First Impressions / Samurai Flamenco

「最強総理」 (Sakiyou Soori)
“Ultimate Prime Minister”

And…Samurai Flamenco has lost me again.
That pretty much sums up my impression of this week’s episode. I was initially thinking of how well it was going and how I could actually buy the fact that the prime minister was evil… but no. Plot twist! He’s not! He’s doing the lesser of two evils in order to prevent aliens from destroying Japan because he’s the country’s last hope! Can anyone say that they say that one coming? The entire final 2 minutes of that episode had me thinking, “Whatttttt??” and “I knew it… ALIENS!”. Aliens were the only logical explanation. Yup.

The first half was actually reasonable, given that the prime minister is evil and obviously he has some super suit that’s powered by his support level. That, I can take at face value. The fighting with the use of Jun’s tools and the Flamenco Girls showing up, was all reminiscent of the older episodes. I can happily say that, the older cast was definitely more fun to watch and they don’t feel flat or boring like the Flamengers. The creators tried and failed to add in new dynamics to the cast; I don’t even like Joji anymore because he’s just… there. Not a great leader or role model if he hasn’t done anything but get the Flamengers into trouble. Anyway, when Akira revealed that he was filming the whole scene, I was pleasantly surprised by that turn of events. Honestly, I had no time to sit and think of what would happen so I was expecting some kind of “good will always triumph over evil” speech from Masayoshi. The Internet broadcast makes more sense and there’s a logical flow which made me actually pleased with that outcome (well… as logical as Samurai Flamenco is).

It’s only those last few minutes… oh dear, those last few minutes that made me think, “Oh no!! What are they doing?!” Are they seriously going to throw this show back into a black hole of no return… yes… yes they did. They ruined it by turning Captain America Mr. Justice into an alien. Yes… that is quite the logical explanation for everything that’s happened. So many people called it since episode 6 right? Aliens? Why not? Giant alien UFO taking over Japan? Why not? There’s just nothing else that they can introduce to this show that’ll really blow my mind anymore. This was pretty much the only thing that this show lacked – extraterrestrials.

But if you think about that, aliens taking over the planet would explain the lack of involvement from the “outside countries”. No one is panicking because no one even knows that the world is being taken over. Or rather… everyone else is already likely dead or trapped somewhere and Japan is the only place left! How will Masayoshi save the world now? I bet they’re going to defeat this new alien and then 10 more are going to pop up. Or better yet, the new alien turns extra-large and the Flamengers will have to come back and fight it off. Let’s just say that my hopes are at an all-time low for this upcoming arc of Samurai Flamenco. I don’t want to fool myself into thinking it’s something more.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I knew it… ALIENS! #samumenco #iamnotcrazy

Full-length images: 04, 13, 22, 25.

43 Comments

    2. The From Beyond members were created by the government but appeared to be “aliens” from space. Unless what you’re saying is that Mr. Justice was lying and they were always aliens to begin with and Masayoshi was just tricked to believe it was the government’s creation when really it was just Mr. Justice sending aliens to fight Masayoshi.

      Either way, I think the confirmation that aliens actually exist in this world is new.

      Cherrie
      Reply

      1. I’m pretty sure Jouji described From Beyond as an alien organization when they first debuted and the government was said to create the organization ‘From Beyond’ to raise the approval of the Ultimate Prime Minister.

        That could be taken as they created the members of From Beyond, but it could also be taken as they simply created the organization, not its members.

        But my memory could be faulty. It’s been a while since episode 11.

        EmD
        Reply

    4. Aliens are awesome (not so much the alien’s design). I was worried for a while they were going with the old cliche of a righteous government official being actually corrupt and secretly scheming to gather support and create some absolutist government and conquer the world or something. That would be stopping one twist too early. And SF never makes that mistake.

      Argentus
      Reply

    5. It all started in episode 9 where Harazuka-san talked about Torture using supertech.

      So the Prime Minister was secretly fighting the Flamenco Seijin invasion?
      So he wasn’t replaced with a Flamenco Seijin as he needed a super suit?
      Whats with the Flamenco middle name?

      From Beyond. So what is it actually?
      Something created under the Prime Minister’s orders?

      A hero Flamenco, a kaijin Flamenco, a Prime Minister Flamenco and Flamenco aliens.

      I wonder why Masayoshi’s grandpa chose the Samurai Flamenco name.
      Could their family have alien blood?

      Thus we can expect something Ultraman-ish next episode? 😛

      iron2000
      Reply

  3. Ah, the writers are off their meds again. So much for hoping this would be a saner episode.

    To be honest, I thought the whole approval rating thing was dumb too. Not only could I see the conclusion coming from a mile away, but really, how would that suit even count that rating? And seriously, the people in this universe must be the most gullible ever because there’s no way any populace would support a loon like him that much, no matter what the media said about them. Unless you’re North Korea or something. But then, his plan was full of logic holes from the outset, so that wasn’t surprising. Still, I did like how the entire old team got together and fought the dude, because watching them fight is at least mildly interesting. Good too see Mari back in action too.

    And then suddenly Captain America is actually an alien. But of course. Aliens. And after aliens, zombies! And then nazi T-Rex robot vampires! Because really, anything goes at this point. Just…do whatever you want, Samurai Flamenco.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

  4. we’re already so familiar with samumenco that even in times like this, when a surprise/twist isn’t really a surprise since you expect it, it can still pull out a mix of feelings such as “WTF”, laughing, face-palm and every other expression you guys probably did or thought with or without being aware of it. LOL.

    well, it wasn’t much of surprise that samumenco will pull out a fight and push things. they couldn’t totally return to the roots as last two episodes did. but this time, the battle sequence reminded of the samurai flamenco we know about, and not the flamngers with super-sentai style. I really like that the stationary scientist Jun and his weapons. a combination of bizarre, funny and crazy stuff.
    but above all, Hidenori is fighting?samurai policeman?now that was cool! and how he said ” I won’t support you” to the prime minister. a great moments for Hidenori.

    using a well known trick thanks to Konno, Masayoshi succeeded defeating the tough prime minister. but without a moment to rest – twist! once again, a well known trick by the book. seriously this what makes this show so ridiculously fun!

    looking ahead, Masayoshi will have to gather his friends (the flamngers) and lead them toward another win (that’s what heroes do..right?)..who knows what will be the next twist, though. maybe they will lose?maybe Masayoshi himself will turn evil? with those guys writing the show..everything is reasonable LOL.

    thedarktower
    Reply

    1. Honestly, I’ve only been blogging this show since last season because a) I had just a sliver of hope left for it and b) a lot of people still seem to be enjoying it…
      That being said, I’m not enjoying it to the extent that they are and then I get criticized for my opinion of it >_> so… if I don’t get enjoyment from blogging or watching, and people don’t care that I’m blogging it, I might really drop it.

      Cherrie
      Reply

  6. 1) Goto and Masayoshi make the best Dynamic Duo (and we ALL know who makes the better Batman, despite what character roles say)

    2) I can’t believe how STUPID the thumbtack scene was! “Watch out, everyone! Walking on those tacks might get you KILLED!” And that’s how Masayoshi and Co. get away. Are you serious?

    As always, this show is a blend of awesome secondary characters and incredibly stupid… well, everything else.

    lorenzo
    Reply

  9. For me the characters make all the difference. Kill la Kill too is a crazy show piling one cliche on top of another but its characters weren’t developed enough and didn’t have chemistry interesting enough to prevent me from dropping it at the end of the tournament arc. I sometimes think the development the characters got during the first “normal” episodes made this show indestructible. It’s like having the best time of your life doing something childish and stupid you would normally consider extremely embarassing only because you do it together with a group of great friends.
    Captain America? Ironman? Aliens? Bring it on. It makes no sense at all but at the same time it’s such a wild and entertaining ride. The show is stupid but it takes great pride in the fact. And it takes a heck of a writer to create such characters that make it all work.
    (Oh and Prime Minister Ironman with special powers of Kamikaze and Fuji-otoshi is just adorable)

    Argentus
    Reply

    1. I personally thought of the Gurren Lagan back when the Beyond drill was digging into Fuji vs the RoboFlamenco drill. I first thought that the shows were similar in that they kicked logic to the curb, I realized that the two show’s internal logic workings were different. GL is crazy, but within the show it (somehow) made sense. I think the word I’m looking for is consistent. The logic was crazy, but it had consistency. Flamenco has lost its consistency. Or perhaps the type of consistency changed from the earlier episodes when the issues being dealt with were far more social and down to earth to a man behind the man (behind the man, behind the man….) conspiracy and that’s why we like it a lot less. At least for me, it feels lazy because all you have to do to cover anything was say that there was a higher force at work backing the villains, and now you have to beat them. When this is used every other episode, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It’s late and I’m rambling. A lot. I’m done.

      tl;dr – Gurren Lagan consistency (powered by crazy awesome and MANLY DRILLS) is not the same as the current Samurai Flamenco consistency (ponzi scheme villainy and…robo drills =/ )

      The Walker
      Reply

  11. I’m still waiting for Masayoshi to wake up in a hospital bed only to realize he has been in a coma ever since the police raid he went on. But then! That reality actually turns out to be fake reality and everything that happened after the raid was real. But then! The previous reality was actually all another dream and it turns out he was in a coma for the whole duration of the events of the show thus far. But then!…

    Absaroka
    Reply

  15. I’ve got beaten wife syndrome with this show. I want to drop this so hard because it’s so stupid… But I can’t because SOONER OR LATER, THEY’LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, RIGHT? They’ll run out of random villains that pop up after the other villains are killed, RIGHT? There’s just 22 episodes, so they have to wrap this up, RIGHT?! ARGH! Maybe I’ll just drop Nourin instead.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

  19. Wow! This show blew it’s load WAY too fast. Really, Aliens? I was enjoying this anime and the logical twist that the Prime Minister was behind everything BUT THIS was the ultra NUKING THE FRIDGE. I’m disappointed in this show. It’s not horrible, but they didn’t need it to revolve around aliens. I hope this doesn’t get any more stupid.

    Corey Lucas
    Reply

  23. To all the people thinking of dropping this, you are not taking the show at its face value. This show is a pure comedy/parody of the superhero genre. You just have to enjoy the ride. This show is not the vigilante hero anime you want, it is a huge joke in which you will miss the punchline.

    Stay Flamenco everyone

    Jack Vojack
    Reply

    1. In that case, they

      A: shouldn’t have hung around in semi-realistic vigilante mode for eight episodes before dropping this stuff on us

      and

      B: actually make the parody funny. Just pointing out ‘hey, aren’t these sentai shows wacky?!’ isn’t all that funny. They’re not really willing to give biting commentary either, so the show’s like an unfunny clown: at this point, you just feel sad for him.

      Dvalinn
      Reply

      1. The didn’t ‘drop’ anything on us.

        Every release poster had Sentai themes. People thought it was a Sentai show until the first episode aired, after which they were surprised to find out he was a wannabe hero.

        The release poster had the Megazords in the back flying!

        It’s perfectly fine if you don’t like the Sentai direction and prefer the more realistic 8 episodes but I dislike when people implied the show ‘dropped’ stuff on us unexpectedly and that the plot twists and Sentai twists were out of nowhere.

        They weren’t. The release posters told us exactly what type of show this was going to be, it just took a while to get there.

        EmD
        Reply

  24. Are they seriously going to throw this show back into a black hole of no return…
    You know, this sentence kinda contradicts itself. Either the show was never in that black hole, or it actually can return from it (you kinda have to do that to go there again).

    Also, aliens play a major part in one of the Holy Trinity of Sentai Shows (Ultraman), so there was no way the authors would’ve forgot about them.

    I just wish people would watch the show as what it is, not what they want it to be.

    SingerOfW
    Reply

    1. I think the problem is that the show has aspects which are great and it excels at… and then pieces of it that are just… *facepalm. Some people might like both, but a lot of people don’t and it throws them off, but they keep watching because they hope that it’ll get back to the point. Last episode was a great example of a “better” episode for me, it just didn’t continue down that path. So yes, I’m watching it because I keep hoping it’ll turn into something (I enjoy), but that’s also because I know its capable of getting there. That’s where all my comparisons are coming from.

      Cherrie
      Reply

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