Chrono Crusade Vol. 3: The World, The Flesh & The Devil Review

Originally published on otakureview.net

Intro

With four Volume 1’s sitting on my ‘To Watch’ pile this weekend I thought it might be a good idea to start with something a bit more familiar with this, the third volume of the deliciously dark series, Chrono Crusade.

The Story

This volume balances out very nicely with the first two episodes of the volume being incredibly plot driven and the final two episodes being filler and yet all of them were great episodes. In the first two episodes, the story is finally revealed. The past is there for all of us to see. In a brilliantly done two part episode we are taken back four years to the Seventh Bell orphanage where Rosette and Joshua spent their time. It is in this time that we not only get to see Joshua as he was before Aion corrupted him, but also how they met Chrono. These episodes were fabulous mostly because I loved finally getting to see the incredibly twisted beginnings to this story.

In the third episode of the volume, we are faced with pure filler but I don’t mind because one of the best characters of the series makes her return here. A devil worshipper has sacrificed her life and her soul and brought forth unto New York City a hell hound. A demon which is fueled purely by her hatred and want of vengeance against the mafia families in the city that she blames for the death of her fiance who was killed six months ago in a cross fire with the police. Rosette and Chrono are sent out on the case but along the way they run into everyone’s favorite Jewel Witch, Satella.

In the final episode of the volume (and easily one of the best), it’s Christmas time at the Order and it is revealed that Azmaria has never had a Christmas before. She’s never even been given a gift. She’s convinced that it’s because she’s just a bad girl who doesn’t deserve gifts but in this episode, Azmaria finally gets to learn the true meaning of the holiday. Meanwhile, Father Remington has discovered that new happenings are going on in San Francisco and feels that it’s time for Rosette, Azmaria and Chrono to go forth on their own to conduct an investigation and find out where Joshua is.



The Good And The Bad

Anyone who isn’t impressed by the animation in this series should just go away now. The animation in this series is just absolutely flawless. From the brilliant way computers and ink are blended together, to the incredible use of light when Satella summons one of her creatures to the incredible shading on Rosette’s face when she’s in a battle to the incredibly hilarious ways that the characters are drawn when they are happy or embarrassed, this series nails it all beautifully. This is as close to flawless animation that I have ever seen.

The big complaint that I think anyone would come up with is that this series is very dark and gothic in it’s nature and especially since religion is such a central theme to it, people can very easily be turned off by this but all I can say to this is that religion is only the very surface of this series. If you really want to get at the heart of this series, you have to dig much deeper and look at all the wonderful things that included within it.


Music

I really liked the background music used in this volume. The music that I loved in particular were the very campy segway songs which really make you feel like you’re watching something from the 20’s. I love how the creators went that extra mile to make it feel that much more authentic and really put you where you need to be.

The choral music in episode four in particular was also gorgeous and I loved the soft piano themes used during the pageant. Very well done and it transferred over beautifully.

Dub vs. Sub

Both tracks were great but I enjoyed the dub track much more by a long shot. Everyone on this volume really went above and beyond the call of duty to deliver the great performance. Hilary Haag really had to let herself go as Rosette here, Chris Patton also had to tear his throat to shreds but he really nailed Joshua and Jessica Boone has never sounded better as Azmaria.

Extras

Lots of great extras but most of them are the usual clean opening and closing animations and production sketches. The real great extras though are the great Azmaria lectures. Two more are included on this volume and both of them are fabulously interesting with the first one covering Satella’s creatures (well some of them at least) and then some more about devil worshippers. I really wish that they had been longer and covered a bit more but they were good for the most part and so I’m definitely not complaining.

The next extra that I thought was a great addition was a glossary of slang terms used in the series that come from the 20’s. I thought this was just a handy little reference guide and there were so many entries in it!!

The final extra worth noting here is the commentary track featuring Matt Greenfield (ADR Director) and Chris Patton (Joshua). Normally I really like listening to these tracks but in this case I found it fairly boring. There were some interesting bits but the most part I think it was something that I could’ve skipped.



Overall

This series has been absolutely fabulous so far. I love how dark it has been getting and creepy but never so much so that I feel turned off or want to turn away. It’s just drawing me in, bit by bit and if this volume is any indication, it’s only going to get darker and more twisted from here and so I am buckling myself in for a very bumpy but enjoyable ride.


Final Grade: 98% - A