Manga UK announce plans for Casshan

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
DVD Times have posted the DVD specifications and cover-art for Manga Ent. UK's forthcoming UK release of Casshan: Robot Hunter; a 4-episode anime OVA series that was inspired by the same 1973 TV series (<a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2174">Shinzo Ningen Casshan</a>) as the recent Japanese big-budget live-action movie.
 
The cover looks kinda cool. It's got that retro 70s vibe and is very distinctive.

I know the live action movie has taken a real critical panning in some parts, but I can't help admire it's slick visual aesthetic. It's a guilty pleasure movie, but hardly the mess some make it out to be.
 
I know the live action movie has taken a real critical panning in some parts, but I can't help admire it's slick visual aesthetic. It's a guilty pleasure movie, but hardly the mess some make it out to be.

Its definetly a love/hate movie, the main reason people hated it was because they thought it was going to be just an action filled sci-fi movie when what they got was a deep philosophical anti-war movie with a typically Japanese ending.
 
I'm in two minds about Casshern. I loved the design, but some of the story points were just too random for me to cope with. That castle in the mountains? Where did that come from? Why did they suddenly happen upon it? What was that whole ten-minute section actually about? While some of the scenes are good for dramatic effect, they seemed to have little to no bearing on the plot whatsoever; it's like it was being pulled out of the air just to fill in inconvenient gaps.

But I have only watched halfway through; I was also rather ill and tired when I tried sitting through it. I'm not that optimistic that an OVA will be a great deal more productive with fleshing out and explaining the story, but it'd be interesting to see. If a friend of mine buys it, I'll watch their copy. But I doubt I'll get it for myself.
 
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That castle in the mountains? Where did that come from? Why did they suddenly happen upon it? What was that whole ten-minute section actually about?

I think it was left over from the war between Eurasia etc[/spoiler]
 
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Casshern had great visuals (and i mean GREAT), although the way the story was told was pretty muddled. the overall idea is very interesting though so this might be entertaining in an old-school kind of way.

i'll have to give Casshern another viewing i suppose - it has some pretty big flaws but it's at least watcheable!
 
Casshern is one of my favourite films - Japanese or otherwise. I'll have to disagree with Ramen though when he says that it gets better after repeat viewings - I found the my first viewing much more entertaining and exhillirating than the ones that followed it.
 
Ushio said:
I heard rumours of there being a commentary by Jonathan Clements. Any word on this, or is this all in my crazy little head?
i'm pretty sure i read about him doing one. it's a bit too much to hope for in expecting production team interviews/press releases and the like after all these years i suppose.
 
Casshern was ok, the trailer made it look a whole lot better then it was. When ever the Japanese mix sci-fi with martial arts it always comes off looking like Power Rangers or Ultra Man during fight scenes (if you're into that) and I think it went on for a little bit longer then it should've.
 
UShio Wrote:
"I heard rumours of there being a commentary by Jonathan Clements. Any word on this, or is this all in my crazy little head?"

Those rumours are true. JC does provide a very entertaining and informative audio commentary on the region 2 Casshan: Robot Hunter DVD. The DVD also features both the US movie edit and the original Japanese miniseries edit (in 4 parts). :D
 
I'm quite looking forward to the Casshan OAV, I'm interested to see how this original incarantion compares to the recent feature film. The movie was something of a mixed bag - amazing visuals and action, but the storyline and characters left a lot to be desired. It's certainly worth a rent, especially for the more curious amongst us.
 
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