Casshan: Robot Hunter

Casshan: Robot Hunter, known in Japan as Robot Hunter Casshern (ロボット・ハンター・キャシャーン) or simply Casshern (キャシャーン), is an original video animation (OVA) series that was directed by Hiroyuki Fukushima, produced and animated by Tatsunoko Production and Artmic. 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.

Premise
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. Casshan's father is the scientist who engineered the race of super androids now threatening to destroy all of mankind. On a crusade to save humankind and clear his father's name, Casshan sacrifices his own humanity in order to attain the powers he needs. Haunted by the memories of his murdered mother and forced to deal with a super robot that has absorbed the consciousness of his father, Casshan must put aside his own emotions and fight to preserve the survival of the human race.

Release
Casshan: Robot Hunter was originally released as a four-volume OVA 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.

Japanese Cast

 * Takeshi Kusao as Tetsuya Azuma / Casshan
 * Yumi Touma as Luna Kozuki
 * Hirohiko Kakegawa as Admiral Montgomery Dr. Lester
 * Ikuya Sawaki as Narrator
 * Issei Futamata as Akbone
 * Isshin Chiba as Operator
 * Junichi Sugawara as Barashin
 * Juurouta Kosugi as Commander Tork
 * Keaton Yamada as Dr. Kotaro Azuma
 * Kenichi Ogata as Elder Asari
 * Kenji Utsumi as Buraiking Boss (Black King Boss in the dub)
 * Masaki Aizawa as Information Robot
 * Nobuo Tobita as Nyman
 * Sanae Takagi as Midori Azuma
 * Toshiyuki Morikawa as Pilot
 * Wataru Takagi as Executive Officer
 * Yuri Amano as Sagria

English Cast

 * Alexandra Kenworthy as Narrator
 * Ardwight Chamberlain
 * Catherine Battistone as Neoroid Commander
 * Eddie Frierson
 * Edie Mirman as Luna Kozuki
 * Jeff Winkless as Black King / Android BK-1
 * Kerrigan Mahan
 * Kirk Thornton as unnamed prisoner who betrays Luna in the first episode.
 * Melanie MacQueen
 * Michael Forest as Adm. Rudolph
 * Michael McConnohie
 * Michael Reynolds
 * Michael Sorich
 * Richard Allen
 * Richard Cansino
 * Simon Prescott
 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Steve Bulen as Casshan / Tetsuya Azuma
 * Steve Kramer as Professor Hannibal

Reception
Helen McCarthy praised the work of top designer Yasuomi Umetsu and says that anime "holds your attention with interesting concept and designs".