So I’ve been watching Casshern SINS. Supposedly it’s a remake of an earlier show, but somehow I doubt it was quite as violent as SINS is. It’s pretty impressive how cringe worthy the show is even without blood.

Oh, and there is blood later.

 The only other thing to say right off the bat is that it is pretty. And by pretty I mean, holy shit this is well drawn.

Really.

Really well drawn.

What? Oh. Sorry about that. Anyway, like I said before it’s supposed to be a remake of the first series, called simply Casshern, but it really feels more like a re-imagining. Aside from sharing a few of the same characters (who tend to fill different roles in SINS) this show takes place in a completely different world.

I want to know how a landscape ever gets this threatening. I would be too scared to ever take a step in this world.

Aside from being pretty though, I’m not entirely sure what this show has going for it. Minimal plot and dialogue can work, but it means the dialogue and plot you do have better be damn good. In SINS’ case, well…

Not exactly prize winning stuff here.

So the year is, well lets just say 20XX, and the world is dying. When Casshern committed his sin two things happened. The first was that he unleashed the Ruin on the world. This caused the previously immortal robots to suffer from a rust which has made mortality a very real thing.

If I were a robot, I’d probably be a little ticked off at Casshern.

The Ruin quickly rusts the bodies of robots, turning metal into little more than brittle clay in a matter of months. It also supposedly stops robots from making more robots, but the show hasn’t felt the need to explain that one yet. As for the second thing Casshern’s sin did. Well…

This is what the world used to look like. Feel free to compare with the above.

Casshern has reappeared after an unspecified amount of time, but he has lost all his memories. To top it off, some jerk has been spreading the rumor that if a robot were to consume Casshern, they would end the Ruin. Or be immune to the Ruin themselves. The rumor isn’t really all that clear. But, despite the questionable truth of the rumor, robots from far and wide are hunting Casshern.

Leading to situations like this. Frequently.

Meanwhile Casshern wanders the wastes, trying to remember committing his sin and tearing himself up on the inside for what everyone tells him he has done. Episodes can probably be summed up as: short fight, meet new people, brood, brood, brood, possibly talk with new people, fight, fight, talk and/or brood depending on how many of said new people are left alive, and then if you’ve been a really good kid maybe a small fight at the end.

This ish mah broodin’ fase.

And so goes the first five episodes or so. But suddenly, a plot happens. Episode six advances the story more than the first five episodes combined. There is so much background information pouring in that there is only enough time for one fight.

“Only one  fight? What is this nightmare world coming to?”

And then we go back to Casshern’s slice of life suffering. Yeah, episode seven does absolutely nothing to deal with the huge plot bomb dropped into the viewer’s lap last episode. And I could be alone in this, but I find that just a little infuriating.

tl;dr – Casshern SINS has 13-ish episodes out right now, with 26 total in it’s run. The art is amazing, the music isn’t horrible, and if you can shut off your brain while Casshern does a series of moon flips and rolls, this show will probably be pretty enjoyable for you. I haven’t formed a complete opinion of it yet myself, so I’ll continue watching at some point. Hopefully the art will continue to be spectacular and they’ll grow themselves a plot.