Casshan: Robot Hunter | |
ロボット・ハンター・キャシャーン / キャシャーン (Robot Hunter Casshern / Casshan) |
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Genre | Adventure, Science Fiction, Superhero |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Hiroyuki Fukushima Masashi Abe Takashi Watanabe |
Produced by | Hiroshi Kimura Hirotoshi Okura Takashi Yoshida |
Written by | Emu Arii Hideki Kakinuma Hiroyuki Fukushima Shō Aikawa |
Music by | Michiru Ōshima |
Studio |
Tatsunoko (production) Artmic (animation, epi. 1-3) Gainax (animation, epi. 4) |
Licensed by | |
Released | August 21, 1993 – February 21, 1994 |
Runtime | 30 minutes (each) |
Episodes | 4 |
Anime film | |
Casshan: Robot Hunter (American movie adaptation) |
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Directed by | Carl Macek |
Written by | Michelle Head |
Studio | Harmony Gold USA (adaptation) |
Released | 1995 |
Runtime | 100 minutes |
Casshan: Robot Hunter, known in Japan as Robot Hunter Casshern (ロボット・ハンター・キャシャーン Robotto Hantā Kyashān?) or simply Casshern (キャシャーン Kyashān?, romanized as Casshan in the official logo), is an OVA series that was directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima, produced by Tatsunoko Productions, and animated by Artmic and Gainax. The OVA was later adapted into an English language dubbed film that was directed by Carl Macek. This series is based on Tatsunoko Productions' 1973 anime series Neo-Human Casshern.
Enslaved by an army of rebellious super robots originally designed to help civilization avert a complete ecological cataclysm, mankind's only hope is Casshan, a legendary hero who wages a solitary war to defeat the NEOROIDS and restore the Earth to its rightful order. Ironically, Casshan's father is the same scientist who engineered the race of super androids now threatening to destroy all of mankind. On a crusade to clear the name of his father, Casshan must sacrifice his own humanity in order to attain the powers he needs to defeat mankind's powerful enemies. However, Casshan's power does not come without a price. Haunted by the memories of his murdered mother and forced to deal with a super robot that has absorbed and now manipulates the consciousness of his father, Casshan must put aside his own emotions and fight to preserve the survival of the human race.
Casshan: Robot Hunter was originally released as a four-volume series in Japan between August 21, 1993, and February 21, 1994. The American publisher Harmony Gold USA edited the four episodes into a single feature film for its English-language debut in 1995. In 2003, ADV Films re-released the four-episode series on DVD. The title sequence for the OVA translates the katakana "キャシャーン" as "Casshan". This was repeated in the American adaptation by Harmony Gold.