Yeah, I’m going to start blogging this one episodically. Hopefully it will be a more enjoyable experience for me than blogging Code Geass, since this series is actually good.
Episode 5 gives us a closer look at the events that transpired after the death of Luna, as well as showing us that Casshern was probably killing her under orders. It also sees the return of numerous characters, including Lyuze, Ringo, Ohji and Friender.
Casshern is the most tragic character in probably any series I’ve ever watched. The opening scene where he is overcome by the agony of his situation is poignant, as is the following scene where he chooses to allow Lyuze to take his life, but his inability to control himself in battle leads him to almost kill her instead. You can’t help but feel for the guy. Imagine waking up in a world ravaged by ruin, knowing only that you were the one who caused it but without knowing why. Everyone wants you dead, and even the people you wish to protect fear and despise you because you can’t control your own destructive power. One of the reasons I was so drawn to the human in ep. 3 and Sophita in ep. 4 was the fact that the people who were unaware of his history were the only ones who could really see him as a “good guy”, but even Lyuze, a girl driven only by her need for revenge, is taken aback by this new Casshern, a man who wishes to atone for his sins in any way possible.
Beyond the sadness that permeates every inch of Casshern’s world, the most powerful emotion is probably the fear. The absolute terror reflected in the eyes of the innocent robots who traveled with Ringo and Ohji in this episode after Casshern begins to lose control and kill them as well pierces right through me. Ringo’s cries for him to stop had as much of an effect on me as they did Casshern. I find myself wanting him to die, not because of any dislike for his character, but for the same reasons that he himself wants to rid himself from the world. He is an outsider, unlike anyone around him, and the man who appears at the end of the episode, a man like him who knows his past and his true nature…even he wants him dead. The only ally he has in the world is a robotic dog who hates him as much as everyone else. Fucking sucks to be Casshern.
The battles in this series continue to impress, but they are only a single piece of the pie. Although that analogy blows because I hate pie. I’m loving the character designs as well. I almost want to cosplay as Casshern some day, but I’m not too sure I’d look good in a skintight bodysuit. Actually, the very idea frightens me. I wish I hadn’t brought it up.
I’ll finish this post with (surprise, surprise) another stitch, this one from episode 4.
Casshern Sins is actually a bit too emo for me, which is weird since Eva is my favourite anime. It’s still good, though.
Too emo? Nah.
I like how it looks like Friender’s only following him around to protect the people he comes across. And great episode.
I’m interested in their relationship. There was a slight kinship in episode 3 before he killed everyone in self-defense. Then there was the hatred. After he chose not to kill Casshern, Friender’s actions have been questionable. He’s a lot like Lyuze. There’s the desire to kill him, but the realization that Casshern isn’t wholly to blame for all the destruction he causes stops them from following through. I imagine Friender will serve to keep him in check in the future, saving any innocents as you suggested.
Nice series indeed. However I believe they will keep showing more and more of what transpires between Luna and Casshern in the opening parts, and I have the feeling that Casshern might not have been the one who killed her in the end, after all.