Customer Reviews

Casshern Sins: Part One [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I like Casshern, I really do. But around my area it seems like I'm the only one who's ever heard of this series. I'll give a very brief rundown of the origin of this franchise:

Shinzo Ningen Kyashan, or translated as Neo-Human Casshan, was an anime series created by animation studio Tatsunoko Productions in 1973. This series was never localized since the Japanese super-hero genre was never really that popular here in America. Years later in 2003, the OVA (titled "Robot Hunter Casshan") was subtitled and released on two DVDs (both of which you can find here on Amazon, at the time of this review of course). In 2007, the live-action version was re-cut, subtitled and officially released by Dreamworks here in America, titled "Casshern." In early 2010, Casshan made an appearance as a playable character in the fighting game "Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom" for the Nintendo Wii. I'm really not sure what's going on with the translation of this character's name; they just can't seem to decide which one to use. But anyway, just know that "Casshan" and "Casshern" are the same character.

Now it's mid-2010 (again, at time of this review), and here we have Casshern Sins. Suffice it to say, FUNimation did a fantastic job of localizing this great anime. If you've never seen it before, you don't need to know any of Casshern's back-story to get into it, but I think it's a lot more fulfilling if you do watch the other Casshern material. I won't go into the story, since that would make this review more lengthy than it already is and that's something you can probably find anywhere on the internet, but rest assured that it's one you won't soon forget. All of the English voice actors sound nearly identical to their Japanese counterparts. There are a few misses if you compare it to the Japanese version, but these differences are negligible. The script was also well translated, and I feel it isn't watered down for U.S. audiences, which can be the case for some translated animes. Also, from what I've noticed, no violence, language or any scenes were cut out from the original, which is greatly appreciated for any kind of fan for anime.

*IN SHORT: If you are a fan of Casshern, or have seen the original Japanese version of this anime, this is well worth the investment. If you've never heard of this franchise or anime, you owe it to yourself to pick this up and experience a story you won't soon forget.

Casshern Sins is a tough anime to describe. It's about a being named Casshern roaming a world in which, as far as we know, he destroyed himself by killing Luna. When he did so it spread a plague of Ruin throughout the world destroying robots and humans alike. Now, years after the destruction Casshern awakes to find what he has done and has no memories of ever doing anything. Did he do it? Why did he do it? How can he fix it? These are certainly questions you will ask yourself as he wanders aimlessly through this dying lawless world.

So here's the deal. The animation in this anime is just superb. I mean excellent. I absolutely LOVE the way the filters look and certain colors just pop right out at you while everything still remains dark and sad. If you think there's no place in this type of world for person dressed like a superhero you'd be wrong. Casshern fits perfectly despite his get-up and it works wonderfully.

So the episodes. A lot of them consisting of Casshern roaming the world and discovering what he has done and who's paying the price(i.e. everybody). Many people will find this anime...not exactly to their liking. It's very quiet. Not much music at all. Lots of moments with silence and much contemplating what these people are thinking. The result is a very emotional experience that I enjoy a lot. But while there are the silent despressing moments, there are also the battles. Not as much but there are some battles certainly. The battles are amazing and it's great to watch Casshern dance around ripping robots to shreds. He's a killing machine and nothing can stop him. Even if you think he may be killing the enemy just because they show him doing it onscreen you can't always be fooled. Sometimes what they show could be from what he sees and he could well have just killed a friend. when in a rage he doesn't stop until everything is dead. And this is an excellent point to the anime. Watching Casshern evolve from a mindless killing machine that doesn't know what he's doing by meeting all these different suffering robots and (sometimes) humans. Sure it's quiet and depressing, but it's also well thought out, emotional, and will make you want to see more. The anime really picks up more in the second half but the first half I find myself really loving. I like to see his interactions and changing based on past experiences. This anime is all about the characters. I have been in tears a few times throughout which I can't say for too many anime.

So overall I find this to be an excellent purchase, (both Parts of course. Damn you Funimation for seprating everything now!) and I haven't been so addicted to an anime in a long while. If you don't mind the silence. If you like a great story. If you like character evolution. This is definitely for you. While there is much to think about and not everything is fed to you, whenever a glimmer of light appears to spread hope it will bring a smile to your face knowing that even in a ruined world the sad can smile again.

After taking the advice of others, I checked this series out. To sum it up, I like Casshern, really it is a well written series with some great art style and characters. The world is interesting and the anguish of Casshern is well portrayed. There is just a lot of questions about the background which never really get solved. You get the gist of things by the end of the series but things aren't totally clear. Some of the scenes are almost a bit over dramatic to the point it seems the writer is trying too hard. In the end if the rest of the series wasn't so well done, you'd wonder what the point of watching it was.

This series is not a happy cheery anime. There is a lot of death, mostly all of which is robot based so theres not blood splatter everywhere. While there are some quirks with it, you just can't hate Casshern. Really I want to give it 5 stars but in the end I just don't feel the need to watch it again. I've seen what the buzz is, I agree it is good, but I just don't feel the need to see it again. Unfortunately it just isn't a series I'm super into in the end. But I hope for others it will be. It certainly is at least worth a rental.

Casshern Sins is a reboot of the Robot Hunter Casshan series produced by Tatsunoko in the 70's and the 2008 incarnation is pretty nice.

Story-- In a future where robots have essentially replaced humans, Casshern kills a girl named Luna and brings about the "Ruin" which essentially causes all the robots to decay or rust and fall apart and essentially suffer from "robo-leprosy". While everyone else is going crazy and rusting to death, Casshern is perfectly fine (aside from the fact he has cliche memory loss and has no idea who or what he is) and can repair himself rapidly, this leads all the other robots to want to kill and eat him in the hopes of a) stopping the ruin or b) gain his strength. The desolate rusting wasteland provides a very depressing backdrop for the stories of renewed hope that frequents part one. Most of the episodes involve Casshern having to save a small fragment of hope in a dying world by destroying the half crazed zombie robots with his incredible strength and agility and learning more about his mysterious past.

Animation-- In a word "Amazing", Casshern Sins is a gorgeous anime with smooth animations and crisp visuals further enhanced by Blu-Ray. The Combat is both visceral and graceful, Casshern can literally tear his foes in two with his hands and then pirouette on a guy's head!! Great stuff.

Sound-- All the metal clangs, scrapes and forceful blows are done quite well and the voice acting is pretty good despite the limited amount of dialogue Casshern and other characters are given. The music is also very good with the opening theme being so catchy it is still playing in my head as I write this.

Overall-- Very strong stuff from Tatsunoko, If you have never heard of Tatsunoko or have a penchant for mecha, I would invite you to give it a chance, it has become one of my favorites.

When I first heard of this series I was excited. I think the Casshan OAV from 1993 is one of my all time favorites and I love the character. I was hoping for a continuation of that epic series.

Instead, what we have is a re-imagining of all the characters. They are what they are in name only. So warning, if you are looking for the previous incarnation of Casshan, this is not it. Why take the history of a character and completely re-write it in a tone totally opposite to the original? Just create a new character and let the story stand on it's own.

Okay, the art and animation is stylish. I found the dialog to be forced and childish. The background music wasn't at all compelling, except for the segments where they replayed some that was used for the 1993 OAV. Further, they could have compressed much of the story into half the time. I recommend you rent this series and watch it before you shell out what they want for it. Honesty, I forced myself to watch all of the episodes I did watch. I'll never watch this again.

Confusa y repetitiva, le falta fluidez a la historia, tienes que adquirir la segunda parte para entederla en su totalidad.
Argumento pobre y poco entendible, quisieron hacerla oscura y lo unico que lograron fue que a la trama le faltara mayor brillatez y calidad en los colores.

This was a terrible series. The story progression was difficult or impossible to follow. Plotlines moved forward seemingly at random, and there was a total disconnect between events shown on the screen and the "story arc", if it could even be called that. When plot twists came, they seemed to have come out of nowhere, and were contrived and hard to follow. Many of the episodes were just a jumble of events and it was hard to tell what was really happening and what was somebody's imagination. Many points were left unexplained. I don't think the creators actually intended this to be a complete story -- and it seemed like even the animators got lazy at the end, which was depicted with just a few poorly drawn sketches and some incomprehensible live action sequences.

DO NOT BUY.

First of all, I'd just like to say: DO NOT TAKE MY MERE 3-STAR RATING FOR FACE VALUE. If I didn't hate the ending so much, this would've easily been a 5.

I'm going to divide this review into two parts. The first is a generic, spoiler-free review to try to sell this to you. The second is going to be a spoiler-heavy reflection of my thoughts and emotions. You should only read it if you've either seen it already, haven't seen it but don't plan on buying it (I hope this isn't you), or don't care about massive spoilers. Don't worry; I'll warn you when the transition occurs.

Okay, so first of all, the voice acting is phenomenal (I listen in English). The actors did a top-of-the-line job, and were one of the things that helped make me really FEEL for the characters. One of the best examples are the times when Casshern cries out in emotional agony. The parts of physical pain are pretty good too, but the emotional agony parts are obviously much heavier. The only problem is that sometimes, the lines just could've been better.

The music is incredible and beautiful. It does an amazing job setting/fitting the mood for certain scenes. My favorite is the song that Janice sings that is repeated a few times later in the series. It WILL make softies cry. The only gripe I have with the music is that the intro(/theme) song is simply out of place: It's way too upbeat, energetic, and happy for the series it represents. The outro songs do not have this problem, however; the one for the first half is particularly good.

The animation style is awesome. It is SO much better than the s***ty, lazy garbage most anime is. The characters are GORGEOUSLY well-done, and the flowers are breathtaking. (You'll know what I mean when you see them.) The scenery and landscaping is perfect. One of the best aspects of the animation in the series is how perfectly done the facial expressions of the characters are--specifically Lyuze (probably my favorite character in the series). Whenever you see her face, you can tell EXACTLY how she's feeling.

Now that the basic face-value stuff is out of the way, on to the story itself. The story is beautifully written, and has a very interesting plot. You can't use the term "emotional roller coaster ride" unless you specify that the roller coaster seems to like hugging the ground. Make no mistake--this series tends to be extremely sad and depressing; although usually, through these sad and emotional scenes, they're trying to make a point. Prime example: The whole friggin' series itself is bittersweet, but through it all--through the pain, loss, and ever-present death--makes the overarching moral point to live life to the fullest.

The emotional involvement and character development are, in my opinion, the two strongest aspects of the series. The series will tug at your heart strings, yes, but sometimes, it feels as though it's just trying to rip them out of your chest. And the happy moments--though less frequent than the sad--are beautiful as well. Obviously, I'm emphasizing the fact that this is a darker series. If you can't live with that (I hardly could) then I don't recommend it.

As for the character development, of course, Casshern's journey of self-discovery takes the cake. It's hard to really pin any of the characters as being one-dimensional (excluding the mindless automatons) unless I take a more cynical eye. One of the reasons the character development is so good is that most of them offer deep philosophical views for you to consider. And Lyuze's developing relationship with Casshern is beautiful.

Some other random points. There are many scenes where Casshern is fighting a horde of robots who are exactly what many people think of when they think of the word: single-minded, blood-thirsty, mindless automatons. Sometimes, he's defending the weak and helpless. Others, because they think devouring him will grant them eternal life. But the rest is just completely random and pointless: I.E., all of a sudden, Casshern is surrounded by robots, and subsequently begins laying waste to them. The line from the song Gematria (The Killing Name) by Slipknot came to mind every time: "Life is just... a killing field. It's all that's left--nothing's real." And it's pretty much the summation of these scenes in lyrical form.

Without breaking my spoiler-free promise, all I can say about the ending is this: It is bittersweet, you will probably cry, and it leaves me feeling strangely unsatisfied/empty.

All in all, this is a superb anime. It is completely worth your time and money. Like I said, don't let my 3-star rating fool you. I just personally have some problems with it that I can't state without MASSIVE spoilers.



! ===( SPOILER ALERT ) === !



I hate how the series continuously introduces characters that are only there for one episode, then they either die, or are just forgotten. One of my biggest problems in this is Janice. She seemed like she could've been a very significant character for the series, right? Instead, the only part of her that lives past her one-episode-wonder is her song. However, I DO see the purpose each of them serves in teaching Casshern things about himself and about life, and vice versa.

I don't like how slowly the plot evolves in the first 12 episodes of the series. This is where most of the one-episode-wonders occur. Granted, there are various reasons for this which I can acknowledge, that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Why does everyone blame Casshern for what he did? As though he just woke up one day and said, "Hmmm... I feel like murdering Luna today." He was only following Braiking Boss' orders, which was what he was made to do. It's not like he had a choice.

Dio is a vain, pathetic thing whose only "purpose" in life is is meaningless and stupid. I actually felt a great deal of pity and sympathy for Leda at the end, even though she was selfish and cold-hearted, she remained loyal to Dio until the end. Casshern should've killed Braiking Boss as soon as he realized it was him. Why did Miko have to die? ='(

Luna's whole character pisses me off. She ends up being a complete and total vain b**** with selfish intentions and an outright evil soul. Why everyone was so sad she died is beyond me. She wouldn't even save Dune simply because he "reeked of death". I wish that when Casshern "killed" her, she actually DIED instead of ruining the world in exchange for rebirth. (But then again, that would mean the series would be pointless.) I wish that Casshern would've at least killed her at the end, and put an end to her precious immortality.

Which is just part of my biggest problem with the series: the end. It's impossible to tell just WHO is really still alive. Are there even enough humans to procreate and rebuild? Did the Ruin ever truly stop? What happened to Janice? What happened to Casshern? (I hate the whole "Casshern was never seen again" thing.) There are just too many unanswered questions and next to zero closure. And finally: LYUZE DIED! >='( Oh how I wish she could have been saved... The love story between her and Casshern was just too beautiful. I would've loved this story sooooo much more if only she could've lived on forever with Casshern. What I REALLY would've loved is for her to gain the ability to procreate like Casshern and Leda. =) I hate bittersweet endings... with all the depression in this series, the least they could give us is a SOMEWHAT happy ending. I don't even know if what it is could qualify as bittersweet; maybe it's just "bitter." What else would he have to live for now, anyways? Life would be extremely boring and lonely.

Damn, I'm a sucker for anime love stories.

Yes, people will always compare this to the Casshan of old days (unless you die out). It is much more to me though. I personally loved the animation style and also enjoyed the depth of plot. It is not something to judge after a few episodes but something to enjoy as a whole. It is unique as it stands on its own and I can respect that when you consider all the crap that is out there in todays time. Basically, this show shines like a diamond in a pile of dung that is modern anime today. Recommend buy on content.

This series is nothing short of amazing. The artwork is very fluid and well stylized, the action is some of the best I've seen in anime, and the story, so far, very interesting and keeps you wanting more.

If you love thought provoking stories, you'll love this. This is basically an outstanding version of "i, Robot" if I had to put it simply.