[ Episode 8: The Paean of Hope ]

Janis is Love. Love and Hope.

Oh. My. God. This has easily become my favorite episode in the series thus far. It was absolutely beautiful in terms of writing, visuals, audio, and choreography. This time around Casshern meets a beautiful singer named Janis. I was absolutely stunned when she suddenly started singing in English but instantly became hypnotized by her soothing voice. Janis obviously had a huge amount of power stocked into those songs which could be felt and seen in the characters, even Lyuze. Although the entire episode was outstanding, the climax was easily the best part. Janis’ song matched the action going on outside perfectly blended seamlessly with every scene change.

This episode reinforces how most of the world rejects hope and the creation of new things (like in episode 7). The robots at the start of the episode only cared about parts to keep them alive but nonetheless felt the power of Janis’ song: The power of hope. I loved the comment that Lyuze made about Casshern and Janis and altered it slightly to be the “Ultimate Spear and Shield”. Honestly, I would have loved to see Casshern and Janis continue to travel together but it wasn’t meant to be. Still, this episode will forever be among my favorites and my top favorite until another dethrones it.

[ Episode 7: The Woman of the High Tower ]

Touchy-feely woman in the high tower is touchy-feely.

Wow. What a powerful episode. Simply put, this episode was about a woman (robot woman of course) that used to be a worker in a factory. She feels that she must continue to build things as evidenced by the massive tower. The design for the tower was outstanding as one or two close-ups revealed. The funniest thing that happened was that she actually tried to use Casshern to make a bell to put at the very top of the tower. She may not have known who he was at the time but just seeing her trying to crush him with those gears had me laughing. Also, she’s quite the touchy one. She was coping series of feels of Casshern’s chest and such constantly. Hilarious and yet very intriguing because seeing robots act in such a human way without programming is amazing (even those stupid poker-playing robots). Though I have to say, Casshern definitely has a way with the ladies.

Lastly, I liked how the writers had Ringo and Oji pass by to show how much the woman grew since Casshern left her. She’s content with just being there and ringing the bell within her heart while showing anyone that passes by the near-top of the world. Of course without any intent on using them for parts.

[ Episode 6: Reunion with Fate ]

Lyuze >>>> Dio!

So from the looks of things there seems to be at least two others that are similar to Casshern. One male and the other female. Dio seemed to be pretty full of himself while fighting Casshern and while he does have power, it never really felt that like he had the upper-hand against Casshern. Hell, he got owned by Lyuze! He’ll probably be out for a while because he shouldn’t have healing capabilities like Casshern. I have an itching feeling though that the woman is the stronger of the two as well.

It was revealed in this episode that Luna was said to be an immortal as well. So then, exactly how did she die? Is Casshern immortal because of her death and is under a curse like Oji said? Things still aren’t too clear at this point but things are looking to get even more interesting with the introduction of two Casshern-like characters (who I assume all worked together at one point) and more frequent appearances of Ms. Pink-hair Revenge and Ringo.

[ Episode 5: The Sun That Was Called Moon ]

Pink-hair girl’s older sister was a hottie!

Somehow I wasn’t surprised that the girl seeking revenge couldn’t do a thing against Casshern. Seriously, the dude heals almost instantaneously. What could you possibly do to him unless you have his speed and strength to force pressure onto him that delays his healing? That said, I’m not sure exactly what to call Casshern. If I look back at the live-action movie, I’d say that he isn’t fully a robot at all and is also part human. That still doesn’t explain his healing abilities though…

Casshern manages to save Ringo again but not without going berserker like he has shown a few times before. It’s a good thing that she managed to call him out of it though because he was going to strike down some innocent kid. I was pretty surprised with the way the episode ended on such a cliffhanger. It’s obvious that someone has appeared with a similar build and design to Casshern. Who is he though? Did he used to work with Casshern in the past? Or is there some other link between them? I can’t wait to see more.

[ Episode 4: The Ruined Angel ]

Sophita x Casshern ftw!

This episode was very deep stuff. Sophita is easily one of the best characters that Casshern has met so far on his journey. Her ‘reason for being’ early on in the episode was rather interesting to me. Characters that love to fight aren’t exactly new but the way she spoke of it was, in a word, touching. Her actions toward Casshern and the words they shared conveyed a ton of subtle emotions that had me choked up more than a few times. While I feel that I understood most of what was going on between the two, there is still one thing that I’m thinking about such as why she seems so new like Casshern. Is she similar to him? There isn’t a trace of ruin on her body and there were A LOT of body shots of her (:P) so it’s pretty hard to miss.

Anyway, I’d really love to see the two meet again. I loved their interaction more than any other so far and, well, Sophita is a super cutie. After this episode, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a fanfic or two of Casshern and Sophita as well as some fanart. Next episode, it looks like we’ll be meeting again with Casshern’s pink-haired accuser. Hopefully she has a bit more to say other than that Casshern “killed the Sun that was named Moon” because we know that already. Too well, actually. Lastly…where was Friender throughout the episode? o_o

[ Episode 3: To the End of Suffering ]

Friender is a ma…uh…robot’s best Friend.

This episode was quite different from the previous two. That’s mainly because Casshern meets a human on his journey. It’s easy to forget that humans are still alive on such a dreary Earth but this one willingly wondered out to where robots reside. He’s pretty much the most upbeat person to appear so far with the exception of the little girl in the first episode and his presence really helps out Casshern. There’s no doubt that what happened in the last episode was a definite emo-activator for Casshern, but with the help of Akoes he managed to stop running away and constantly reminding himself of what he had done. He accepted and came to terms with what he had done which is further illustrated in his short battle with Friender, who accepts him as his new comrade.

The sad thing about this episode was that Akoes’ death was pretty much imminent given that he was obviously sick with the way he was coughing up blood. Still, I think that he made a lasting impression on Casshern and imparted more than a few lessons to him before died. That said, he must have really been holding on for a long time because his final seconds seemed like the release of a huge amount of suffering though his last few words were pretty calming. I can’t wait to see how much more Casshern develops as he continues his journey now with Friender and possibly another ally who appears in the next episode. From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t appear to have been affected by the ruin just like Casshern and Friender. Oh, and she loves to fight. Very interesting.