Chrono Crusade

Chrono Crusade

Kurono Kuruseido
2003 -2004 Gonzo Fuji TV 24 episodes Completed
Action Supernatural Historical Romance
Details & Synopsis
Before the modern obsession with demons and exorcists, Studio Gonzo delivered the definitive "nuns with guns" action-tragedy of the early 2000s. Set against a demon-infested 1920s New York, Chrono Crusade is a relentless blend of gothic horror, theological action, and ticking-clock dread. Sister Rosette Christopher literally burns away her own lifespan to fuel her demonic partner Chrono, giving every bombastic firefight a profound undercurrent of melancholic consequence. It famously diverges from Daisuke Moriyama's manga, but the anime earns its own conclusion: notoriously devastating, completely unforgettable. A beautiful, heartbreaking artifact of an era when shows weren't afraid to break your heart and leave you staring at a bittersweet sunset.
Alt Title Kurono Kuruseido
Studio Gonzo
Network Fuji TV
Aired 2003 - 2004
Episodes 24
Genre Action, Supernatural, Historical, Romance
Status Completed
← All lore

Fansub & Scanlation History

What AniDB Actually Documents

Chrono Crusade Opened With a Crowded Fansub Race

November–December 2003 · At Least Nine Release Identities Around Episode One

A contemporary AnimeSuki page preserves an unusually crowded opening for Chrono Crusade. Anime-Keep, Inf & AF-F, SuYu & TnH, Anime-Kraze, SD & FD-A, Anime Junkies, chronoGen, WPP & Sb and AnimeOne all appear around episode 1, with WPP & Sb also circulating a preview before the episode releases. The later complete Anime-Kraze and KickAssAnime runs were only part of the story: the series began inside a genuinely competitive current-airing digisub field.

Anime-Kraze Finished the Broadcast Run, July 2004

Complete 24 Episodes · Broadcast Source

Anime-Kraze completed all 24 episodes of Chrno Crusade from broadcast sources in July 2004 according to the existing AniDB record. The group's own site now gives us direct checkpoints inside that run: a November 26, 2003 news post announces episode 1 as a brand-new project, and the April 2004 releases page lists episodes 1–16 with CRCs plus revised versions of episodes 7–9.
The Breakdown
The complete 24-episode endpoint still comes from the later database record, but project ownership and the middle of the run are now backed by Anime-Kraze's own release infrastructure. This is exactly the kind of source pairing the archive should preserve instead of flattening everything into one confidence level.
[Anime-Kraze]

KickAssAnime's Release Is the One With the Numbers

Complete, March 2007 · 9.03 from 103 Votes
KickAssAnime completed a full 24-episode DVD-sourced release in March 2007 that stands well above everything else on record for this show: 9.03 from 103 votes, both figures far beyond any other Chrono Crusade fan release.
[KAA]

Moriyama's Manga, and the License That Died With ADV

Two Magazines, Eight Volumes, and a Typo in the Title

December 1998 – May 2004 · Fujimi Shobo

Daisuke Moriyama's manga ran in Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Comic Dragon from 1998 to 2003, then moved to Monthly Dragon Age through its 2004 conclusion, eight volumes and 56 chapters total. The original Japanese title was itself a typo, "CHRNO Crusade" missing its O, that Moriyama kept rather than correct.

ADV Manga Licensed It, Then ADV Collapsed

English Volumes: May 2004 – May 2006 · Unlicensed Since 2007

ADV Manga released all eight English volumes between May 2004 and May 2006, and even ran some chapters in Newtype USA magazine. When ADV's comics division shut down in 2007, the manga went out of print and has remained unlicensed in North America ever since, a dead license with no rescue, unlike most of the anime side of this page.

The Anime Outran Its Own Source Material

The Anime Only Adapts the First 3 of 8 Manga Volumes

Gonzo's 24-episode anime adapts just the first three of the manga's eight volumes across its first thirteen episodes, then goes fully original for the rest, the reverse of the usual pattern on this site. The manga was still incomplete when the anime finished airing in June 2004.

ADV, Then Section 23, Then Funimation

Funimation Acquired the Rights in Late 2010

ADV Films licensed the anime originally. After ADV itself collapsed in 2008-2009, successor company Section 23 held the rights until Funimation acquired them in late 2010. On US television the show moved around just as much: The Anime Network first, then Showtime Beyond, then Manga Entertainment picked up broadcast rights and aired it on Syfy's anime block.