Casshan

Casshan, also known in Japan as Neo-Human Casshern (新造人é–"キャシャーン, Shinzō Ningen Kyashān), is an anime series created by Tatsunoko Productions in 1973, which was based on a serialization of Kodansha’s Terebi Magazine and Akita Shoten’s "Boken Oh".

The Casshern franchise also includes a 1993 original video animation titled Casshan: Robot Hunter, and a 2004 live action adaptation simply titled Casshern. In October 2008, a reboot of the franchise titled Casshern Sins premiered. In anticipation of the upcoming series, a DVD box set of the original series, titled Neo-Human Casshern Complete DVD-Box "All Episodes of Casshern", was released in Japan on September 24, 2008. Casshern also appears in Tatsunoko Fight and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars as a playable character. At Anime Expo 2013, Sentai Filmworks announced that they had signed a deal with Tatsunoko to release some of their catalog, with Casshan being confirmed as one of the characters involved. Sentai Filmworks released the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United States on March 4, 2014.

Plot

Tetsuya Azuma (東鉄也, Azuma Tetsuya), also known as Casshern, is an android with a human consciousness, aka a neoroider (人造人é–", Jinzō Ningen, lit. "artificial human"). Tetsuya turned himself into an android for the purpose of hunting down and destroying robots that have taken over the world. His biological father, Dr. Kotaro Azuma, was the inventor of the automatons that were originally intended to serve humankind. However, the first android, BK-1, was struck by lightning and went out of control. With its great strength, it escaped from the castle despite attempts to stop it. After some time, it renamed itself as Buraiking Boss (often mistranslated in English as "Black King Boss"; derived from ç„¡é ¼ or burai, meaning rogue or brute, using the symbols for "trust" and "nothing", but phonetically "Bu Rai" can mean "Lightning Man" or "Lightning Warrior", so the name works into his background), and was able to build a robot army against mankind. The robots mutinied en masse when their cold logic concluded that the good of the Earth's ecosystem required the destruction of the human race.

Casshern and his robotic dog, Friender, join forces with a beautiful girl named Luna Kozuki to battle the robots led by the Buraiking Boss. Casshern has great strength and agility, but he is not armed, except for a pair of odd pistols, used more like rockets than weapons. Friender is capable of transforming itself into a tank or a jet aircraft and actively helps Casshern to fight the robot army. While the robots are huge and robust machines, he is usually able to destroy them with his bare hands, dispatching a great number in any battle. Casshern also has some weak points: his body must be re-charged with solar energy and cannot sustain very long battles without risking low battery power. Luna was totally harmless until her father was able to build an electromagnetic pistol, easily capable of destroying the robots. Almost all the robot machines have an antenna on top of their heads; ripping it off usually causes them to explode, so they are relatively vulnerable.

Characters

Casshern (キャシャーン, Kyashān)

Voiced by: Ikuo Nishikawa

The protagonist of the series, Casshern is an android â€" the union of Tetsuya Azuma's consciousness with an invincible body. His body features a number of unique android functions, including superhuman speed, agility and strength, an opening and closing face mask, a golden crescent-shaped solar panel on his forehead and waist-mounted pulsar propellers that can also be used as weapons.

Luna Kozuki (上月 ルナ, Kōzuki Runa)

Voiced by: Emiko Tsukada

A beautiful 15-year-old girl who fights alongside Casshern. Like Tetsuya's, her father is a scientist, and she is essential in the battle against the Android Army, due to her Electromagnetic Field Gun.

Midori Azuma (東 みどり, Azuma Midori)

Voiced by: Reiko Mutō

Tetsuya's mother, who had been captured by the Android Army and had her data transferred into the body of Swanee (スワニー, Swanī), a swan-type robot pet kept by Buraiking Boss. She observes the actions of Buraiking Boss and appears before Casshern as a hologram to offer support to her son.

Kotaro Azuma (東 光太郎, Azuma Kōtarō)

Voiced by: Masato Yamanouchi

The genius scientist who invented androids in hopes of helping mankind, and ironically became the architect of mankind's doom.

Friender (フレンダー, Furendā)

Voiced by: Shōji Katō

Originally Tetsuya's pet dog, Lucky (ラッキー, Rakkī), its data were used to revive it as Friender after it was killed. In order to support Casshern, it can transform into a jet, submarine, tank, or motorcycle, and is even able to breathe flames. Friender is a brave robotic dog capable of standing up to the Android Army alone.

Buraiking Boss (ブライキング・ボス, Buraikingu Bosu)

Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi

The antagonist of the series, originally BK-1, the first android created by Dr. Azuma. He was designed to help bring the human race and the robots together, but he was struck by lightning and rebelled, renaming himself Buraiking Boss. He leads the Android Army in a plot to conquer the Earth.

Barashin (バラシン)

Voiced by: Kazuya Tatekabe

A muscular high-ranking member of the Android Army.

Arkborn (アクボーン)

Voiced by: Ryuji Nakagi

A lanky high-ranking member of the Android Army.

Sagrey (サグレー)

Voiced by: Osamu Kato

A short high-ranking member of the Android Army.

Episodes

1. An Immortal Challenger (不死身のæŒ'戦者, Fujimi no Chōsensha)
2. Stake Victory on the Moonlight (月光に勝利ã‚'かã'ろ, Gekkō ni Shōri wo Kakero)
3. Find Tomorrow in the Ruins (廃墟の中に明日ã‚'叫べ, Haikyo no Naka ni Ashita wo Sakebe)
4. Channel Anger into the MF Gun (ＭＦ銃にæ€'ã‚Šã‚'ã"めろ, Emu Efu JyÅ« ni Ikari wo Komero)
5. Don’t Blow Out the Flame of Battle (戦いの灯ã‚'消すな, Tatakai no Tō wo Kesuna)
6. Raging Wind Friender (疾風フレンダー, Reppū Furendā)
7. An Oath to the Hero Kikero (英雄キケロへのèª"い, EiyÅ« Kikero he no Chikai)
8. The Roar of the Wild Beast Robot (野獣ロボが吠える, Yajū Robo ga Hoeru)
9. Concerto in the Flames of War (戦火に響ã'å"奏曲, Senka ni Kagayake Kyōsōkyoku)
10. Stake Life in the Desert of Death (死の砂漠にå'½ã‚'かã'ろ, Shi no sabaku ni inochi wo kakero)
11. Statue of the Demon (悪é­"の虚像, Akuma no Kyozō)
12. The Iron Train of Evil (鉄の悪党列車, Tetsu no Akutō Ressha)
13. Android 5, the Robot of Betrayal (裏切りロボットäº"号, Uragiri Robotto Gogō)
14. The Town That Doesn’t Need Casshan (キャシャーン無ç"¨ã®è¡—, Kasshān Muyō no Machi)
15. Puppy Runs for Vengeance (復讐に子犬は駆ã'ã‚‹, FukushÅ« ni Koinu wa Kakeru)
16. Swanee’s Wings of Love (スワニー・愛の翼, Suwanī Ai no Tsubasa)
17. The Robot Lullaby (ロボット子守歌, Robotto Komoriuta)
18. Giant Elephant VS. Andro Force (巨象対アンドロ軍団, Kyozō Tai Andoro Gundan)
19. The Clown Robot of Terror (恐怖のãƒ"エロロボット, Kyōfu no Piero Robotto)
20. Casshan Gets the Death Penalty (æ­»åˆ'台のキャシャーン, Shikeidai no Kasshān)
21. Robot Hijack (ロボット・ハイジャック, Robotto Haijakku)
22. Runaway Robot, Romeo (脱走ロボット・ロメオ, Dasshū Robotto Romeo)
23. Great Escape from the Robot Factory (ロボット工場大脱出, Robotto Kōjō Dai Dasshutsu)
24. Bounder Robot’s Challenge (バウンダー・ロボのæŒ'戦, Baundā Robo no Chōsen)
25. Immortal Casshan (不死身のキャシャーン", Fujimi no Kasshān)
26. Casshan's Secrets (キャシャーンの秘密, Kasshān no Himitsu)
27. The Missing MF Gun (消えたＭＦ銃, Kieta Emu Efu Jyū)
28. The Calvary of Anger (æ€'りの騎馬隊, Ikari no Kibatai)
29. High-Heat Robot Neotaros (高熱ロボ・ネオタロス)
30. The Premiere Robot Terminators (ロボ退治ナンバーワン, Robo Taiji Nanbā Wan)
31. The City That Creates Newly-Made Men (新造人é–"ã‚'造る街, Shinzō ningen wo tsukuru machi)
32. The Electric Punch of Tears (涙の電光ãƒ'ンチ, Namida no Denkō Panchi)
33. Swanee in Danger! (スワニー危機一髪, Suwanī Kiki Ippatsu)
34. Casshan VS. Robot Ace (対ロボットエース, Tai Robotto Ä'su)
35. The Greatest Showdown on Earth (地球最大の決戦, Chikyū Saidai no Kessen)

Title romanization

When Streamline Pictures adapted the OVA remake series to the American market, they romanized the title "kyashān" (キャシャーン) as "Casshan" instead of "Casshern". "Casshern" is the romanization used in Japan and in other countries, and is used as the romanized title of the film adaptation and the American release of Casshern Sins.

Legacy

In Vanquish, developed by Platinum Games, the art style is based on Casshern. In one of the boss fights the main character drills through a robot by spinning in place at high speed, similarly to Casshern. Concerning the game's development, director Shinji Mikami is quoted as saying: "I was inspired by Casshern, so I wanted to make a game like that. If I went ahead and made the exact game I wanted, it probably would have been like Casshern, where you punch and kick the entire way through. But obviously if it were a game with only punching and kicking, I already did that with God Hand. So, I'm done with that, something else now. So this time he wanted to make a game where you defeat robots with guns. So now, you're going at it with guns, but he wanted to make sure the feeling of speed is still there, that was really important to him, so that's why he introduced the element of the sliding boost." In addition, the protagonist of Vanquish has a facemask that periodically comes off to show his human side, much like Casshern himself. According to one of the game's character modelers, Yoshifumi Hattori, a support robotic companion dog was designed to fight along with the main character, including transforming into ability-enhancing armor. Although this dog was successfully modeled, it was cut from the finalized version of the game, along with another female android partner character.