Ep 12 was a little slow, focusing on Azumaria and her sad past Christmas-es. I sincerely doubt the church would encourage her sisters to dress up as Santa Claustresses which detract from the true message of Christmas. Ah well watever, this IS Japanese anime after all. At least this ep does mark the turning point for the story as Rosette would be leaving the Order to carry out independent investigation. Which brings me to the exciting ep 13. This is really wat Chrno Crusade is all about. Action, plot movement and subtle character development. A very good ep indeed. And who can blame Aion for not reciprocating Rizel's 'love'? A revolting giant spider?!?!? Complete with 8 legs? At least the zhi zhu jing (Spider demons) mei meis in Xi You Ji (Journey to the West) can take alluring forms.

My advice for Rizel.

"Go back n train for 10 more years lah"

On another note, I have always been disturbed by the dungeon ring bounded on Fiore's neck. I have always thought it was just poor character design or to cater to some undiscovered complex (at least unknown to me... ring complex?). Well that ugly looking thing has impressive magically proporties apparently. Acts as a globe of invulnerability of some sort. I wonder if Fiore is serving Aion of her own accord. Maybe that ring also doubles as a shackle, to bind her service to Aion? Ok, I'm seeing it more clearly now.... ring on neck, servitude....ah...the subliminal themes that get through....

There's also a gradual movement to more fanservice. For a while, I have noticed that Rosette have switched to stockings instead of the conservative white pants-like 'undergarments'. Could it be part of her upgrade to Militia status? Whatever it is, GONZO has upped the 'service' in ep 13, Ikkitousen style. But remember, fanservice is like chili padi. It should be served in controlled, small portions to accentuate the existing taste, not overwhelm it. So far so good, GONZO, but don't overdo it though.

I'm conflicted. I just found out that Chrno Crusade is going beyond 13 eps. In fact Newtype March shows that it goes beyond 15. My guess would be that it's going to be a typical 24 or 26 ep series. While I'm happy that the series has a shot at realising its full potential, I'm also painfully aware of GONZO's track record for finishing well. I guess I shouldn't be harping on their Kiddy Grades, Saikanos and Hellsings but be comforted by their Full Metal Panic!s and LastEXILEs. Ah well, I'm at their mercy really.

This ep is a character building ep for Rosette. Yes she says some pretty lines but it's all very standard goodie-two-shoes fare I guess. A little too stereotypical and flat. They can possibly flesh her out by expanding her relationship with Chrno, Remington or even Azumaria. As this point, I liked the story more than the characters. Hope the series stays on course.

Woah! Fiore (Joshua's 'maid') said more words in this ep than all the earlier 9 eps combined! I just realised why I liked her... she's a cross between Hisui (Tsukihime) and Zefiris (Scrapped Princess)! Pity she's probably not going to contribute to anything major to the series. I've also always wondered why Satella sounds soooooo familiar.. a check at Anime News Network reveals the seiyuu to be Neya Michiko, aka Melissa Mao(Full Metal Panic!), Tsubaki (Onegai Twins) and Steyr (Scrapped Princess). No wonder. On another note, checking up on seiyuu info can be perilous and result in spoilers. While I was checking out Fiore, I also found out her surname hence her relationship to XXXXXXX... (haha why do I even bother? this page is EXPLODING with spoilers anyway :p) On another occasion, while checking out Mai's seiyuu for Popotan, I found out that a key character from an earlier ep will appear in the final ep. Yes, nothing serious, just minor spoilers... I'm been fortunate so far not to stumble across major spoilers like "Takayuki picks Mizuki" etc....

This was a good ep with major plot revelations. I noticed shorter series (ie comprising of 12-14 eps) often hits a slight crescendo at ep 9 or 10. Popotan had a really good ep at 9, Kiminozo at 10, Saikano at 9 and so on... probly some anime mind psychology at work here to hold the viewers' interest.

Some notable questions as of ep 10. What's happening to Joshua? What can Rosette do for Joshua that Fiore cannot? What's Aion's real purpose? Is GONZO going to self-destruct this series again? What is GONZO's address in Japan?

I guess I have to wait for the next 3 eps to find out.

Finally! A non h-game turned anime taking the spot for anime of the month! I guess I have moved on huh? Chrno is at full speed now. I can see it's building furiously towards the end. But still my doubts about a good resolution linger on. There's so much material they can still work on in the remaining 4 eps. Aion is still pretty undeveloped as a villain despite having a cool badass char design. And is Joshua's 'maid' going to play any important role? Probly not. Well I'll be disappointed cos she reminded me so much of Hisui in Tsukihime (And NO! I don't have this time for maids.... :p)

GONZO is really scoring on this one with me. The story is intriguing and the pacing is well controlled. Although the pieces to the puzzle are already coming together, there remain plenty of unknowns to drive my appetite for the series. Now of course if GONZO does a Hellsing on Chrno... I'll be booking my flight to Japan......

Woah! Maybe GONZO's redeeming piece! So far I have not been disappointed. The story is coherent and every episode never fails to build on the main story thread. With its consistent plot and character development, I consider the series to be focused and very well paced indeed. Unlike Tsukihime/Wolf's rain, it doesn't overstretch the well-crafted intrigue but reveals pieces of the puzzle to fuel the viewer's hunger to unravel the series. My only lament is that 13 eps is probably too short for the series to mature into a Class A anime. With the material at hand, this could easily be a full 24 /26 ep series. Of course maybe GONZO know their limits, after all, Kiddy Grade was reasonably good up to ep 11 and no more. But one thing GONZO does really well is opening sequences. I had liked the OP for LastEXILE, Full Metal Panic! and I now LOVE the OP for Chrno Crusade. Having a good song helps but it goes beyond that. The scenes really flow with the song and are also able to convey the essence of the lyrics. Kudos to GONZO for a great OP.

Still on the song, I had just found out that the singer of "Tsubasa wa pleasure line" is none other than Kuribayashi Minami! She also sang "Hoshizora no Waltz", "Precious Memories" and "Rumbling Hearts" for kiminozo series. And I must say she has a LOVELY voice and she can REALLY sing. Maybe others would know her better as Suzumiya Haruka of kiminozo Anyway she's been assigned a spot on Stripey's notable seiyuu's list, up there with Horie Yui and Kawasumi Ayako.

What's this I'm feeling? Fear? Yeah, cos I'm in love with a GONZO production. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I know there's a huge chance I'm headed for despair/disappointment and LCD head-butting. But I'm willing to risk my head (and my LCD screen) for that slim chance that this series will finish its run respectably. In typical GONZO fashion, the series has yet again started very very well. Good character development interwined with some plot movement. Great character design, humourous antics aplenty and fantastic CG animation. I have already taken to Rosette so much. Blonde, blue-eye and very boisterous. Pacifica Casull? (Scrapped Princess). Indeed I really do like Chrno Crusade. But I also know better. GONZO's uncanny ability to self-destruct a very promising anime is legendary. Hellsing, Kiddy Grade and Saikano comes to mind. To be fair, their latest production, LASTexile was quite good though it also suffered from pacing problems. I guess GONZO is a studio I love to hate. I know that they are capable of really good stuff and I have seen it in Full Metal Panic! and snatches of it in their various works. Somehow they just seem to lack the steam to finish the race. I understand Chrno Crusade is 13 ep and I am hoping they have the stamina to end well with a shorter series.