Wes says:

Well, there are definite storyline similarities: Tetsuya’s father plays a role in the creation of a charismatic “villain” who acquires control of a robot army and launches an assault on humankind; Tetsuya dies and is resurrected in part as a result of a super suit that gives him enhanced physical abilities; taking the name Casshan/Casshern, the reborn Tetsuya roams the land with his girlfriend, Luna, using said abilities to chop robots in two and save humanity from being enslaved and/or annihilated. As noted, the depiction of Buraiking is very different and the neoroids have been replaced by advanced humans, but the other developments remain largely intact. The movie has a much different feel to it, though.

Wes says:

Actually, “Casshan” is even more complicated than that! Although the titular character opposes Buraiking Boss and his largely anti-human campaign, Casshan himself isn’t in the employ of the government — he’s a sort of rogue freedom fighter that stands as a symbol of hope for the independent pockets of human resistance. So you’ve got Buraiking, the government, the resistance, and Casshan in a 1-on-3 battle, with all of the groups acting for more or less independent reasons (though Casshan’s deeds do directly serve to aid the resistance, of which his girlfriend is a member). I like the show — and I hope that you’ll be interested enough to track it down and give it a look — but admittedly it’s difficult to discern a clear meaning from the proceedings.

And if you think that sounds confusing, you should see the live action movie.

Regarding the X-Men films, I’m not sure I agree with the assessment that Magneto’s not evil or simply wants mutantkind to be left alone. Whereas in the comics he attempted to establish havens for mutants on several occasions (notably Asteroid M at the onset of the X-Men title in the early 90s), almost all of his actions in the movies are decidedly antagonistic and downright vicious. Not that the “good” mutants or humanity (as represented by the government, anyway, since regular people play an astoundingly small role in those films) come across as being all that noble either — one of my biggest problems with the X-Men flicks is that nobody really comes off all that positively.

There are definite parallels between The Matrix and the “Casshan” media, though I suppose I, Robot is probably a more apt comparison.

Aaaand the sitch in Iraq is way more complicated than I’m up for discussing at length in these comments ;), but I don’t think it’s really all that simple. Do I think that Iraq was the equivalent of a harmonious, peaceful society that just wanted to be left alone? No. Do I think that Bush overstepped his boundaries and unnecessarily waged war on a country for decidedly opportunistic and just plain deceptive reasons? Oh, hell yes. And do I think it’s disgusting how people have demonized the resistance, labeling everyone who opposes the U.S. agenda as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers and gloat over the corpse of every Iraqi killed in the war? You betcha. I’ve got no respect for the man, but reading some of the comments in the blogosphere in the wake of al-Zarqawi’s death has been exceedingly depressing. Dead bodies do not signify progress.

Okay.

Funny how a cartoon can be so deep and meaningful.

Isn’t it? 🙂

Molly says:

Interesting stuff. Of course now you’ve got me thinking on Giles. Whatever happened to him? Wasn’t he supposed to get his own TV series in the UK, and that’s why he left Buffy? Did that ever happen? I should look him up.