Just the other day I sat down and watched the first part of Casshern Sins. I must admit that I wasn’t blown away by it, but it was compelling enough to leave me looking forward to the second half. Does the latter component make up for quality that the first lacked? Or does the show as a whole disappoint?

Casshern Sins is a revived license for Tatsunoko Productions and has been produced by Madhouse. The first series, Neo Human Casshern, was essentially an episodic series akin to Gatchaman or the like. For Sins the series was rebooted from the ground up. That means newcomers and fans of the original are essentially starting at the same point with no knowledge of the past necessary to get into it.

The show takes place in a world that is on the brink of destruction. Humanity is dying out and the sentient robots they created are rusting away. All of this stems from the actions of an amnesiac robot named Casshern, who apparently killed someone named Luna and brought about something known as the Ruin. Casshern’s turned into a pariah even though he has no idea what’s going on, and soon enough the shadows of his past catch up to him as he walks the wastelands.

As the first half of the show came to a close some interesting revelations came forward, and this second part picks up shortly thereafter. Casshern, Friender, and Lyuze wind up getting involved with a horde of robots who believe that by meeting Luna they will be a part of the Healing. It would seem that she’s not quite as dead as everyone thought she was, but the plot thickens as other assassins to the caliber of Casshern stand in the way, and of course there’s the big bad Braiking Boss to contend with.

The show brings memories back to Casshern after a while and it mixes things up quite a bit in terms of storytelling and tone. The must livelier robots are far more interesting to watch and considering they are nearly as capable as Casshern when it comes to fighting, naturally there’s a great amount of action as well. The show kicks it into high gear more frequently than in the first batch of episodes and by the end the series really gets interesting. Unfortunately the road to that conclusion is confusing, awkwardly paced, and downright dry, so it’s not a totally smooth ride.

Casshern Sins is presented on DVD with its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and has been enhanced for anamorphic playback. The show looks beautiful thanks to Madhouse’s production, and the transfer for this DVD stands out for all the right reasons. The picture quality is only slightly grainy and soft from time to time, but strong colors and a fine range of detail help tremendously. Likewise the English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0 tracks both sound great with some nice clarity and solid voice work.

Clean animations and trailers are included here for bonus features. Included in this second release are a mini concert where Color Bottle performs “Azure Flowers” on stage and a collection of original commercials for the show.

Casshern Sins is interesting enough to warrant a recommendation. The show has a rich, fascinating atmosphere that really draws you in at times, but with that being said the experience doesn’t live up to expectations. The plot drags painfully and the content is largely flat. Snippets of action, pieces of intrigue, and stellar animation save the show as a whole, but I wouldn’t say it’s a “OMG watch this now!” kind of anime. It’s merely a highly produced and stylish piece of mediocrity that doesn’t live up to the hype.

Recommended.

Review material provided by FUNimation

Tags: Anime, DVD, FUNimation, Review, SciFi