Short Synopsis: Casshern is still alive but heavily damaged and Leda attempts to receive eternal beauty from Luna.
Episode Rating: 8/10 (Excellent)
Whoa… the voice actors were really having the time of their lives in this episode. Seriously, there was a lot of screaming and moaning in this episode, but those scenes hit me really hard. In any case, it seems that my worries in the previous episode were just completely out of place: although I would love to run into a series some day in which the main protagonist dies before the final episode of the series, Casshern indeed still needs to do some things in this series. The huge beating up he received in the previous episode was meant for his character-development: he’s no longer a senseless killer, and also for some reason, his body’s regenerative abilities have declined a lot, although they’re still there.
And I’m really glad to see how Leda and Dio turned out. I remember noting about eight episodes ago how the two of them were my least favourite characters of this series, but now that they too have received their development, they too have really become part of the amazing cast of this series. This episode really was about the two of them, and worked really well. As Casshern demonstrated: Luna’s blood isn’t perfect. It’s not like you drink it and become immortal with the push of a button. In this episode, Leda only drinks a bit of her blood, though that doesn’t turn out to be enough for 100% regenerative abilities. Remember how Casshern needed to impale her chest in order to drink enough blood and the past two episodes showed that that still wasn’t enough to be purely immortal. I also think that the “immortal”-part of Casshern was just a rumour: Luna’s blood regenerates, but it doesn’t toy with life.
And it also turns out that not every robot is able to take the huge amounts of blood from Luna either. This episode shows that Leda just couldn’t take even a fraction of the blood that Casshern must have drunk from Luna. She doesn’t look dead, but that does explain why Casshern lost his memory: he too received the repercussions of drinking too much of her blood. It’s a bit hard to imagine how this would chain-react into the ruins, though. And I also think that Luna never gave her blood to Dune because he probably already had drunk too much of it, and giving him even more would only ruin him. Luna indeed isn’t a villain, but just someone who is incredibly tormented by her own powers.
But what does that mean for all of the robots who have been saved by Luna before? Did they simply drink a little bit of her blood, that would allow them to heal their wounds, but didn’t do much else? In that case, then it must mean that the robots who were hurting themselves like crazy were just ecstatic: they were too happy that their wounds recovered that they didn’t notice that new ones popped up.
Unfortunately, it really does turn out that this show has only 24 episodes, that means two episodes left. I’m really curious to see whether this series can pull off a great finale. It really has the potential for that, but series as Ghost Hound have shown that lots of build-up doesn’t necessarily mean a perfectly planned ending. At the very least, I want to see a satisfying explanation of where the ruin came from, and why it appeared when Casshern killed Luna. That coloured rock has probably something to do with it. Speaking of which, where the heck has Ouji hidden it?
I have a theory on the ruin if you’re willing to listen. I believe that the ruin occured because the robots had just been alive for too long. The story has established that luna is the only TRUE immortal, despite robots, pre-casshern, supposidly being able to live forever by just changing parts. This part changing eventually just became unaffective after over-use, like building up a resistence to a drug. And in response they started praying to ‘The Sun’ to cure them. So I just think the ruin is like mankind going sterile in “Children of Men”, there’s no REAL reason behind it, just a sort of act of God if you will to get rid of something that’s run its course while they desperately try to defy nature
My theory was the ruin was there the whole time happening and I thought that maybe they simply forgot about it as an effect of receiving Luna’s blood. While those that didn’t receive it just died off naturally. But this is just pure speculation until the last 2 episodes bother explaining it, I do hope they at least tackle the major questions for the remaining episodes 🙁
Back then, before Casshern killed Luna, robots were able to live indefinitely by replacing worn out or damaged parts, right? So why did they need Luna’s healing?
From what I understand, Luna gave some sort of sanctuary to humans who were hunted down by the robots, who have taken over. Then, some robots started gathering under Luna’s protection as well. And that’s when Braiking Boss ordered Luna’s assassination. Casshern successfully accomplished the feat, then the Ruin started.
Not all robots were under Luna’s care. I think it’s sound assumption that only those who were with her, were the ones that received her healing. Obviously, Braiking Boss and his minions weren’t a part of those. Otherwise, he would have killed Luna himself, or at least, witnessed her death.
If Luna hadn’t died, he and many other robots would have lived indefinitely without the need for her blood or healing. But she died, and something was lost when she did. That something seems to be some kind of a universal, life energy source… for robots. And the loss of it resulted in the widespread deterioration that everyone just started referring to as “the Ruin”.
Wow… robot vampirism… drinking of blood… REALLY weird… but great stuff for this series.
I’ll comment again after I’ve watched a sub.
Finally watched it and all I can say is I can’t wait for the next episode, though I do have my anxieties about the obvious fact that not all questions will be answered but still… In any case looks like Leda may have gotten a regeneration almost close to Casshern’s, seeing as she’s begun overdosing in blood and seems to be exhibiting the same symptoms as Casshern based on the flash back albiet with the difference that hers is still far from perfect. My guess about Casshern’s diminishing immortality is that since it came from Luna’s blood I’m guessing the more he loses it the less effective it becomes, seeing as he’s been bleeding ever so much.
As for Dio, I really never thought of him as the villain and this episode just confirms it. But I did like how Dio finally put into words something about all the encounters of Casshern, which is that death is like the sea that pushes a boat forward to its navigation. Its only with a limited life span that I guess one can enjoy the joys of life, which is unlike the Greek gods or those healed by Luna in the town who just took every moment for granted and simply tried to waste their time. Really a shame that this is only 24 episodes, its kinda like Michiko and Hatchin you just don’t want it to end just yet moreso on this show as it would be nice if the mysteries were all solved.
Maybe an OVA is in order?
I’ve just seen the subbed, and it isn’t one of the best episodes in the series. The transition from the previous episode was bad, the animation quality and the writing were only a little above mediocre at best… There were some pretty good lines though.
Well, they did pass up on the death-and-resurrection thing; and Casshern ended up shackled instead of being nailed to a cross or something the like. It makes me wonder what were they really up to with all those “references to Jesus” in the past episodes.
Even when I was watching the raw, this episode made me feel like the series is going to be only up to a 24th episode. Then psgels confirmed it. Honestly, I don’t care how much longer this series is going to be so long as the ending wouldn’t turn out to be a big disappointment. Not that I’d really care if it does. I’m also expecting that a lot of things will be left unanswered. This series is simply sci-fi without much of the “sci”. But that’s ok. A “happy ending” for Casshern and Lyuze is all I want to see.
PS:
… maybe Lyuze will gain immortality, and will bear Casshern a child. Then, if the child is female and takes after the mom and has rose-colored hair; they’d probably name her “Nico”.
*prepares to duck hostile comments*
Agreed this episode was all about moaning and groaning. Leda is kind of disgusting now with the crazy narcissism and blood-sucking, but we do need a crazy character for the finale so she fits the bill just fine. We finally got our Casshern vs. Dio showdown, so hopefully the studio won’t screw it up.
Well, the opening skirmish was by far the worst fight scene I’ve seen in the entire series. But I’m expecting it will be more than made up for in the next episode. Crappy episodes like these tend to be followed by really good ones.
But I hope it doesn’t switch back to being crappy in the following episode ’cause that’s supposed to be the last one.
I’ve heard this around somewhere and I’m not sure whether its true or not, but Casshern Sins might be picked up for a second season. This makes sense as I just watchd ep 23, and it was totally anticlimatic in the fact that really nothing important happened. So let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we? I’m praying for a decent ending. The writers came all this way with amazing build up, char. depth, so they shouldn’t ruin it.