Chrono Crusade Vol. 8

There's really not much you can do to ruin gun-toting nuns in 1920s America; that is what is known in the industry as Pure Entertainment Gold. Okay, you could take all those possibilities and flush them down the toilet in favor of your standard emo apocalypse saga with predictable religious overtones, but - oh yes, the concluding volume of the Chrono Crusade manga.

First things first: Chrono Crusade Vol. 8 is as beautifully drawn as always. The characters don't break any new ground but Rosette, although a generic spunky heroine, is at least a generic spunky heroine who kicks people in the head and bought up her Both Guns Blazing schtick, and Father RemingtonAwesome is Father Awesome, so they're all perfectly pleasant to watch. Of course, this being the final volume, all there is to watch is expertly-rendered scenes of battle damage and heart-rending emotion you've seen a hundred times before.

The plot is entirely optional at this point: people cry and shout a lot about their issues before kicking each other in the head, there's the obligatory scene where the Main Character is KOed during a crucial battle and must mope through a metaphysical experience (on a train, no less) before returning to consciousness to whup villain ass, childhood promises are remembered and new promises made (and cried and shouted over), naked women of significance are awakened and then decapitated, disaster is threatened and averted, and climactic battle scenes suddenly cut to black. Can we get a spaceship that crashes onto a planet and causes wacky shit to be set in motion, too? Yes, we can. Cue epilogue!

The epilogue is standard sentimental fare, but it's a decent enough send-off for all the heroes you mostly tolerated or kinda liked for the past 7 volumes. And that's about it, really. Still, it's a really well-drawn series and Father Awesome has a big-ass cross sword, so the early volumes are at least worth a read. Meanwhile, Daisuke Moriyama's moved on to World Embryo.

On the technical side, ADV's translation is competent enough. But design-wise, there are just some situations in which a Helvetica-style font simply looks crappy on the page. Which is too bad, because people at ADV Manga apparently loves them some cheap-looking sans serif action.