Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Casshan: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

No sins to forgive.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 16, 2014

Younger anime viewers or those without any particular interest in older shows may not have realized that Casshern Sins: Complete Series was actually a reboot, albeit a radically altered reboot, of a much older series. This connection was perhaps further obscured by the fact that the original series spelled its hero’s name Casshan, in one of those oddities related to how Japanese ideography and pronunciation gets ported over into English. Casshan was first broadcast in the early seventies, a kind of follow up success by writer Tatsuo Yoshida, who had burst into worldwide prominence when his Speed Racer became an international phenomenon in the late sixties. Yoshida’s premise for Casshan was just the latest in what seems to be almost a genetic proclivity on the part of the Japanese to have giant beasts of some sort maraud through their land, wreaking havoc in their wake. These monsters have varied from the inimitable atavistic Godzilla to any number of humongous mecha that have populated innumerable anime entertainments. In the case of Casshan, the “bad guy” is actually a bad robot (no offense to J.J. Abrams) named Braiking Boss, or BK-1, whose close encounter of an overly electric kind with a bolt of lightning transformed the android into the leader of a robot rebellion. Enter Casshan (still transliterated Casshern in some versions and often in online summaries), a kind of “six million dollar boy” with a human conciousness but robotic functionalities. The human consciousness in Casshan belongs to Tetsuya Azuma, the son of the inventor of BK-1, a man who had hoped that robots could help alleviate some of drudgery of human existence (“like washing dishes or marrying J-Lo”, in the inimitable words of Conan O’Brien). That unfortunate lightning bolt set the course of the planet on a decidedly different course, however, and now Casshan is almost the only thing standing between the destruction of Mankind and an advancing robot horde.

There are some none too subtle allusions to Frankenstein (of all things) running through some of Casshan. A well meaning scientist named Kotaro Azuma who lives in a spooky isolated castle is developing a line of androids to help Mankind clean up their rampant pollution problem (remember, this was the seventies, where all sorts of environmentally themed cartoons and anime like Captain Planet and Gatchaman: Complete Collection + OVAs started cropping up.) Unfortunately, the environment itself—in the form of an errant bolt of lightning—animates one hulking android and (for unexplained reasons) transforms it into a monster intent on wiping Mankind off the face of the Earth (well, that would probably at least solve the pollution problem). The castle, lightning as well as a quick image of the android coming to life that almost looks like it was rotoscoped from a photo of Boris Karloff (see screenshot 3) all are more than a bit reminiscent of the hoary Universal monster franchise.

The errant android, who dons himself Braiking Boss, then sets himself up as the leader of an entire robot army. The good doctor, his wife and son Tetsuo leave the castle in a desperate rush, and so Braiking Boss has the run of the place, turning it into a kind of Ford assembly plant for villainous androids. Meanwhile, Dr. Azuma has become the whipping boy for the Japanese government and general populace. When Tetsuo’s dog Lucky is killed saving Tetsuo’s childhood friend Luna from a robot attack, the doctor reanimates the dog as a robot, which gives Tetsuo the bright idea that he could be transformed into an android with enough power to defeat Braiking Boss. There’s frankly not much logic to Casshan, as might already be evident, but it quickly gets its pieces in place (for better or worse) to the point where Tetsuo, now transformed into “newly built man” (to use the show’s quaint phrase) Casshan can get out there and kick some robot booty in order to restore peace for all Mankind. The robot dog becomes his trusty sidekick Flender, who just happens to have the super-cool ability to transform into Casshan’s jet when needed.

Just to prove that Yoshida is nothing if not eclectic, there’s yet another kind of bizarre allusion lurking in Casshan, one that may be unintentional but is there nonetheless. Casshan is a kind of naïve but ultimately virtuous hero, and within the first few episodes, he is being aided by, in addition to Flender, a mechanical swan named Swanee which contains a holographic representation of his mother. A hero and a swan? Those who haven’t experienced the gargantuan majesty of Richard Wagner’s Wagner: Parsifal might want to take a (forgive me) gander. Casshan’s mother is “hiding” in Swanee because that nefarious Braiking Boss kidnaps both of Casshan’s parents in an early episode, repeatedly threatening Dr. Azuma with death if he doesn’t help build even nastier androids. Though once again it is never explicitly explained, somehow Dr. Azuma is able to transmigrate his wife’s being into Swanee. If these sorts of nagging questions are apt to interrupt your concentration, Casshan is probably not the anime for you.

Casshan is definitely “old school” nascent anime, with little if any of the complexity and character nuance that typifies more contemporary fare, including Casshern Sins itself. And while there is an overall arc to the storyline here, most episodes exist in a standalone universe where Casshan typically has some sort of threat imposed on him over which he magically triumphs. There are a couple of neat little surprises along the way, including one episode about a third of the way through the season where a supposed victimized human has a bit of a secret in store. But most of these episodes are very basic hero versus villain(s) outings, without much subtlety or particular innovation. The show does have a tendency to visit a "final showdown" strategy perhaps a few too many times for its own good. (The real final, final showdown of course takes place in the last episode.)

That said, a lot of Casshan is just good, goofy fun. Part of this is the frankly hilariously inept sounding subtitle translations, which bring a new meaning to stilted dialogue. But there’s also some great visual fun in a number of the various robots, some of whom, for example, have phones for heads which they answer themselves. There’s a charmingly retro quality to much of the series now, seen from our jaded modern day eyes. But there’s also something noble both in the subtext of environmentalism as well as the simple, hoary trope of good defeating evil.

Casshan: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Casshan: The Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. This is definitely "old school" style animation, without the sleek, sophisticated look that graces contemporary anime, and so certain reasonable expectations need to be set in order to enjoy this presentation. The elements here are in startlingly good shape, either having been curated exceptionally well or restored beautifully without delving into any egregious denoising (in fact, some may actually find this presentation too grainy for their liking, even if it is an accurate representation of the original appearance). Colors are really beautifully vivid and nicely saturated. The often rather thick line detail is quite sharp, though overall this is a fairly soft looking outing, albeit one that retains a completely naturally organic look. There is a bit of telecine wobble sprinkled throughout various episodes, as well as some jumpy edit points, but nothing too serious. Fans who grew up with the series or who have a soft nostalgic spot in their hearts for it will more likely than not be exceedingly pleased with this high definition presentation.

Casshan: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though some initial news reports of this release suggested there might be an English dub, Casshan: The Complete Series offers only the original Japanese language track in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0). (While there is an English language credit in the closing roll, my hunch is that pertains to subtitles; the keepcase insert correctly lists only the Japanese audio as being included.) The original audio here has some intrinsic limitations which the lossless presentation probably only exacerbate, including a fairly narrow and tinny sounding midrange. The high end is occasionally brittle as well, never more so than in the repeated "screeching" sound effect that accompanies some of Casshan's daring do escapades. Occasional explosions and gunfire have a bit of sonic "oomph" in the low end, though certainly nothing remotely approaching what modern day sound mixes would provide. The dialogue is cleanly presented throughout the series.

Casshan: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only "supplements" included on this set are trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases and some disc credits, neither of which I officially score as supplements.

Casshan: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Casshan is good, old fashioned fun, and anyone who grew up in the sixties or seventies is virtually sure to love its retro animation style and goofy sci-fi ambience. There's nothing overly subtle or nuanced here, just the age old story of Good vs. Evil. Guess which one wins. This Blu-ray set offers surprisingly pristine and organic looking video and audio that's about as good as could be hoped. Recommended.