Story: In an alternate course of history, the continent we now recognize as Asia has become the Greater Eastern Federation. Its government, totalitarian in nature, led its economy to blossom into an industrial powerhouse, only to be poisoned by its own ambition. The current population is on the brink of annihilation by means of its foreign enemies and industrial waste. With pollution and war claiming the lives of many, the future of Greater Eastern Federation looks bleak.

The solution to the worldly problems lay in the mind of Dr. Azuma. When his proposed neo-cell technology is turned down by the medical board, a businessman for the military quickly swoops in and offers the doctor a chance of a lifetime. With his facility operating a secret, Azuma’s dream of finally finding the cure for his ailing wife can be realized.

All seemed well until a freak accident rocked the laboratory. The scattered human body parts that were once deemed unusable, somehow found a way to merge together and bring life. With these unexpected bastard children of the experiment, the government is called in to kill these accidents. At the same time this chaos ensues, Azuma is informed that his headstrong song, Tetsuya, was killed in the war. To make matters worse, a select few of the bastard children manage to escape and at the same time, kidnap his wife.

With both his family members out of his reach, he is forced to take drastic measures. In the middle of all the madness, he takes the dead body of his son and submits him into the fluid in which the neo-cells reside. Back from the dead with a new physiological boost, Tetsuya takes on the form of Casshern to defend the GEF from the bastard children and their army of robots.

Review: I’m sure that 98% of you readers have seen the visually satiating trailer for CASSHERN. Do yourself a favor and forget it.

Visuals that I once thought could only exist plausibly in the world of animation were brought to life. CASSHERN had hypnotized me before the story was even introduced. First-time film director Kazuaki Kiriya has an undeniable gift for visuals. From the luscious green trees of the “forest” to the industrial wasteland, each backdrop is brought to life with elegance and beauty. Everything we see evokes a sense of nostalgia for a past that has never existed. Taking the influences of early sci-fi elements ranging from WAR OF THE WORLDS to METROPOLIS, CASSHERN crafts a familiar world in which we’ve taken the pleasure in escaping to for the better part of the 20th century.

The mixed cast of new-comers and veterans are convincing in their roles. I wouldn’t say this film’s forte is its cast, because really, they just get the job done. No one really goes for the extra mile. Everyone plays their sentimental card, emotionally unstable card, and restless serenity card at some point in the movie and that’s really the extent of the acting. They get the job done and that’s really all that matters. No one is exceedingly bad and no one is exceedingly great. As for the story itself, while a few scenes are confusing, it doesn’t retard the pace of the film. With a film that relies on evoking emotional responses from its characters, the actual emotional scale of this film doesn’t equal to the director’s ambition. The message is clear and we see the horrors of mankind, but not the extent where our hearts ache and we want to change everything around us. For the duration of the film, you feel their pain, but once it’s over, you move on.

Now for the one aspect of the film everyone wants to know about. Judging from the trailer, it would seem the film paired it’s visuals with exhilarating action sequences. The trailer would like you to believe once Casshern is born, he proceeds to go out and wipe out the antagonist and his army of robots like your typical superhero. Therein lies why you should forget you’ve ever seen the trailer. The LAST thing this film would be is an action film. The first true bout happens roughly 50 minutes into the movie and last barely for ten spectacular minutes. The film also has a sequence of Casshern fighting in District 7 and the government’s assault on the enemy’s base. The one beef I had with the one-on-one duels that Casshern had were how they were so different from the tone of the movie. With sweeping ballads resounded throughout the film, guitar wailing and techno accompanied these roughly edited duels. It’s almost like a tease that the director could have made CASSHERN into a 2 hour action flick with ease. While there are scenes that are glossed up with the “cool” factor, most of the scenes are gritty and real. They show war at its dirtiest. CASSHERN is essentially a 2-hour anti-war film, which is a damn shame because the world that Kiriya has created and the one sequence where Casshern teaches all the robots in the way of ass-kicking is magnificent. However, I guess it would have been pretty hypocritical if the director preached about the horrors of violence and war and then goes on to glorify the fights. We never enter action bliss, but we do get a taste of it, and that’s better than nothing.

The meat of the film is the preaching of the horrors of war. With a cue from the 1920’s film of Russia, the montage of war emits a heavy political agenda. Sometimes, these montages act as a distraction rather than achieving their intended effect. We know war is bad, but it’s not necessary to continuously show us images of war whenever there is a battle going on. Even when Casshern is rocking the robots, the director tosses in images of Tetsuya in the midst of war. If the effect had been more subtle, maybe it would’ve worked, but being continuously enforced upon the viewer, the convention loses its effect. That’s not to say ALL the themes were lost. In fact, everything else was almost tuned to perfection.

There is a wealth of content in CASSHERN. The whole Oedipal-complex is played heavily in the film. Tetsuya takes the role of Hamlet in loathing his father figure and taking opposition to everything he says. But unlike Hamlet, who takes a break from all the chaos, Tetsuya storms into chaos to escape. In the final scenes where Azuma, Tetsuya, and Midori (the doctor’s wife and Tetsuya’s mother), the effect is haunting. Another terrific statement lays in the truth behind the whole story. I won’t go into details since it acts as the first cog that sets the whole film in motion, but the Japanese and Chinese controversy of origins and World War II relations is well-played. Another factor that Kiriya has exposed is the clichéd “mankind’s only enemy is mankind himself.” With everyone dying at the mercy of their own people, Kiriya has added a personal touch to the ethnic-cleansing and governmental horrors. His statement of the atrocities of the Japanese military is subtle yet loud at the same time. From the slaughter of the innocent to the immoral experiments, Kiriya brings every controversy ever pitted against the Japanese during times of war and allocates them into story with much relevance.

Maybe I’m reading too far in-between the lines, but its impact and message are too strong to ignore. Some could say CASSHERN’s biggest flaw is the copious amount of content the director tried to inject into the film. Perhaps due to Kiriya’s ambitious vision, the film collapsed upon itself as being far too pretentious. But be honest, if this film had been an anime with the industry’s top talents working behind it, everyone would be raving about it. If there was only one true thing to hold against the film, it’s that it can sometimes be needlessly confusing. There will be more than one occasion where you will go “huh?” and then turn off your brain and just digest the visual feast. Then you just kind of wait until the confusing part blows over and then get back into the film. You really can’t blame the movie for having such “distracting” lush visuals though. With a 2-hour and 20 minute running time, it’s kind of hard to stay so engaged in the dialogue-driven narrative when there’s so much happening on the screen.

CASSHERN was at a disadvantage the moment anyone saw the trailer. Misleading practically everyone into thinking we it was a 2 hour ride of robotic mayhem was a cruel trick that many viewers may not get over. With such an incredible hype and massive expectations, CASSHERN can’t help but fall short for most people. At first viewing I was a little disappointed, but when I finally came to terms with what this film really was, I found myself more willing to accept it. Upon my 2nd viewing, I fell in love with the film’s mythology.

The most exciting aspect is this is only the first film from Kazuaki Kiriya. Hopefully Kiriya will learn from his flaws in CASSHERN and slowly perfect his craft in the years to come. CASSHERN is definitely worth a watch, but proceed with caution! If you can get over the disappointment that this is not an action film, then you will be treated to a truly amazing piece of cinema.
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