The very first seconds of the anime made me cringe. The drawing style. Oh, at this very early stage I could tell the series will equal a torture for I'm very sensitive when it comes to art. It got me wondering how did I end up having Casshern on my planning-to-watch list at all. First, I tried to justify it being old, as the style resembles ol' good mecha animes television was filled with when I was little. But checking the dates on MAL told me the anime was not /so/ old. Did it try to mimic those old animes, being based on one? Was such style chosen to set the atmosphere? I don't even care, as I found the art horrible and no excuse would fix it. Sorry, old school fans. It goes back to my childhood and mecha animes on television that I completely detested.
In fact, my opinion about mechas had not changed ever since, and so the beginning for the first episode nearly made me cry out loud, again wondering how did this thing sneak into my sacred list of animes I'm yet to find. The second thought was making a relation to Power Rangers. Don't ask, I don't even know. But I've buckled up, mostly led by my OCDs that suggest I complete every anime I start, and carried on. First few episodes were making me acknowledge the problem I have, as I swear, watching this anime was very difficult for someone like me. But eventually I started getting deeper into it. I enjoyed a concept of few small stories, especially about the girl who loved to fight. That very episode was the breaking point for me, when I finally started understanding the anime was not as simple as I thought and there were a lot of messages hidden along the lines. This is when I started paying more attention to the things said rather than how they were drawn. Although, I admit, I struggled with the art for the entire series.
The sound was alright. I can't say I was particularly fond of any of the soundtracks, but they did not irritate me either. As I've watched the subbed version, I had a grip of the translations of both, opening and ending lyrics, which, I'd say, matched the theme of the anime itself. That's a plus, really - most of time lyrics of the soundtracks are hardly related to the series. The tracks within the anime itself were well timed and suited the situations. But that's pretty much all I can say about it.
The characters were truly the best thing about Casshern Sins. The mains were given a proper development, as much as it was possible with not too many episodes. The supporting characters that Casshern would encounter once and never again were the ones that deserve all of my praises. They were a living example of the struggles we all go through at some point of our lives, offering to see how do our feelings and actions differ from how we see them and how do others perceive them. Although, they were being shaped as the robots and were hidden in tangles of metaphors not everyone can make out, therefore this anime is meant for the audience that likes to think. Otherwise, it will leave an impression of a weird and incoherent anime that makes no sense. I especially loved the concept of Luna and how the world perceived her existence and how that perception differed from her own. Again, for the ones who expected some mecha fights that require no second thought it'd make no sense, but if viewed as a piece that requires deep insights, Luna's phenomenon leaves you thinking about yourself and the world for a long time after you finish the anime.
It's still difficult to say how do I feel about this anime. It was a difficult watch, mostly because of my preferences in regards of art and not being a fan of mechas and post-apocalyptic settings. I did enjoy it to some extent, that's for sure. But in the same time I was not drawn in enough to stop noticing things that bugged me and occasionally I'd start regretting giving the series a go all over again.
Overally, I must say Casshern Sins is definitely a good anime that makes you think. It wasn't as action packed as I thought it will be, but I'm only grateful for that. If not for the deep ideas it harboured, I'd have a REALLY bad time watching it. Now, time would go past a bit faster as I'd be spotting the subliminal messages and decoding them. I guess I was mostly getting put off when those things were lacking. I don't think I'll ever rewatch the anime. If the offered ideas were presented in different settings, I would definitely return to it. Sadly, they are not.
And so, here's my scores:
Story: 8/10
Art: 4/10
Sound: 7/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
OVERALL: 6/10
