Title: Casshern Sins – Part 2 Episodes (13 – 24)
Based on: キャシャーン SINS
Published By: Siren Visual (Australia), Funimation (US)
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 16:9, Full Frame, Original Ratio
Runtime: 288 Minutes over 3 DVD’s
Cost: $AUD 49.95 from Siren Visual’s Online Store
Classification: This title has been classified M for Animated Violence.
Blurb: “Following on from Part 1, it follows Casshern and his now merry (??) band of companions travelling the wasteland looking for a cure for the ruin that is plaguing the world, and acting on the rumor that Luna may exist or be revived. Sporting the same unique design as the previous part, this series is a slow-paced series that looks at the beauty and sorrow of the world, days before it could perish forever.”
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to the Siren Visual team for providing me with a review sample of this title.
I am finally back after the personal hell I have gone through the last few days writing reports on a makeshift computer setup, all the while suffering from the widthdrawl symptoms of the anime, manga and games I love so much. Now that I have finished all the reports that took me much longer to do, I am here to provide my review on the second part of Casshern Sins, a series rather unique in more ways than one. For those who have not read my previous review, I would advise you to head HERE to read it. I won’t keep you reading this, so read on for my review of Casshern Sins – Part 2, available on both DVD and Blu-ray from Siren Visual.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world of ruin and rubble, populated almost exclusively by robots, we are introduced to Casshern: a cyborg who is mostly human in appearance. Suffering from amnesia, the only thing Casshern knows about himself is that everyone wants to kill him. Having no choice, Casshern is forced to fight.
As we follow Casshern through a desolate wasteland on his quest to figure out his true identity, we find he is humble and seemingly invincible, and he must confront the fact that he is ultimately responsible for the complete destruction of the world.
This series continues on from where the last season ended, with four individuals (Casshern, Lyuze, Ringo and the Professor) travelling around the waster, all for different reasons. In Part 1, they very rarely came together, with most of the stories focusing on Casshern finding “Character of the day” characters and helping with their problems to have them either die or in the rare case, live happily ever after. In Part 2 however the storyline gets a lot more serious, forcing all four characters to travel together, and focusing more on them than the misc characters.
In a not too surprising plot twist, rumour starts spreading that Luna, the being that was supposed to stave off the Ruin (The cause of the wasteland and the current destruction of all Robots). So for the most part, it follows the main characters hunting for her whilst being discouraged from beings from the characters past, with robots such as the Braiking Boss, the one who was pulling the strings behind Casshern when he killed Luna and Dio/Leda, two robots similar to Casshern who were originally sent to undertake the same mission as him, however failed when he succeeded. Their primary goal…. is something I will let you work out for yourself.
The focus on these characters instead out of character of the day’s allowed a much greater depth to the storyline and character development and made it feel more of a storyline than 24 episodes of robotic sob stories. As this is the final part of the set, the ending of the series also takes place in it and I am undecided if it would be deemed a good or bad ending however I would consider it one that is solid, non-generic but leaves more then a few questions open.
Overall through, I would consider the storyline much more interesting then the first part, and whilst being slow-paced and confusing at points, it was actually one I didn’t mind sitting down and watching in one sitting…. kept me hooked.
I will not give an overview of the Graphics, Music and Voice Acting of the series again, however I would like to say that it is of the same quality, if not better in all three areas. I did however think the music tracks in this part were a lot better and gave more to the overall watching experience then the first part.
In terms of the extras content on the disc, there was nothing much at all. Whilst part 1 came with a decent compilation of a 12 minute pre-air event, textless Opening/Endings and trailers, Part 2 only comes with trailers for Genius Party, Casshern Sins, The Tatami Galaxy and Welcome to Irabu’s Office. I do find it funny how they are advertising their own series in the second part of the actual series, however the trailers are the ones they are spreading around all their other discs released in March.
If I were to compare Part 1 to Part 2, I would consider them to be two separate seasons of a series that have been done far apart enough to have two different storyline styles, as the plot progression was a lot different in both. Personally, I found this part to be a lot more enjoyable then Part 1 and I think the storyline progression through to the end was really enjoyable. Whilst this series may not cater to everyones tastes, if you are after a series that isnt as light hearted and a bit unique, I would recommend giving this series a check-out.
Final Score
Storyline: B
Character Development: B
Design: B
Music: C
Voice Acting: B+
Extras: E
Personal Opinion: B+
Overall Score: B
