MovieChat Forums > Casshern (2004) Discussion > Just finished watching, hated it, then l...

Just finished watching, hated it, then loved it afterwards


So, if you came to IMDB, you probably wonder why the hell this is rated as 6.2 because you thought the movie sucked. I just finished the film and I would've agreed with you about 10 min ago. WTF is with all the randomness. Here are reasons you might be thinking it sucked:

1. How the hell does a lightning bolt appear out of no where and "fix" the Neo cell research?
2. How the hell does the main villain find a full on robot factory in the middle of nowhere?
3. How the hell did the mom survive for so long if she was due to die very soon. In fact, the father scientist even said he was out of time.
4. Why did the main villain hate humans so much when a human helped him?
5. Why did the main villain call Tetsuya his brother near the end of the movie?
6. WTF happened at the end? All these lights gathered at Tetsua and we see flash backs.

I had the same questions and therefore thought the movie sucked. However, the more I remember the movie, the more I appreciate this story and as I write this, I think the movie is EXTREMELY good.

My answers below are numbers corresponding to the question numbers above. I.E. Answer numbered 1 below addresses question 1 above, and etc.

1. The lightning bolt is the "X" factor in this movie. It is God. It is the one thing the audience is not suppose to understand how it works, but rather why it works. To understand this significance you have to recall that Casshern God statue in the very beginning. You'll notice he's holding a giant lighting bolt. It is something spiritually connecting souls. This is the likely the same Casshern God mentioned by the Euroasian Zone 7 doctor. More on this later.
(It's somewhat artistically connected to Frankenstein that was given life through lightning.)

2. This is the confusing part, but the MOST important. In fact, this is the longest part I have to explain and NONE of it is shown in the film. You have to understand the past of the main villain and 3 people that follow him. It is "barely" realized and I wished the movie clarified this more rather than leaving up to the audience at the end to figure out.

The main villain and the 3 other people that follow them are the people from Eurasian Zone 7. In the beginning of the film, the father said his research was working with Neo cells. However, at the end of the film, the general's son has a long speech revealing that this whole research is simply a lie. You see, they were never genetically engineering in the first place. This was the lie. They were labeling Zone 7 rebels because their genes are the most ancestral and therefore most compatible with every single person alive. So, they were killing Zone 7 people to harvest their body parts. This is why the blood pools were packed with body parts. That whole presentation at the beginning about using cells was a sham to calm the audience. They were simply cutting humans apart and claiming they were cell manufactured parts. This is why the father had a panic look when Luna's father approached the lab window. He actually didn't want anyone to see the pool or else catch a lie. This is also why at the end of the movie, people were being rounded up. Those who would resist, shoot and take their corpse back (as in the case of the main villain during the flash backs at the end of the movie, we saw him get shot). Those who don't have strength to resist (mostly women) are pulled and brought on board for transport to harvest later.

When the lightning bolt struck the blood pool, the pool manifested a healing property. Since it was full of Eurasian Zone 7 body parts, the people resurrected as their body parts healed back together. This is why order 206 was called to massacre them all because these were rebels. This is also where the movie did not explain itself, but we all realize is true, as these Eurasian Zone 7 people resurrected, they retained memory of the past too.

This is why after they resurrected they walked towards Zone 7's robot factory. How do I know this? Because the place where Tetsuya fought the sword guy is Zone 7 and that fight was close to the robot factory.

Now, the reason there is a factory is simply because Zone 7 had CLEAR military prowess. One that perhaps rivaled adjacent nations. If you listen to the Zone 7 doctor's speech, he said that his people were *extremely* prosperous, but suddenly they decided to attack people for the sake of safety. So, you can conclude that Zone 7 had the infrastructure to militarize. You can also conclude this is why the Zone 7 resurrected people headed there immediately after surviving their massacre to re-militarize for revenge.

Now, here is where the assumptions come, but they HAVE TO BE TRUE in order for the movie to be true too:

The main villain and his followers (with the exception of the dumb guy) are all knowledgeable scientists who worked at this factory.

a. This is why they knew the location.
b. This is why they knew how to turn it on
c. This is why they used a hibernation chamber for Tetsuya's mom.
d. This is also where they made the gigantic robot with an atomic bomb inside.

The only way all 4 of these are true is if all the villain and his followers were scientists too.

3. The main villain had a hibernation chamber at the factory. This extremely slowed the pulse and symptom. This is also why shortly after being awakened, the mom died after returning to normal pulse.

4. They remember everything from their past. They were killed by the Eastern Empire. The villain's speech about being massacred wasn't about the massacre at the blood pool. You realize later in the film it was about his people.

In fact, the SADDEST and deepest part of this hate is when the survivors were walking towards the factory. They had a baby with them. At one point the person holding the child hands the child off. It is very likely this is the main villain's wife and kid. However, blinded by his hate, he only wanted to return to the factory he worked at to get revenge. This is a re-occuring theme where each character were given a 2nd chance, but held unto a past hate and therefore ruined their future. More on this later.

5. This was just a political maneuvering. He was trying to convince Tetsuya they were all the same since they were born from the same pool. Obviously, he wanted Tetsuya's strength to join them. He even asked him in the film.

6. And here is where the whole film got better for me and where the 'magic' happens.

I'll get right to the point. All the characters from the blood pool has the potential to become Casshern. A God. However, they have to go through the right mindset to achieve this potential. The lightning bolt's initial symptom is physical healing, but it's full potential is total soul healing. Each character that was resurrected had a death experience that gave them a glimpse of peace, but it was not totally there. The key to unlocking the lightning bolt's full potential for soul healing was this: forgiveness. Read this whole paragraph 2-3 times because it's so important.

Unfortunately, the first 2 characters (girl and sword guy) only realized a glimpse of forgiveness because they weren't exactly forgiving as much as they powerless to hate near their death. This is why they only saw a glimpse of the peace.

The dumb character didn't have much film explanation. I can't say what's in his head.

The main villain didn't have ANY forgiveness to the very end. This is why at the end of the film, he saw absolutely nothing.

The main character Tetsuya heard everything his girlfriend Luna said and agreed. Under normal conditions, he could continue the fight against the Eastern Empire and help all of Zone 7 become a super power again. However, the cycle of hate needed to end. At that moment he unleashed the full potential of soul healing. That's why all the souls were drawn to him. He was going to use the full potential of the lightning bolt again. At the end of the film, you see the lightning flying across space and landing on Earth.

That right there is the message of the film. The most powerful part and you might miss it. WE are under the same process. We too have cycle of hate that need forgiveness.

If you don't agree, look at every character's pain because they didn't forgive:

1. Tetsuya - Lost Father due to unforgiveness from the beginning of the film. Lost Luna due to unforgiveness to the Father.

2. General's Son - He couldn't forgive inefficiency. He needed to kill people around him in order to fix it. In turn, it led his father to not forgive him either.

3. Main Villain - He couldn't forgive the Eastern Empire. He could've just lived a new life afterwards being resurrected. In fact, I highly speculate that the baby and the person holding him was his son and wife. He was blinded by hatred and went for revenge instead.

4. The Father - He couldn't forgive himself for being doctor and not healing his wife. He created a body harvesting operation in hopes of a cure. In turn, this led to the massacre of Zone 7 and the Neo Sapien war afterwards.

5. The Sword Villain - He couldn't forgive Eastern Empire either. In turn, he missed out being with his dad (the zone 7 doctor)

This is why at the end of the film, we see flashbacks of normal people living lives in our our World. They had re-incarnated in our lives today with forgiveness. And they are happy.

The power is suppose to be forgiveness. If you guys love this story, you should get to know Jesus' story too.



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Well it's nice that you managed to enjoy this film.

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