Search - Chrono Crusade: Complete Collection on DVD

Good series, but I wish this set had better packaging

Lesley Aeschliman | Enumclaw, WA | 07/08/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Chrono Crusade Complete Collection is a five-disc set that contains all twenty-four episodes of the series. There the first four discs have six episodes each, with extras included on the first, second, and fourth discs. The fifth disc in the set only contains extras. I was disappointed by the packaging of this set. When you open the box, you find that all five discs are stacked one on top of the other on one hub. Also, there is no booklet or insert included in the box, so you don't know what episodes are on what discs unless you put the discs into a DVD player.

The extras on the first disc include the original on-air openings for the first five episodes, as well as commentary on episode one by the American voice actors for Rosette and Chrono. The only difference between the five on-air openings is about ten seconds of footage in the middle; otherwise, it's the exact same opening. Because the difference is so slight, it made this feature rather boring to watch. The only extra on the second disc is commentary provided by the American voice actor for Joshua and ADR Director Matt Greenfield. The fourth disc contains the unused on-air openings for the final four episodes. These unused on-air openings are exactly like the openings on the first disc, but with different footage during the ten seconds in the middle.

The fifth disc contains several bonus features. First is "Azmaria's Extra Classes." These are a series of eleven three-four minute pieces that explain various aspects of Chrono Crusade. The topics covered in this section include: America in the 1920's, the Magdalene Order, weapons used by the Magdalene Order, the Apostles, the beasts Satella summons, the devil worshippers, "the Sinners," the pursuers and the Believers, stigmata, the ritual of Atonement, and the Head of Pandemonium. Next, is the clean opening and clean close (which are the opening and ending credits without the credit text).

The "Chrono Crusade Chronicle" is a feature that is designed to look like a newspaper. This is divided into four sections: "Famous People Sighted," "Mysterious Creatures Discovered," "Mechanical Curiosities," and "Chrono Crusade Slang." All of these contain various pieces of information, and is done in a slideshow format (the only exception to this is "Chrono Crusade Slang," which is a list of slang words from 1928 that the viewer can page through). Outside of "Chrono Crusade Slang," the viewer has no control over when the screen changes to the next page of information.

Next is "Production Sketches." This feature is not done in a way that the viewer can go through at their own pace. Instead, it is done as a 36-minute long video file. The disc also includes ADV Previews and DVD credits.

While I was disappointed in the packaging of this set, and wish some of the special features had been done differently, this is a good set to own if you are a fan of Chrono Crusade."