Casshern Sins

This series is incredibly repetitive and frankly I couldn't get past the first 6 or 7 episodes. I simply lost interest, watching it was like a chore which was really sad because good cyberpunk anime is hard to find. I didn't really enjoy the character design either, it looks overly simplified and the sceneries are plain and bleak.

Story: Pretty good story from beginning to end it did keep you wanting to watch and see where it goes and when it gets to the climax of the series that is when it really pulls you in, even with all of the action it wasnt a mindless action series that alot of shows pull off this one did have something to think about on, now there are a few flaws though one being the whole opening sequence for about half the show where we see luna and hear casshern growl like a cat in heat which got old very quickly and some of those ... episodes were pretty hit and miss maybe didnt even need to be apart of the show not really moving the story along but overall i give it a 8.

Art: Now im sure alot of people will agree that this was one of the highlights of this show very beautifully done mixing old school character design making it look new and fresh Yoshihiko Umakoshi did a great job also on backgrounds bringing together a great apocoliptic view of this world it had to be a 10.

Sound: Another fine point in this series was sound the opening and ending theme songs were good i felt they did a good job of keeping it with the theme of the series not to up beat but it was pretty catchy and alot of the music in the show was great as well even a song in english which they did play a few times which helped make the scene seem more emotional and made watching the show that much more enjoyable gave it a 9.

Character: All characters were well put together from Casshern all the way down to Ohji every character had there own demons to face even braking or breaking boss 2 fansubs called him by 2 seperate names so i will use both even though he had a small part at the end he to also was a welcome part to this world i gave it a 10.

Enjoyment: To me maybe a 9 was to much for this catagory yes this show is great but there was some pacing issues like i said earlier some of the episodes in the middle of the series were pretty dull didnt have alot to do with the story or even pushing character development i could almost say that this show could have been cut to about a 12 or 13 episode series without alot of what was in the middle but still once you get to the climax of the show it was well worth the wait.

Overall: Yes this show has flaws but then again all shows do but this show does make up for these flaws by still putting together alot of things that makes this show great the story art characters and music were all well done that is pretty easy to overlook the minor flaws that it has i have never seen any other part of the casshern franchise but im sure that this show is a great additon to it i gave it a 9.

I hate waiting to see what happens next. There are many aspects of this particular storyline that catch the attention of the avid anime fan. The journey to self discovery is apparent, as is the guilt of transgressions. The inevitable infatuation of Lyuze for Casshern was obviously a work in progress, to the effect of having waited 18 episodes for her to come to the realization. The only question I really have is about the soundtrack. There is a song in the series that is sung in english, and as I can't read Japanese (yet), I was wondering if anyone happened to know the title ... of this song. Hit this thread back if you happen to know.

Casshern Sins is the anime embodiment of style. The animation and sound direction/quality is the best of anything I've ever seen. Everything from the color pallet, contrast, angles, pacing, just everything is astounding. Not only does the animation do exactly what the plot wants it to do, but it goes out of its way to stand on its own as breathtaking. Most trailers are cut very awkwardly so they wouldn't be the best reference for something like this. If you watch the first episode or first couple minutes you'll understand what I mean.

So then, is Casshern Sins all style and no substance? The short ... answer is no.

Casshern Sins stands out to me primarily for its ability to swiftly shift focus from theme to theme. By that, I mean that the plot itself can morph into whatever the characters need it to be. In the beginning, it appears that the plot is everything. It is presented as this huge mystery and that the main character's sole goal for the series is to uncover it. The only reason it sets off this way is as a means of exposition for Casshern. Once that is no longer needed, the plot slowly dissolves the mystery to the point that it's not even important by like episode 16. There's also a great many things that go unanswered in the series, some extremely important and interesting things. However, they go unresolved simply because they are not required to tell the story the creator wanted to tell. For example, in the beginning, they show you three main characters. The anime tells you that they are not human, and not a machine either, and that they were created for a certain purpose. The anime never tells you what they are, how they were created, or for what purpose. Many people would naturally assume this is a bad thing and that it makes the anime bad, but that is not the case. It was just never important enough for the characters to find out. They ended with much bigger personal and interpersonal conflicts. Not to mention one of the themes of the anime is about forgiveness and letting go of the past. It'd be hypocritical for the anime to then spend a great deal of time and effort explaining the characters' past, wouldn't it?

I told you everything that Casshern Sins is NOT about, so then what is it actually about? Casshern Sins, like the title suggests, is about coming to peace with one's sins. However, it also delves deeply into other themes, kind of dependent on which character we're talking about. Each character has some internal struggle or conflict that is unique to that character. This idea is aided by the fact that a little over half of the anime is entirely episodic. We got to meet a new character and its conflicts every episode. My favorite character from the series was Braiking Boss. He is very similar, yet arguably more complex, to Yoshii from Texhnolyze. So instead of spoiling this anime here, I'll talk about Yoshii and what made him interesting. Yoshii was in a pseudo-utopian world, where humanity had reached its evolutionary peak. He decided that the world was too peaceful, that life in that world was no life at all. He then started causing chaos, death, and destruction, simply to see how humanity would react.

Ending thoughts:
Casshern Sins is spectacular. The only thing it did that I didn't like was that it simplified the plot. As I said, it was done with great purpose, but I prefer things with a little more complexity, especially for this kind of anime. I think it could've done a lot more with its universe. Evangelion only had 2 more episodes (counting End of Evangelion as episodes 25 and 26) and that was immensely more complex, giving it a great deal of creative freedom. I'm not going to harp down on an anime for not being Evangelion, but simplifying the plot is what brought the score down so much. Regardless, it has my highest recommendation for people who do not mind slow-paced storytelling. For all philosophy aficionados.

This show was an attempt to recapture 70's magic, but Casshern is totally irrelevant nowadays considering the popularity of his successors Megaman, Bass, X, and Zero.

Story:
The series is very repetitive. Although it revolves around how the cast deals with a worldwide plague, the same plot points are repeated over and over:
-Every single time cannon fodder tries to devour Casshern, it amounts to nothing.
-Every time a one-shot character is introduced, he'll be dead by the end of the episode and forgotten.
-Casshern walks around moping a lot (and the Ruin wouldn't exist if he was just left in the past.)
-Being depressing, it seems to drag on ... and on with no progress.
And the ending was rushed - there wasn't even a sense of closure.

Art and sound:
They're pretty much the best trait of Casshern Sins.

Character:
All I have to say about the characters is that they have a chance of fading from the mind after you watch something happy and epic after this. A month after finishing this series, I totally forgot most of the one-shot characters.

Enjoyment:
Not great, but not horrible.

Overall:
If you've seen countless other fighting shows, skip this and go rewatch the previous seasons of Power Rangers instead. That show may be repetitive to some, but at least the enemies, weapons, and Megazords had high variety. And instead of just being depressing (Sad =/= deep) Power Rangers has aesops and gives its episodes triumphant endings that you will applaud.

Anime: Casshern Sins

Title: Satisfying But it's missing something.

About the Anime: In a dark future, the world is in ruin and everything is slowly crumbling away into dust. Humanity is almost extinct, while robots desperately seek out new parts to replace their rusting bodies. Their only hope for survival is to devour the one known as Casshern… or so they believe. Meanwhile, Casshern himself has lost all memory of his past. Why are these robots attacking him? Did he really kill the one known as Luna; the Sun that was called Moon? And why is he, alone, unaffected and undamaged by the ruin?

Story 5/10: Despite ... being a remake to a kitschy 70’s anime “classic,” Casshern Sins begins promisingly. In the first few episodes, the creators lay out a post-apocalyptic setting that manages to feel both unabashedly retro and grimly bleak at the same time. The resulting mix of camp and angst is weirdly intriguing, especially when the solid supporting characters and mysterious titular protagonist are factored in.
Sadly, Casshern Sins fails to live up to its initial promise due to its unfocused overarching narrative. Rather than develop any core theme in the early to middle stages, the series meanders among flavor-of-the-week plots and half-hearted attempts at a main story. After countless thematically tangential episodes, the anime barely has room to resolve its main plotline and is forced to squeeze a half-hearted conclusion into the final few episodes. The final episodes seem to assert that death is needed to make life worth living. However, the distracted narrative and conflicting themes beforehand causes this moralizing to feel hollow and unconvincing by the time the creators decide to tack it to the end. At the end of the series, Casshern Sins doesn’t feel like it was ever actually about anything, and this is perhaps its greatest flaw.
The anime’s plot is further diluted by lame fight scenes that lack context or relevance. In many occasions, a group of mooks will simply appear in the middle of an episode to suicidally impale themselves on Casshern’s foot. These scenes appear to have been inserted to please the action junkies, but the problem is that Casshern Sins tries to be something more than just another shounen action show. By mixing mindless action with serious science-fiction, the anime fails to appeal to fans of either.
Still, in spite of all these weaknesses, the series is not without merit. Casshern Sins’ main strengths lie not in the actual meat of the plot, but in the assorted one-shot episodes that pepper the overarching narrative. While they disrupt the flow of the actual story, many of the disjointed plotlines are well-written enough to be entertaining in their own right. Granted, not all of the self-contained stories are good, but others are genuinely compelling. This alone prevents Sins’ story from being an outright failure.

Animation 8/10: Fortunately, Casshern Sins has an excellent idea of what it wants to look like, if not what it wants to be about. Put simply, the style of the series' dystopian setting is wonderful. Casshern Sins uses carefully chosen color schemes and crisp animation all to great effect, and the final visual package is one of the most impressive I've seen this year. A particularly impressive aspect of the visual package is the dramatic use of light in just about every scene. It's not Makoto Shinkai obsessive, but the shadows drawn across the hero's face do a lot to darken the mood.

Sound 7/10: Voice acting as a whole is uneven. The protagonist’s seiyuu is so hideously terrible that I genuinely wondered if he was trying to sound wooden on purpose, while some of the supporting roles turn in excellent work. On the other hand, the background music is almost universally excellent. The music grimly underscores the anime’s bleak mood without ever becoming a distraction. The soundtrack’s one flaw is its frequent repetition, but this never becomes too much of a problem.

Character's 3.5/10: In addition to the haphazard plot and the hamfisted ending, the creators botch the characterization on nearly every major player in the show. Casshern himself is the most egregious example; his deadpan voice acting, terrible dialogue and unconvincing development combine to form one of the most ineffective protagonists that I've ever seen. Dio and Leda, the two main villains, are almost as bad; not only are their motivations left woefully unexplained, they're just flat-out boring characters.
Fortunately, some of the supporting characters fare better; Lluyze in particular is a welcome exception to the bad characterization. Casshern Sins dedicates an entire episode to dissecting her psyche in a weird and decidedly Freudian fashion, and the result is arguably the highlight of the show. Sadly, she is a comparatively minor character and simply can't carry the show on her own.

Overall 6/10: Overall, I enjoyed myself as I was watching and in particular liked the one-shot episodes, which at times evoke the amazing work done in Kino's Journey. However, the turgid overarching narrative, the bad characters and the incompetent ending make me wonder if these scattered episodes were enough to make the series actually worth my time.
~WhiteBakemono

Back home for vacations at the end of the year, having hit some major shocks in my first
semester exams i was in pursuit of refreshments. So well, got introduced to this wonderful
series by a friend of mine.
Casshern Sins is not pretty much what it looks like if you’re seeing this picture for the first
time. It is not the usual action adventure shounen-esque series you watch, but a very deep
psychological series. The plot – The world is in ruin. Robots are rusting (dying) everywhere unable to repair
themselves. Signs of Human are rarely seen, which ensure their extinction. As despair
consumes the heart of everyone there is one ... who is to blame for all the happenings :
Casshern, who killed Luna, the Sun that was named Moon. Struck with amnesia as seen in
the beginning of the series, Casshern walks into a journey remembering the sin he
committed.... Each episode, for the most part, explores a different aspect of humanity, usually regarding
hope and despair. They end up giving away moments of vain hope, enraging emotions
transformed into love, rarely having scenes of unfettered rage. The first fair half of episodes
are quite dull regarding the number count and how long they tried tried dragging it, makes
more reasons to why it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Whereas the second explores a mystery
about how even the most unlikely chance at life can bring out the ugliest in anyone, the emotional impact creates such unrelenting momentum that these roadblocks do nothing to
deter anyone from the end.
Fight scenes, at first it’s not hard to expect a depressing setting with some above average,
albeit grizzly, fight scenes. However in the very next moment it turns into an introspective
piece, symbolical. Just as how the very emotional depth that can be drawn from a single blue
flower (As seen in the series) is uncanny, especially as it becomes an unusual personification of death, and as the glimpse of rust on the cheek of a Robot or the emptiness in their eyes
bring out the terror of death as a monster which devours on every being.
In my personal opinion, this is one series hard to categorize. It is stands in it’s own as a
masterpiece of artistic integrity. But then again tastes may vary, as this definitely is not
everyone’s cup of tea.

The thing that made me wanted to watch it was because of the style and the topic that the show is messaging to the viewer about, which is about death toward robots other than humans.

Story: 8

This anime is a slow paced show, most of the episodes are episodic as Casshern journey through the wasteland to find Lunar and recover what he has forgotten and his purpose for his existence.

As the show goes on, lots of questions surrounding Casshern will reveal itself as you go along and that it is what kept me watching till the very end.

Art: 9

The artwork is really unique and the style ... is beautiful, and the colour scheme matches the theme that the anime is portraying to the viewer.As well as that, the character design that Madhouse Studios produced is great but a bit less robotic compared to 1993's Casshern and the animation is fluid even on the fighting scenes.

Sound: 10

I love the Jazzy intro opening and the moving ending, it fits well with the show.

Character: 7

The characters are mediocre, most of the cast's history seem a bit basic and it is shown in flashbacks, in my opinion they should of revealed more other than Casshern's history and it seemed that it didn't reach my expectations.

Enjoyment: 9

Overall I enjoyed it! I would recommend it to viewers who like action, random situations, fans of the old Casshern show and finally reoccurring "what if" questions about death,robots and the meaning of living.

My appraisal:

This is a maturely self-assured series that- at the expense of its commercial marketability- transcends genres in order to successfully establish itself as an expressionistic, philosophical piece on how we should treat life.

The production committee have taken the overused, protestive scenario of the human race’s ever-increasingly rapid developments leading to their own downfall and used it as the mere foundations on which to build a world they can freely manipulate. Through subsequently deciding to not dwell on logistical issues while altering the landscape (and to a lesser extent the art style) to convey the current emotive themes, a guided journey of spiritual discovery is ... then formed. As it is very abstract in its approach though the series neglects to fully expand on the sparse premise and instead overstates its most immediate aspects. However enough defining shots and scenes are shown as a wide variety of characters struggle for their beliefs in a highly strained setting for this to still easily linger in your mind long after its completion and quite possibly even change your outlook on life for the better.

There’s only one word that can describe this story, entrancing. While the show may have a massive cult following, it is not a mainstream success. It is rather dark and caters to a fairly niche taste. To the unsophisticated, it may even appear as boring. I hesitate to use the word deep, for it has arguably become a cliché devoid of meaning, but there’s definitely something profound to this series. It reminded me of Mushishi in the way every character’s story would just suck you in and leave you stuck in a trance. One episode legitimately brought me to tears.

The result of a collaboration between ... Madhouse and Tatsunoko Production, Casshern Sins, as far as I can tell, is largely unrelated to the rest of the Casshern franchise.

This incarnation tells the story of a man who caused the end of days, an immortal cursed to live forever in a dying world. When he killed the Goddess of Life, Luna, Casshern lost all of his memories and received her gift of eternal life after soaking in her blood. Alas, the world was doomed in the process. The Ruin has started. Nothing can be born or built anymore, nor healed or fixed, and everything that’s alive is fated to decay and die shortly. Now he wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland trying to piece together his past and search for a way to atone for his sins.

The show is an exploration of the way people act in the face of certain death. Many succumb to resentment and fear. The robots, who in the past took over the world and subdued the humans they viewed as inferior, once timeless machines, are now fated to rust and die alongside the fleshlings. Some are blinded by anger and try to hunt down Casshern in order to exact revenge upon him, while others delude themselves with wishful thinking and cling to baseless rumors believing that if they devour Casshern’s flesh, they, too, will receive eternal life and escape the Ruin. “Kill Casshern! Devour Casshern!” they chant.

Most people, however, try to deal with it in their own private ways. There are those who accept their fate and want to quietly wait for the end. Then there are those who believe that now, thanks to the Ruin granting them the gift of death, their lives as machines finally have meaning, for life only has meaning when it is finite. There are others who try to desperately fight against the Ruin and live their lives to the fullest until their very last second. Some dedicate their last to help, protect, and console the weak and desperate. Others, still, simply want to use the time they have left to leave something for posterity, leave behind proof of their existence.

Each encounter is in some way a formative experience constantly exposing the protagonist (and by extension, the viewer) to new philosophies of life. At the same time, each encounter represents some kind of more or less thinly veiled metaphor for one of the aspects of life, joy, illness, love, depression, sex, legacy, hope, madness, peace, reproduction, war, death, and so on.

How would you behave at the edge of your hope? The end of your world?

Are you sick of monotonous anime? It’s time to change up the pace and travel along with Casshern as he discovers his sins that doomed the world. Sounds interesting right?

Casshern Sins, a philosophical anime about Casshern has caused The Ruin to occur. Before such event, the world was full of sentient robots who were immortal. Ruin causes rust until they wither away leaving them to only contemplate death. But rumors have been spreading of someone named Casshern to be the answer to immortality when killed. As the opening states: “Hey why are we born? Hey why did we meet?” Casshern struggles to comprehend why he ... exists and remembers nothing of his feared past. As robots hunt him down, Casshern travels to learn the truth.

One day as I was going through an anime slouch, I decided to browse around to see if I was missing any interesting shows. That’s when I stumbled upon Casshern Sins. At first, looking at reviews I was skeptical at first that it would be basically wordless, have odd fighting, and have a slow pace. But personally I can debunk all of these claims and state that Casshern Sins demolished any of my expectations.

Let’s start with the first claim that Casshern Sins has little dialogue. From the very start it begins with dialogue, and even in fights there is usually plenty of inner thoughts and conversations occurring. The only time where I see this criticism “correct” is when it is silent still shots or when Casshern is traveling alone in deep thought. Which develops the mood and presents how desolate and lifeless everything around Casshern is. But this tone shifts throughout the anime as Casshern finds friends creating more dialogue and character interactions. It is a mystery of why anyone would think that Casshern Sins is too silent.

Moving onward to the final one I want to tackle is odd fighting and I’ll keep it brief. The choreography of the fighting feels very floaty, like the characters glide to enemy to enemy. This makes Casshern Sins fighting something to get adjusted to. I personally didn’t have a problem with it, if anything it was a surge of something new for me.

Final thoughts on common complaints/ why people don’t give Casshern Sins a chance, is that I understand that this kind of show is not for everyone. Whether that comes with pace, realistic fighting, or any other reason. But Casshern Sins is definitely the kind of show to watch till the end regardless to get the full experience.

The “Real” Start Of My Review~

When it is time to pull up the first episode of an anime what do you want to see? Most likely one would want to see good character introductions, art, animation, sound, and most importantly a good hook.

Casshern Sins intro scene is personally my favorite anime hook of all time. If you do not want any episode 1 spoilers, skip the next paragraph. Ok, so in 8 seconds Casshern Sins instantly confused, intrigued, hyped, and surprised me all at once.

It starts off with Casshern dropping his hand on the ground as it then cuts to a girl. She states, “You are?” Flashing back to Casshern he introduces himself. Then zooming into his soulless face he saids with determination, “Luna, I will kill you.” With this information alone many questions arise. With a bombshell of a scene like this as the first scene in the show, it becomes enourmous later on in the show. But also works perfect as a hook. In the beginning of each episode, 8 more second add onto the original until it all starts to fall into place. With this, Casshern’s backstory unfolds.

If I discuss anymore of the show it will ruin your experience. As each character has their own fantastic arc and others have mind boggling plot twists. What I love about this show is how every character feels unique, even the side characters all bring something special. Depending on the character, they all have different connections to Casshern.

The art and animation is top notch even if it was made in 2008. It is produced by Madhouse, which is always a nice plus most the time. I love the style of the art too, it fits well with the setting of a barren wasteland being devoured by The Ruin with soulless robots desperately searching for any salvation. Same can be said for the animation. Each fight is really smooth and full of style. Especially since the fighting by itself is like extreme acrobats. Madhouse made acrobatics look epic.

My final thoughts are about enjoyment. As one can tell by my score, I loved learning about the mysteries of Casshern and the dramatic tension of whether or not he will learn from his sins. All major complaints I ever had about the anime were cleared up as the anime progressed, meaning I just did not have the available details.

Casshern Sins made me inspired and existential all in one. Having realistic developing character arcs, an interesting environment/ premise, phenomenal hook, killer opening, smooth animation, stylistic art, a thought provoking message, and much more. I truly cannot praise it anymore! If you are looking for a different experience with philosophical messages, Casshern Sins is a must watch.

Story: 10
Art: 8
Sound: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 8
Overal: 9

I would easily recommend this to anybody.

Journeys are funny things. As the old cliche goes, "It's not the destination that matters, but the journey". That being said, sometimes the destination isn't what a person thinks it will be, as is the case for humanoid robot Casshern, a being with eternal life in a world ravaged by the apocalypse. Now, let's look to see if Casshern's journey is one worth taking.

Story: 8

The story of Casshern Sins is one that begins with a protagonist without memories. As he embarks on a journey for answers, this robot, Casshern, is confronted with the cold reality of death everywhere he travels. Some try to escape death, ... while others live their lives to the fullest as they accept their demise. The overall story of the series serves to tie together different adventures along Casshern's journey. Every so often, details about the origin of the Ruin are unearthed, placed carefully to keep the overall plot momentum. Character back stories, struggles against death, dynamic battle scenes and tender moments all blend together to create a world of life in the face of death. Unexpected surprises await the cast as they wander from place to place but the end result is one that is both appropriate and humbling.

The pacing of this series is both an achievement and a pitfall. It remains consistent throughout, allowing characters to get their time in the spotlight. Every episode also has a balance of action and conversation to keep, allowing the audience to fall into a rhythm. However, the show takes its time, as if slowly unrolling a painting, showing the picture at a calm pace. Because of this slow pace, each episode feels longer than it truly is. This leaves the pacing in a quandary: any faster and the story would have seemed rushed, yet as it is, it can seem a bit too slow for some. For this reason, it's up to the viewer themselves to choose whether or not this is a problem.

Art: 8

The art captures the dark mood and intensity the story requires. The stylized appearances of characters like Casshern and Dio contrasts with the barren metallic wasteland they live in. Each character has their distinct look, allowing them stand apart from their other robotic brethren. The action scenes, although sometimes brief and repeated, use varying views, image lines and the environment in general to illustrate gruesome struggles of robotic dominance.

The opening uses stills in a kind of picture montage that goes well with the music. In an age of moving openings, it's stiffness seems a tad out of place. However, it is this stiffness that sets it apart from other openings and makes is appropriate for the tone of the series.

Sound: 9

The music and voice acting are among the strongest parts the show. The music captures the harrowing tone of death and the despair it can induce, with no preppy beats to be found. The BGM is timed nicely and changes when necessary. One track in particular, a song named 'A Path', is a bitter sweet song, played during some of the more powerful scenes. The opening, Aoi Hana, complements the opening animation, captures the blend between action and drama and is overall quite appropriate. The 4 endings vary in quality. The first ending, Reason, is nice for its place in the series, as it follows Casshern's initial journeys in his world. The second ending, Aoi Kage, only follows one episode and seems out of place in the mostly atmospheric OST. In my opinion, it sounded like it belonged in Casshern's original series. The third opening is yet another calming track that shows internal struggles within the characters and serves as a perfect fit for it's designated arc. The last ending for the final episode is A Path, the song I mentioned earlier. It's a versatile track, serving as both a good background piece and a nice ending.

The voice acting is illustrated through a great vocal cast. The sub is good, so those who are looking for the original actors need not worry. However, the dub is among the best dubs in recent memory. Eric Vale as Casshern (think Trunks from Dragonball Z) takes his acting to the next level, delivering the controlled ferocity and wholehearted determination that his role calls for. Brina Palencia also does a good job as Lyuze, with her performance only getting better from her first scenes. Jerry Jewell is an interesting choice for Dio but ends up doing a masterful job portraying Dio's subtle insanity. There are more examples, proving that different voice actors can redefine characters.

Characters: 8

Once again, this is show about characters and the way they deal with death, making it very character driven. To preserve the enjoyment of discovering the characters, I'll keep this brief.

Casshern: A young man who starts off as an amnesiac protagonist but matures into a person who understands the impact of death in the lives of the living.

Lyuze: A sister to one of the guardians of the Sun named Moon, Lyuze seeks out Casshern, for more reasons than one.

Dio: Another robot who seeks out Casshern to validate his own existence.

Ouji and Ringo: A pair of adventurers who meet with Casshern on a number of occasions, their fates becoming ever more tightly bound to his.

Assorted Robots and side characters: Each episode places Casshern in a new situation. A person (or group of people) who is facing their impending doom tries to live their lives how they want. Some descend into madness, while other find inner peace. While the names of individuals might not stick with viewers, their legacies live on in Casshern and the other characters, changing them.

Enjoyment: 8

Casshern Sins is a slow series that takes it's time. Each character gets the respect they deserve and no episode is wasted. While the pacing has the potential to be a problem, those who make the long journey will not be disappointed. With powerful action scenes and simple yet effective dialogue, fans who want the best of both worlds are sure to find something to love in the series.

Overall: 8
Casshern Sins is an example of a journey well traveled. It may seem to drag at times, but it's never boring. Instead of soaking the entire series in a melodramatic tale, the story skillfully peppers various adventures before reaching a satisfying destination. The art is stylized with impactful action scenes, dark environments and notable character designs. The sound is a key aspect of portraying the series' themes and with an OST that hits the right notes and voice acting that defines characters into unique individuals, Casshern has an auditory substance that few modern series can match. The main characters are relatable and mature along with the audience, exhibiting that even in times of death, people can still grow. If you're ready for the long journey, Casshern Sins is a show you won't regret.

If you are familiar with Neon Genesis, then you should probably understand this somewhat of a deconstruction anime which features a sad cruel world worthy of a post anime depression syndrome.

While its predecessor was focus on a power ranger plot, this one is a whole different story, in which, the protagonist is wandering in seach for someone in a desolated world. You see a beautiful scenery at times due to its great animation, but this would make you even sadder since there is a lots of variety of deserts and grey colors show throughout to indicate: this is not about happiness.

To top it off, it ... has very good soundtracks which eludes a feeling of hope even though both robots and humans of the world are constantly dying while the ones still living are struggling to survive. This sort of show appeals to me due to its focus on storytelling and a consistent throughout. There are fight scenes, but even these are not as great compare to the popular series of its time. Its mainly the fact that it explores characters desires and goals and in the end, you realized there is not real antagonist.

In conclusion, if you are able to shoulder the emotion of sadness and tragedy while looking for good storytelling, this is one worth watching.

Casshern Sins doesn't hide what it wants to convey. Right in the tagline, it says "Death is the salvation of man and machine". The show tries to tell us that one cannot have life without death. The whole series revolves around this idea, and, while overall a very simple idea, the show does this fairly well. That's not to say this message was without fault. There were many contradictions to this idea throughout the series, which may make its message fall flat. Even so, this show was still great, and here's why.

Story-wise, the show is very slow-moving for a while, and it seems to be ... going nowhere. Until about the mid-teen episodes, the show is more one-episode adventuresque, meaning that each episode is its own standalone story. These, while sometimes interesting and entertaining, make the show seem to drag on, and some may outright give up on the show before it gets interesting, which is in the teens, when the story becomes the main focus. In the end, the story ends well with Casshern's goal being fulfilled, however what that goal is and what I mean by fulfilled I'll keep secret, to avoid spoilers.
Character wise, this show is amazing. Every character is well fleshed out, even the unimportant ones. Casshern himself seems to suffer a lot of personal conflict, as, despite being an invincible nearly-immortal fighting machine, he wants to die, and doesn't want to kill. He can't stand all of the fighting in the world, and just like all of us, wants peace and happiness. He works to achieve this as time passes, all the while trying to remember his past, as he's an amnesiac, which, while an overdone idea, is done fairly well here. All the other characters are well fleshed out too, and very interesting, but I can't help but think that some of the antagonists, particularly Dio and his partner, were ultimately useless, pointless additions....Ah well....
The art in the show is unique and gorgeous. It's very smooth and shining, and somehow successfully portrays a dying world in a beautiful manner. Everything looks unique, and yet, the show also seems to look classic at the same time. Look a pictures and you might see what I mean.
The music was relatively good, with the exception of the opening song, which was annoying. The music is often very sad, mixing well with the atmosphere of the show, and it can easily make things even more dramatic and sad when "that one song" is sung. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.
As I watched this on Toonami, I think it's safe to say this show has a great dub. The actors did splendidly. Especially Casshern and Lyuze.
Overall, this show is fairly interesting, and certainly amazing, however its not for everyone. It's a little slow moving, and it takes a while for it to really pick up, but once it gets there, its well worth the work of watching all those pointless episodes. It's a fairly short series, so it's not too troublesome. All in all, a great show, but not for the action hungry, though the action that is in this show is extremely brilliant and well-choreographed, though sometimes a little hard to see.

.: What makes this anime's story better than others ? :.
.: I may have not finished watching it but from what I understood, there is nearly no plotholes, which is the first thing that surprised me. Other thing is that it makes you feel the world it is living in. It makes you feel... somehow, depressing !? :.

.: What do you think about the animations, effects, etc... ? :.
.: This anime has one of the greatest drawing in my life. Animations are smooth and active. Every frame is different. Everything moves like if ... they have been real. Which is nearly amazing in my book. :.

.: What do you think about characters ? :.
.: It looks like the team was able to devolop single characters for every episode. Which is something we dont see in animes everyday. Every character in Casshern Sins seems to be pretty well devoloped. Everyone think on their own philosophy. My hat is off for the team. :.

.: Are there anything you dislike about it ? :.
.: Nothing is perfect, so... yes I dislike something about it. Like how some characters are too similiar to each other or how good characters get killed so early. But like I said Casshern Sins is nearly perfect in its own catogery. :.

Casshern Sins is a very interesting anime show unlike anything I have ever seen. I was at first worried it would be a slow moving plot, but I am really used to this type of film genre. The plot is very straight forward, but it goes into well depth character development.

Casshern is a character that not everyone would like, he is an antagonist/hero in our morbid post end-world tales. He threw the world into despair, sorry and hurt, and EVERYONE wants to kill him. We learn later on the motives of the mystery that is Casshern. He is a man with a troubled past, and ... the people who he meets touch his life to make him a "better" person.

I gave this anime a low rating on sound, mostly cause I had to include the "lack of" element. If you are watching this anime for cool battle music, note THERE ISN'T ANY. This only adds to the greater plot quality, you aren't distracted by flashy special effects, and the fights are extremely simple, except for the fights between Casshern and Dio, etc...

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After viewing episode (if you reach that far) - you will understand why Casshern Sins is a stunning anime. The episode adds in some real world elements into the mix! I don't want to say more to spoil it for others, but its a stunning visual feast for the senses.

Casshern Sins is one of those reboots that is worth watching. Aside that it was unique from the original, you do not need background knowledge regarding on the original series because Sins gave a different breath on Casshern and co. Its deep and post-apocalyptic theme dragged me into the series that if you are not a fan of those post-apocalyptic setup stories, I suggest you to skip it but if you are a fan of those series that is something to do with redemption, I suggest you should give this show a try.

At the end of the day, if you are like me who learned ... that Friender could transform into a jet in the original, you will be disappointed because the series tries its best to stay as believable as possible. This is a good thing now that most of the films right now focused more on trying its best to explore in the real world while trying to pull some fantasy elements on it.

For my full review (Brief comparison with the original series with Sins, and etc.), you can go into this link: http://orendsrange.blogspot.com/2010/09/redemption-casshern-sins-review.html

Casshern Sins feels like watching two different shows at once. I like the first half, not so hot on the second.

The First half is a very Samurai Jack-esque formula and for those of you who haven't seen Samurai Jack what I mean by that is a lone warrior (in this case Casshern) thrown into a world he doesn't fully understand (because he has amnesia in this instance) while meeting interesting one-off characters every episode. It's less about the story itself and about exploring this world and the different ways everyone deals with what is basically the robot apocalypse (and the world is already pretty messed ... up to begin with). My favorite episode is probably episode 2, which is about a community of robots that decide to peacefully accept their death until...well obviously I'm not gonna spoil it but it gives great insight into the tragedy of our main character: Casshern.

Casshern is an interesting character, at the beginning of the series we learn that he's an amnesiac robot. The only three things he knows for sure is that A: He is the one who caused the ruin (that robot apocalypse I talked about earlier) B: His name is Casshern. And C: Most robots believe that if they kill and consume him that they'll then become immortal and able to withstand the ruin. As he ventures across the landscape his character arc revolves around him learning and coming to terms with the fact that he's a killing machine.

There's also a host of side characters including: Ringo: An optimistic little girl robot. Ohji: The Robot Engineer that watches over Ringo like a parent or guardian. Lyuze: A female robot who vows revenge against Casshern since he apparently caused her sister's death. Friender: Just an awesome robot dog. He's the Rush to Casshern's Megaman, that's all you need to know.

"So you like the formula that the show's using and there's a host of interesting side characters, so why did you say that you only liked half of the series?" I hear you cry. Well that's where the second half of the series comes in.

About halfway through the show the writers suddenly remembered that they had a plot and decided to focus on that, this is where the show falls apart. Not everything is explained and the things that are aren't explained well. The main premise of the show aka the fact that there's "The Ruin" that's killing robots is going on isn't even all that well explained. The Ruin is just...the robots rusting until their body parts and insides start deteriorating. And that sucks but...did that not happen before? Were these robots literally immortal before that? Never explained. And it's like this for most plot points, it's vaguely explained but never really delved into, especially when it comes to the Luna situation. Why did killing her specifically make the ruin happen, what was special about her? (This isn't a spoiler by the way.) Why can Friender withstand the ruin? This isn't a spoiler or a reveal, he can just do that...deal with it.

Both the Animation and Sound Design are great, the actions scenes are pretty damn smooth. But I've never been all that critical of Animation or Sound design anyway so don't take my word on that part.

Despite I this I still think the show is overall worth it. The first half more often than not makes up for the lackluster second half, with it's interesting one-off characters and self contained stories about people's unique reactions when confronted with an inevitable death. It's just a shame that most of the intrigue of the first half is wasted so badly.

*contains spoilers*

I like post apocalyptic settings. I like action. I like wit and creative and critical outlooks on life. I do not like the show however, even though it has all those. Surprising, right?

Now, let's have a glance at how this comes to be? First of all - the story and characters. The story is rather shallow and vague, masking its flaws with volume, passing characters (that die off or are never seen again even if they live), tons of conversation (most of which is pointless and repetitive, to the point a lot of characters could be one and the same), and philosophical questions (that ... it asks and doesn't even attempt to answer or even poke at). Secondly the pacing. Now although slow (something i really don't like), it would be pretty tolerable in this show, if not for the other problems that is. Characters. Most of them are pretty one dimensional, and forgettable, not to mention that they are not very believable in most cases too. The art and sound are also pretty mediocre.

Finally, the consistency of the story and the message its trying to relay is very shaky, changing a few times, and in the end failing to properly put out the points its trying to make nearly all the time, down to the very end. Its also littered with plot holes and incomplete pictures (for example, it speaks of, and shows humans at a few points, but forgets all about them, not really telling how they fit in the world or if they can live on (despite this probably being a yes due to nothing changing much for them, and the soil being fertile). A lot of detail is also left in the shadow, for example you can't tell for a few characters if they are humans or robots, or something in between, and a lot of other important details too)

Final word - i would probably not recommend watching this to anyone, instead, i would recommend the anime "Plastic memories", as it has a similar message, but is far more emotional, believable, colorful, and to the point.

Oh how I've longed for this kind of anime, for a very, very long time. I watched it and while watching it I was like: "Oooh... that's the spot..." It managed to get in to my top 5 anime list, and since I'm crazy about harems and fma brotherhood, it's not an easy list to get in.

Story: A humanoid robot killed the sun, and forced doom on earth. Simple.

Yea, no. Joking. Much more to it of course. Without giving away spoilers, Under the orders from someone, Casshern killed Luna (Oh the irony, it' the moon), sun of earth, and started the end of ... the world. Rust. Humans have created robots, and robots overthrowed humans long before. And now, they have to die with rust, Casshern's doom.

Summary, Casshern destroyed the world. Yeah. Talk about sins eh?

Art: Wonderful. Only thing that crossed my mind. Backgrounds, fairly detailed, and since it's a wasteland, it'd be a shame if they did not do that. And Casshern... oh god that smoking hot body... don't get me wrong. It's not a bishounen anime. Just... I'll explain it in the character part, since it's related to it.

Sound: CS really shines in this department too, since an orchestra was used for the soundtracks. Like Mushishi, I've downloaded most of the OST tracks to my IPod. OP and EP, both suits the mood of the anime. And lyrics makes sense. You know how long it's been since I've watched an anime that's opening song was meaningful? IT'S BEEN VERY LONG. LIKE, REALLY LONG.

Character: Uu baby, talk about development. Let's start with Casshern.

Casshern is... beautiful. He just is. He's beautiful. Elegant. Perfect design. It's not my idea, anime exploits this. They throw this to his face, how beautiful and perfect he is, not a single scratch on his body, and thus, leading to the idea of eating Casshern would grant immortality.
I am a sucker for lonely, sad MC's. Just... maybe I am an evil creature, feeding from despair, but I just do love how they are lonely, and how this is acknowledged by another characters. It hits homerun with this anime. Casshern is -and obviously- lonely. Crushed by his sin. After waking up with a memory loss, every thing on earth tries to kill him. Fighting with these, and fighting with his own mind, struggling to keep his sanity, all mixed up in a journey. God, it's perfect.

Casshern gains consciousness after waking up, thus, a heart. He hates himself, his ability to kill, and everywhere he goes, death follows. He desperately tries to find a way to save the world.
This is a dark world. A sad, very sad world. Being immortal is not a good thing for his case. Can you imagine everywhere you go, in every corpse, in every ruin, in every rusted body, you see your own sign? And come on, what can you "do" to make amends for killing the sun and dooming earth? It isn't something anyone can handle. I pity Casshern. He's without a doubt, one of my favourite MC's of all time, but he is "the" destroyer of earth.

Casshern is a kind, thougthful, rush-to-action-to-save-friends type of a man. His struggle for sanity and truth is a must-watch on it's own. But I'm not saying he's perfect. His body is yes, but his thoughts. His melancholy did feel forced for a few. But that's enough for him now.

And we have Lyuze. She's someone got very hurt by Casshern's actions, and hates him for it. She refuses to kill him until he finds out what he's done to the world, and waits for him to fall to despair. She is too, one of my favorite MC's of all time.
She is a good person, lovely one, make you fall in love with her. But her hatred for Casshern is not something to turn a blind eye. She hates his guts. You feel this. After you learn why, you support this. Her actions are completely justified. She's a good character of course, don't get me wrong.

Ringo... Uuuh Ringo. She laughs. A lot. That may be her program. She laughs at everything. You'll see what I mean. Other then this, she's like a normal child.

Friender... it's relationship with Casshern is... at best, complicated. I can't say much without spoiling, but he's the best companion Casshern could have.


Enjoyment/Overall: This anime was marvelous. Perfect. Tear-jerking. Sad. Dark. Happy. Romantic. Depressing and not depressing. Walking on a very thin line. All at once. I can't begin to tell you how perfect this journey was. Now I know that this won't be a review that reaches to front-page reviews of the anime, but I'd like to give my own opinion about it. Watch it. You can't possibly regret it.