Option 2
Angst can be taken too far. And Casshern Sins does take it too far. Not surprising since the original series had its name changed from "Neo Human Casshern" to "Casshern Sins," which clarified the new direction it wanted to take. Emo.
Now, I know I'm greatly understating the emotional depth of Casshern Sins and unjustly writing it off as a whiny cry-fest, but I don't think what I'm saying is completely untrue. Casshern Sins is more of a philosophical drama than it is an android-action. It tackles death, guilt, beauty, anger, envy, existence, and humanity. And like Angels said, it borrows aspects of Taoism to really emphasize its thematic strength. The only problem is, it gives up so much to accomplish this.
In order to provoke all of this, the plot resorts to beating Casshern down with each inch of all the misery-sticks its got. The entire plot was dictated by the end result the writers wanted, it wasn't organic at all. Everyone hated Casshern, and the ones who didn't were doomed to die, all to get Casshern to contemplate on his "sin."
Alright, now I understand why this whining is "okay." It makes sense for the story. Casshern did bring the world to ruin and basically fucked up living for everyone else. That topped with the fact he's immortal and everyone wants to eat him to gain immortality does pose some introspective dilemmas. It's heavy. But the plot only adds to that heaviness. Any respite Casshern finds is quickly taken away from him to make him gloomier.
However, there were a couple of characters who could've added a different dimension to Casshern's tale of depression, but were swept under the rug because the plot didn't want to go that way. I'm talking about Jin and Janice. One proved that not everyone wanted to kill him, and the other sang of hope and beauty to uplift him. They could've been played out a bit more and given Casshern a bit more than just an episode of not feeling like shit. But, I'm not deducting points from the show for doing this, as this demonstrated focus. Just wanted to bring it up.
With all of that considered, I was still liking the show. It showed episodes of genuine strength and depth, and managed to explain all that chaos between Luna, Dio, and Casshern. And while there were bumps in the road, the progression of the plot (while a bit forced and slow) built up to some decent moments between Dio and Leda, and Casshern and Lyuze.
The reason I'm voting Unremarkable is, the series really ends at episode 23. The main arc was completed. But the show really really REALLY wanted to tie up its themes. So it whacked Casshern one more time, but with a gigantic emo stick, and had him confront Luna and Braiking Boss to "truly" end the series. This was the most forced move in the series. This is when it slipped into melodrama. Yes, the themes were cemented and the philosophical goal of the series was achieved, but it sacrificed story telling to do it. It forced Casshern into depression again, but this time, there was no more need to.
I still gave this series a 7/10, and believe it to be in the same league as Wolf's Rain (another theme-heavy show.) I won't mind if it gets in our list, but I just can't support it. |