Devouring Casshern
There’s an awful lot of great stuff you could say about Casshern Sins if you were one of those people who watched it. And surely you’re out there… right? It’s atmospheric, it’s well-animated by Madhouse, the action is hot, and the show is sexy and kind of… “adult” in the way that Masaaki Yuasa’s Kaiba (also by Madhouse) was earlier this year. But one thing that sets it apart from the rest of a quality season is its odd backward chronology that uncovers the plot in reverse. Spoilers may follow.
The timeline’s very interesting because:
- We know the beginning
- We (roughly) know the end.
- Somewhere along the line, shit gets fragmented.
The unique situation here is that the fragmentation, for us, happens first. We’re presented with cosmic WTF from minute one. After that comes the 1970s series Neo-Human Casshern, in which C-man, Luna, and Friender fight the Braiking Boss and his fiendish plan to take over the world with robots.
We, as viewers, especially those with knowledge of the original series (whether that knowledge comes from an actual viewing of the series, the live action movie, or just, uh… Wikipedia), have a unique advantage over Casshern. Thankfully, the mystery fragmentation element — the death of Luna — keeps us from knowing too much and keeps the truth at bay.
That truth is fundamental to the series. Not just because (glory be to the anime gods of cliché) we’re dealing with some amnesia and discovery of the past, but also because that Truth is the sole means by which we’ll find true Hope.
Some robots find false hope in the idea that devouring Casshern will give them immortality. That’s probably the result of long Chinese Whispers rooted in the knowledge that Casshern was the bringer of their destruction. Other robots, ironically, find hope in the rumor that Luna can restore them. Does their misplaced hope come from the fact that Luna provided hope to humanity, way back in the day — and robots now are the only things that pass for humanity in the world?
Either way, true hope comes in small doses, but it’s becoming more and more prevalent through the episodes. Episode 8’s Sheryl Janis let robots feel hope with her song. Episode 9 especially gave us not only our first true dose of color in a mostly monochromatic animation, but also the obvious picture of the flowers blooming among the ruin.
So what’s next for Casshern? Is Luna still alive for real, or is this all just more false hope? Can Casshern even atone for his “sins,” or is he done with life, living in a robotic Hell that tortures him with visions of his past? And are any of our readers actually watching this nifty-keen show?
