Casshern Sins

Casshern Sins (キャシャーン Sins) is a reboot of the 1973 anime series Casshan, produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse, it aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The series made its English broadcast premiere on Funimation Channel in December 2010. A manga adaptation was published in Jive's Comic Rush Magazine.

The series discards the continuity presented in the original Casshan anime series, in which Casshern was a cybernetic superhero battling the evil robotic forces of Braiking Boss in a post-apocalyptic Earth. In Casshern Sins, Casshern is presented as a cyborg subordinate of Braiking Boss who was ordered to assassinate the savior of mankind, and has thus doomed the Earth to ruin.

Plot

Casshern Sins tells the story of a world where robots subjugated humanity after becoming self-aware. Their leader, Braiking Boss, ruled over the world with an iron fist. One day, a mysterious girl named Luna was summoned by the people in order to bring the salvation of mankind. Fearing her as a potential threat, Braiking Boss sent three of his most powerful cyborg warriors – Casshern, Dio, and Leda – to dispose of Luna. Casshern, the strongest warrior, managed to track down and kill Luna. However, this triggered "the ruin", a cataclysmic event which set into motion the end of the world. The robots lost their ability to live indefinitely, and began rusting and dying. Hundreds of years later, the world's atmosphere is filled with poison, and, due to the inability of most remaining humans to reproduce, as well as the constant threat posed by the robots, humanity is on the brink of extinction.

Characters

Main characters

Casshern (キャシャーン)
[1]
The protagonist of the series. He was originally a subordinate of Braiking Boss and the strongest warrior in his robot army. With an advanced cybernetic body and quick reflexes, he can destroy any opponent he comes across. Casshern was ordered by Braiking Boss to assassinate Luna. However, this act triggered a cataclysmic event and Casshern disappeared. Returning hundreds of years later with no memory of who he was, he somehow holds the ability to painfully regenerate from any injury and goes violently berserk when incited. While he travels to discover what has happened, and to redeem himself, he encounters people who have been affected by the cataclysm. He is also confronted by many others who attempt to kill him in the belief that devouring him will save them from ruination. Saddened by the deaths of Lyuze and Ohji, he returns to Luna once more and reminds her that she is salvation to those wishing to find her, and he is death. Before he leaves to wander the world, he warns her that if she and her followers ever forget death, he will return.

Lyuze (リューズ)
[1]
A female robot, she pursues Casshern out of revenge for her sister. Before the cataclysm, her sister Liza was injured by Casshern while trying to protect Luna, and eventually died a slow death from corrosion. However, she hesitates when Casshern willingly allows her the chance to kill him, and is unwilling to do so. Instead, she begins to follow and accompany Casshern on his journey, eventually developing feelings for him. She finally finds Luna with the help of Casshern and the others, but loses respect and interest for Luna as soon as she discovers the true meaning of Luna's "salvation". She decides to live with Casshern, Ringo, Ohji, and Friender, to spend her last days with them, dying from the ruination. As she dies, she tells Casshern that she is happy that she was able to find peace with him.

Ringo (リンゴ)
[1]
A young girl who befriends Casshern, she manages to maintain her innocence despite growing up in a destroyed world. Despite witnessing Casshern mercilessly destroying a robot in order to save her and hurting her feelings, she continues to have faith in him. Being cared for by Ohji, the two come across Casshern regularly, and witness his endeavors. Devastated, Ringo grows up into a young woman, knowing and accepting death, waiting for Casshern's return. It is hinted, in her last encounter with Leda, that she may have been the baby in Leda's womb.

Ohji (オージ)
[1]
A robot technician who spends his time maintaining robots, he is Ringo's guardian. Originally a scientist working under Braiking Boss, he created Casshern, Dio and Leda as an experiment in recreating robotic life in a manner similar to humanity's reproductive method, however Braiking Boss utilized the trio as an advanced strike team and ultimately assigned them the duty of assassinating Luna. Stricken by guilt over what he has caused, he attempts to kill himself, but finds Ringo as a baby and decides to raise her. After finding Casshern, he follows and watches over him. Near the end of the anime, he also loses interest in Luna's "salvation" and decides to live with the others, trying to make Ringo happy with anything he can do, until his ruin comes, devastating Ringo.

Friender (フレンダー)
A robot dog who originally stayed with a robot community that peacefully accepted the idea of death. Friender himself does not display any signs of deterioration. After a berserk Casshern destroys the entire community, Friender cautiously follows him, eventually trusting him. He primarily intervenes to stop Casshern whenever he goes berserk.

Recurring characters

Luna (ルナ)
[1]
A mysterious girl summoned by the human race for salvation, Luna was known as "the sun that was named moon," and has been dubbed the "Source of Life" — a living embodiment for the world. Deeming her a threat, Braiking Boss sent Casshern, Dio, and Leda to assassinate her. Casshern successfully does so, triggering the destruction of the world. Amid hints that she continues to exist in some form, Casshern searches for her to find the cause of the state of the world, and the reason behind his apparent immortality. However, when he finds her, she has changed and her dislike of death leads her to kill anyone who reeks of death.

It is discovered that humans had learned the secret of eternal life when their medical technology advanced. Braiking Boss was repulsed by this and began the extermination of humans. Mankind barely managed to survive through Luna. She granted humans normal lifespans because she believed that without death, humans could not live. Braiking Boss sensed that a number of robots began to worship her as well, so he ordered her assassination which unknowingly set into motion the Ruin. After Casshern killed her, she mysteriously became disgusted and terrified of death and dying. She instead granted immortality to both humans and robots that she deemed to not be "reeking of death" or to those not too far into the suffering of the Ruin, as discovered when she refused to heal Dune. Luna sought to create a world free of death until all those dying of the Ruin would perish, leaving those who are immortal.

type	tv series
director	Shigeyasu Yamauchi
producer	Hiroyuki Oomori Yasuhiro Kamima
writer	Yasuko Kobayashi
music	Kaoru Wada
studio	Madhouse Tatsunoko
network	TVS, MBS, TVA, CTC, tvk
first	October 1, 2008
last	March 15, 2009
episodes	24
episode list	List of Casshern Sins episodes

Plot

Characters

Main characters

Recurring characters

Media

Manga

Anime

Reception

See also

External links

References