[Chrony77]

Think about it series had only 24 episode and the show didn't do too well in Japan (it certainly wasn't one of Gonzo's hits). It had frequent delays (sometimes of 2 or 3 weeks) between one episode and the next, and it was moved from a prime-time TV slot on Mondays at 7 PM to the rather poor schedule of Wednesdays at 3 AM. It was licensed in the U.S. by ADV Films.

It was already failure in japan. Knowing that it would not brought the succes that the manga had so Gonzo decided to rush it up by giving the series one of the most tagic ending.

When I first heard that there was going to be an anime of Chrno Crusade (back in early 2003), I was overjoyed. I couldn’t wait to see my favorite manga animated! Sadly, while I certainly didn’t expect the anime to be exactly like the manga (that would have been completely unrealistic) the awkward plot developments soon made me forget about my original enthusiasm for this series. Anyway, the real problem was not that the plot of the anime was completely different from the manga: the thing I seriously hated were the character's lack of depth/personality. Forget all the plot holes, fanservice, absurd dialogues, etc. The characters are what absolutely ruined the show for me. (As I already said, I won't even try to compare the anime with the manga, or I'll be ranting for hours. I'll just stick to the anime as it is)

The characters are completely two-dimensional. Azmaria is nothing but an annoying (and rather useless) brat. She also HAS to appear in almost every frickin' episode, even if everything she does is tripping, crying or just being a royal annoyance. Satella is a humorless, arrogant witch (no pun intended). Fiore is an emotionless robot programmed to take care of Joshua, who is a permanently retarded psycho completely disconnected from reality. Everything Sister Kate did in the entire series was either worrying about something or looking outside the window looking worried. Same goes for Remington, who was reduced to a pathetic, homeless bum incapable of doing anything. The Apostles were nothing but extras, we never even get to see their faces. The Sinners were all diabolically evil, with no real motivation to their actions other than following Aion's plans. Magdalene was an "empty vessel" (more like an "empty character" if you ask me) with no memories that only appeared for about 15 minutes in the entire series and was forgotten almost immediately. The three nuns probably had a little more personality than some of the characters already described, strange, since they were only incidental characters without any real purpose in the story...

And I haven't even begin talking about Rosette and Chrno, the two protagonists. Rosette at first looked like a very strong and complex character, but she got later reduced to the role of damsel-in-distress and became a weak, mindless puppet without any will of her own. She couldn't even shake herself out of her pathetic state, not even after seeing Chrno, who was supposed to be her true love (how could she ever forget about him?! ARGH!!!). Chrno was a perfect saint, always kind, always patient, always submissive, etc. He had no real edge to his personality, despite being a demon with a very dark past.

And then comes Aion, the annoying, perverted, ambitious, better-than-thou, evil-as-hell villain of the show who wants to be like God and "Rule The World" (TM). He’s portrayed as a real skirt-chaser completely incapable of keeping his hands (and mouth) away from any woman in the vicinity. He was so darn "powerful", nobody could even lay a finger on him, then, just as you were beginning to wonder if anybody could ever hope to at least scratch him, he suddenly dies in the most horribly animated, anti-climatic fight scene I've ever seen. 'Course, he's shown many years later, inexplicably alive and well...

Anyway, the complete slaughtering of Rosette's character was, by far, the worst part of the entire series. I could stand the absurd, confusing plot up to a point, but to see my favorite female character suddenly shooting blood and willingly becoming the mindless servant of her worst enemy was almost insufferable. She was supposed to be a strong and optimistic character, but she ended up being a pathetically weak, helpless girl. Her life, instead of being inspiring for the people close to her (like in the manga), ended up being a complete failure. She couldn't even save her brother (who got rid of Chrno's horns, but ended up being permanently retarded) and her "divine" powers only served Aion's cause, driving many people crazy and ultimately being the reason of many tragedies, including the Holocaust and WWII (*pfft*). She might have died in peace, but she died completely in vain, since Aion, her enemy, was not permanently defeated.

In short, the anime flopped. That’s sad, because the anime had the potential of being the best animated series of the year had it been a decent adaptation of the manga, but... *weeps*

Some random questions I had after seeing the anime:

1) Were the animators trying to imitate Jesus when they ripped off ALL OF ROSETTE’S CLOTHES, or it was just plain fanservice?

2) How did Satella go from a C-cup in the manga to a DDD-cup in the anime? Was the sudden change in breast size the reason she lost all her sense of humor?

3) How is Rosette able to shoot blood at such a distance? Does she have a pressure pump in her wrists, or is shooting blood another of her “divine” abilities?

4) Why is Aion able to touch Rosette without being burned? Chrno and Aion are both demons, so why is Chrno burned when Aion is not?

5) Why was Chrno turned into stone, even after taking off HIS OWN HORNS from Joshua’s head?

6) Just who or what is “Pandemonium” and why does Aion need her head? Was that ever explained in a clear and comprehensible way?

7) Is Aion bisexual, or did the animators include that infamous “closeup” scene with Chrno just to please rabid yaoi fangirls?

Believe that series could've been different .