Chrono Crusade: Volume 7

Chrono Crusade is a very good series throughout the first few books. But in these final few, the pace is picked up, and I found myself unable to put the book down- even on my third time through! The story flows amazingly well, and the end of this book left me desperate for the next. The characters are well fleshed out, and the emotions are quite compelling. If you haven't picked this book or this series up yet, I strongly encourage you to- you have no idea what a great story you are missing.

Rosette and Chrono have slipped aboard the Sinner's giant floating fortress ironically called "Eden" in an effort to rescue Azamaria and hopefully bring Joshua back to his senses. But before they can do that they'll have to make it through Aion's powerful demon allies, and Rosette's lifeforce is at its lowest ebb, so Chrono can't revert back to his true form without killing her in the process. Our duo are not the only ones on Aion's trail either. All the forces of Pandemonium, led by the fierce warrior Duke Daffau, have come to kill the Sinners and end their rebellion once and for all. I was a real fan of the early episodes of the anime version of Chrono Crusade, which brought me to the manga. Unfortunately, the anime got caught up in end of the world scenarios and misunderstood silly religious symbolism right out of Evangelion. The manga version is at once easier to understand and vastly different than the anime. I would have to say that Volume 7 is one of the weakest volumes of the series I have read, because it's mostly one battle scene after another. But I'm ok with that since this is the next to last volume. It just seemed a little too Hollywood blow-em-up to me. The real part of the story to me has always been Rosette's search for Joshua, and mirroring this, Satella's search for her lost sister long ago taken by Aion. So to me, all the demon-killing and comedy is just window dressing that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Even so, the manga is light years better than the anime. A nice bonus story at the end of this volume which really hits on why I like Chrono Crusade is a flashback to Rosette's first acclimation to joining the Magdalan Order and her first friend.

I first discovered this manga while living in Germany. I got up to book 6 before coming back and having to wait for English editions to show up and its been driving me nuts! I never really got into manga or graphic novels until Chrono Crusade, which I absolutely love! The storyline and characters are gripping. This is a definite must-read.