyond GMA 7,Hero TV SIC Radical
Original run	24 November 2003 – 10 June 2004
No. of episodes	24

Chrono Crusade (クロノ クルセイド, Kurono kuruseido^?), known as Chrno Crusade in Japan, Singapore, Germany, and Australia, 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 of 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 Digimation. The series was released in North America by ADV Manga and ADV Films, titled Chrono Crusade. The anime is currently being aired in the United States on Showtime Beyond, Fridays at 9:00 P.M.

Set in the United States during the 1920s, Chrono Crusade follows the story of Rosette Christopher, and her demonic 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.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Themes 3 Main characters 4 Episode List 5 Japanese/English Voice Actors 6 Terminology 7 Novel 8 Music 9 Trivia 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Plot

At the height of the Roaring Twenties, 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. But 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... and so, it's up to the Order of Magdalene- or more specifically, its energetic, bumbling operative Sister Rosette Christoper and her soul-bound devil partner, Chrono - to fight the demonic threats appearing with increasing regularity across America. But a shadow tinges both Rosette and Chrono's past, which drives them on to fight all the harder as they search for Rosette's lost brother, Joshua, 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 manga and anime initially start out similar but halfway through their respective story lines the two plots diverge, 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.

[edit] Themes

In an interview with ADV Manga, Daisuke Moriyama expressed his own opinion about the differences and similarities 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]

[edit] Main characters

Pleas note (this is anime's rendering) Not Manga's

• Rosette Christopher: The protagonist of Chrono Crusade, she is an elite exorcist of the Order of Magdalene and goes out on missions to destroy deadly spirits and devils. She works with a devil named Chrono (or "Chrno") with whom she made a contract when she was young, and she wears a clock around her neck that contains her lifeforce. When she opens it, Chrono is able to increase his demonic power at the cost of shortening Rosette's lifespan. This is the work of the contract between her and Chrono. As a result, Rosette knows that her life will be a short one and therefore tries to accomplish as much as she can in the time that she has. She herself believes that she will not live to see thirty. Her primary motivation is to save her brother Joshua, who has been captured by Aion. In the anime, it is later revealed that Rosette is in fact the reincarnation of Mary Magdalene, with whom Chrono had made his previous and first contract (if only lasting a moment before). When Rosette is awakened as the 8th virtue, the Saint, she comes under the influence of Aion who manipulates her basic desire to help the helpless. However Chrono brings her back from under Aion's control.

• Chrono: The titular character, Chrono is a devil which was once on the same side as Aion, but after meeting Mary Magdalene and falling in love with her, he slowly began to be a good person and left the "evil" side. He is a very skilled devil, and his powers are by far the greatest, as he is said to have killed 100 million devils in the revelation war. However, Aion took Chrono’s horns, leaving him powerless (the horns are the devils’ power source) and with only one alternative: to seek a Contratist, a person who is willing to sacrifice his/her lifespan in order to let the selected devil, in this case Chrono, reveal his true form and have full use of his powers. The Contratist must wear a heart-lock, which is like a little brown cage with a glass circle in the center, whenever the Contractist wishes, the cage opens, releasing the power of the devil, and a clock appears on the glass circle, symbolizing the lifespan of the Contratist; Chrono’s Contratist is Rosette Christopher, a very close friend. Chrono has a great love for her. Unlike most devils, Chrono is a good hearted one, and risks his life for his friends in numerous times.

• Joshua Christopher: The Apostle of Hope and Rosette's little brother. He and Rosette used to live together in an orphanage, and he was often sick. However, he found that he had strange powers and was able to heal other people's wounds and illnesses, but not his own. Using his power also greatly weakened him. Understandably somewhat bitter about this and wishing to become strong enough to not need to rely on his sister, he was easy prey for Aion's blandishments. Aion gave him Chrono's horns, which had the unfortunate side-effect of amplifying the sound of the thoughts around Joshua, driving him to the brink of insanity. In order to silence the "noise" he perceived around him, he unwittingly used the horns to send everyone and everything in a large radius into a form of temporal stasis. He regained his senses long enough to warn Rosette and Chrono to get away before they too were frozen. All his pent-up feelings of helplessness and resentment turned him into a Devil. The horns drove Joshua insane, and he fell under Aion's control.

• Azmaria Hendric: The Apostle of Charity and Songstress of Vegas, Azmaria is a 12 year old girl with the gift of healing people through her voice. She has an amazing talent for singing, and when she sings with her heart, her powers are truly used, angel wings appear on her, and all kind of injuries are healed. She is often hunted by Seekers and lately by Aion. Having a troubled life, she lived in all kinds of orphanages; also she was part of a small group of musicians, she had a close relationship with them, but they were all murdered, leaving her with the idea that every person she meets will never be happy, leaving her with a guilt sense and extreme sadness. When she meets Rosette and Chrono, she develops a strong friendship with them, and also joins the Order Of Magdalene to help. She is a kind and innocent girl willing to help in any situation.

• Aion: A Sinner and a devil. Aion is trying to collect all of the Apostles so he can tap into the Astral Line, thus fulfilling his dream to destroy Pandaemonium and enacting the rebirth of the world. Aion appears to have noble intentions, but his actions show he is really evil. Aion attempts to persuade people to stop believing in God, and tries to convince them that God is the source of all human problems and suffering. Chrono used to be on his side, and he still has many other followers. He is the one that the Order of Magdalene devote most of their energy toward defeating. He often says he is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, also at the very end of the series, it is revealed that he will always return as long as hate exists in humans.

• Father Ewan Remington: The minister to the Magdalene Order. He also serves as a field agent and second in command to Sister Kate. Overall he is a very kind and caring person especially to Rosette and he tends to be protective over her. The manga and anime offer particularly different interpretations of the character. In the manga, after being badly injured in a battle, he had 40% of his body transfused with legion. Although appearing to be a fairly young man, he is, in fact, over fifty, sustained by the legion, which threatens to consume more of his body if he is not replenished with Astral Energy. In contrast, the anime takes a more mysterious approach to the character -in episode 20 Sister Kate asked him how it is he managed to travel from New York to San Fransisco in such a short time, he answers "I'm an angel".

• Satella Harvenheit: A jewel summoner and bounty hunter who kills devils. She hates all devils (except for her older sister) because she lost everyone in her family to devils when she was young. She came to America from Germany to search for her remaining family. Rosette and Satella don't exactly take a liking to each other when they first meet, especially since Rosette works with Chrono. Satella likes Azmaria more, as Azmaria reminds Satella of her younger self. As a jewel summoner, Satella has the ability to use magical jewels to summon various spiritual entities. Satella is also trying to track down the hornless devil that killed her family and has vowed to destroy it.

• Sister Kate Valentine: Head of the New York Branch of the Magdalene Order. She is a strong willed woman who often seems out of place fighting demons and devils. However, their is more to Sister Kate than the classic mother superior character. Sister Kate is Rosette Christopher's boss and antagonist within the order of Magdalene. She leads the order and Rosette with an iron resolve. Making sure the New York Branch Office runs as smooth as clockwork.

[edit] Episode List

1. Pilot ~ Sister Rosette
2. The Covenant ~ Contractor
3. Apostles ~ The Servants
4. Sinners ~ Sinner
5. Militia
6. Jewel Summoner
7. The Devil
8. Falling Rain ~ The Puppet
9. Joshua
10. Horn
11. Gabriel Hound ~ Beast
12. Holy Night
13. Marionette Train ~ Older Sister
14. Invocation ~ Prayer
15. The Pursuers ~ Persuer
16. Believer
17. Accomplices
18. Photograph ~ Four People
19. Atonement ~ Neck
20. Temptation ~ Poison
21. Mary Magdalene ~ Magdalene
22. Farewell ~ Sayonara
23. The Noise
24. Chrno ~ Chrono

[edit] Japanese/English Voice Actors

• Chrono voiced by Akira Ishida / Greg Ayres
• Rosette Christopher voiced by Tomoko Kawakami / Hilary Haag
• Azmaria Hendric voiced by Saeko Chiba / Jessica Boone
• Kate Valentine voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara / Laura Chapman
• Ewan Remington voiced by Sho Hayami / Jason Douglas
• Edward "Elder" Hamilton voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura / John Swasey
• Satella Harvenheit voiced by Michiko Neya / Tiffany Grant
• Aion voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue / Andy McAvin
• Fiore voiced by Natsuko Kuwatani / Monica Rial
• Joshua Christopher voiced by Junko Minagawa / Chris Patton
• Sister Anna voiced by Yuki Masuda / Mandy Clark
• Sister Mary voiced by Ema Kogure / Michelle Maulsby
• Sister Claire voiced by Noriko Rikimaru / Sasha Paysinger

[edit] Terminology

Many words used in Chrono Crusade sound like those used in Catholicism, but are used in nonstandard ways.

• Apostle: A person who is able to call upon the Astral Line and tap its power. There are seven Apostles, each from a different section of the world. The Apostles can fly using their wings, which appear on their back whenever they need them. They have supernatural powers which is both a blessing and a curse. Many greedy individuals target the Apostles to extort their powers.Though their powers seem a blessing, all the apostles are also cursed with bad luck (ex: Azmaria loses her parents during World War I and Joshua gets ill a lot)
• Astral Line: A river of spiritual energy, invisible to the human eye, that is the source of life of every living being in the universe. The Astral Line is also the energy source for demons, and is channeled by their horns.
• Contract: A pact between a hornless demon and a human. Since the Astral Line is also the source of life of human beings, a demon can take energy from the lifetime of a person wanting to use his powers and pay it back with services.
• Devil: Demon in the manga (Not to be mistaken with the fallen angels of the Bible who rebelled against God) Monsters who are mostly hostile towards humans. Devils, while appearing hostile, are not completely evil. They are not immortal and they can be either male or female. Devils have their own society, an oppressive community similar to a beehive, in which everyone has a rank according to their power level. High-ranking devils (such as Chrono and Aion) are similar to humans in intelligence and figure, except they never age and have extraordinary powers based on the energy of the Astral Line. All devils are born from one mother, Pandaemonium, the devil queen.
• Eden: The Sinner's headquarters, a large floating fortress hidden in the clouds.
• Exorcist: A member of the Magdalene Order who fights against devils and monsters.
  • Militia: The highest rank of exorcist in the Magdalene Order. Members of the militia are granted many privileges including the right to go on solo investigations for long periods of time. Members of the militia include: Father Ewan Remington, Father Jack Gilliam, Sister Rosette Christopher (apprentice class), Feather, Storm, Leinbach, Leibler, Alc and Strauss.
• Legion: Legion can refer to one of two things:
  1. The smallest, weakest, and lowest-ranking demons of Pandaemonium. Legion are unintelligent, hive-minded beings and have the ability to put themselves together to create different forms.
  2. The demonic version of cells. Legion are what make up each and every demon. Unlike cells, legion can heal and regenerate very quickly by absorbing astral energy via the demon's horns or other sources. Although a demon is normally the master of his or her own legion, Pandaemonium normally regulates the legion so they do not grow out of control. Also, when Pandaemonium casts gaes, it effects the legion itself, making resistance extremely difficult. Legion directly injured by Pandaemonium die off and cannot regenerate.
• Gaes: A spell cast by a demon, a pure article of demonic power formed from energy from the Astral Line by their horns. High Ranking demons may sometimes have a unique power.
• Life Span: This refers to the amount of time the person will spend alive on Earth. Rosette signed a contract with Chrono so that he could use his powers even without the Astral Energy and Horns, at the cost of her lifespan. Every time she releases the seal on the Contract clock to allow Chrono to access his powers, her life is shortened by a comparable amount, causing this to be a measure of last resort.
• The Magdalene Order: A religious organization that specializes in battling all sorts of monsters and investigating mysterious supernatural cases. There are several branches in the United States, the most influential ones being in New York and Chicago. The Order also has the duty of protecting people blessed with special abilities (such as the Apostles) from evil people who desire to use their powers for their own ambitious purposes. Additionally, the Magdalene Order is a powerful, technologically advanced organization, and its members have to undergo very difficult military training and are dispatched on all kinds of dangerous missions.
• Minister: A male member of the Magdalene Order. Ministers are able to use all sorts of weapons, but seem to be experts in hand-to-hand combat.
• Pandaemonium: The devil queen, mother of all devils. Pandaemonium comes in two forms; the core of Pandaemonium which regulated the demon utopia and the excretionatory unit which "births" all the demons. Alternately, the devil society that is hidden deep under the sea and is named after said queen.
• Pursuer: A devil who is in charge of hunting down the Sinners. All devils loyal to Pandaemonium are potential Pursuers.
• Sinner: A devil who betrayed Pandaemonium, the devil society. They planned to escape Pandemonium, but they had to face an army to try to escape and many devils died, Sinners and Pursuers. There are only six Sinners left: Aion, Chrono, Genai, Rizelle, Shader and Viede.
• Sister: A female member of the Magdalene Order. Nuns are able to use different kinds of weapons (mostly firearms) and other types of equipment (like cross-barriers).
• Soul: The lifetime of a person. Not to be mistaken with a person’s “spirit”.

[edit] Novel

A novel of Chrono Crusade, titled "Tsubasa yo, are ga tamashii no akari da" (翼よ、あれが魂) - "Wings, they are the light of the soul", was published on April 20, 2004. It was written by Tominaga Hiroshi and illustrated by Miyazawa Hiroshi.

[edit] Music

Opening Theme:

"Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line" performed by Minami Kuribayashi

Ending Theme:

"Sayonara Solitia" performed by Saeko Chiba Composed by Yuki Kajiura

[edit] Trivia

• It is not completely clear why the Japanese spelling (in English, as some would say) is Chrno Crusade. Common assumptions is that the name was altered to not conflict with the popular game franchise Chrono Trigger or its sequel, Chrono Cross. Another explanation is provided in the November 4, 2005 edition of Anime News Network's "Hey, Answerman!" column, where "Answerman" (Zac Bertschy) explains that it was a simple mistake,^[2] and in a subsequent forum posting the owner of ANN, Christopher Macdonald, cites his first-hand account from Daisuke Moriyama at the Anime Boston 2005 anime convention that it was a mistake due to a production error.^[3] Both explanations have credibility and reference issues due to the sources of the info, but both agree that "Chrono" was the intended spelling.
• ADV did extensive research in keeping the slang words within 1920s canon. One word, Bimbo, is explained to mean a tough man in 1920's slang, while the modern version refers to a stupid female.^[4]
• 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.^[5]
• Though Rosette totes variants of weapons that are mostly of actual existence (such as the Mauser C96), a noted incoherence in the series is that she carries a Thompson submachine gun in 1923- two years before it was first available in its depicted form.
• The original website www.chrno.com apparently disappeared two years after the show ended. It was never renewed.
• Alot of the events are based upon prophecies in the Book of Revelation

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• ADV Films' site
• Chrono Crusade AU Site.