Sometime ago, with all the catching up to do, I got lazy and decided to just enjoy the series and stop obliging myself to continue writing about it and CxL. I know that the way I went about this, starting to write late on in the series and all, was pretty dumb to begin with.

Casshern Sins is the last anime series I intend to watch. I know it isn’t exactly the best out there, but it has been just right for me, and I’m content about the whole thing; but more specifically how it ended. The same goes for "Casshern-x-Lyuze", which I’ve decided to be the last couple I ship about. The way things turned out for Casshern and Lyuze’s relationship didn’t meet my hopes and expectations, but in the end, it is clear that they had developed this genuine bond and affinity towards each other… and that is good enough for me. I have no regrets that I’ve ended my shipping with this couple.

Having said that, this post also marks the closing of this blog. I’ll just leave whatever I’ve put or written here as sort of a remembrance, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll see any updates beyond this post. With that, I thank everyone who has read my writings - especially those who didn’t trash me, my thoughts, and more importantly, the couple I was shipping about. Thank you.

PS: For what’s it worth; I would also like to thank the people behind the series, the people who have subbed the series, and the people who have posted the videos/links on various sites. I wouldn’t have known of this series, let alone enjoy it, if it weren’t for you people… thanks. As pathetic as it may sound, it has been one of the better things in my life.

I’ve decided to keep this site about "Casshern-x-Lyuze" - which I have more or less made the resolve to be my last shipping. Accordingly, the site name has just been changed from "A Shipper’s Blog" to "THE CASSHERN X LYUZE BLOG".

Originally, I intended to retrospect on some past shipping with at least a single article per couple. But since I’m not going to be doing that anymore, I’ll just list down those couples right here: Kazuki-x-Tokiko (Busou Renkin), Seto-x-Anzu (Yu-Gi-Oh), and Robin-x-Raven (Teen Titans). If you, the reader, would like to comment about any of these couples, feel free to do it here. "Pros" and raves about the last two couples are especially welcome.

This episode picks up right where the first left off. It starts with a dialogue between Lyuze and Casshern, which I’m not sure whether if it’s a direct continuation of the scene from the first episode; or another version of it, because some of Lyuze lines were repeated, and Casshern’s unspoken line ("…my enemies just call me ‘Casshern’") was ommited - although, there was still a shot of him in the same order of events (right after Lyuze says "The world is already dying.") - which suggests that it’s supposed to be the same events from the previous episode, but from a slightly different perspective I guess.

In any case, their dialogue continues with Lyuze suddenly becoming serious and just snapping at Casshern. But Casshern having no knowledge of what she’s blaming him for seemed to have pushed her to the brink of breaking into tears, and this scene basically proceeds by continuing to show the side of Lyuze that’s different from what we have seen in the previous episode, and ends with Lyuze resolving that Casshern should be first made to realize what he has done before he dies by her hands.

What’s interesting about this episode is that after we see a male and female robot who are "not getting along", prior to the title screen, right after, we see a male and female robot who are "more than getting along". I can’t help but think that this is some kind of foreshadowing as to what will eventually become of Casshern and Lyuze’s relationship. And if that isn’t enough to make a point; later on in the episode, Casshern recalls Lyuze’s words, and pretty much right after, he happens to get some schooling in "Robo Romance 101".

It seems that Friender belonged to this robot couple, Root and Wrench. Back then, I never really cared about it, but now, having seen up to Ep. 14, it would seem that after practically belonging to Casshern for the majority of the first half of the series, Friender again is going to belong to another robot couple…

This is where it all began. From the get-go, Lyuze is the only character featured along with Casshern in the love song-accompanied opening (apart from that generic robot which was apparently trashed by Casshern) - which pretty much says that these two are the main couple of the series.

Sure enough, Lyuze makes an appearance early on, indicating that she’s up there, second to Casshern in the significance ranking. I guess, I felt like mentioning this because among the viewer feedback that I’ve seen, it seemed to me that Lyuze has generally been either terribly ignored or considered as some kind of a mere annoyance. When in fact, she’s the "hero’s girl" of the show, and as can be seen in this episode, has been with him right from the start.

In this generally-considered "boring" first episode, Lyuze was the first person Casshern meets that seemed to know something about him. Like everyone else, she wants to kill him. But unlike most others, she has a reason that does not involve saving oneself from the Ruin. She obviously thought she could kill him, not showing the slightest intimidation even after seeing Casshern in action twice, and the episode ends with a kind of face-off between the two of them.

When I first watched this episode, Casshern-x-Lyuze wasn’t yet on my mind, so I’ll just proceed with some retrospective thoughts regarding their very first encounter.

The first time Casshern laid eyes on Lyuze, there was a look of surprise and fascination on his face. I don’t know if he also found her cute, but I’d like to think that there was attraction in there somewhere.

There’s a kind of childlike playfulness to the way Lyuze acted around Casshern. I don’t really know what’s up with that, but it’s cute. I could only guess she’s trying to sort of play mindgames with him while maybe sizing him up, I don’t know, but it’s what got me watching the next episodes.

I was glad that after she disappeared behind a cloud of dust during their first encounter, the people behind the show didn’t save her reappearance for another episode. Back then, it’s because she’s already become a welcome sight. And looking back at it now; it establishes her significance, not only to the series, but to the main character as well.

Well, it’s the first episode, and there’s an attractive female character that looks around the same age as the male main character, who plays an important role in it, and also appeared as the only other character in the opening. Why wouldn’t she be Casshern’s love interest in this new Casshern title?

First off, the episode starts with Lyuze apparently thinking about Casshern - which is one hell of a way to kick things off for a CxL shipper such as myself. I’ve anticipated this episode with the expectation that not only Lyuze is gonna be in it (therefore, interaction between her and the main character), but also, after two patience-trying "fillers", the main story would finally get rolling again; especially with the reappearance of Braiking Boss - to which I’m thankful, by the way, for clearing things up (in Lyuze’s presence) that the Ruin is actually his fault.

What’s interesting about this episode is that, while Lyuze continued to blame Casshern for the Ruin, and now also tried to discourage him from even attempting to find Luna (for no apparent reason), for a good part of the first half; come the latter, she finds out that it was Braiking Boss who gave the order to kill her (and why), and sees for herself how much control he still has over him.

The reason why she tried to discourage Casshern, I think, is because she’s somewhat concerned about him. To begin with, she was already thinking about him before he showed up. Then, she eventually asks him if he’s not afraid (to find out that she’s right). It seems that she’s afraid for him - worried that he might just end up disappointed…and hurt. I think that while Lyuze has always told Casshern (and herself) that everything is all his fault, deep inside, she’s really not so sure of that - which explains her affinity-of-sorts towards him, and their strange-in-its-own-right relationship.

Along the way, Casshern warns Lyuze of unstable ground which actually breaks off upon her step. What this tells me is that not only is he not predominantly harboring ill-feelings towards her, but that he cares about her as well. I also see the "unstable ground" and its collapse as symbollic of the conviction Lyuze has been holding on to, which was finally challenged later on in the episode.

The second half of the episode features a showcase of Lyuze’s "maternal instincts", which I think serves as a kind of segway to the talk about "robot reproduction". I don’t know if Casshern took notice, but I hope he did. If nothing else, it should have showed him another side of Lyuze that may be more in-tune with his lover-not-just-a-fighter side. But the main point of interest for CxL shippers in this part of the episode is the concerned manner by which Lyuze called out to Casshern when he started to recognize Braiking Boss and when he started having a headache. She is definitely someone who cares about him.

Apart from providing some insight as to how Casshern and Lyuze really feel towards each other, I guess the events in this episode also serves as a kind of turning point for their relationship. It would be interesting to see how they’ll get along now that Casshern’s, more or less, "in the clear" with regards to Luna’s death and the Ruin that it has caused.