In this review of Casshan Volume 1 from Nakama Press, the anime hero awakens to find no memory of what has happened to him.
Casshan Volume 1
Writer: Mario B. Long
Art and Cover: Kusanagi
Page Count: 200 pages
Release Date: 9/15/2026
This review contains spoilers
I first became aware of Casshan while reading Kodachi’s and Ejiri’s Infini-T Force (also at Nakama Press). However, if you’re familiar with the classic anime, you know the history of the cybernetic hero. Casshan Volume 1, however, is more than a trip down memory lane for those familiar with the earlier stories that appeared after the anime’s 1973 debut. Casshan Volume 1 is a gritty, grounded reboot that drops readers headfirst into a wasteland. of a world destroyed by war. Written by manga and creator Mario B. Long with art by Kusanagi, this new manga takes the beloved 70s character and places him into a dark, emotionally charged survival story.
Casshan Volume 1 takes place on a deeply scarred world where civilization has effectively cannibalized itself after a Great War as it is called. Much of the narrative centers on Rust Town, a bleak, “brown-collar” settlement where desperate people shovel dirt in hopes of unearthing lithium and cobalt. The metals were highly valuable before the war, back when robot manufacturing was booming. Now, with a global ban on building new machines, the town’s economy is running on fumes.
The stakes are raised when military-grade rogue robots kidnap two local girls, Nona and Lolo, dragging them into an abandoned underground mine. The local humans, fueled by generational hatred, are ready to blow the whole mine to pieces with C4 and nitroglycerin, even if it means burying the kids along with the machines. The volume also weaves in fascinating world-building regarding the “Moon Men”—a group of privileged astronauts and scientists who escaped the planet’s ruin by living on an orbiting space station, only visiting Earth to recruit women.
One of the most striking aspects of Casshan Volume 1 that caught my attention is how different Casshan sounds compared to his other appearances. Fans who watched the Infini-T Force anime or read its manga adaptation, as I did, might remember a Casshan who acted as the cheerful mood-maker of his superhero team. In that crossover, he actively pushed for unity and friendship because he harbored a deep-seated fear of being alone.
In Casshan Volume 1 however, that optimism is entirely gone. An old man named Aeilo finds Casshan powered down and covered in cobwebs in a deserted barn, exactly where he stumbled upon him fifty years ago. Casshan is a literal blank slate. He remembers nothing about what led him to that barn.
His memory files are corrupted. Instead of masking his pain with a smile, his internal monologue is cold, detached, and highly analytical. While traversing an underground aquifer, his internal voice notes that he can calculate the water’s exact temperature and molecular makeup, but he cannot actually feel it. Yet, paradoxically, he is haunted by fragmented, unquantifiable feelings of loneliness, pain, and regret. This creates a fascinating internal conflict where he questions if his emotions are genuine or just complex data points simulating a soul.
I cannot get through this review of Casshan Volume 1 without praising Kusanagi’s artwork. The illustrations perfectly balance Casshan’s quiet dread with explosive, violent action. Despite his conscious desire for peace, Casshan’s body operates on a terrifying, autonomous killer instinct. In the blink of an eye, his internal processor reads a guard robot’s structural weak points that allows him to dismantle heavily armed machines in total darkness.
There is also a brilliant mechanical twist to Casshan’s biology: his power levels drain incredibly fast during combat, but the unique mantle on his helmet allows him to recharge using direct solar power. This becomes a massive, suspenseful hurdle when he is forced to descend into the pitch-black depths of the Rust Town Mine.
What truly elevates Casshan Volume 1 is how it handles the futility of war. While the humans above ground are busy rigging explosives to destroy their mechanical enemies, a much larger conspiracy is brewing below, as we’re introduced to Doctor Adam, who is quietly working on a new verssion of Neoroiders, just like Casshan. The back and forth leads to a full circle ending in which Casshan finds himself once again without power.
By placing an amnesiac hero squarely between a vengeful human populace and a seemingly desperate artificial race, Casshan Volume 1 delivers a gripping, morally gray narrative, with a cliffhanger ending that leaves you yearning for the next volume. It’s a fantastic start to the series, blending heavy philosophical questions regarding artificial sentience with top-tier sci-fi action.
