Characters

Who is who in Chrno Crusade

Contract

Overview and analysis of the Chrno and Rosette's relationship (with major spoilers)

Rosette and Chrno’s relationship is a very complicated one, however, the predominant feeling involved in the making of their contract is ultimately love, and all the feelings derived from it: trust, self-sacrifice, hope, etc. This has greatly affected the way they interact with each other, and it has made them change a great deal since the beginning of the series, specially Chrno. He is the one that apparently benefits from the contract: he uses Rosette's life as an energy source and gets to be cured from any injuries, while Rosette suffers terrible pain and her life is quickly eaten by him. Yet, Chrno is the one who suffers the more, emotionally speaking. He sincerely cares for her, and he already suffered the great pain of losing Magdalene, the person he loved, after unknowingly using up her life. Rosette, on the other hand, is an emotionally strong person, and the tragedies that she has suffered in the course of her young life have only made her stronger. She is the one who supports Chrno and the one who constantly encourages him to not give up.

Despite the love Magdalene had for him and the many things he learned by being by her side, the relationship with Magdalene had some negative consequences for Chrno. On one hand, he experienced love for the first time, broke free from Aion’s negative influence, and enjoyed a peaceful new life for a short time, but on the other hand, the contract Magdalene made with him (when he was almost unconscious and didn’t know exactly what he was agreeing to) and her sudden death left him emotionally broken, full of remorse and despair.

Meeting Rosette, an energetic, strong, cheerful girl, radically changed the way Chrno looked at his own life. He considered himself a murderer and a danger for humans, but Rosette didn’t care about who he was, or what he had done in the past. She took pity on him, and looked at him as an equal, a friend who she could trust. Rosette soon had to face the tragedy of losing her brother, her only living relative, and all her friends at the orphanage, yet she never despaired or gave up. Rosette’s strong will and the faith she had in Chrno, worked a small miracle: Chrno, who had already given up on life, now accepted to make another contract, like the one he made with Magdalene, and stay with Rosette until the end, this time, fully knowing what the consequences of his decision would be. Chrno didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, and strongly warned Rosette against making a contract which would only bring her a lot of pain, but her determination and self-sacrifice was a lot stronger than Chrno’s doubts, and he was forced to agree. Chrno perhaps expected their life together to be short, but Rosette had no intention of dying yet, and her love for life and her “never give up” policy, soon brought a change in him. Chrno learned what happiness and friendship really meant, and was able to forget his past and enjoy life for the very first time. Rosette’s influence on him also radically changed his personality. He was willing to do any kind of sacrifice for her sake and keep all the pain of his difficult past for himself, but she made him understand that locking himself away from the rest of the world only meant pain for the both of them. She didn’t want him to suffer by himself, and she was willing to share his sufferings if he ever felt lonely. Rosette never blamed Chrno for shortening her life, or for giving her so much pain, or for giving in to his demonic insticts in a moment of weakness. She knew how bad he felt and didn’t want him to torment himself because of her own mistakes. By being by her side, Chrno learned that giving up was not an option, even in the middle of the most desperate situation. Chrno’s new determination and strong will ultimately worked a miracle at the end, and he was able to protect the woman he loved and look at the future with hope, even in the middle of the most desperate circumstances.

Chrno’s newfound determination and self-confidence also brought a change in Rosette. Though her strong personality and her convictions remained the same, Rosette was able to finally give in and be protected by Chrno instead of being the one protecting him. She had always been somebody who wanted to be strong so others could rely on her, and the thought of being a burden to anybody was something almost unbearable for her, yet she was able to understand that Chrno had matured and was no longer the boy she knew, who needed to rely on her in order to face his own fears and tribulations. Chrno was now a man much stronger than she was and no longer needed to depend on her lifetime in order to fight. Most importantly, he now had the same determination she had and enough confidence in his own strength to be able to protect her from any harm. Rosette learned that their future that was not something she could build by herself, it was something the both of them needed to create together.