Casshan: Robot Hunter

This article is about the 1993 anime OVA. For the 1973 television series, see Casshan.
Casshan: Robot Hunter
ロボット・ハンター・キャシャーン /
キャシャーン
(Robot Hunter Casshern / Casshan)
Genre Adventure, Science Fiction
Original video animation
Directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima
Masashi Abe
Takashi Watanabe
Produced by Hiroshi Kimura
Hirotoshi Okura
Takashi Yoshida
Written by Emu Arii
Hideki Kakinuma
Hiroyuki Fukushima
Shō Aikawa
Music by Michiru Ōshima
Studio Tatsunoko (production)
Artmic (animation, epi. 1-3)
Gainax (animation, epi. 4)
Licensed by

‹See Tfd›

Released August 21, 1993 – February 21, 1994
Runtime 30 minutes (each)
Episodes 4
Anime film
Casshan: Robot Hunter
(American movie adaptation)
Directed by Carl Macek
Written by Michelle Head
Studio Harmony Gold USA (adaptation)
Released 1995
Runtime 100 minutes

Casshan: Robot Hunter, known in Japan as Robot Hunter Casshern (ロボット・ハンター・キャシャーン Robotto Hantā Kyashān) or simply Casshern (キャシャーン Kyashān, romanized as Casshan in the official logo), is an OVA series that was directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima, produced by Tatsunoko Productions, and animated by Artmic and Gainax. The OVA was later adapted into an English language dubbed film that was directed by Carl Macek. This series is based on Tatsunoko Productions' 1973 anime series Neo-Human Casshern.

Plot

Enslaved by an army of rebellious super robots originally designed to help civilization avert a complete ecological cataclysm, mankind's only hope is Casshan, a legendary hero who wages a solitary war to defeat the NEOROIDS and restore the Earth to its rightful order. Ironically, Casshan's father is the same scientist who engineered the race of super androids now threatening to destroy all of mankind. On a crusade to clear the name of his father, Casshan must sacrifice his own humanity in order to attain the powers he needs to defeat mankind's powerful enemies. However, Casshan's power does not come without a price. Haunted by the memories of his murdered mother and forced to deal with a super robot that has absorbed and now manipulates the consciousness of his father, Casshan must put aside his own emotions and fight to preserve the survival of the human race.[1]

Release

Casshan: Robot Hunter was originally released as a four-volume series in Japan between August 21, 1993, and February 21, 1994. The American publisher Harmony Gold USA edited the four episodes into a single feature film for its English-language debut in 1995. In 2003, ADV Films re-released the four-episode series on DVD. The title sequence for the OVA translates the katakana "キャシャーン" as "Casshan". This was repeated in the American adaptation by Harmony Gold.

# Title Original Airdate
1 "Return From The Myth" (第1話: 神話からの帰還) August 21, 1993[1]
At abandoned amusement park in the section of the robo-zone controlled by the Black King a groups of robots are battling human resistance but one member manages to defeat them. This person then travels to Castle Promise, a massive robot manufacturing plant, and slips inside. Luna Kozuki then meets with the humans inside and plans a revolt. That night she sees Lucky and Tetsuya Azuma her old lover. The next day Luna and the rebels are betrayed by a fellow prisoner who was promised freedom but instead is killed and Luna captured. Barashin tells her that even though she's not Casshan they will led the humans to think she is so when publicly executed the next day their spirit will break. However, the real Casshan saves Luna before the execution and kills Barashin but Black King escapes. 
2 "Journey to the Past" (第2話: 過去への旅立ち) October 21, 1993[1]
Following the victory at Castle Promise, Casshan and Friender take their leave while Luna embarks on an escort to meet with Admiral Rudolph, the leader of the human forces,to give him the specs for her father's MF pistol which might be able to turn the war in the human favor. However, their helicopter is hit and crashes and their discovered by a robot scout team. The pilot forces Luna to leave while he blows himself up with the robots. Luna is able to escape and meets back up with Casshan and Friender. Casshan reveals he struggling with his lack of humanity while also suffering physical weakness from his battles. The trio is attacked by a robot army and Casshan tells Luna to flee while he defeats the robots but Luna is unable to leave Casshan and jumps from the helicopter as he catches her. 
3 "Blitz on the Bridge" (第3話: 鋼鉄の戦場) December 21, 1993[1]
Black King orders a bridge be repaired so he can move his forces into a small village while human resistance plan to bomb the bridge once the train is on it. Casshan and Luna wonder what's going on and are ambushed by a trio of robot scouts who Casshan and Friender easily defeat. After which Casshan hacks into one of the scouts and discovers that the Black King is planning on insiting the Sigma Project of his father which was the creation of eco-friendly androids. However, the Black King is then planning on using them to replace humans. While Casshan struggles with what to do his mother appears and tells him to stop the Black King while Luna meets up with the human resistance. As the train cross the bridge Casshan stops the resistance but then immediately regrets it. The groups leader detonates the bomb manually but it's too late. Casshan then redeems himself by destroying the train and vows never to lose his path again. 
4 "The Reviver" (第4話: 復活のキャシャーン) February 21, 1994[1]
The humans quickly make a high number of MF guns and begin their counter-offensive against the robot army of Black King. The humans make excellent progress and soon feel victory is at hand but Casshan's mother warns him the Black King is biding his time for his own offensive. Luna tries to comfort Casshan and was convinced of the human victory but Casshan rebuffed her and went off with Friender to battle the Black King. Soon the Black King launched his offensive and managed to get control of all the worlds nuclear missiles which he aimed at each other. Meanwhile, Casshan reached his castle and defeated a squad of suicide robots while Friender sacrificed himself during the battle. Casshan survives a MF pistol shot from a female robot commander who realized he was something more than a human or a machine. Casshan then entered the castle and engaged the Black King but struggled. The Black King told Casshan his mother's soul was trapped in a robot swan and his father's within him. With this Casshan managed to build up enough strength to kill the Black King before dying himself right after. With Black King dead, the fail safe his father and Dr. Kozuki installed activated and all the robots shut down securing human victory. The series ends with Luna walking away from the Black King's castle as an image of Casshan and Friender appeared in the sky above her. 

Cast

Japanese Cast

English Cast

Reception

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies praises the work of top designer Yasuomi Umetsu and says that anime 'holds your attention with interesting concept and designs'.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 キャシャーン. Tatsunoko Production (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  2. ↑ McCarthy, Helen. 500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide. — Harper Design, 2009. — P. 48. — 528 p. — ISBN 978-0061474507

External links

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