Casshern Sins 15: Crud, I Got His Name Wrong

Casshern and Lyuze meet the only man who survived the night Luna died.
EPISODE 15: Death God Dune
More Screencaps from Casshern Sins 15
Dune (I thought his name was Luo.... I'm so embarrassed -_-) is crawling on the ground, reaching for something, but he has forgotten what it is he is trying to grasp. Not far away from where he is, Casshern is again angsting about his life while Lyuze watches him with some interest. Then, Lyuze slips and nearly falls but Casshern snaps out of his pathos just in time to catch her. Lyuze apologizes to him, saying that he shouldn't be worrying himself about her since she is the one who decided to follow him.
A little while later, they see a black lump in the distance. The black lump turns out to be Dune although Lyuze does not recognize him right away. When they try to help him, all that Dune would say is that he must hold on to something. Lyuze then realizes that this robot wants to live despite the ruin taking almost his entire body, while Casshern wonders if having someone to protect makes one weak.

Meanwhile, Ringo -- who is now sporting a new helmet -- and Ohji find themselves in a grass field. As Ohji watches Ringo frolic, he thinks to himself that he wants to do everything in his power to grant her wish. Just then the wind blows and Ringo takes off her helmet to feel it against her bare head.
Back to the main characters, Lyuze finally recognizes Dune. She tells Casshern that Dune, nicknamed "Death God" was one of Luna's bodyguards along with her sister. When Casshern hears this, he is thrown into new depths by the realization that at least one person survived that night. Lyuze adds that Dune loved Luna the most. As she says this, a flashback reveals how Luna once handed him a blue flower and told him that he is not a death god. Then the scene cuts to Casshern's back, just after he killed Luna.
Lyuze and Casshern's conversation is interrupted by Friender noticing something. Just then, something flies towards them. Casshern quickly stands before Lyuze and slaps the object away before it can hit her. A band of berserk robots then appears and Lyuze and Casshern both get to work. Watching Casshern fight is Dune, who hears the berserk robots mentioning Casshern's name. This prompts another flashback in which Dune arrived at the castle just as Casshern finished Luna off. He and Casshern then fought but it was no match.
Back to the present, Lyuze turns away from Casshern's fight only to find that Dune has managed to revive himself. It takes her a second to realize that Dune has recognized Casshern. Her delay costs her as Dune literally blows her away when he lunges towards Casshern. What follows next is a beautifully executed fight scene that is better watched than blogged.
While Casshern and Dune fight, Lyuze stays in the sidelines, watching helplessly. She screams for them to stop to no avail. Then just as quickly as the battle begins, it ends and Casshern is left standing. Meanwhile, somewhere far away, the present day Luna contemplates her life. She says that all those who want to live must come to her, and all those who are heading towards ruin.
Casshern stands over the fallen Dune, his face an expression of remorse. Dune continues to crawl towards him, still filled with rage, until Lyuze finally tells him that there is no need for him to fight anymore because Luna is still alive. At this, Dune suddenly remembers Luna's last words to him: "Don't cry, Dune. I must live, for the sake of everyone who died." And then Dune mentally exposits (and I put this in quotes because I don't know what it means): "Luna-sama, what I tried to grasp that day was not you. What this hand sought was (cut to a scene of Luna's blue flower).... Luna-sama."

In the next scene, Ohji and Ringo walk hand in hand together as Ringo says that she wants to make Ohji's wish come true. Lyuze reminds Casshern of what he said earlier that when you have something to protect, you grow weaker. She corrects him and instead says that when you have something to protect you just become kinder.

COMMENTS:

Another heavy dialogue, which nevertheless was a lot less hard to follow than the previous ones. Apart from that last bit about Luo's true goal (who is the 'you' he's referring to? is it Casshern? or the dead Luna? what???), I think I grasped pretty much all of it. I especially like the interspersing of Ohji and Ringo's exchange with that of Casshern, Lyuze and Dune.

Basically: TRUE LOVE (and love is used in the general sense here) is reflected by showing that what each one wants is exactly what the other hopes for. Ohji wants to grant Ringo's wish while Ringo wants to make Ohji's wish come true.

All generic themes, really.... But there's nothing wrong with that, especially when everything is delivered with such a solid script.

On a different note, I'm beginning to think that Luna is just a McGuffin plot device.

NEXT UP: Dio and Leda once more.