ADV's "Chrono Crusade"

A review of the official English version, corrections and general comments

Chrno Crusade was licensed in the U.S. by ADV Manga, which renamed the series as “Chrono Crusade” (only 2 volumes are out at the moment, but the third one will be available in December). The presentation is not bad and the color illustrations that are featured in the original Japanese volumes were included in the English version as well; however, the English volumes are a lot smaller than the original Japanese ones, and the quality of the illustrations somewhat lacks compared to the top-notch quality of the original version. The editing of the volumes is also very poorly done, with some Japanese text left intact, and HUGE English sound-effects spread across a good part of the pages, right next to the original Japanese ones, resulting in some panels being overcrowded with text and interfering with the actual drawings. The English translation, while not exactly bad, can be a whole lot better too... there are a few mistakes in the first and second volumes which are not critical, but can confuse new readers:

Volume 1:

1) Chapter 2: Chrno should have said “killed my precious contractor” instead of simply “killed Rosette”. Also, the next phrase should have been “she’s not moving!” instead of “what am I supposed to do now?”

2) Chapter 5: Chrno says “I had to heal YOUR wounds” (talking to Rosette), but the translation should have read  “I had to heal MY wounds”. Chrno cannot heal others, only himself.

2) Chapter 6: “the CROOKED horn” should have been “the BROKEN horn”. Chrno’s horns are definitely NOT crooked, they were broken off from his head.

1) Chapter 8: Remington and Rosette refer to the demon in the NY Central Station as a "HE" but it's actually a "SHE". Seems like the translator didn't bother reading the next volume, where the identity of this demon is finally revealed.

2) Chapter 10: The title reads "Two decisions" but the correct translation would be "Their decision" or more exactly: "The decision of the two"

3) Chapter 10, page 68: Rosette says "You just woke up, and you don't have enough power? How terrible". The correct translation is "You mean you woke up on an empty stomach? How terrible".

4) "Astral Line" is spelled several times as "astrallines".

5) And the worst one (Chapter 11, page 108): Chrno says "I just used up most of my power. I don't even have enough left to heal you". The correct translation is "I don't even have enough left to heal MYSELF". Again, Chrno DOES NOT have the ability to heal others, only himself. Heck, Rosette wasn't even injured, so it makes no sense that Chrno says that to her, specially since his own hand was bleeding profusely.

Anyway, as I already said, those mistakes are not that relevant to the plot, so you can more or less ignore them. There are also some “translation notes” at the end of the volume that are pretty nice to read and can help you understand the series a little more, plus a short interview with Moriyama-sensei at the back of volume 2 that is quite interesting to read. Personally, I think some fan-translations are a lot more accurate, generally speaking (you can read some of them here) but that’s just me. I’m a translator myself and I know some Japanese, so I’m a little picky about translations. ^_^

You can purchase the English volumes online at the following places:

Amazon

Anime Nation

Barnes & Noble Free shipping on orders of more than $25! Very good service too...