Review of Casshern Sins
Strong themes for a more mature audience: Death, Life, Hope & Despair -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Engaging atmosphere: You will feel differently depending on the episodes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thought provoking character development and plot -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great animations which can be be seen as "classic/timeless" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Definitly not for everyone as it's pretty dark/mature/depressing--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Casshern Sins is one of the more rare kind of Anime series you can find.
Upcoming you will find a short summary, followed by my impressions and the value of this anime for me.
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Story:
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A long time ago mankind was medical and technology advanced and were almost able to live eternally. They created robots who gained some kind of artificial intelligence over time and out of disgust they started to exterminate humanity.
It is said that humanity summoned a girl called Luna "who was the sun that was named moon" as their salvation. Robots feared her as potential threat and were sending three of their most powerful cyborgs to kill her. Out ot the three Casshern was the strongest one and managed to fullfill his duty. By killing Luna a phenomenon called "Ruin" was released into the world.
The story itself begins many hundred years later. The "Ruin" is responsible for humans and even robots to die slowly. We are following Casshern who has returned with no memories of his past life as he is traveling the world filled with death, life, hope and despair in search of the meaning to life and his destiny.
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Impressions:
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For some it may sound boring, for some it may stretch too much and for some it's closer to a masterpiece.It all depends on your preferences and what you seek in an Anime.
For myself I can definietly say that Casshern Sins is one of the best series out there no matter the age (2008). The reason? The themes this Anime is dealing with.
In general I'm not a huge fan of Animes which are build more episodic. The story itself is quickly told and not even that deep and complex if you leave the last episodes out of it. But the theme in form of death, life, despair and hope is so strong that it's leaving you speechless from time to time. One episode has a greater impact comaraped to others and what often remains is an atmosphere that is supporting the themes and what you feel really well.
Feeling the pressure Casshern is in watching people die throughout the series for different reasons you feel for each of them individually. But it's not just about the different stories you come to know. It's also mainly about the story of Casshern and the more or less "main Characters" like Lyuze , Ringo, Ohji.
Casshern has lost his memories after killing Luna and is wandering the world. It is said that after killing Luna he gained immortality and that by killing and devouring Casshern people and robots can stop the Ruin and become immortal themselfes. That is one of the reaons he is confronted by people and robots trying to kill him and making him aware that he is the reason for the "Ruin" to begin with.
Not understanding what it means to be the most powerful cyborg ever created and being pratically immortal he is searching for his reason and destiny to be alive. In his journey he is being confronted by a lot of death, despair and hopelessness by people and robots alike. Many die just by being near him, some are growing dear to him and as he is gaining his past memories you are growing with Casshern and his few friends.
This all is underlined by a really great soundtrack that is supporting the story, themes and the atmosphere really well. Some tracks can be heard here to get a feeling for it.
The character design and backgrounds are really impressive and in my point of view timeless. There are so many variations and details that it's really astonishing. You may get your own perception by browsing through some of the wallpapers and screenshots at the end.
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Value: (Containing spoilers)
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Casshern Sins is a quite dark and mature Anime which defitnly won't appeal to everyone.
I like to be reminded that there is somethink dark in our lifes and that not everything should be taken for granted. Casshern Sins was and is helping me to think about themes like death and my own value in life.
The feeling that you get from this Anime as you are feeling helpless from time to time, when you are reflecting your life and what you have is just awesome. It's really thought-provoking and is able to balance it well based on the great scripts of most of the episodes.
As one of the many example I like "Turn the Time Lived to Colo"
In this episode a robot who sees himself as an artist is painting the whole city in white. He knows of his dying body and his wish is to tell others that he had lived and therefore wants to leave the city painted in his colour. He refers to different timelines as he is scraping the walls and showing some kind of rainbow which is showing that other artists were telling their stories just like he wants to do. The rest of the people in this city aren't able to live with someone who has hope in his heart. They just wish to die quietly as they have accepted their Ruin and don't wish to think much about it.
For me that is one strong desire. Nobody knows what's happening after you leave this life and maybe are afraid of it. Some want to leave something to be remembered by others and to live on by doing so and that is something I could see myself doing.
There are so many examples where I would need days to write them down.
In the end what you gain from this Anime depends on you entierly.
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If you have suggestions/improvement suggestions please let me know.
My native language isn't English so don't be to harsh on me. I'm still glad about corrections and looking forward to them.