Chrno Crusade?

[Splintered]

Has anyone seen this anime?

It has a lot of Christian undertones, but it's more "nuns with guns" than anything. Also, one of the nuns has a good demon at her side- and they are searching for the twelve apostles blessed by God with certain powers.

I've only seen up to episode twelve, and though there are some doubts, they have yet to show Christianity in a negative tone.

Now, I doubt that this is anyway a Christian show, rather it choses the religion for plot purposes, but it's really interesting. As far as I can tell, it treats the religion with respect (as much respect as a preist wielding swordsman but you know...). But I haven't seen the whole series.

Thoughts?

[Staci]

I have yet to see an episode of this particular anime series but it does look intriguing. Unfortunately, the Japanese tend to use and warp Christianity for plot devices. It would be rather refreshing for Christianity to be shown in a positive light and I would definitely invest in a series which does so.

Let's hope it doesn't get ugly and turn into a title-that-should-not-be-named. ^^;;;;

Side note: from what I have seen of the creator of Chrno Crusade, he seems very happy that people enjoy his works. Daisuke Moriyama has even broken down into tears when people cos-play his characters. I think - from such an emotional and public reaction - he's putting his heart and soul into this work.

[Splintered]

Let's hope it doesn't get ugly and turn into a title-that-should-not-be-named

.

Yeah really. All we need is another one. *rolls eyes* Bad religion, now that's an original plot device. *snort*


I heard Chrno Crusade was his first work, but if a guy works that hard and is that emotionally invested, I'll keep an eye out for his works.

[glitch1501]

ive seen it all, ill try to post more once i have alittle more time

[Hikage_Ninja]

I've also seen all of it...and it does twist around some Christian beliefs, especially Catholic ones, if I remember right. (I finished watching it a while ago...and I've got a horrible memory.) But, I think overall it was a good anime. Good plot, clean and had some good morals and stuff in there.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'd probably watch it again if given the chance.

[ssj2gohan61]

I have also seen it all.. but much like Hikage i have a very horrible memory heck i cant even remember what i did yesterday well i thought it was a good anime as well it looked really well done..had a good plot and some good morals lol oh! i think i liked the music too just how it was like scary themed music hah it was cool

[termyt]

I think we should just keep in mind that it is not a Christian anime, rather it uses Christian imagery as a back drop because it is popular in Japan right now. To my knowledge, there isn't anything overtly bad or controversial about it, it's actually a pretty clean and enjoyable show.

[Usso-M]

I've seen Chrono Crusade (ADV dropped an O for some reason ) and it's not that bad.
It's not as positive as, say Haibane Renmei, but not as negative as like the "Must-not-be-named" titles.

It's actually kind of positive since they use the Lord's power for good and all. And most of the time, Rosette acts like a nice Christian person - she's not sluttly or trampy or hateful - she's really a sweet, forgiving (if ditzy) girl.

It's more inaccurate than anything -- The plot is waaay out there, but it's a nice little distraction anime that shouldn't offend you unless you're really really easily offended.

[glitch1501]

i actually wanna rewatch the series, it is very good

[awsam007]

Also, one of the nuns has a good demon at her side- and they are searching for the twelve apostles blessed by God with certain powers.

What exactly is a "good demon"? Isn't that an oxymoron?

[noeleon]

i have seen two episodes and it has a good plot.

[Rauken]

I haven't seen the anime, but I just bought and read the first volume of the manga. The series itself is really well put together: funny, fairly clean, easy to read, the right amount of action, and it keeps your attention pretty well. It also feels just plain child-like, not immature, just fun. There's a scene where Rosette, Chrono, and another character are just playing around in a lake. See? Just calm, ordinary, fun stuff.

The bad things I noticed: a bit of gambling, some leg shone in a dress that Rosette wears at some point, familiars and a satanic ritual shone (it was the bad guys!), and a 'd***' spoken (possibly by Rosette, but I'm not sure). There is also an experimental bullet that contained demons that would supposedly destroy the gun's target, but it ends up not working. Lesson learned I guess.

And, of course, the whole deal about Chrono. During a battle, Rosette released their seal so he could use his demonic powers to win.

The smaller things I mentioned can be overlooked, I guess the biggest problem with this series is the idea that demonic powers can be used for good or to fight other demons.

There are also referances to the Fatima Prophecies (those actually exist, right?) and other parts of Catholicism, but I guess people's views on that would depend their denomination.

The series still has a lot of good points too, it's clean sex-wise and no excessive violence (other than what's used for humor), good lessons are taught to the characters, and barely any language.

If you feel uncomfortable the fight-demons-with-demons idea, then no one said you had to read/watch this series. Just look elsewhere for a new series to check out.
If you feel that it's something that you can ignore and it won't affect you, then enjoy. As long as you aren't opening yourselves to temptation.

Just don't take my word for any of this, I'm no expert.

I, for one, think it's a good series overall and definately want to keep reading the series, though I'm debating whether I'm going to keep buying it.

[aule1701]

i liked it but i like a lot of anime hope it still is good near the end and chrono looks so cool in his real form am i right

[Sammy Boy]

Hi all, I've been reading your posts (in this and two other threads) on Chrono Crusade with interest. Thought I'd toss in my "two cents worth".

I've only seen the first 11 episodes, as here in Australia we tend to get things rather slowly.

Initially I didn't like it because the scientist / inventor was a pervert. I do wish they'd stop putting in those kinds of characters in anime, but the intelligent / perverted combo seems to be a perennial thing in anime (?).

Theologically speaking there are quite a few errors (such as the Astral Line, and Chrono being a "good demon" being the most obvious of the two). To the best of my knowledge there is no textual (Biblical) support for these concepts.

I quite agree that the Japanese (though perhaps not just the Japanese, American comics do this too) twist the beliefs of Christianity and distort them so we get these strange .. things.

The anime "Spriggan" comes to mind.

Having said that, I have found Chrono Crusade so far to be certainly at the "not bad to even fairly good" level - not because it doesn't make any mistakes (factual and otherwise), but because when it comes to content in the context of sexual ethics it's at least better than Ranma 1/2 (which I have watched for a few years during high school). I really liked Ranma 1/2 but felt disappointed that it often had to use sexually immoral content in some of its episodes. Rumiko Takahashi certainly did a better job in Mezzon Ikkoku, in my opinion.

Regarding whether Christians with shaky foundations in their faith should watch this, I'd like to point out that the question perhaps should be "What is our source of supreme authority?"

Considered this way, as long as we know it's ultimately fiction, we can learn to enjoy it without bringing unnecessary doubt to our faith nor be troubled in our consciences when we think about the anime.

I think watching something critically does not mean we cannot enjoy it - the two approaches are not mutually exclusive (as all of you have demonstrated very well - enjoying the anime whilst retaining your powers of reasoning).

Oh and by the way, I liked the opening and closing theme songs.

[eva-boy7985]

Like others that have posted in this thread, I haven't seen the entire series yet (only up to disc 4). I would agree that some things are a little skewed concerning the show's theology and there is the presence of some Catholic elements. However, God has not yet been portrayed in any kind of a negative light. I mentioned in another thread sometime back that if you watch the Azmaria's Extra Classes in the features, positive mention of Christ and his sacrifice for us is even mentioned. The way this show handles spiritual warfare is one of the things I've rather enjoyed thus far, and how the personalities on each side are portrayed (i.e. when Aion talks to God and ask what tricks He has up His sleeve- I could definitely see his personality matching how Satan often works: suave, persuasive, and subtle!). All in all, it's a good anime and I would say that I recommend it. But in regards to showing it to new Christians or people in similar situations, I would say to steer clear for a while until they have a better grasp on things. Bottom line, this is another show that kind of comes down to what your convictions are; as I said though, God's been portrayed in the right light thus far, and that makes me happy to say the least! Hope this maybe helped!

[Splitter 2.0]

What exactly is a "good demon"? Isn't that an oxymoron?

In reality, yes, but this is an anime, and since anime creators like to take liberties in their creations, I think it's safe to say this isn't anything to go into a big analysis over.

Still, Chrno DID slay 100 million of his own kind and helped kill Pandemonium (the anime's Satan). Noble as this might sound, take back into consideration that Chrno's a devil. He wasn't doing this for God... I think Chrno is more or less a reformed devil, a lost soul trying to repent for what he's done before. God DOES say that all lost souls can be shown mercy if they repent. I'd like to see Chrno become a truely reformed devil... but after seeing the preview for Ep. 19, I have a feeling this series is about to take a REALLY dark turn of events.

P.S. I truly think Aion is the Antichrist in this.

[Sephiroth]

I've seen all of Chrno Crusade, (its Chrno in japan because of licencing problems with the name Chrono, while in america its Chrono Crusade) its a pretty good anime, it does get very dark at the end, i mean REALLY dark, the 'Christianity' that is portrayed within it is a rather twisted concept, which is clear to any Christian who watches it, (i mean what is all that stuff about the astral line really?) but apart from stuff like that i enjoyed hte anime, as far as i remember content wise it wasn't that bad.

[Kawaiikneko]

Yeah I watched the whole thing too and its pretty much okay til the last few eps... then the Christian concepts take a nosedive.... I believe I had a thread about this series not long ago. I'll look for it.

Edit: woot found it: http://www.christiananime.net/showthrea ... no+Crusade