Samurai Flamenco

[David75]

samuraiflamencokey0507.jpg

Male model Masayoshi Hazama decides to become a superhero, despite having no superpowers or the technology to create a high-powered suit. He becomes the hero, Samurai Flamenco and begins to fight crime in the name of justice. Police officer Hidenori Goto finds out about Samurai Flamenco and his real identity by a twist of fate, which leads to him getting involved into lots of trouble. Nonetheless, these two young men will come face to face with hardships of being crime-fighters while discovering what it truly means to be a hero of justice.

I was bored, decided to try that one with no hope of ever enjoying it... and I was utterly wrong.
Even if ep 1 and 2 did not hook me very strongly, they still managed to get me interrested. The intro to the OP really helped I guess.
Then Ep3 came, and I did too.

Honestly, I can't really tell why I like this show. Is it because it's for a more mature audience, with the same dream as the MC? Is it because it could totally happen in real life, because there's nothing magical, no supper powers involved, but only improbable yet possible settings?
I wonder if that show is in the feel good bracket, but so far I like it a lot and hope to like it till the end.

It's very different from Uchoten Kazoku I liked a lot too, but nobody watched, yet there's that same sense of having watched something nice at the end of each ep.

Have fun!

[Commie] Samurai Flamenco - 03 [BCB91CAC].mkv

[Commie] Samurai Flamenco - 02 [36297D49].mkv

[Commie] Samurai Flamenco - 01 [550974E7].mkv

[MFauli]

wow, first episode was really good. well, nothing too special, just interesting and fun enough. Though I don´t know if "walking around at night" is enough of a crime to work yourself up about so much.

[David75]

walking around drunk. In France it's also a minor crime.
Ep3 is a key ep already, from there you should know wether you like it or you drop it.

[MasterOfMoogles]

All I can think about while watching this is that it is "Kickass - the anime".

[David75]

All I can think about while watching this is that it is "Kickass - the anime".

I wanted to write about it, but I only watched the 'industrial micro-wave oven' scene and decided that movie wasn't for me. So I couldn't really make an educated comment linking both, eventhough I had the feeling it would be what you just wrote.

[MasterOfMoogles]

The basic premise of both is essentially the same. Someone wants to be a super hero so they go around effectively acting like an idiot and getting beat up and put on youtube.
Kickass ended up really being more about 2 other characters and how awesome they were, though.

I'm curious where this show is going to go. I'm guessing the idol girl who was watching TV and realized it wasn't Flamenco is going to play a bigger role coming up.
I like that Red Axe is actually training him to have some real skills.

[MFauli]

haha, it really is kickass - the anime. just watched ep 4.

i hate how hazama is going along with Mari´s over-the-top violence while reducing himself to a goofy sidekick. That´ll change, Im sure of, but it still kinda sucks for now. And: Hitting guys in the nuts is NOT fun :/

Though I loved how Hazama so casually blocked Gotou´s punch at the end. This will get fun, just you wait
Maybe the most promising new show of the season.

[MFauli]

well, gotta say ... i really hope flamenco girl is raped rather sooner than later. she´s totally overdoing it. kicking guys in the balls just isnt funny. either fight evil by being just, or stop calling youself a hero. right now, she´s just some psycho bitch on some personal revenge trip.

at least hazama seems to get back on track, though his "i have the ability to do so" at the end felt off. he doesnt. I hope he´ll get a real training arc that turns him into a super hero as much as that´s possible within the constraints of reality.

[shinta|hikari]

I think he does have the ability, just not the proper resolve. He has been training after all. The time when he was beaten and needed saving this episode was because the girl faked being a victim.

[MFauli]

i love this anime so much. the upgrade for flamenco was necessary and kinda believable. though hazama learned to use those weapons too quickly, i guess. and running around in town in this costume really would never let you escape from the crowd lol.

still, kicking guys in the nuts isnt funny at all.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 04, 05, 06

-----------------------














This show is hilarious. The trio's singing remind me a lot of the songs from penguindrum.

[David75]

I still like that show a lot, although I could do without those stupid girls.

[MFauli]

regarding the girls: I find it pretty damn irresponsible of the lead girl to bring in her band mates, who aren´t trained for fighting purposes (i assume?). She´s simply crying for attention, longing for more fun. Kinda waiting for bad things to happen.

[MFauli]

what the hell just happened at the end of this episode?!
I kept waiting for Hazama to wake up from some delusion/dream. But ... apparently that was all real?!

I ... kinda like crass turns like that, but it just came too quickly. One moment, we see Hazama being all sentimental about his dead parents, then the next moment an artificial gorilla-monster starts killing police officers. The hell! But awesome.

[David75]

There are 2 main crass turns, one of which is independant from the fact this might be a dream.
First one is graphic violence and blood. Maybe there was some blood before, but choping heads off people is crossing some boundaries even in a dream setting.
I wonder why now.

[MFauli]

Rewatched the ending and I still cannot decide whether its a dream or not. Obviously, the actual content points towards dream, but there´s two things against it:

1.) The blood you mentioned. It makes it all extremely realistic and the absolute opposite of a dream sequence.
2.) The reactions of ... everyone. They felt lacking. If such a fantasy-like monster appeared in front of me, immune to bullets, just killed one of my colleagues ... I´d be WAY more freaked out. Even if the faceless police officers were okay, Goto was too cool with it. And I´m not sure I can account Hazama´s relatively calm reaction to being an otaku.

Assuming it´s not a dream ... what a turn. I hope it is real, because that´s the kind of twist I want the most in stories. A 100% tonal shift. Just awesome.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 07

------------------------------











The singing trio created these monsters so they can continue to have fun playing hero.

[MFauli]

ok, this is super weird.

i like stories that introduce big changes, but ... it´s like we´re missing at least one full episode explaining it all. And most importantly, none of the characters react in a believable way. Hazama and Goto witnessed people getting killed right in front of them, and in gruesome ways, too.
Where´s the episode that shows Hazama being all scared, cowering in a corner of his room in fetal position? The episode about Goto quitting his police job, growing a beard, getting all messy and having depressed thoughts? You know, all the clichee stuff, clichee but APPROPRIATE!

I really don´t know how I should feel about this either being a very long dream sequence or it being a drastic change without proper introduction. Hm ...

[David75]

Decide wether you like crass turns or not. Because you seem to contradict yourself from last week.

I would also like to understand how you can move from petty crimes like littering to beheading 4 cops like there's no difference.

[shinta|hikari]

People do this all the time. If anything, the lack of drama makes this more realistic.