English Dub Review: Chronos Ruler “Being and Nothingness”

Everybody hide! Doctor Who’s got a sword!

Spoilers Below

Koyuki is a high schooler with her graduation and future ahead of her. She excels at the violin. She is an orphan. And her brother, who raised her, just died. He pushed her out of the way of a bus and became a bloody smear. All because she left her violin behind on a bench. Those regrets have left her with an intense desire to turn back time, but that sort of thing is impossible… Right? There are rumors that if one wishes to turn back time under the clock tower during a full moon, their wish will be granted. One of her teachers, Miss Emily, seems to be getting younger. Maybe there’s something to this legend after all! As Koyuki mourns at her brother’s grave, a monster appears before her, and a man with a sword drives it off. This is Kiri Putin, and his “brother” Victor Putin should have been waiting around the corner to trap the beastie. Too bad he was off gallivanting with girls from the local hostess club. The two of them try to dissuade her from availing herself of the clock tower legend. Of course, she doesn’t listen.

As Koyukimakes her wish under the tower, a demonic creature arises. This is a horolog, a beast that is attracted to regret and consumes a person’s time. A bite from them causes the victim to age backward while forgetting their memories. They continue to do so until they cease to exist. She even gets to watch as Miss Emily runs up, transformed into a child, then becomes an embryo before her very eyes! This is not what she wished for. Kiri and Victor arrive to save her, using an array of fantastic playing cards and a “teenage fantasy” sword to defeat the monster. As it turns out, Victor was once bitten by a horolog, and his powers as a Chronos Ruler (those that hunt horologs) prevents him from losing much more time, but as he uses his stronger powers, he leaks. This means that while Victor appears to be the younger brother, he is, in fact, 39. The two of them affirm that there is no changing the past, or bringing people back from the dead. All you get is a very strange death.

Chronos Ruler is an interesting anime. Is it sci-fi? Is it fantasy? Does it really matter? While the idea of a critter feeding off you by making you younger is a bit awkward, this show at least makes the business end of the horologs more frightening than the touch of Doctor Who’s Weeping Angels. In a show about time travel, with an ageless protagonist, being sent back in time isn’t that much of a threat, really. Watching Emily regress so fast was a bit more of a “wow, this thing could really hurt me bad” feeling. I like the characters of Kiri and Victor, juxtaposed against each other. Despite the trauma in his past, Victor is carefree and empathetic. Kiri, on the other hand, is more level-headed and Type A. It isn’t that he has no sense of humor, he’s just on a mission.

My only complaint about the writing is a minor one and one we all accept these days. This episode had a serious case of Talking as a Free Action. I would say one-third of this episode is exposition while a monster is attacking. This is okay while the horolog is under the effect of a slow spell, but after he breaks out, they keep on talking… and talking… This is kinda lazy writing, and it primarily comes from emulating the script of the manga, but I feel the Project No.9 could have taken liberties and had the exposition go down differently.

The animation in this show is superb. Traditional and CG animation flow together so seamlessly, the only way you can tell the switch happened is because the camera is doing a bunch of crazy stuff. The character models they built were expertly crafted, if a hair stiff, and used in a way I haven’t seen since I reviewed Chain Chronicle. If you don’t believe me, just watch the first minute. That sequence has Kiri chasing a horolog, and both characters are flip-flopping between traditional and CG so fast, it’s hard to keep track. When a character is close up, they use traditional. When they are far away from doing complicated actions it goes CG. Because of how the camera flows around the battlefield like a third combatant, who is in the foreground is constantly changing. If one character is hidden behind another, you can be sure they switched animation modes. It was really exciting to see.

The voice acting wasn’t all that bad, really. Jerry Jewel (Victor) was also in charge of the localization. The main characters emoted rather well, though Natalie Hoover (Koyuki) may have been laying it on a bit thick during her clock tower wish. Koyuki’s classmates were kinda stiff and forced in their line delivery, or at least, it felt that way to me. I don’t know if I can really ding a show for its background voice acting, though. So, with only the endless exposition hurting this episode, I’m rather pleased to give it nine time-slowing playing cards out of ten.

Oh, and apparently Victor isn’t Kiri’s brother. Try father. Imagine that awkward conversation. “Victor” *raspy mask breathing* “You are my Father!”