Chrono Crusade
ANN; Characters Database: FUNimation; Hulu; IMDb; Madman; Manga.com; TV.com; TV Tropes; Wikipedia
This is one of those animes that is frequently switching between serious drama, intense action, and over-the-top wacky humor. It's set in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928. There's an organization within the Catholic church called the Order of Magdalene, which exists to exorcise demons and devils. (At this point I'm not entirely clear what the difference between the two is, but there does seem to be one, unless I'm mistaken.) And um, this show's idea of "exorcism" is considerably different from the way the word is typically used. It seems more like the word means "killing," here.
The story focuses on Sister Rosette Christopher (who we like), and her assistant, a devil called Chrono. In flashbacks we see that Rosette and her now-missing brother, Joshua, met Chrono when they were younger. Since then, something obviously happened that changed Joshua, but so far I don't know what that was. He definitely seems quite powerful, though. Meanwhile, Rosette and Chrono are sent on exorcism missions by the head of the New York branch of Magdalene, Sister Kate Valentine. Rosette is pretty reckless and usually causes a lot of damage in the course of her assignments, which really frustrates Sister Kate (who also doesn't trust Chrono, being a devil). Rosette and Chrono seem to interact frequently with Edward Hamilton (who is referred to as "the Elder"), an old coot who invents stuff for operatives to use, like special bullets to be used on demons. The main type of bullet is called a Sacred, though the Elder also made a more powerful bullet called a Gospel. It should also be mentioned that the Elder is a pervert, often engaging in lewd behavior and comments toward Rosette. And we see some other members of the Order, including Father Ewan Remington, who gets along better with Rosette than Sister Kate does.
Anyway, I find the period setting of the story fun, especially the 1920s slang that characters use. The action's pretty cool, and the show's also rather amusing. Plus of course there are cute girls (even if they are nuns). And I look forward to learning more about all that's going on. But... I watched the first four eps on Syfy, then one week the DVR recorded the wrong thing, so... I guess I'll just stop watching, until maybe I eventually get the series on DVD, or something. Sigh.