[Anime Classics]

Release Info

Released in 1993. Produced by ARTMIC, Tatsunoko Production, and Tokyo Kids. Animation by Anime World Osaka, Artland, Hadashi Pro, Mu Animation Studio, and Seoul Kids.

Plot Summary

In the near future, robot technology has advanced to the point of self-awareness. Under the leadership of the “Black King,” machines have decimated the human population and conquered the world. Those who survived the early holocaust have been enslaved for life. But throughout the hardships, a lone hero appears as the savior of mankind. He is Casshan - a fusion of man and machine driven to combat Black King and his forces to the end.

My Thoughts

This series has a good balance of cool fights and interesting character development. I'm a sucker for anime with a good soundtrack. There's this beautiful cello song that plays at all the dramatic moments. There's a really sweet love story between Casshan and the female main character. Casshan is torn with the conflict of finding his identity as a human or a robot. And just when you think this anime might be getting too sappy, the next scene has humans getting killed in the typical bloody anime style. I love it that the enemy robot army is consistent with its corporate branding, like Transformers with their Autobot and Decepticon icons. I loved this anime so much that, back in the day, I recorded it on VHS from the Sci-fi channel and re-watched it many times.

Side Notes

There's some confusion with how this was released. In Japan, it was released as a 4-episode OVA series. In the North America, it was compiled together and released as a movie. For the sake of patriotism, I sorted Cashan as a movie rather than a series. Also, the North American release translated this as “Casshan”. The correct translation is “Casshern”, so you might see other places on the Internet calling it that.

Buy From Amazon

You can buy this movie from Amazon. It goes for around $30-60 (US).

Download

Casshan: Robot Hunter can be watched or downloaded from Archive.org (Internet Archive), or downloaded via torrents from Nyaa. These sites are the best, safest, and most dependable resources to get anime for free.

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