Short Synopsis: Lyuze finds a bit of time to reflect on herself.
Episode Rating: 8,5/10 (Awesome)
It’s episodes like this that really set Casshern Sins apart from all other anime out there. It just takes one single character, and easily manages to fill the 20 minutes of an episode with it while other series even have trouble to fill up five minutes. While CxL may have found this episode disappointing (which I don’t get, by the way; the entire episode was about Lyuze, what more could you want?!), I really loved this episode. This really is one of the reasons I originally fell in love with this series.
Throughout the episode, you really have trouble to figure out what’s real and what’s not. In fact, I even dare to assume that this entire episode simply happened within Lyuze’s head: otherwise we would have seen Ringo somewhere. The enemy robots, her crumbling sister who appeared over and over again, the strange guy who came from out of nowhere to hit on her, I think that all of them symbolized the doubts that are inside of her. We hardly saw anything of her personal troubles for the past few episodes, but I think that throughout the series, she more and more hid her own personal worries inside of her, instead of unleashing them on Casshern, like she did when she first met Casshern.
And I do have to say that Lyuze was nearly as cute as Ringo when she was young. In this episode, this younger version of her really helped her complete her character-development and accept Casshern, which has been built up for the past ten episodes or so. Before, she believed that she only lived for her revenge on Casshern (hey, the ruin was going to kill her anyway, so she might as well use her last life to take revenge), but she finally sees that the death of her sister did have one positive side-effect: it made her meet Casshern.
Now then, to relate this back to the previous episode: if it indeed is true that love is the recipe for immortality, then I think that Lyuze just attained it. It’s interesting how love in this series is some sort of contagious disease: Luna started it, then Casshen got “infected”, and now it’s his turn to introduce love to Lyuze.
It’s a testament to this show’s greatness that they can pull off this whole “love will save the world” angle without making it sound overly cheesy or clichéd.
That Lyuze was portrayed as a kid here makes me wonder about her nature. Robot, human or cyborg? But that sure is the good part here: it’s got a lot of mystery.
I guess the “getting picked up by, and sleeping with the ghetto guy scene” kinda threw me off.
Of course, I’m well aware of the possibility of that character as an anthropomorphic representation of an aspect of herself… or a level/part of her psyche.
I think the entire episode consisted of workings of Lyuze’s mind. Some of it though, may be memories in part. In particular, I thought that the scene with the ghetto dude represented something that she actually did in the past (or something she does in those episodes in which she simply isn’t around); if not a memory of the same.
I think it’s what they call “meeting one’s inner child” or something like that.
They should have played the chorus of the opening song then. In that part of the opening, the first image of Lyuze goes along with it. It’s as if she’s asking “why was she and Casshern born?”. “Why did they meet?”
I think the key idea behind the romantic aspect of Casshern and Lyuze’s relationship is “why did they meet each other?”. I don’t know if they chose Aoi Hana for that, or if they built around the song, but the end result makes for a unique background of a romantic story. It’s not an entirely a new idea, but I don’t see it used too often. Other anime couples have their relationship rooted in physical/sexual attraction, friendship, or a fated meeting. But I can’t recall even a single one in which the “why” is an issue. I guess, in Lyuze’s case, she can afford to ask because Casshern is that one man in the entire world that she couldn’t possibly love.
I have yet to see the subbed vid of this, maybe that will change my perception of this episode. Even if it doesn’t, the next one seems promising.
the music in this was amazing
Little Lyuze and Liza were cute. It’s nice that Lyuze finally admits that she loves Casshern, but did we really need to spend an entire episode on confirming the obvious?
I just saw the subbed episode, and after seeing it for the second time (and with the subs), it really isn’t half as bad as I first thought it was. In fact, if I’ll rave about it as I tend to do in the past, I’d say “it’s AWESOME”.
I guess, apart from the scene I mentioned before; this episode is somewhat disorienting (for lack of a better word) when I can’t understand much of what is being said, and I get inaccurate perceptions based on what few Japanese words (or part of the words) I do understand.
My favorite scene in this “Lyuze episode” is the part wherein “Casshern” pierces through her chest and she felt warmth – and she didn’t want to wake up (as opposed to an earlier dream). To me, that scene spoke more strongly than even when she realizes/admits-to-herself that she’s in-love with Casshern, which should have been the highlight for me as a CxL shipper.
@ TJ:
I think this episode is more about Lyuze finding closure and becoming more “integrated”… and while part of it is that she arrives at the conclusion that she’s in-love with Casshern, and makes the resolution that she will stay with him for as long as she can (because of a now different reason), it is of course isn’t all about that.
Touching Episode and its obvious from the preview of 19 that Lyuze confesses her feeling to Casshern. Cant wait for 19!!!!
This episode took me by surprise. The way Lyuze’s dilemma and her closure towards Casshern was just quite well done in a pretty surreal manner was just incredible. Bravo to this show really, I love how the show really does try to test boundaries I’ve yet to see any anime try to resolve inner conflict in such an impressive manner. The use of repetition was the most impressive for me, it really helped in fleshing that she did have second thoughts as she met and followed Casshern. Praise just seems superfluous to this episode but I couldn’t help it, I do hope the show somehow manages to top this.
love saves the world… damn hippies!
on another note: there were other robot “couples” in the series, so were they really just going through the motions, and never had love? Did the dog love? Did that fighting robot girl (from one of the earlier episodes), have love? (well perhaps love of fighting?).