Those Who Return

"Even though there is life no one here is living it. Life is overflowing from you are mearly drinking their fill, but Dio and all the people I've met on my journey aren't like that...they're..they're more...they were blazing with fire...they were torches burning with life."

- Casshern

Those Who Return (還る者達, Kaeru mono tachi) is the twenty third episode of Casshern Sins. It originally aired on March 9th and the Funimation dubbed version on October 27th 2009.

Plot
The World has accepted the unnatural sun as their unholy saviour, and all who haven't have perished in more ways then one. All believe that eternal life is the key to the end of their suffering, all but Dio who only has one desire that living forever could never fufil, defeating Casshern. He is finnaly getting his wish, he battles Casshern who seeks for his own reason to fight. Dio's entire being is for violence, he has strived for the chance to defeat Casshern, but in that very moment Casshern is no different.



While desires are being fufilled on the battlefield, in the so called land of Salvation, hopes and dreams are crushed by eternal life. Leda's hopes of every being beautiful have been slaughtered by Luna's blessing, giving her a hideos appearance. Tossed out with the trash by Luna, Leda's only company is Ringo who may be the only one left who still believes in Leda's bueaty. This spark of hope leads Leda to return to her desires, to return to Luna. Hopes otherwise are fufilled as Dio's duel heats up, getting the better of Casshern Dio's feelings of completion reach their peak. Casshern cannot match Dio's desire, they have always been one in the same until Casshern became one step above that, but now everything has changed and Dio is truely the strongest.

Leda knows the reality of death, she knows that her desires can never be fufilled through eternal life and because of that The Sun is only willing to grant the once true salvation, death. Luna impales Leda to death feeling that death and decay are truely ugly in this world, even though Leda only wanted a new life. Death returns before the Sun can grant full death apon Leda but not before experiencing his one true defeat, at the hands of Dio. Before his death, Dio was able to live his life to its fullest, he was able to defeat Casshern so his fate was one that no longer mattered to him, and so the Ruin claimed it as it always does. Able to feel a great happiness in herself, Leda leaves knowing that her love was able to die peacefully so that she can now do the same.

Luna tries one final time to convince Casshern, that he can become the King of Luna's Legion and grant salvation apon the world, to finnaly atone for all the sins he's commited. Casshern refuses, believing that everyone who flocks to Luna is drinking from her overflowing life. Normally their would be nothing wrong with this, but Casshern knows the truth, all this time Casshern has met many robots and humans overflowing with a fire in their hearts, torches burning with true life. A life that burns out is one that is truely beautiful, something Casshern can never experience, because he cannot die, he can never truely live. He cannot find any meaning an all the violence in the world, he cannot find anything in himself or Luna either. The day that Casshern came to kill the sun, because he murdered Luna she was freed from Death and it was released througout the world and into Casshern. Though Luna is evil, he will not take her from the world, people still flock to her for hope and Casshern never wants to take life from anyone, ever again.

Quotes

 * "Every tourch must burn out" (Luna), "Yes..but thats what makes them beautiful" (Casshern)
 * "I don't want to take a life from anyone...ever again" - Casshern""

Credits

 * Written By:
 * Yasuko Kobayashi - Screenply
 * Shigeyasu Yamauchi - Storyboard
 * Directed By:
 * Nobukage Kimura - Episode Director
 * Terumi Nishii - Animation Director
 * Main Cast:
 * Eric Vale - Casshern
 * Trina Nishimura - Luna
 * Jerry Jewell - Dio
 * Shelley Calene-Black - Leda
 * Monica Rial - Ringo
 * Brina Palencia - Lyuze
 * Jerry Russell - Ohji
 * J Paul Stevens - Braiking Boss

Trivia
It is implied in this episode that Leda was Ringo's mother and that the procreation project for the cyborgs was actually successful.