「傘がない」 (Kasa ga Nai)
“My Umbrella is Missing”

Savings lives one step at a time… by stopping the people that choose to empty their trash early! Oh my poor Masayoshi. At this point, I’m not sure if I feel sorry for him or if I want to cheer him on for being such a standout character. And by standout character, I mean, he’s really doing what he feels is right and he doesn’t take it personally that people are calling him out on it. I admire people like Masayoshi; people that stand up for what they believe in without being worried of being criticized and rejected. How many times have I suffered by bystander apathy or stayed silent because I didn’t want to get in trouble? But Masayoshi is different and he wants to be that guy who helps society better itself – even if it’s through petty crimes like littering.

Although there’s not a lot of action in this “superhero” anime, I think the conversations that come up between Hidenori and Masayoshi are quite realistic and applicable to everyday. Something as simple as stealing someone’s umbrella might seem harmless at the time, but that’s because people are only concerned about getting themselves wet. They don’t consider who’s umbrella it belongs to, what might happen to that person and especially the value of the umbrella to that person (especially in Hidenori’s case). Of course, this is not just applicable to umbrellas, but all petty crimes that exist in society. Pickpocketing and stealing are also considered “small crimes” that the government just doesn’t have the resources to stop all the time – and what’s worse is that people continue to do because it’s no big deal. Or rather, it’s somewhat socially acceptable to take something of someone’s if you need it more. It seems like in this example, Masayoshi was leading to the point that stealing umbrellas has turned into such a regular occurrence that no one stops it anymore. Stuff like littering, and taking out the garbage early – there are regulations in place for a reason and I respect Masayoshi for trying to keep people in line. His methods of doing so are another story though…

As for what happened this episode… well I can’t say that a lot transpired from a second episode. There’s still no indication of what’s to come and I’m hoping that there’s going to be an underlying story here. Somewhere. This week was more so about Masayoshi and his everyday life – trying to be a superhero while being bossed around by his manager (who isn’t nice at all). I feel somewhat sorry for this guy given his lack of friends and hobbies, but at least he has Hidenori. There’s a brief encounter with Maya Mari (Tomatsu Haruka), along with her co-stars Misawa Mizuki (Ichimichi Mao) and Morita Moe (Yamazaki Erii). Given that the entire ED is dedicated to these three, I can’t help but wonder if they’re going to join Masayoshi’s journey to become a superhero… or perhaps a love interest?

TL;DR – @RCCherrie: Second ep and I still have no idea what’s going to happen… Seems like he’s just cleaning petty crimes so far. #samumenco

Full-length images: 01, 19, 27.

25 Comments

  1. Well, he can play the “Hero” he want to be, as long the “Enemy’s” dont fight back. When it get real in trouble, i wonder how he will think of all this. Until now, there was no Life Danger

    Germanguy
  2. Ep 2 was great. finally, I can say in all sincerity that it’s a great show!

    we have 2 new characters. those two girls just entered so smoothly and naturally to samurai flamenco, they interacted so well with our MC. it felt genuine.

    I love the stuff about the umbrella and the trash, and it shows how the most little crime can hurt. it reflects so much the apathy of people.
    speaking of apathy, finally Goto was a bit shaken up due to the umbrella’s lost. but he is still somehow apathetic. for now it doesn’t lead to a direct conflict in his realtionship with Masayoshi, but I think it’ll come sometime later one way or another because there is an apparent conflict of interest between the two when they act seperately.

    the viral video was awesome and funny, it exposed us a bit about the show’s motive-force.

    p.s
    Maya Mari, aka Red-Axe girl from now on, is the best girl <3
    at least so far until we get to see Goto's girlfriend. I want to see her! I wonder when will that happend…?

    thedarktower
  3. Funny, I can clearly read from the article that you comprehend the idealistic social commentary on indifference, individualism and self-serving convenience by people, but don’t appreciate it as much as I do. I really like this show’s intelligent mature writing on how they handle (by creating ambivalence) and address themes people regularly encounter in modern day society. As of now, I am not longing for grander things, but I do expect them to happen.

    This series is turning out to be an excellent mix of comedy and thematic depth.

    Sylpher
  4. This anime is picking up steam. I hate it when that happens, but it generally ends well regardless. Really, I liked this episode a lot. I can’t quite put my finger on what kind of genre this is, but it’s quite nice.

    J_the_Man
  5. Ahh~ I was afraid that the protagonist is the only one who’s crazy with Sentai & Hero stuff in this series… Good thing that girl model, or possibly a romantic interest, was also into that kinda stuff :3

    ~~Red Axe~~

    Red HeartGold ZX
  6. Another hilarious episode from Samurai Flamenco!

    I can’t quite say that Masayoshi’s career as a Superhero is off to a great start, but I can respect his enthusiasm and beliefs. To most people he would probably seem like an annoyance, a guy whose too much a stickler to the rules for his own good, but in this episode I think he made some valid points about why he acts that way and why others should. Nothing will ever change if you just let things be, especially injustice, and whatever you chalk up as being someone else’s problem has a high probability of becoming your problem eventually, as Goto found out in this episode.

    Retrieving Goto’s girlfriend’s umbrella is his first real “victory,” and not only has that finally put Samurai Flamenco into the public eye, but I think it’s also earned Masayoshi more respect from Goto.

    His hero outfit still sucks though… but hopefully he’ll eventually upgrade to that suit in the promo art.

    I’m interested to see where they take Mari, and by extension the idol group. She appears to be as big a fan of heroes as Masayoshi, and she seems interested in him, so I could see her as a love interest. Then again, I’m pretty sure most idol groups forbid dating and with Masayoshi’s manager I can see the same applying to him so I’m not sure if it could work out. I’d personally enjoy seeing a relationship between the two blossom, and I think it’d be a fun romance. Though all things considered, I’m much more interested in finally meeting Goto’s girlfriend.

    Samurai Flamenco vs a fake? I hope this doesn’t ruin Flamenco’s reputation just as he was starting to get noticed.

    Frontier
  7. Surprised surprised … one of the girls loves superhero too
    now I want to see goto’s GF…but after watching OP…. I really hope it’s not his gf

    This one is a 2 cour right? I really hope it’s not just lecturing people about the garbage etc etc… Cause I think this show haz a potential(please don’t waste it… or give kyousougiga some episode…jk XD)

    ricz
  8. It was a great episode and considering that Maya Mari grabbed/stopped him when he was singing the Red Axe theme song I have a feeling she will be a very important character in the form of enemy (my guess is she will be the fake, but that’s just a guess), a sidekick, damsel in distress, and/or a love interest (which I am totally shipping).

  9. I really like how the scene from ep1 with Hidenori texting his gf about her umbrella comes back as a central part of the plot this week. It helped to show the importance of the umbrella to Hidenori since it was entrusted to him by his gf as well as acts to connect minor events from last week to this week. It makes me want to play closer attention to the random details in the scenes.

    mechazawakun
    1. I think the relationship between Hidenori and his gf is interesting as well. It’s rare to see LDR featured in anime and I think it makes it more impactful when you can’t see her or know much about their relationship. Goes to show how much she means to him though ^^

  10. This anime took me by surprise. Never expect to enjoy it as much as I am now. Sleeping gem of this season. I dare say it is one of the best if not the best anime in this season. It’s been awhile since I see such entertaining anime with original material.

    walaoa

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