''Casshan'', also known in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
as , is an
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series created by
Tatsunoko Productions
and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and "sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko's headquarters are i ...
founder
Tatsuo Yoshida
was a Japanese cartoonist, writer, manga artist and anime pioneer who founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.
Biography
Born in 1932, Yoshida grew up in the hardship of war-torn Japan. A self-taught artist, his first job was as worki ...
in 1973.
The ''Casshern'' franchise also includes a 1993
original video animation
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
titled ''
Casshan: Robot Hunter'', and a 2004 live-action adaptation titled
Casshern
''Casshan'', also known in Japan as , is an anime series created by Tatsunoko Productions founder Tatsuo Yoshida in 1973.
The ''Casshern'' franchise also includes a 1993 original video animation titled '' Casshan: Robot Hunter'', and a 2004 ...
. In October 2008, a
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
of the franchise ''
Casshern Sins
is a reboot of the 1973 anime series ''Casshan'', produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse, it aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The series made its English broadcast premiere on Funimation Channel in December 2010. A ...
'' premiered. In anticipation of the upcoming series, a
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
of the original series, ''Neo-Human Casshern Complete DVD-Box "All Episodes of Casshern",'' was released in Japan on September 24, 2008. Casshern also appears in ''
Tatsunoko Fight
is a fighting game, fighting video game developed by Electronics Application (Eleca) and published by Takara for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation game console released in Japan in October 2000. It features characters from various Tatsunoko ...
'' and ''
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars'' as a playable character.
At Anime Expo 2013,
Sentai Filmworks
Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...
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
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
Disc in the United States on March 4, 2014.
Plot
, also known as ''Casshern'', is an android with a human consciousness, also known as a . Tetsuya turned himself into an
android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
to hunt down and destroy the 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. Despite great efforts to stop it, BK-1 used its great strength to escape from the castle. After some time, it renamed itself Buraiking Boss (often mistranslated in English as "Black King Boss"; the name is derived from 無頼 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 fits with his background). The Buraiking Boss then built a robot army against mankind. The robots mutinied ''en masse'' when they logically 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. Friender can transform itself into a tank or a jet aircraft and actively helps Casshern fight the robot army. Casshern has great strength and agility, but he is not armed, except for a pair of strange pistols, which are used more like rockets than weapons. While the robots are huge and robust machines, almost all of them have an antenna on top of their heads; ripping it off usually causes them to explode, so they are relatively vulnerable. Casshern can usually destroy the robots with his bare hands, dispatching a great number in any given battle.
However, 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 started out as being totally harmless, until her father built an electromagnetic pistol, which was easily capable of destroying the robots.
Characters
;
:
:The protagonist of the series, Casshern is an android—the union of Tetsuya Azumas 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.
;
:
: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.
;
:
:Tetsuya's mother, who had been captured by the Android Army and had her data transferred into the body of , 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.
;
:
:The genius scientist who invented androids in hopes of helping mankind, and ironically became the architect of mankind's doom.
;
:
:Originally Tetsuya's pet dog, , his data was used to revive him as Friender after he was killed. In order to support Casshern, he 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.
;
:
:The main 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.
;
:
:A muscular high-ranking member of the Android Army.
;
:
:A lanky high-ranking member of the Android Army.
;
:
:A short high-ranking member of the Android Army.
Episodes
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Title romanization
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English-dubbed Japanese animation.
History Founding
Founded in Los Angeles, California, in late 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first No ...
was the first to adapt the character's name in the
OVA remake series for the American market, providing the title, "Casshan." Japan most commonly uses "Casshern" as the romanization and is thus used in the official romanized title of the
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
and the American release of
Casshern Sins
is a reboot of the 1973 anime series ''Casshan'', produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse, it aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The series made its English broadcast premiere on Funimation Channel in December 2010. A ...
although, the name Casshan is still used for marketing. Both the Japanese and English versions of the official Tatsunoko website use Casshan for the romanized title of the original 1973 series. Advertising for Tatsunoko's
Infini-T Force
is a Japanese 3DCG anime series featuring a crossover between characters from ''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'', ''Casshan'', ''Hurricane Polymar'' and '' Tekkaman: The Space Knight'', all series produced by Tatsunoko Production in the 1970s. ...
contains the Casshan name in several instances. Italian versions of the series romanize the name as "Kyashan," resembling the literal pronunciation of the Japanese title.
Legacy
In ''
Vanquish'', developed by
PlatinumGames
PlatinumGames Inc. is a Japanese video game developer that was founded in October 2007 as result of a merger between two companies, Seeds Inc. and Odd Inc. Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kamiya founded Seeds Inc. after the closure of ...
, 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 a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. Starting his career at Capcom in 1990, he has worked on many of the company's most successful games. He directed the first installment of the ''Resident Evil'' series in 1996 and the f ...
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
is a beat 'em up video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan and North America in 2006, and in 2007 for PAL territories. It was re-released for the PlayStation 3 as a List of PlayS ...
''. 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.
Raiden from ''
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' is also dressed like Casshern.
See also
* ''
Robot Hunter Casshern'' – A four-episode
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
produced in 1993, released in English as ''Casshan: Robot Hunter''.
* ''
Casshern
''Casshan'', also known in Japan as , is an anime series created by Tatsunoko Productions founder Tatsuo Yoshida in 1973.
The ''Casshern'' franchise also includes a 1993 original video animation titled '' Casshan: Robot Hunter'', and a 2004 ...
'' – A 2004 live-action
tokusatsu
is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
.
* ''
Casshern Sins
is a reboot of the 1973 anime series ''Casshan'', produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse, it aired from October 2008 to March 2009. The series made its English broadcast premiere on Funimation Channel in December 2010. A ...
'' – A 2008 anime series and franchise
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
.
* ''
Infini-T Force
is a Japanese 3DCG anime series featuring a crossover between characters from ''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'', ''Casshan'', ''Hurricane Polymar'' and '' Tekkaman: The Space Knight'', all series produced by Tatsunoko Production in the 1970s. ...
'' – A 2017 crossover anime series
References
External links
* (TV series)
* (Live-action movie)
* (TV series)
* (Live-action movie)
{{Tatsunoko Production
1973 anime television series debuts
Japanese adult animated superhero television series
Fictional cyborgs
Fuji TV original programming
Sentai Filmworks
Shunsuke Kikuchi
Post-apocalyptic anime and manga
Tatsunoko Production
Superheroes in anime and manga
Post-apocalyptic animated television series