sstroman - 2015-02-15 23:22:47

Wow. That's the first thing I have to say about this one. Honestly I stumbled upon SF home sick one day on Netflix. I fell in love instantly with the lovable Idealist and his stoic friend. Yeah I know this trope has been done to death, as has most of the devices in this anime have which is why I've docked a few points from the story and animation due to it relying on these tired troupes. However, Samurai Flamenco had a completely interesting way to execute these things in a way you'd never expect. You never knew where the story was going, and that in my opinion is good for something using "overused troupes". Usually this technique doesn't work with other styles of anime, but here it was actually quite a smart choice. For example,[SPOILER START] You'd expect a hero show to end with some kind of big battle defeating the monster and realizing the true power or what not, but the climax was a brew of pure emotion that showed how far our main characters had come on their own inner journey. [SPOILER END] The soundtrack was catchy and really fit the heroic nostalgic feel of the show. For the entirety of the series, every moment was packed with fun action or heart which is all you need to create a memorable anime. All the characters were unique to each other and introduced us to a different part of ourselves and our beliefs. Haven't we all felt like bringing peace to the world but had doubts about the nature of people? Or that our nicer friends make us look bad? The characters were able to be ridiculous and relateable at the same time and that's kind of what anime means to all of us. Not to mention they all combined to bring us messages about justice and humanity.I totally would recommend Samurai Flamenco to anybody wanting something familiar with a new twist that stays true to the intent of the original media.   

bmann - 2014-12-03 21:42:32

Well I'll have to admit that I really liked it, for like 6 episodes. After that it kept ramping up the crazy, and did no do it well. The show could very well have been 12 episodes long, if they just kept it grounded, but they just kept throwing in more extreme stuff out of the blue, stuff that really didn't feel like it belonged. I weep every time an anime falls apart halfway through because it just has to top itself with how extreme it can be, and here it didn't even take half the anime.
I was so bored during the later action scenes (basically all after episode 9) that I began skipping them, and I've never skipped scenes in an anime before.

It does have its good and touching moments, don't get me wrong, but they're always between the action. It's when the characters talk about what it means to be a hero, what you're willing to do to help others, or what it's like to love someone.

wdamore - 2014-06-02 12:34:28

"Hero will never give up, never hide, never be defeated, never accept evil."

As a child from the 90's. I grew up watching (despite its brutal 6:30am start time) the Power Rangers. The sense of overwhelming justice over evil and the non stop crazy action were some of the memorable moments from this show. I always overlooked the absurdity of the league of endless bad guys, the tights and the ridiculousness of some of the action scenes. Now these elements are fond memories to my heart, which have further developed with the help of recent superhero shows and movies, such as Batman.

Now enter Samurai Flamenco.

Samurai Flamenco follows a simple plot. The story follows Hazama Masayoshi, a model and aspiring superhero who has a strong sense of justice despite being a normal person with no advanced weaponry. However, Masayoshi starts to fight (petty) crime under the guise of Samurai Flamenco. His identity is revealed by Goto Hidenori, a local police officer with a lacking sense of justice, and is quickly dragged into the shenanigans of Samurai Flamenco. From here, Masayoshi's superhero team grows, and together they must fight the growing amount of enemies, whilst also discovering what it truly takes to be a hero of justice.

The story sets itself up for great development on the over arching theme of the show: justice and heroism. The story pulls parallels regarding heroism quite effectively from other works of the same superhero genre, notably the Super Sentai series and the Power Rangers. These recurring heroic themes immerse the viewer into the world of Samurai Flamenco and help establish and develop preconceived notions of heroism. With steady pacing at the beginning and end, the development of our characters in particular thrives with the growing scale of danger and adversity.

However, the story takes some wild turns, for better and for worse. There are plot turns and story developments that leave a vast amount of people going "Did they really just go there?" or "I don't know what the hell is happening, but I can't stop watching...". The sudden shifts in storytelling gives a feeling that the direction of the series was not entirely clear, jumping from Kick Ass to Power Rangers to The Dark Knight.

^Basically everyone's reaction to Samurai Flamenco.

Animated by Manglobe (previous works: Deadman Wonderland, Ergo Proxy, World God Only Knows), Samurai Flamenco implements a very slightly above average animation style reminiscent to the previous works of Manglobe. The amount of colors are lacking throughout, and there is nothing truly special that stands out compared to other works in the anime industry (*cough cough* Fate/Zero, Nagi no Asukara).

Then you come along the half way point.

Samurai Flamenco suffers from unstable animation quality, somewhat dipping and then reverting to usual status, dipping again and then regaining it's stride again. To the viewer, this may be a jarring experience which prevents world of Samurai Flamenco from being truly portrayed. It's almost as if the animation team were working on an actual roller coaster.

The soundtrack to Samurai Flamenco is composed by Kenji Tamai, who has little previous stand out works to mention. The soundtrack is not bad, but it is not particularly memorable. At the time, the music is just able to portray the sense of heroic justice whenever our protagonists stand up against the denizens of evil.

The OP's of Samurai Flamenco are perfect in psyching up the viewer for the incoming episode, with fast paced rocks and repetitive lyrics.

"AI AI AI AI"

The ED's are provided bu Mineral Miracle Muse, the fictional band within the world of Samurai Flamenco. These songs are in contrast more pop like, and gives us a taste of the other normal parts of the world of Samurai Flamenco.

The characters of Samurai Flamenco are somewhat of a hit or miss. On one hand you have likable characters who experience detailed and complex character development as the story progresses (such as Masayoshi and Maya). However, on the other hand, there are characters where their motivations are left unclear and are hard to properly explain without a Masters degree in psychology (Sawada, Hidenori).

The protagonists are portrayed as normal people, who have a burning sense of justice in their hearts (minus the motivation less Hidenori). The aspect helps make the characters more likable and somewhat relatable, as many people (in the past or even now) have fantasies of running around in tights, saving the day and fighting against the forces of evil.

^Best girl coming through.

Samurai Flamenco is no doubt a highly enjoyable series, which plays on the viewers nostalgia.

Think of Samurai Flamenco as a nice enjoyable ride on a Ferris wheel. The view is nice, it's enjoyable and you know that this is all you're going to get, but that's what you paid for. Suddenly the Ferris wheel transforms into a roller coaster that has not been regulated by the safety department for 4 years, where the seat belts are fraying and the tracks have chunks missing. You have no idea what is coming next, it's wild, but you find it strangely enjoyable.

The crazy action scenes, the league of endless bad guys, the tights and the overwhelming sense of justice hold true to this series, and will give nostalgia boners to people familiar with Power Rangers.

^Prepare yourself.

bechtelar.viva - 2014-05-01 04:05:27

At first you will think that is a Japanese adaptation of Kickass... well you are kinda right/wrong. Is a great representation of how a Zentai fan feels and the ideal of the Japanese Hero.

I love the fact that the character itself is not the strong powerful guy but rather someone wants to follow his own path and be true to himself. The thing is... is freaking full of plot twist :D! And i like the fact there are dark moments that really put every character to judge the core self and see what good/bad/ugly is inside of them.

If you already saw tons of anime many elements of it will be obvious to you... except for the last 6 episodes, that really go deep into what is good, being a hero and love.

+10000 for a serious lesbian scene, yaoi love propossal ( at the end and not very much develop but is something ) and for King Torture, he was a real Gentleman!

zhuel - 2014-04-24 23:33:10

You can either watch this Review as a Video on my Channel, or read it as text on this Blog! Which one you want to chose is up to you!

Once in a while, the Anime industry produces something so different or unique that it is bound to stand out from the masses of shows we get each season. Popular examples of that kind of show being Fooly Cooly, known for it's ridiculously fast paced storyline, or the unique direction style of Akiyuki Shinbo he uses in shows such as the Monogatari series or the currently airing Mekaku city Actors. Of course those kind of shows don't always go right and often enough backfire hard! The Anime that is today's topic is a prime example for exactly this kind of show and while it doesn't completely fail per say, the factor of it's weirdness certainly.plays a huge role in how many people do like it. Today's topic shall be the Super Sentai Tribute Samurai Flamenco!

Story:
The Story of Samurai Flamenco basically is an homage to every single Super Sentai or Superhero show that has ever aired! It follows Hazama Masayoshi, a rather normal but uprising model, that has an unusual obsession with Superheroes! He has basically watched any Superhero-show that seems to have existed and owns tons of figures. However, it does not end at him simply being a rather passionate fan, but he wants to be a superhero himself and because of that he often leaves his house at night dressed in a cosplay-like outfit, to help society to become a better üöace and help people in danger! Of course though, it is not as easy as that and he has a lot of problems in finding work as a superhero, so he mostly ends up getting angry over incredibly small crimes that have no meaning at all. The Anime shows his struggle as he tries to become more and more of a superhero and be accepted by society while at the same time keeping his identity hidden. A realistic interpretation of the Super Hero genre...sounds interesting doesn't it?
Due to the shows nature, I will not be able to keep the following part of this Review completely Spoilerfree! However I will try to be as vague as possible so even if you still plan to watch the show, you should be able to go on without skipping!

Samurai Flamenco's story is a weird one to say the least. It starts out pretty nicely, portraying a Superhero in a rather realistic setting and that is exactly the charm of it. The story is not too eventful at first and even though it does have some rather nice twists, it is this sense of realism and the well written characters that make it enjoyable! However SamFlam does something that noone would've ever expected it to...it completely solves every conflict that has ever been within this show and then proceeds to throw every single concept that had been going for it out of the window. The realism that had been the base of the show so far completely vanishes and the show quickly develops into a huge rollercoaster of Plot Twists.I usually would say that a show having a lot of plot twists is a good thing, but in the case Samflam, that just is not true! This show pulls it's Twists out of thin air and there is no way to say what exactly is going to happen next and in this case that is nothing in favor of it! The Plot Twists for the most part make absolutely no sense at all and even the explanation to everything that happened feels more like desperate try to finally get this show over with than an actual explanation that is supposed to be taken seriously. It gets more and more ridiculous every time to the point, where it even seems to escalate to Gurenn Lagann level and it happened several times while watching that I found myself questioning the minds of the writers of this show. In the end though, I also have to admit that the amount of ridiculous Plot Twists in this show ended up being it's biggest fun factor and while I was really irritated by a majority of them, the level of escalation that it has did make it fun after all. The show did go from it's realism being one of it's biggest charms to it's escalation being one of it's biggest charm. However this escalation factor wasn't always big enough to carry the show on it's own and only really is when it gets close to the end. It happens so, that the show falls flat on his face a lot and mostly after the biggest and most ridiculous Plottwists happen.
For a long time the show is not sure whether it wants to be taken seriously or as a mere joke. While some of the scenes and character interactions do seem very serious about the Superhero-theme, the fight scenes and monsters seem to have been written while the author was high. This leads to a rather large part of the show dragging on a lot and to it needing something else to carry it, good thing it has one more aspect it is good at!

Characters:
The character cast has exactly that kind of thing, that the story lacks for the most part! Realism...at least mostly! The characters for Samurai Flamenco do feel really inconsistent at a lot of points! While they are really well and realistically written for the most part, there are parts in the middle of the show where neither is really true!
Just as with the story, the characters start out as for this type of show unusually realistic and while some of the decisions taken by the main characters are questionable, the characters do get really well characterized and I did really enjoy basically every single one that was important! However just as the story, the characters do take the same turn and the character department developes into another part, where the show just doesn't know what to do! Especially Masayoshi keeps going from extremely realistic to incredibly irrational several times and that's mainly what I mean when I talk about the characters being inconsistent! The other characters however do often make up for that! While some of them feel a lot like Plot Devices and not all of them seem to be necessary, the majority of the characters are incredibly likeable and for a long time were the driving force of the Anime and the thing that kept it alive! Most notably Goto! Goto is Masayoshi's best friend and keeps helping him out, using his position as a police officer, even though he has a huge share of problems himself that get unraveled later on in the show! He is by far the most likeable character of the show and incredibly well written. Another noteworthy character is Mari. Mari is a rather popular Idol of the Idol Group MMM by day and a super hero trying to help Samurai Flamenco at night! She doesn't do it out of love for Masayoshi though, but rather because she is a pretty self centered person and basically is addicted to attention. While not necessarily likeable, Mari is an extremely well written character and when the show puts serious attention at her, it happens more than once, that SamFlam suddenly has one of it's most realistic points overall. She even is responsible for the darkest and one of my favorite episodes in the show. In total, SamFlam's characters, while being inconsistent at points, are by far the best part of the show and what saved the middle part of the show from being absolutely horrible!

Sound:The Soundtrack for Samurai Flamenco was composed by Kenji Tamai, who never really did anything besides this show and that certainly is recognisable! The OST doesn't stand out in any way and even though it fits the tone of the show, it really is nothing special! In contrast to the actual OST though, the Openings for SamFlam are amazing, as they fit the show perfectly and are really good at getting you hyped for what is to come in the episode, even though the episode itself might be rather boring to watch, which is the case for most episodes in the middle of the show! They are rather fastpaced rock songs and as such are a perfect fit for the show itself and sounds really good as well! The Animation for the Openings however is not always the best, even though the first Opening and the second version of the second Opening do look okay in style and direction, I'll have to talk about the first Version of Opening two! The Opening itself, seems like an extreme budget cut and has almost no new animation in it! Instead, they use already aired scenes from the previous episodes and throw in something that resembles a little bit of a slide show! Fortunately, they fix that a few episodes after it's first time coming up, but it's annoying, considering how the second Opening music wise is the better one! The endings of the show are the complete opposite of the Openings, as they are rather calming and usually serve as a nice outro to an episode that featured another extremely weird plot twist or some more incredibly ridiculous monsters. I wouldn't say they are on the same level as the Openings but still are rather good!

Animation:
The Animation for Samurai Flamenco was produced by Studio Manglobe, known for their works on Ergo Proxy, Deadman Wonderland and Watanabe's Samurai Champloo! While they do have some shows that are rather popular, SamFlam's Animation honestly is pretty hit or miss! Some episodes can be pretty well animated, while others seem to be complete crap! The shows animation is pretty inconsistent, but that never really actively bothered me! Of course, I am not an expert in the field of animation and I surely am not the best person to judge it, but the when the animation needed to be fluent it was fluent enough to show us something to enjoy and when it didn't necessarily need to, the show slowed it down! While in total the animation was not a lot better than average, it certainly did do it's job and was good enough to sustain the series!

In total, Samurai Flamenco is one of the most memorable Anime to come out within the last year and even though it certainly is not for everyone, it is enjoyable enough for me personally to recommend it! If nothing else, Samurai Flamenco is an experience that has to be experienced by every person on it's own, as there is nop objective way to say if one is going to like it or not! However, if you do enjoy Super Sentai or Superhero shows or Movies, I would definitely recommend to check this one out! And even if you don't, I still would definitely say it is worth giving a shot though, if nothing else at least to experience the sheer ridiculousness that is it's plot!

With that, I hope you enjoyed this Review of Samurai Flamenco and I do hope it helped you! As always, if you did enjoy, remember to subscribe to my Blog or follow me on Twitter, for further updates! Also check out my Youtube channel for more content, such as Spring Seasonal Previews and further uploads! Thank you for watching and until the next time!

pmueller - 2014-04-05 16:38:03

Good concept but bad execution.

People like to make excuses to why this anime is good but if your argument is that I have to turn off my brain to keep watching then there is something wrong with the show.

keira99 - 2014-03-29 03:56:17

What is Samurai Flamenco? That question is deeper than “what is life?” Sure anyone can say, “It’s an anime!” “It’s a medium!” “It’s shit!” but what truly is Samurai Flamenco?

Beware, this review contain heavy spoiler. For those of you who haven't watch it, skipped to the Enjoyment and overall section please.

Samurai Flamenco. The story is fucked up yo. The first 3 episodes was genuinely one of the best stuff that I’ve seen these past few years. Then for whatever reason they added fuck logic weapons and typical mainstream hero beats up bad thugs on the street style, which disappoint me a lot. I was expecting smart plots and unique from all other anime. Then episode 7 happened. Yes. A fucking Gorilla with guillotine in his stomach appeared out of nowhere and completely turned the “realistic” plot into a what the fuck am I watching this shit plot. Apparently, apparently, they can go even further. After that arc ended, fucking POWER RANGER HAPPENED! Yes, power ranger. With the Red, the Black, the Green, the Pink, the Blue and the giant robot with a giant dick happened. After power ranger, Samurai Flamenco became a tragic hero, wohoo. Then, then.. he fought the Prime Minister of Japan! Yes. Right after that battle, he fought ALIEN! Yes. Then he met “God” himself!” Yes. Apparently, apparently guys, the world he lives in is actually manifested from his desire to live as a hero. Then, since he chose to live a more “normal” life now, all that has happened before will be turned into entertainment for US! YES. So deep right? Finally that fucking ending is just downright amazing. I mean what’s deeper than a nude guy trying to protect a kid who’s trying going to be killed by Samurai Flamenco's best friend because the kid wanted it and the only, the only way to stop this best friend is through love. Yes.

In conclusion, the story is fucked up yo.

The story is so garbage as there are plot holes literally shoved into you face. The pacing is just.. no.. I don’t think the director know what pacing is. The logic in this show is just extreme. The first few episode Samurai Flamenco got hurt from a bunch of middle schooler kicking him. Then later on, a fucking dinosaur like monster lifts him up the sky and smashes him into a wall of rock and then he just stands up not giving a single fuck. This show tries to be deep. They tried it. Did they succeed? Fuck no. There’s not such thing as actual “Deep” in Samurai Flamenco. It’s just the story make it as it seems to be deep from the character’s point of view. GOOD CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EVIL! NEVER GIVE UP! LOVE WILL SAVE THE WORLD! EVERYBODY IS A HERO! These phrase sure seem pretty right? Well yeah they are pretty words and nice to hear but it’s not deep. Everyone can say it and leave no actual meaning behind it. Does Samurai Flamenco leaves meaning behind it? Yes in the first few episodes when it can actually be taken seriously. Also good luck trying to predict what’s gonna happen next. Cause it’s IMPOSSIBLE to predict this anime.

+ The positive:

1.Unique

2.Unpredictable

-/+ The neutral:

1.If you are able to accept it for what it is, you will have fun with it.

- The negative:

1.Fucked up

2.Messed up

3.Super logical

Is the animation good? Fuck no. It’s horrible, the angle is just messed up, the shadow engine just labelled “No shit given” and the amount of detail is just as detailed as Tom and Jerry. Though sometimes it does look good especially in the character’s facial expression but other than that, no. Fuck no. It’s inconsistent as hell. The animation value won’t ever stay the same for more than 3 episodes. It’s one of those times when you just question yourself “What the fuck are they doing behind the scene?” The animation is a bit below average but still watchable. The character’s movement is pretty good. The overall sharpness is acceptable and bearable.

I like how the animation went from this

To this

within 1 second.

Look at that absolutely beautiful shadow quality. Oh wait..

This scene is also totally legit guys.

+ The positive:

1. Bright and colourful

2. Smooth movement

3. Good facial expression

- The negative:

1. The pictures above are pretty self explanatory

2. Weird ass lazy monster design

The sound quality is above average at best. The first OP received a lot of love however I personally like the 2^nd OP more. Voice acting is flesh out and well done, especially by Samurai Flamenco. His voice is full of confidence and incredibly well done. The ED songs are really enjoyable for me as well. The OST is pretty average with a few noticeable soundtracks. However, HOWEVER! The have one of the most addicting OST in the history of OST. FLAMENGER! It’s shame that I couldn’t find it… you can listen to it in episode 14 minute 18.

Since Youtube is being an ass. I can only show you the ED. Which is awesome

+ The positive:

1. Passionate voice acting for Samurai Flamenco

2. Great OP

3. Great ED

4. Memorable OST

- The negative:

1. Normal voice acting for sub characters

The character… is the best thing about Samurai Flamenco. His ideals are completely childish to the core. People seem to think that just because his ideals are childish, unrealistic and stupid, it means he is a bad character. No. The best thing about Samurai Flamenco is that even though his ideals are completely stupid and people laughed at it, he sees it through. He never gives up! He follows his ideals till the very end no matter how ridiculous it is, he will never give up! He truly defines the phrase “never give up”. Samurai Flamenco sure is not the perfect guy but I love him because of his imperfection and his unbreakable will. Other characters such as Mari and Goto are valuable to the show. Meanwhile, shit like the Flamengers member, most of the villains and some sub character that I won’t ever bother to remember are completely there just for the sake to exist. Of course they do play a role, sometimes an important one but that still cannot deny their shallowness. 90% of the characters exist in this show is for the sole purpose of supporting Samurai Flamencbeing an ass. I can only show you the ED. Which is awesome

+ The positive:

1.Samurai Flamenco

2. Great development between characters

- The negative:

1. Most sub characters are bland, one-dimensional and are pretty much dead inside

2. Poorly written

But at the end of the day, did I enjoy it? Did I enjoy all these fucks? FUCK YES. I do not know why… why I love this show so damn much. The flaws are there but I just… can’t hate it… I love Samurai Flamenco because it really doesn’t care about its audience and tries to be something it wants to be. I accept and love Samurai Flamenco as a flawed piece of shit. No anime has made me more confused than Samurai Flamenco. This thing gave me one of the weirdest anime watching experience. I cried, I got a heart attack, I got chills and I got so mindfucked that I feel like as if my brain got gigadrilled by Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. After this show ended, I watched the first episode again and let me tell you. I’m suffering a really big void right now… Samurai Flamenco really mean a lot to me.

Whether Samurai Flamenco is shit or not, there’s no denying that it truly is something special. It’s something special for me. This piece of shit is so shit yet so good and I love it. This is the most fuck logic show I've ever seen. Stuff like FLCL and TTGL are just over the top but this thing just anal rapes logic in the ass. Apparently people said that Anno, the creator of Evangelion don’t give a fuck about the audience, well the creator of Samurai Flamenco don’t even know what fuck is. I do not know how to rate this thing.. I mean from reading this review you can already see I’ll give it a shit score, but really since this is a 100% Flamenco review, I really don’t give a fuck about what you think.

I’m giving it a

What is Samurai Flamenco? Samurai Flamenco is Samurai Flamenco! The anime I love!

Sooo.. should you watch Samurai Flamenco?

I'm not waiting for him to wake up anymore. He actually woke me up!

"The stars shining in the sky pale as compared to the light that shines in the heart! I am the starlight that chases away evil's darkness... they call me, Samurai Flamenco!"

- Samurai Flamenco

huel.lucius - 2014-02-28 01:01:00

If M. Night Shyamalan created an anime, it would be called Samurai Flamenco.

To start off, we are introduced to Hazama Masayoshi, an up-and-coming model with a sense of justice so extreme that he actually becomes a super hero in a modern day Japan. The series basically starts off with Masayoshi struggling to spread justice and getting people to re-conform to laws because it is the "right thing to do" (he's a hero afterall). As the series goes on, he becomes more recognized in the eyes of the people for upholding laws and justice and becoming an all around role model for the people of Japan. It's a lot like Kick Ass, if you're into 3DPD.

Anyways, it comes to the point where Masayoshi has been accepted by the police force as an honorary Vigilante Cop and things are going great. He even gets invited to assist in a drug bust on some kind of strange lab. While apprehending the people inside with Masayoshi's help, one of the scientists quickly injects himself with some kind of mystery liquid. The cops bust in and try to restrain said scientist and then the most unbelievable fucking thing in the entire world happens. And I mean this quite literally, when I saw this I had no god damn idea what to think AT ALL. It was literally the farthest thing I could have ever expected on a show like this.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the scientist, mother fucking Guillotine Gorilla:

Oh yes, I said that right. His name is Guillotine Gorilla, and no, you're not imagining things. You are in fact looking at an armored gorilla with Frankenstein-like bolts protruding from his head. This is also the first scene of the show with actual gore which was also completely unexpected mostly due to the fact that no one had really died previous to this point. So anyways, some shit happens, one of the officers gets his head cut off, Masayoshi defeats Guillotine Gorilla and then we are introduced to the End Boss, the creator of Guillotine Gorilla and his counterparts.

The show then becomes linearly progressive where Masayoshi faces off against King Torture's evil creations and then finally gets to King Torture himself. Their battle is a little drawn out and explains some key elements as to why King Torture does what he does. Long Story short, King Torture is defeated and Masayoshi becomes the hero he always wanted to be but not before King Torture reveals that their fight was not the end.

Literally the second that Masayoshi leaves the lair of King Torture, the press surrounds him but not before they all get a call about a giant spaceship looking object appearing in Tokyo Bay.

So then everyone starts freaking the fuck out and immediately the new End Boss reveals itself as a 4 member group of monsters that control 65,000 odd lesser-monsters who go by From Beyond whose plan is to just destroy shit. So what is the immediate response of the people of Japan? To break copyright laws and become the fucking Power Rangers.

No, really

That's right, you got tricked into watching the Power Rangers, and by this time you are already probably used to Manglobe's shit that you aren't even mad. For a couple of episodes now, they end up fighting From Beyond members and living as the Power Rangers. Plus they even have a giant robot.

So yeah, it becomes full on Power Rangers at this point. The robot even has a "deluxe mode," which basically means that the robot gets a fucking penis.

Yeah. That's definitely a dick.

Let's fast forward a bit now. There's some more fighting with From Beyond, some drama shit happens with some side characters, but no one really cares, Masayoshi becomes incredibly angsty at some points and if you listen closely, you can actually hear Linkin Park's Crawling In My Skin during some of these scenes.

So anyways, they defeat From Beyond only to find out that the Government of Japan was actually behind the whole thing and then all of the heroes are persecuted and thrown in jail with the exception of Masayoshi who becomes a man on the run. Starving, and almost on his last breath, he gets saved by a homeless man with bad sight. It turns out that Masayoshi actually saved this man back when he was Kick Ass and they have a heart to heart talk about why Masayoshi must never give up and how he is a paragon for justice. This gives Masayoshi the courage to then seek help from his friends who, despite his angsty outbursts, still enjoy his company. They work together to face the Prime Minister and restore peace to Japan.

They prepare and prepare and when they then finally get to the Prime Minister, they have a faceoff in the Diet Building, which is working great I guess because everyone looks super healthy. It becomes a classic one-on-one situation and then the Prime Minister reveals that he was chosen by a higher power to lead the world, and it has given him the power to do so....

... in a bright gold power suit ... that gets its power from his approval percentage from the people of Japan. So there's no possibility that this could blow up in his face.

oh

Finally, Masayoshi and the rest of the heroes may rejoice! They have conquered King Torture, become paragons of justice, destroyed From Beyond, and revealed the corruption of the Japanese Government and the evil Prime Minister.

So everyone is happy and talking excitedly until the Prime Minister speaks up saying how they were all fools and how the Earth is doomed. He then goes on to say about how there is yet another fucking enemy and that he was the only one who had any hope of defeating them. Can you guess what they are?

This show was so surprising in every single element that it's almost impossible not to enjoy. Sure there are more twists than a tornado and it might be a little hard to follow, but that only builds on the entertainment. Also, there's the fact that this show was created by Manglobe. For those of you unfamiliar with Manglobe's work, they like to implement a lot of drug references in their shows. It's more prevalent in others, like Samurai Champloo, but what was strange about Samurai Flamenco was that it didn't really have any drug references besides the whole split second injection of Guillotine Gorilla, which is when I realized it. The whole show is a drug reference. Seriously. I am completely convinced that the writers were hopped up on LSD when they wrote this. Some of their dialogue probably went like this:

"Duuuuuuuuude, you know what, like, would be totally HILARIOUS? a fuckin gorilla man"

"DUUUUUUUUUUDE"

And then the third guy, who kind of already did drugs prior to writing this show but is totally on better stuff chimes in and breaks into the conversation with "HOLY SHIT, LET'S MAKE HIM HAVE A GUILLOTINE IN HIS STOMACH"

and since then since the first two are in the wrong state of mind they don't even question it. Next day when it gets released, they look back and think "Shit, did we really fucking do that" and then realize that they are trapped in a cycle of doing hard drugs and writing and endless plot-twisting anime, but I digress.

I definitely recommend watching this show, even for those people who don't really enjoy the whole superhero genre because it's so trolly and fucked up most of the time that it could be treated as a comedy. I personally cannot wait to get drunk and watch the whole thing in its entirety with my friend Insuul, because he hasn't seen it yet and I want to see him piss himself laughing.

Anyways, there are about 4 more episodes left and I really don't think it can get any stranger, but I'm not so sure, so I've decided to write this review 4 weeks early and build upon it if necessary.

nicolas.claude - 2014-01-21 23:39:26

What i really found enjoyable about the series was the realism of the series. I think we could all relate to how awesome it would feel to become a super hero. Now could that ever happen? Hell no, but apparently the japanese like to think otherwise.

Story: The story begins as we follow the main protagonist, Masayoshi Hazama, who is a male model who always dreamed of becoming a super hero. We follow the series as we watch the main protagonist encounter Hidenori Gotō a cop who finds him naked behind a trash can. The series then continues through more episodes as we watch Masayoshi Hazama do petty little things like telling people not to litter or to not steal to enforce justice. While at the same time, gaining fame for the super hero named Samurai Flamenco.

Animation: The animation is rather well done. I personally loved the character designs although some can be exceptional.

Sound: The opening song uses various drum beats and beautiful vocals that really compliment the song. Rather I would say it really fits the series, until the seventh episode where i would say they put the opening song to shame as that OP should not be in such a dreadful series.

The OP Of Samurai Flamenco

Characters: I found the main character Masayoshi Hazama very interesting, as we see him have a very strong sense of justice and honestly just a like able personality. I think he carries the entire series along with Hidenori Gotō who i found to be very enjoyable as well. Also to note that other than the two main characters, the rest of characters can be described as one thing....ANNOYING!!!!

Enjoyment: The series was rather enjoyable with realism being the main factor of being able to kinda relate to the main character. Until well...the realism was taken out which turned into more of a power ranger show with robots, monkeys, and well...aliens and you name it.

Overall: I can't say this series didn't surprise me, but it did leave me disappointed and just leaving me thinking of how much wasted potential of a series this is. Nevertheless, i give you the permission to try out the series and hopefully who will find enjoyment until episode 7.

yost.guillermo - 2013-11-20 06:18:58

Samurai Flamenco can be described as the anime version of the movie "Kickass". A teenager in modern day Japan tries to be a superhero in disguise while struggling to hide his identity from his modeling agency. He becomes an internet celebrity and thus begins the tale of the Samurai Flamenco... It's fun, funny, and unique and I recommend to anyone looking for something fresh.