Line #1 Anime/NeoHumanCasshern


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/casshern_3.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Before ''Franchise/MegaMan'', there was... Neo-Human Casshern!]]
3
4	->''"Throwing his irreplacable life away, reborn in an immortal body, to strike and crush the devils of iron. If Casshern doesn't do it, who will?"''
5	-->-- '''OpeningNarration'''
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7	''Neo-Human Casshern'' (新造人間キャシャーン, ''Shinzou Ningen Casshern'') is an anime produced in 1973 by Creator/TatsunokoProduction.
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9	Dr. Kotaro Azuma was creating androids when his prototype, BK-1, went out of control, escaped, and created a robot army which he led to conquer the Earth. The doctor's son, Tetsuya, rebuilt himself as "Casshern", an incredibly strong and agile robot who devotes his new existence to hunting down and destroying the Andro Army of BK-1, now styling himself the "Braiking[[note]]based on a Japanese word meaning "rogue" or "brute"; frequently mistranslated as "Black King"[[/note]] Boss". Casshern was distinguished by not usually using weapons in his fights; he literally tore the Braiking Boss' MechaMooks apart with his bare hands. His companions are '''Friender''', a robotic dog able to transform itself into various vehicles, and '''Luna Kozuki''', a plucky young woman whose scientist father gave her an anti-robot pistol.
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11	''Casshern'' has been {{Retool}}ed several times since the original:
12	* 1993 had a 4-episode {{OVA}} rebooting the franchise simply titled ''Casshern''; Creator/StreamlinePictures released an English dub under the title ''Anime/CasshanRobotHunter'' as a CompilationMovie.
13	* In 2004, a LiveActionAdaptation titled ''Film/{{Casshern}}'' was released. This version has Casshern and Braiking Boss -- "Burai" here -- as {{Artificial Human}}s born from Dr. Azuma's research into [[AppliedPhlebotinum artificial stem cells]] to fight the disease caused by the aftermath of a fifty-year war between a {{Commie Nazi\|s}} Asian Empire and "Europa". It drew attention for the stylized visuals and impressive action scenes as soon as footage was released. The themes of the futility and dehumanization brought about by war added spice, but the DarkerAndEdgier tone, shameless use of DeusExMachina to move the plot, and [[GainaxEnding esoteric ending]] dimmed enthusiasm once the film was released.
14	* 2008 brought another reboot called ''Anime/CasshernSins''. This incarnation {{Retool}}s everything about the franchise except the BroadStrokes of the character designs and Braiking Boss conquering humanity, and then veers off to examine the nature of life, mortality, and redemption -- while providing the audience with beautifully animated robotic dismemberment in the process.
15	* In 2018, Casshern was one of several Tatsunoko heroes in the CrisisCrossover, ''Infini-T Force''.
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18	Casshern was also one of the characters to appear in the {{fighting game}} ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''.
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20	Along with ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'', the show will receive an american DVD release by Creator/SentaiFilmworks.
21	----
22	!!Tropes:
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24	* SeventiesHair: Tetsuya Azuma has long, thick hair and long sideburns under his helmet.
25	%% * ABoyAndHisX: Casshan and Friender. %% Add more context to describe their relationship and what effect it has on them. %%
26	* ActionGirl: Luna started out as being totally harmless, until her father built an electromagnetic pistol, which was easily capable of destroying the robots.
27	* AdjectiveNounFred
28	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Played straight with Braiking Boss and his troops as they are definitely cruel and evil. However Tetsuya tells everybody he meets that [[SubvertedTrope not all robots are bad]].
29	* AnimeThemeSong: "Tatakae! Casshan!"
30	* ArtificialHuman: Tetsuya Azuma alias Casshern is an android with a human consciousness, also known as a neoroider (lit. "artificial human"). Tetsuya turned himself into an android to hunt down and destroy the robots that have taken over the world.
31	* TheAtoner: Casshern when humans find that he is an android also and don't trust him. His only human friend is Luna.
32	* AttackItsWeakPoint: While the robots are huge and robust machines, almost all of them have an antenna on top of their heads; ripping it off usually causes them to explode, so they are relatively vulnerable.
33	** [[FridgeBrilliance Fridge brilliance]] comes into play when you consider that they're probably designed like this so a revolt doesn't escalate, the antenna is needed to receive signal from a central source that, if a revolt happens, can be turned off so that the revolters die immediately
34	* BareFistedMonk: Casshern can usually destroy the robots with his bare hands, dispatching a great number in any given battle. [[AllThereInTheManual Some sources]] claim that this is because he was a skilled athlete and fighter as a human, and that [[EmpoweredBadassNormal skill was enhanced when he became an android]].
35	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Casshern defeat the Breaking Boss, his parents as well the human race is safe and the robots are re-programmed to rebuild. But Testuya will not be human again; he will remain an android forever.]]
36	* BloodlessCarnage[=/=]GoryDiscretionShot: Many a human are killed in this series in some rather gruesome ways, but rarely will you ever see a drop of blood aside from a few dramatic instances. Sometimes the violence gets obscured if someone can't die onscreen without bloodshed.
37	* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Casshern suit has a unique "C" on his chest
38	* CanineCompanion: Casshern travels always with his dog partner Friender.
39	* ChildhoodFriends: Tetsuya and Luna.
40	* TheComputerIsYourFriend: Buraiking Boss was programmed to protect the Earth's ecosystem. Unfortunately, he determined the best way to do so was to enslave and/or eradicate humanity.
41	* DiesWideOpen: Surprisingly common for an early-70s anime series. If someone dies onscreen, their eyes will be open more often than not.
42	* DrillTank: Friender is able to transform into a tunneling tank with a big drill on the front.
43	* EnergyWeapon: Casshern's most powerful attack. He fires a concentrated yellow beam of solar energy which creates a powerful explosion upon contact.
44	* FilmingForEasyDub: The reason because Casshern's helmet cover the mouth.
45	* FullConversionCyborg: Casshern and Friender were an ordinary boy and dog before most of their bodies were replaced with robotics to fight the Neo-Sapiens
46	* GaiasVengeance: The Neo-Sapiens/Neoroids as androids are designed to protect Earth's environment, but [[AIIsACrapshoot inevitably decide that the best way to accomplish this is to]] KillAllHumans.
47	* GoneHorriblyWrong: Creating cyborgs who are superior in every way to normal humans? Bad idea.
48	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Luna.
49	* {{Hypocrite}}: Braiking Boss utterly despises humans and considers their very existence offensive. Despite this, whenever he's not engaged in tyranny or fighting Casshern, Braiking Boss spends most of his time trying to understand and ''act'' like a human. This includes sampling fancy food and fashion from different cultures, playing golf and throwing parties for his troops.
50	* JetPack: In the original, Casshern mostly used the twin pistols on his hips as one of these; other adaptations make them straighter examples of this trope.
51	* MeaningfulName:
52	** One story for the name "Casshern" describes it as deriving from "cache", as in a treasure which remains hidden for another day, meaning Tatsuya's humanity.
53	** Another says it derives from the Japanese onomatopoeia for glass breaking, meant to evoke something which has been lost and cannot be restored...like Tatsuya's humanity.
54	* MechaMooks: Braiking Boss's android army.
55	* MechaShow
56	* TheMole: Tetsuya's mother, who had been captured by the Android Army and had her data transferred into the body of Swanee, a swan-type robot pet kept by Buraiking Boss. She observes the actions of Buraiking Boss and appears before Casshern as a hologram to offer support to her son.
57	* NatureLovingRobot: Buraiking Boss was programmed to protect the Earth's ecosystem. Unfortunately he logically concluded that the good of the Earth's ecosystem required the enslavement and/or eradication of humanity, and built an army of [[MechaMooks Neo-Sapiens/Neoroids]] to do so.
58	* PersonOfMassDestruction: Casshern is capable of destroying countless enemies without breaking a sweat.
59	* PinkMeansFeminine: Luna always wears a pink dress with a really short skirt.
60	* ThePowerOfTheSun: Casshern's limited power supply can only be recharged this way.
61	* TheProfessor: Dr. Azuma.
62	* RobotDog: Friender is one of the best examples of the trope.
63	* RobotWar: The Buraiking Boss built a robot army against mankind. The robots mutinied en masse when they logically concluded that the good of the Earth's ecosystem required the destruction of the human race.
64	* SpiritualSuccessor/ SpiritualAdaptation : If you want to play a game about this anime, go no further than ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic''. You play as the robot son[[note]]Unlike Casshern, though. Mega Man, AKA: Rock, was a robot to begin with; he's really more like ''[[Anime/AstroBoy Tetsuwan Atom / Astro Boy]]'' than Casshern.[[/note]] of a scientist, who must fight against an evil doctor and his army of robots, with your robot dog (beginning with the third game), your sister and your (sometimes bad, sometimes good) prototype brother.
65	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Casshan or Casshern; Braiking Boss vs Black-King (Boss). (''Anime/CasshanRobotHunter'' takes these into the realm of the DubNameChange).
66	* TransformingMecha: Friender transforms into either a CoolPlane or a [[TankGoodness tank]].
67	* VirtualGhost: Tetsuya Azuma, aka Casshern.
68	* WeCanRebuildHim: Done to ''the dog,'' whose ensuing badassitude led Tetsuya to think doing the same to a human could be useful. Unlike most series like this, Tetsuya's upgrade was not an EmergencyTransformation, but quite a sacrifice - he chose to exchange his human body for a mechanical one because he saw it as the only way to fight back.
69	* YourSizeMayVary: Luna's magnetic gun varies its size between something like a semi-automatic rifle to a handgun able to fit inside a compartment in Casshern's calf.

Context Anime / NeoHumanCasshern