Casshern Sins

What would you do if you couldn't change your fate? Would you grasp at any slither of hope that presents itself, even if that hope required you to hurt someone else? Or would you accept your fate? Just letting it pass over you? This is one of the many questions that Casshern Sins asks. "What is the answer" you might wonder? Well, let us sit down together and discuss it shall we. Casshern Sins is a remarkable feat, in that it somehow captures every single, minute detail of the human spirit. It achieves this by starting from the very basics and quickly developing on the basicsas the series moves on. One thing that really took me in, is how Casshern Sins truly captured my fear of death. It achieved this through an odd but clever display of writing, by showing us that even the machines that we make will some day fall into decline as rusting scrap metal. I for one like to identify myself through the materials that I collect and make, and even this review right here is constructing another aspect of myself. Casshern Sins asks, what is the point of all this? I believe the materials that remain after my death will serve as a reminder of my existence, but nothing can escape the harsh reality of time and a millenium from now, it is an almost inescapable fact that those materials that I had so carefully constructed, so thoughtfully made, will just vanish. It is quite frightening and puts true emphasis on the word death. Things change however, a chance of hope comes along. An ideal that preserves life, immortality. Many religious affiliations pervade Casshern Sins series. God from the perspective of Catholicism promises a chance of eternal life, I make this comparison as Sins as a robot stands as a metaphor for this deity, a promise for immortality. Building on that concept, the precious beautiful skin of his body only serves to emphasize the prize of such a trait, but being immortal comes at a price. A price that one may not expect. As time wears on, one discovers an infinite sea of potentials, this quest to transcend the boundaries between being just a simple robot engineered to destroy, to becoming 'human', not physically but consciously has begun, but once this has been achieved. Who is left to bear witness it? Even though this concept and theme is not exactly original, it must be said that Casshern Sins is particularly noteworthy on how it manages to effectively show this journey of emotional discovery in every excruciatingly painful detail. Watching this show reminded me of Paulo Coelho's quote "It is the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary" and it is the simple things in life that Casshern Sins detaches from and allows us to witness as realistically as possible; both the efforts and dramas to recapture these important and sometimes trivial things, but it is these aspects that only elevate the potency of Sins journey. Even when the helping hand of a loyal friend may seem far away, capturing that relatable and simple essence of loneliness has rarely ever made such a profound impact. A negative aspect to the story can largely be centered on the extremely pessimistic nature of the series and it can arguably fall into the category of angsty melodrama rather than insightful, and many of the concepts that are brought up through the entire series can come across as completely redundant by the series conclusion simply because of the handling. One scene that I wanted to bring up in particular is a scene where a robot finally submits to her desire of wanting to be immortal after reflecting for an entire episode that she wants to die naturally. Whilst it was certainly a powerful scene at the time, thinking back on it, the series only seems to want to be as depressing as possible. Whilst this isn't always a bad thing, it comes across as forced, and lacks a level of fluidity. However, with those observations out of the way, it still can't be dismissed that the overall series has very solid writing and is riveting in how it plays out. Never failing to provide a delicate balance of answers to the many questions that the series asks. Much of Casshern Sins' characters are truly integral to the story that the show is telling, and because of the theme heavy story in respect with the series episodic nature. It is only inevitable that many new characters are constantly introduced in order to represent another aspect of a philosophical question/s that the series imposes. A lot of the characters become representations for the themes of mostly hope and despair, but entangles within many varying levels of regret, remorse, guilt, jealousy, occasional romantic struggle and sometimes optimism. Considering the series episodic nature, a large majority of the episodes do an absolutely splendid job of building characters in such a short time and it is a truly commendable aspect because at times I was almost pushed to tears in some of the more powerful episodes. Saying that, I will have to discredit some of the episodes for having an inconsistent quality, this inconsistency is mostly due to the characters that are being presented, but for the most part the character development is well above average and occasionally phenomenal but these cases are few and far between. I can only appreciate the characters so far though, because as I said previously there is a varying level of quality in the development of many of the characters, another problem I had with the characters is that many of them have very similar intentions throughout the entire series, it can get a little repetitive at times. Adding onto that; some characters only seemed to be placed there to plunge Sins into a more intense state of guilt and regret. Even though this can be perceived as a problem. The fact remains that this can be ignored to an extent because these characters show that this the series is remaining true to the premise that it has given and does not cop-out, even at the moments when the series becomes unbearable. Many of the motivations for the characters are understandable, as a dying breed of life suffering from an incurable disease; I imagine it would only be natural for someone to carry out desperate measures when they have been pushed to their breaking point. This is one theme that Casshern Sins portrays better than anything else. The series artwork does nothing but do what it sets out to do, abysmal and ruined, wrapped up in an unusual mixture of bluish-greyish brownish textures that builds the apocalyptic landscape with powerful ease. The series takes time to build on its own sorrow in order to emphasize some lovely landscapes that capture the quintessential and brooding style that is reminiscent of an Edward Hoppers painting, two that come to mind are "The Lighthouse at Two Lights", and "Screaming Monkey Drive In", pleasant to look at but cringing with a landscape of heart-ache and desperation. Much of the animation is carefully designed. One noticeable moment was a touch of rust painted below the eye-line of a robot. The moment was heart-breaking and is something that took me by absolute surprise. Rust is deterioration and its symbolic connotation within this scene was used to its utmost potential. I always look forward to bear witness to the fascinating ideas of art that series from Madhouse Animation studios have to offer and Casshern Sins is a beautiful edition to the collection that is sure to become an influence in the future. One thing I noticed about the OST was the consistently monotonous style across the board. Which certainly works in the series favor, but a couple of tracks stood out for me: the first one being "Roamer" as it captured the image of one man, simply standing a-top a hill graced in a red sunset, contemplating as to where his feet will take him next, it's a classic pose and one that holds much weight. The second one was "Memory Past", I'm not entirely sure what it was about this track but it just pushed a button in me. It was like I was floating in a sea of water feeling the waves softly carrying me. An interesting perspective to say the least, but I couldn't help picturing myself as a robot resting in the sand of the shallows feeling the water brush over me. It was a vivid moment, and a beautifully foolish one, it is simply a moment of passing time awaiting the day of no-return. At the time of watching this series. I think I was in the exact state of mind that was required to enjoy Casshern Sins and I finished it up in a marathon sitting. I tend to love a nice happy show as much as the next fellow but my thirst for drama can be over-bearing at times and Casshern Sins knew how to keep me glued to the couch. I was engaged with every detail that was playing out before me and every bit of terror, every moment of blissful decadence only served to invoke a greater emotional response from me. Those special moments of heart-ache scattered throughout, only serves my interest as keeping Casshern Sins as a worthy investment of my time for years to come. From what has been discussed I believe that Casshern Sins is a fantastic work, capturing every rigid emotion of the human spirit and melding every element so effectively. Constantly serving as a reminder to the breadth of questions that have been brought up and sought after in this series. Deep, often beautiful questions that serves as a recipe for sympathy and empathy towards all its characters as you bear witness to there destruction. I find it difficult to recommend this series mostly due to its overbearingly negative nature, and time has shown that not many people like pessimistic series. Nevertheless, for all of those out there who can withstand or perhaps immerse themselves in Casshern Sins battlefield of depression, they will surely find solace in the beauty of its melancholy. Story 8/10 Characters 8/10 Art 9/10 Sound 7/10 Enjoyment 8/10 Overall 8/10

When it comes to an experimental anime like this, it’s quite difficult to give a conventional score. Even more so, Casshern Sins tends to polarize the audience into two groups: either calling it a work of art or being bored as hell by it. Here’s a good test whether you may or may not like it. Are you an anime fan one who: A) Tolerates a continuously oppressively grim atmosphere and a snail-paced plot? B) Forgives gaping plot holes for the sake of appreciating the heavy symbolism and existentialism? C) Is fine with an acrobatic fist-fight for every single episode? D) Doesn’t mind sparse dialogue, one-note andmelodramatic characters, and numerous silent introspections? E) All of the above If you picked choice E, the chances are in your favor and you may like this style over substance anime. **No Spoilers really. And I’ll be vague in the analysis as for the most part, you should be the one doing that. Keep in mind, that it can be a depressing anime. ** Concepts, Character, Story- It doesn’t have much of a plot but has some unique and interesting concepts. The first half starts episodically, featuring heavily on the surrounding bleak world. Our main protagonist, Casshern, wanders around the barren wasteland and sees how the various humans and robots react towards this post-apocalyptic event that he caused. Suffering from amnesia, he intends to find answers in his placement for this world. Meanwhile, the second half starts explaining the mysteries of what occurs. But it never gets fully resolved and makes gigantic jumps in the narrative. There were sudden shifts in characterization and in the end, becomes incredibly ambiguous. As for the cast of characters, “naturally wooden” would be the best way to describe them. The main quintet of Casshern, Lyuze, Ringo, Ouji and Friender appear one-note and simple to evaluate. Their dialogue is sparse, often calling each other’s name many times or simply staying silent the entire time in an artistic way. Also, Casshern may seem also too melodramatic at first, but very slowly develops because of the other characters. The antagonists and robots (if I can even call them antagonists) have simple motives but gets confusing as it changes pace in the second half and stumbles itself near the end. Regardless of their flat characterization, they give out further meaning towards this post-apocalyptic world in a crucial, yet subtle way. However, for Casshern Sins, it becomes a double-edged sword as non-recurring secondary characters of each episode suffer from redundancy. There are no surprises from seeing what may occur to them (it’s quite predictable and repetitive), but taken upon further necessary examination, they provide some heavy symbolism that manages to be new in its own right episodically. In all, it depicts a metaphorical setting that not many anime generally would take. There are lengths for ambiguity for it and different interpretations on what they may mean. However, most of the themes are rooted in existentialism and the meaning of life. Granted, despite its slow pacing and episodic format, I had to binge watch this over the course of 3 days as I’ll end up forgetting the impact of the setting and atmosphere. Sound and Art/Animation- As for the OST, Kaoru Wada made it seem like a déjà vu for his InuYasha’s OST. Seriously, I could replace some of the tracks and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. However, it does well to bring out the bleak aspects of the atmosphere and manages to blend into the ambiance. The opening “Aoi Hana” by Color Bottle has a catchy sound that I like but doesn’t fit well overall. On the other hand, “A Path” sung by Nami Miyahara has some pretty good English pronunciations (even more so with the English version by Caitlin Glass) and bears weight to the overall themes to the anime. It’s very emotionally moving, but it noticeably gets repeated a couple times, though. Voice acting for both English and Japanese carry out their part when necessary and manages to project the character's angst for catharsis. One thing that I may have overlooked would be the sound effects. The visceral crunches of the iron clad robots and the most minor of movements such as rustling fabric embellish the complexion of its environment even when dialogue remains tacit. And there are occasions of a show-and-don't-tell presentation. When it comes visually, it does well for it. It’s Madhouse what do you expect. The brown rusting of the robots gives a good contrast to the azure sky. The details are quite beautiful to gaze especially since not much else is going on. The specks of dust and other particles splinter into the air on many occasions and it's very aesthetically pleasing especially with the flora that sometimes gets presented. Childlike character designs are juxtaposed towards its more depressing background. The contours are bold and sleek but details are quite simple. The animation features very solid figures with hand-to-hand combat, although I can’t help but easily see the numerous repetitions of each scene. I distinctly remember certain fights and robots being re-used. Because of these repetitions, it makes it feel even more monotonous. It's a bit unique though as choreographed scenes quickly pan to the smaller details of the area rather than focusing on the characters, having that elegant flair. While certainly not the most high-budgeted and most amazing animation, its presentation and style is what makes work well for the atmosphere and the anime as a whole. Enjoyment- 9/10 (first 15 episodes) 7/10 (latter part) 5/10(ending) What made me enjoy this anime would be its world. The pacing is intentionally slow and not hamfisted with details, allowing for some thought-provoking ideas on existentialism to leak through. It establishes that ambiance and truly makes it a post-apocalyptic world. Because of this, even if I found many scenes to be melodramatic and not relatable, it manages to get me emotionally that some other anime can’t pull off. It takes the conventional heroism where the main character is OP, and there are continuous strings of fights for a sense of justice. However, it subverts it as the fights are never thrilling, mostly everyone (including the antagonists) are victims of the decaying society, and the meaning to continue to pursue a goal is grimly lost as one mindlessly wanders around the world, knowing that he is different and must be alone as he loses everyone around him. Once it starts trying to unravel its mystery, my focus shifted towards that and I was expecting some sort of large revelation that would solve everything. But it doesn’t. Near the end, the pacing speeds up, makes a large shift in unresolved details, and fizzles out in the end. If I would make an analogy, it’s kind of like Ouji’s dilapidated jeep. It works well slowly, but when it puts the pedal to the metal and makes a large U-turn, the rusted parts start crumbling away because of the Ruin. At least there is still some meaning for that ending. Overall- a mid-high 7/10 (Good, not average) The flaws are apparent such as its monotonous pacing and unrealistic characters. If taken at face-value, this anime will be a terrible chore. This anime is not the most accessible as it doesn’t cater the audience’s general accustomed tastes. However, its quality is mostly based on the eye of the beholder through individual experience and appreciation for analyzing. If read in-between the lines in its atmospheric presentation, it will be a unique experience that few ever dwell upon.

In a nutshell, I think that Casshern Sins is a terrible anime. I might’ve given it a slightly higher rating, say, a 2 or even a whopping 3 instead of 1 like I am giving it now, if only I haven’t picked it up because after watching Ergo Proxy I read on Reddit that “Ergo Proxy is just a pale shadow of Casshern Sins”. I loved Ergo Proxy to bits, so naturally I just had to have a look at something that was potentially even better. This, however, made me compare the two series at every turn, be it consciously or subconsciously, and it wasnever in Casshern Sins favor. So, I went in with reasonably high expectations, and what I have encountered has disappointed me so badly that my overall impression of Casshern Sins ended up being even grimmer than it could’ve been. That being said, I am certain that if I had gone in blind, I would still hate it. Anyway, the plot tells us a story of a not-quite-robot-not-quite-human named Casshern who mopes his way through the wastelands of a planet where once a mighty robot civilization now falling prey to Ruin has flourished, or so we’re told, at least, but I somehow doubt the civilization had been that advanced. We only get to see a handful of small towns, one (one!) spare parts factory, a church, and the rest is, well, desert, copious amounts of flower fields (I swear, there are more flower fields than there are towns, but of course there are, everyone knows flowers are essential to robot well-being, right?), desert, lake, plains, sea, some more desert, caves, some gigantic microphone-shaped constructions of unknown origin and purpose protruding from the sand in the, oh, did I mention there’s deserts? No, there’s no roads or any infrastructure whatsoever, except maybe, uh, some pools or hot springs or whatever, which again, everybody know robots can’t live without, like flowers. Oh, and there’s a hidden experimental laboratory tucked away somewhere, too, but it’s the humans’, not the robots’. Yes, there’s apparently humans, too, although you only ever see, like three of them over the course of the entire series and they’re all minor background characters. They have created robots, and the apparent root cause of all conflict in the series – Luna, an, uh, immortal frog-faced girl with twin blue ponytails that provided life eternal for man and robot alike, until Casshern came along and somehow managed to do her in despite her stated immunity to death, thereby attaining immortality himself and unleashing the mysterious plague called Ruin upon the world. What it does, as we’re told and shown, is that it makes robots rust and start to break down gradually, resulting in their eventual death and dissolution into dust. All tools are apparently subject to this too, for some reason. In episode two we’re told that replacing rusted parts doesn’t work, but it doesn’t preclude robots from still trying to do that in a bid to save their life. Just, y’know, not in a rational way of “mass-producing spare parts so we could change them as soon as they start showing signs of wear” (the only factory we see is in perfect working order, so it’s certainly not out of realm of possibilities). Instead, those who can, choose to hunt smaller and weaker robots to take them apart for their innards. As in, in one instance, a large, classic box-shaped giant robot with a flail or a morning star for an arm picks up a tiny robot identical to a human child in all respects, cackling triumphantly, and gleefully tells us he’s going to get so many good parts from this body still relatively untainted by Ruin. Are you fucking dumb, Robot-Man?! There’s no way ANY of her parts will fit you. And that was a major source of my unending frustration with this anime – NOTHING adds up. The world is an entirely illogical mishmash of half-baked apocalypse-themed ideas no one ever bothered to think through. The details of it end up contradicting each other ultimately, and that’s where the details are given at all. I have mentioned above that humans are a part of the world in Casshern Sins, but nothing is ever explained about them, not their relationship with robots after they have created them (we only know that the robot king hated them, and that “bad” robot goons will kill them on sight, but the why of it is left out), not where they reside and what they are doing now, not how the Ruin affects them, if it at all does (seems to imply it does, fails to explain how), nor, most importantly, what the difference between the robots and people even is, despite this seemingly being a plot point. Robots in Cassern Sins behave exactly like people would. They fall in love, the feel anger, joy, sadness, despair, they cry (one character remarks to the other with disdain “You’re crying?! Like a human?!” only to do that herself a few episodes later), they dream of becoming famous singers, they bleed, they can go for a swim, they sleep and rest, they breathe, they take pills, they have families, baby robots grow up into adult robots and grow old… About the only thing they haven’t explicitly shown them doing is eating, but neither do we get a sense of what energy source if not food keeps them functioning. No sockets or landlines, no batteries, no tanking stations, no solar panels… Why bother making most of the characters robots at all, if their being robots doesn’t add anything to the story? They could’ve just as well been humans that have attained near-eternal life through advanced medical technology (as the humans in Casshern Sins apparently have!) and not a single thing would have changed. Because the world falls apart (literally, too, har-har), the motivation and the backstories of everyone involved crumble to dust right with it. Recurring characters are static and one-dimensional, and minor characters all blend together to form two blurry blobs: the bad guys that have to hurt others just because they happen to see them, cue our protagonist flying in to save the day and utterly destroying them in a bland fighting scene without any real stakes, and the, er, I suppose, good guys, that are trying to live to the fullest despite the world around them having gone to shit, or something. Just, the ways they do it are often absurd – there’s a guy who paints the whole town bluish white, even the tallest buildings somehow, despite him being in a wheelchair and needing help to go up a flight of stairs, a woman that tries to knock out a robot who’s just passing by and strikes her fancy with aroma candles to try and make him a part of a bell (don’t even ask), a girl who likes to beat others up and fight, but somehow she’s admirable unlike the bad guys because, I guess, she looks pretty and asks before she goes impaling robots on her sword? The only decent episodic character was the human from episode three, at least he brought some much-needed levity and exposition into the dreary mess Casshern Sins calls its plot. Just as well that he died very promptly. The main character oozes angst like Ikari Shinji on steroids. From episode one it’s obvious that none of what’s happening is really his fault, but still he spends all of his screen time (and most of viewers’ time along with it)being emo about it. His preferred method of conversation is staring at people dumbly, moaning about his suffering and repeating the last few words his conversation partner said in a questioning tone. There’s also a robot dog, the only one we see in the series, whose relevance to the story is a mystery shrouded in an enigma, but it’s there in almost every episode anyway. Then there’s a girl who starts out hating Casshern’s guts and wanting to exact revenge on him, and then ends up falling in love with him out of the blue over the course of two bizarre episodes dedicated solely to the topic. No, they’re not about their interactions – their interactions are minimal at that point. It’s a peek inside her “inner world”, and boy is it weird as heck! You could say that this is the character with most development, but since all that development is shat into existence out of nothing, it doesn’t really count. Or maybe her falling in love with the protagonist was inevitable – because this could’ve just as well been a harem with how many women fawn over Casshern, cling to him and call him beautiful. Just because. Also, we have an annoying child, whose primary function is to a) laugh like an idiot, pluck flowers and marvel at how pretty things are so that we know how innocent and beautiful her heart is and b) run away and get lost. At one point, she also serves to get the gang’s hands on an important gimmick that turns out to be a MacGuffin, forgotten about in the very next episode and ultimately serving nothing. Oh, and there’s also her guardian and apparently, gasp, the creator of Casshern (which is never explored at all), whose sole purpose is to rant about how precious the robot girl in question is to him and drive a truck around to take her places. Places where she can stumble upon Casshern, so we can listen to how she repeats his name over and over and watch her gift him seashells or something. The antagonists are similarly one-note: Mr. “I-need-to-kick-Casshern’s-ass-with-my-two-feet-because-he-humuliated-me” and Ms. “Maleficent-who-wants-to-get-knocked-up”. I won’t even touch upon Braiking Boss and Luna, because that fail is of truly epic proportions. Many here praise Casshern Sins for its visuals and sound. I won’t deny it, the crisp lines and stark, bright contrasting colors make this series easy on the eye, and the animation is fluid and dynamic. There is of course this weird fetish that the art director has with drops of water, flower fields and pieces of robots affected by Ruin chipping off and scattering into dust, and while it admittedly looks great, it’s repetitive to the point of obsession. It smack of an attempt to appear deep and meaningful through visual means without anything of substance backing it up. The black-and-white video footage insert in one episode is another example of that visual pretentiousness. Also, I, and this is due my personal taste, absolutely loathe the character design. It’s so overwhelmingly 70’s? 80’s? There’s very little variety in facial features – we have ugly classical “bucket of bolts” robots, humanoid-type robots with distinct half-oval eyes and single vertical line on their faces, and Casshern-style sleek and pretty robots indistinguishable from, say, humans. The only exceptions to the rule would be Ringo’s guardian Ohji, Braiking Boss and maybe that short dude from the church in episode two. Casshern, Dio and Leda’s design with their regenerating bodysuits and Gundam-esque horns made me giggle. Especially Casshern with the blatantly Superman-like “C” on his chest. Also, the trio seems to have a pair of weapons hanging from their hips purely for decoration as Leda is the only one to actually use them. Why do the rest bother with them again? And Luna… well, she just looks as if someone stuck a frog’s head in a blue wig and a bicycle helmet on a loli body. As for the music, honestly, it made me laugh at the most inappropriate moments. Sometimes, the characters would talk, and then this incredible sappy melody would start blasting full-force, and instead of moving me to tears the scene would make me gag because of its blatant grab for my heartstrings. I’m familiar with Kaoru Wada’s work through anime like 3x3 Eyes and InuYasha, and the similarities between those OSTs and Casshern’s are striking to the point of the man plagiarizing his own work. I swear there was this one track that was a dead-on ripoff of his own Sango’s Theme for InuYasha. Where that sort of music worked for a simplistic and a bit naïve shonen anime, it fails to deliver in a postapocalyptic series with philosophical aspirations. It sounds pretty, sure, but it’s completely at odds with the world and the story it tries to convey. It doesn’t add to it, it detracts from it. The voice acting is unimpressive, particularly in the leads. I suppose that Casshern’s VA does an adequate job of conveying what a sad little boy the protagonist is, but he also manages to make him sound like he’s got a developmental disorder, and his “howls of pure agony”, groans and grunts sounded very unnatural. Lyuze’s VA made her character have all the emotional range of a toaster oven. Ringo sounded whiny, bratty and annoying, good job picturing a child, I guess? The rest were passable. I’d say Braiking Boss’ and Luna’s VAs hit the mark with their acting, but that didn’t save their characters from poor writing, unfortunately. I’ve seen reviews claiming that all lore omissions, plotholes and worldbuilding problems are actually non-issues because this anime is not supposed to be a consistent, fleshed out sci-fi story, but more of a philosophical\psychological exploration of sorts, particularly of the issues pertaining to death and life in the face of immortality and unavoidable doom. I don’t know where people saw depth, or metaphors, or anything like that, because the series is about as subtle as Casshern’s fist in a random robot’s chest. Already in episode one (or was it episode two? they do blend together so) the main message of Casshern Sins is established – “there is no true life without death, precisely because of the prospect of perishing one must strive to live as full a life as possible”. Roll credits, I guess, because all that follows is a disjointed series of mind-numbingly repetitive vignettes that serve to illustrate this particular point with plots so similar they seem cloned. There’s also an overarching plotline that comes to the forefront in the latter half of the series, but it doesn’t bring any satisfying answers about the world or the characters, and the message stays exactly the same. I swear, this could’ve been one or two-episode OVA and it would’ve been sufficient to tell this story, if you wring it out to rid it of endless landscape shots, intense face close-ups, characters standing or walking in silence and meandering pointless dialogue that doesn’t shy away from repeating the exact same phrases several times in a row in the exact same wording. Bottom line: Casshern Sins is a hollow, artificial, pretentious attempt at making a puddle look like an ocean. If you’re 13, like the idea of robots and have never happened to ponder your own mortality, give this a whirl, and maybe you’ll like it despite its agonizingly slow pacing. Also worth a try if you like to poke fun at logical fallacies, plotholes and poorly written dialogue. For the rest, it would be an exercise in frustration.

I thought I would really like Casshern Sins, but this was a letdown of epic proportions. My original impression was that the Casshern character would be a modern day Kenshiro of Fist of the North Star, or something akin to it; a lone wolf hero trekking across the devastated wasteland to fulfill his purpose/clear his name/discover who he is. Any one of these would've been nice, but intsead of taking a plot synopsis as simple as this anime produces and making something good out of it, it fails to deliver on any conceivable level that would be considered quality entertainment. Now this storymoves slow, I mean VERY slow, and this is the first noticable flaw of Casshern Sins. This is supposed to serve as dramatic build up, but the schitck wears thin after five episodes, and establishes nothing outside of what the audience already knows. The trick to telling a competent story is to offer mood and then deliver the plot, from there you move on to climax, as opposed to the 12 episode circle jerk the first DVD boxset provides. Calling it a story gives it too much credit, because it implys that anything thats taking place is going to lead somewhere. Humpty Dumpty has more plot cohesion then Casshern Sins because even this nursery rhyme managed to tell a decent plot offering a character (the Egg), the situation (a wall he wanted to sit on), the predicament (he fell), and a conclusion (he died). In Casshern, we get the egg beating up a bunch of rotten eggs and other eggs talking. There's lots of dialouge, but I lost interest in anything ANY of these characters had to say by episode nine. Which is Cassherns' other problem: Bland as hell, one demonsional lead characters. Casshern himself is a six page rant in itself, so I'll just summarize the point of my angst in regards to this character and others written like him: I HATE AMNESIA-STRICKEN ANIME LEADS! This is a cliche that's been done to death and I am sick of seeing every other title being bogged down by a main character with a gimmick thats been used to death by Hannah-Barbera in the sixties. Writing a character that doesn't remember anything excuses the author of having to make their hero develop in a chronological sense with the rest of the stroy because everything has to grind to a halt until he says, "OH YEAH, now I remember!" It's insipid and five out of every ten shows is almost guaranteed to use this stunt. As for Lyuze, she's even more worthless than Casshern himself. Her grief against him seems simple enough, but becomes insufferable as time goes on. How do have complex emotions about a guy who allegedly destroyed your past that borders outside genocidal rage?! It's ricidulousluy stupid character writing and diving into her psyche only shows just how egotistical and self-deluded this writing staff really was into thinking they were creating a philosophical masterpiece. The villians Leda and Dio add nothing at all besides generic obstacles who, from what I could piece together, fail as antagonists, and Ringo's only driven purpose is to chew up as much scenery as possible before the Ruin hits. The characters in this show are episodic. The animation is impressive at first, but gets hammered into your brain with as many cluttered, over-choreographed fight scenes as any given episode of Bleach, and the fights are just as meaningless. If this show isn't talking your ear off, it's showing Casshern laying waste to every rejected Mega Man robot master fans submitted in to be put into a video game and nobody can lay a hand on him! This guy no-sells damage worse than John Cena!! IN CLOSING: Not since RaXephon have I made it all the way through an anime that could've been promising if it had direction, likable characters, and wasn't so pretentious and long-winded in it's own bullcrap writing. Characters talk, dialogue goes nowhere, then they fight and fight and fight, then stop for more talking. Intrigue was lost halfway through and the climax was God-awful. I'm sorely disappointed that I spent money on this. I'm gonna go turn myself into a robot bell. STORY: 3 ART: 5 SOUND: 7 CHARACTERS: 2 ENJOYMENT: 1 OVERALL: 3 out of 10 PROS: English dub isn't bad CONS: Lackadasical writing, boring characters, repetitive BGM, everything else

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