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「サムライフラメンコ・ネイキッド!!」 (Samurai Furemenko, Neikiddo!!)
“Samurai Flamenco, Naked!!”
I’m going to keep this summary short because I want to save everything for my final impressions below. As a finale, the show did a great job wrapping everything up. There was a little inclusion from all the main characters and I was surprised to see even further mentions of Gotou’s girlfriend. I already accepted the fact that she was dead but I guess it keeps some of the mystery alive when you don’t know if Gotou is still psychologically damaged or not. Even more so, this episode made it very evident how reliant Gotou was on his cell phone and his attachment to the hope that his girlfriend is still alive. It’s odd because up until now, I’ve never expected see him “lose it” and when he finally does, Gotou is as mad and delirious as the rest of them. I can’t say that it’s unrealistic, but it’s heartbreaking and eye-opening at the same time because this kind of emotional torture is truly the worst.
Now I’ve seen my fair share of despicable villains and characters, but it’s characters like Haiji that makes me absolutely furious. The amount of frustration and sadness I felt could only be compared to how angry Gotou was at Haiji. Haiji’s disregard for other humans and just his lack of understanding and empathy makes me want to slap him twice and then kill him myself. It’s because he lacks a connection to other people and doesn’t “love” anything else that makes it difficult for anyone to make him suffer like Gotou has – killing him would’ve been the easy way out. I mean, Gotou was straight up begging for him to stop! How heartless can you be? Anyway, I can rant on and on about how much hate I have towards Haiji, but let’s just wrap it up with the satisfaction that at least Mari beat him up. You go girl!
With everything coming to an end, I thought it was hilarious at how they even threw out the idea of a bromance. When Masayoshi “confessed” to Gotou, it was so randomly and awkwardly placed that I couldn’t help but laugh. It’s scenes like these that make me wonder if this anime could’ve been executed much better if the show went down another path because there’s clearly some potential there. It’s an interesting way to resolve issues, but sometimes defusing the tension is what you need to help others think rationally. Also – taking off your pants never fails to shock and awe, right?
—
Final Impressions – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:
Samurai Flamenco is one of those shows that have such a polar reaction (especially after episode 6) that I felt the need to separate out some of its good, bad and ugly elements. Hopefully this gives people a better idea of what to expect from this very atypical show.
The Good: The main characters that you meet earlier on are definitely the stars of this show. Gotou, Mari and Masayoshi are not your average anime characters; nor are they who they appear to be on the surface. One is crazy, the other is psychologically damaged and the third doesn’t know the meaning of love. Mix them together and you get a few sh*ts and giggles, especially in the first 6 episodes. Of course, that doesn’t beat the final 4 episodes which features a new villain and someone that actually challenges Masayoshi on an intellectual and emotional level. This was what I was hoping the show could’ve been for the entire 2-cours rather than just the beginning and end.
The Bad: Asides from our main cast, there’s actually a large amount of “side characters” that are introduced halfway through the series. Who are they? They’re the Flamengers who pretty much resembled The Power Rangers except with bland personalities. Then there’s also King Torture who is probably one of the only villains that I understood because he took the time to explain himself. His arc was the start to something extremely hard to swallow but hey – he was creative and I applaud his attempt at changing the world. The animation is also something that isn’t top notch and I would rate it pretty low compared to other anime these days. It’s bad – but it’s not so bad that your eyes burn.
The Ugly: This is the part that separates the people that enjoyed Samurai Flamenco, those that hated it and those that straight up dropped it. The idea of aliens, giant robots, super advanced technology, monsters appearing left and right – it’s not something that everyone will react well to. Not in this setting. As someone who found all these aspects absolutely absurd and ridiculous – I won’t lie (because I’ve probably said it many times now) – I didn’t like it. In fact, there were many times that I would cringe at the fact that Thursday was coming and I did not look forward to blogging this show. However, if you’re someone who wants to see something new, and you’re open to new ideas, there is definitely nothing else I’ve seen in recent years that comes close to how I felt about this show. Different is probably the best way to define it.
In a nutshell, Samurai Flamenco is not a show for everyone. It really showcases how different people interpret and enjoy different types of anime. Personally, when the show is good – it’s good. But when the show goes down that rabbit hole – it gets bad… and when it’s bad, it can only get worse. So I don’t speak for everyone when I say this, but if it’s a show you haven’t watched and have no intentions of seeing – just let it go and never look back. If you dropped it halfway – trust me, the ending does get better so I’d say you should finish it. And if you’ve seen it to the end with me, I’d love to hear what you thought. Love it or hate it, I’m open to hearing your comments.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I can’t believe it’s over… o_o it’s been a love-hate relationship but at least it ended up a good note #samumenco
I loved every second of this show.
I’m so used to shows following the same generic formula, playing it safe, never taking risks, that this was just completely…amazing.
When I first saw the poster for this show, I saw the Megazords and thought “Oh, animated Power Rangers, sweet!” Then the first episode aired and it wasn’t Power Rangers, but it was great. Then it became Power Rangers and it was still great. It was great the whole way through.
I had so much fun watching this, guessing what was going to happen and making up ridiculous theories.
I remember an interview aired some time ago when a studio’s owner was quoted as saying “We can’t make what we want to make. To keep the business going, our products must sell.”
This show did what it wanted to do, and it’s so rare to see that nowadays!
And I loved the message of the last episode. Things can escalate from littering to monsters to aliens, but it always comes down to the person beneath the suit, the feelings that made you put it on, and that’s what Masayoshi learned from his adventures as Flamen Red, from his start as Samurai Flamenco.
Plus Haiji was a fantastic villain and that marriage proposal was excellent. The love of the Justice Boyfriends did save the day!
I don’t care what anyone says, that was one of the best shows I’ve watched in a long, long time. Thank you, Samurai Flamenco, for reminding me that creative freedom still exists in this forum.
I’ve said it before, but I fucking love this show.
Agreed. I just watch the show for the entertainment value like Kill la Kill. Its ridiculous, unpredictable and hilarious. I loved it.
I’m glad to hear that there are so many people that enjoyed the show for what it was. It’s interesting that you point out how TV shows these days (anime or not) is very restricted on what they can or cannot do… or rather, they FEEL restricted because in order to keep airing or making money, they have to produce what people WANT to see. Most of the time, that ends up being very mainstream shows, very typical shows and even I’ll admit – stuff that I don’t like (you can see a lot of reactions from the previews about how “average” everything is).
So in that sense, I agree that Samumenco is different. It might not be different in a good way in everyone’s eyes, but if the goal was to create something that was unpredictable and new and representative of what the creators wanted, then I think it did that. Whether or not something like this will resonate again anytime soon, is another story unfortunately T_T
I am totally right with you. Samurai Flamenco is pure fun and just a huge love letter to classic Super Sentai shows. If I was still 5, Masayoshi’s life is exactly how I would have wanted my life to turn out: dress up as a power ranger to fight crime, get noticed by Tommy the Red Ranger, lead my very own Power Rangers team, fight a bunch of aliens and monsters, and get naked.
Which was the point, really.
Everything from Guillotine Gorilla on was Masayoshi indulging in childhood fantasies. But he had to grow up eventually, and he did, handling Haiji not as a super hero but as a person, the way you’re meant to.
It’s over! Hooray! And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Because to me, my relationship with this show isn’t a love-hate one. The feeling it gives me is more akin to seeing a former friend get hooked on drugs and make a mess of his life. Because on the outset, this set show had potential and a set of likeable characters. I was interested to see where this Batman Begins-ish show would take itself.
Then the writer just plain lost his mind. Not just because of the incredibly jarring genre shift, mind you. Because honestly, King Torture was actually a rather interesting villain. The show’s look was stupid now, but its core remained intact. Except they threw that out of the window too for that godawful Flamengers arc. An arc where the old characters barely seemed to exist and the most boring and flat characters of the show made their entrance (and they never left either). From then on the show started derailing even further and I just couldn’t give a damn anymore. I felt bad for the old characters, trapped in this mess with no way out. It started calming down a wee bit more towards the end, but at that point the damage had already been done. So story-wise, it was a trainwreck.
Furthermore, as a commentary it failed to say anything meaningful, and as a parody it just wasn’t funny (or at least, not funny in a good way). The animation was often crap too. And as ‘different’ as it is, that doesn’t mean it’s actually good. I wouldn’t recommend this show to anyone. If someone wanted to watch a parody-type superhero show, I would just point them towards Tiger & Bunny anyway, a far better show.
It really is the Robotics;Notes equivalent of this year. This show just failed. The end.
Hey! I also blogged R;N last year XD but I don’t think that’s a fair comparison because while I didn’t enjoy the middle chunk of Samumenco, I actually LOVED the development in the middle of R;N. R;N also had source material to draw from and although the ending was bad… it was bad for very different reasons than Samumenco.
Anyway, I agree that a large chunk of the story was bad because it felt like the creators had no rhyme or reason for anything. I’m not sure how anime is created (correct me if I’m wrong if anyone knows) but my assumption is that the story is drawn out as it airs rather than planning the entire storyboard and then animating it. In that sense, I felt like the creators were kind of “feeling” their way through the story and coming up with stuff that they thought would fit but at the same time, matched with what their intentions of the story were. So… Samumenco ended up as it did. Kind of a mess and kind of straightforward o_O?
You’re right in saying that the middle of R:N was quite enjoyable while Samumenco’s middle was the worst part. Still, R;N was basically a show made of build-up for an intensely stupid conclusion. The exact way it was bad was different, but both shows ended up having a horrible mess of a story filled with nonsensical explanations in a semi-realistic setting. They also made me feel that they squandered whatever potential they might have had and both had interesting casts that were wasted on the show. As far as my personal feelings for the shows go, they’re pretty similar in that respect.
As for how original anime is created, I’m not an expert either, but I think they usually get the basic idea laid out months before the show even airs. To actually put those ideas to work in the anime is something different, however, and so this show probably had a case of ‘looks good on paper, horrible in execution’ (as lorenzo also pointed out). They tried something and it didn’t work. Kudos on them for trying, but a bad show is still a bad show. In my opinion, anyway.
I thought it was going to be a simple story about ordinary people. But then monsters showed up… I feel like I’ve been trolled in the first several episodes about what the series was going to be about.
I guess you just didn’t like the randomness to be found in much of the series, Cherrie. For me personally, though, that was what made Samurai Flamenco one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever watched. It’s quite fair to call random moments like the robot penis or Moe and Mari’s sudden yuri kissing in King Torture’s base unplanned or even retarded, but if that’s the sort of thing you like then every one of these moments is literally condensed hilarity. I was actually surprised (though not unpleasantly so) whenever an episode of Samumenco turned out completely serious, so used to was I to laughing non-stop through them.
No, you’re right – I wasn’t expecting this type of “humor” in Samumenco and the randomness was definitely very random… lol =P I guess it’s because the show was so different than what I anticipated that it took away from the experience. The more the show drove away from the earlier episodes, the more I was like “huh…?” and it just wasn’t funny for me. It’s great to hear how others were able to get a kick out of it though =) I did get the sarcasm in most cases!
Very glad I dropped it. Sorry you had to suffer through it.
When did you drop it? o_O
The confession was definitely weird and it doesnt help that Masayoshi was naked lol.
Im so glad that I was right about Mari showing up and giving Haiji what he deserved.
I did really like how Sumi came around at the end and was starting to actually like Jun.
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2022%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
I thought Goto might be over the whole girlfriend thing since he did seem better but it seems “she” is still texting him on her “journey”.
However with crime picking up once again I actually glad that Masayoshi hasnt retired his original suit yet.
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2022%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Overall I actually enjoyed Samurai Flamenco a lot. I don’t regret watching it at all and Im glad that I did watch it. It was random at times which isnt bad but at the same time, I can understand why some people probably dropped it but like you said, it does get better so I would probably advise them to pick it back up.
Good to hear that you felt it was worth watching =) I definitely feel like it was quite an experience having being “forced” to blog and watch it… honestly speaking – if I was just strictly watching, I might have dropped it. But now I can say for sure and with my own eyes, what I thought about it. The ending is out of the blue for sure but that’s what adds to the comedy that everyone loves right? ^^”
How do you add an image that zooms in within a comment?
That’s a new feature for RC. You just link the image with the URL (no quotes or tags) and it should pop up =)
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2022%20-%2035.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2022%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
You know, if they kept king torture into a real person that just tortured people and took out all the other crazy stuff, it would have been great (to me) and any other villians he faced after that were real, like drug cartels or whatever, but hey, the craziness didn’t bother me as much as it did with others so I enjoyed it…though I do wonder exactly what the heck are those two now, friends or is the whole notion of them getting married out of the window (somehow I knew he was going to say that to Goto just from the title of the ep).
I thought Haiji and King Torture were probably the best villains of the series… they aren’t 100% unique, but they each had their reasons and motives and I think those antagonists are the best for storytelling. If they kept King Torture as the “main bad guy”, the show couldn’t possibly have ended up being 2-cour at the pace it was going lol. But then again, I can argue that it might’ve been better to only be 1-cour =X
Anime of the decade.
After the Fractale, Guilty Crown, and Galilei Donna debacles – I didn’t think noitaminA could sink any lower. I was dead wrong. Samurai Flamenco was a complete trainwreck from episode 6 onwards. I consider the idea that perhaps it was an intentional parody of Super Sentai and horrible 80s OVAs but they played it way to straight and seriously way too often. Based on the staff and some of the good stuff they’ve produced I’m thinking they just had a shit overall concept that never would have worked from the start. (the concept up until ep 6 was great mind you.)
A naked man spouting off about love and trying to hug a child isn’t really that funny or clever in my book and that whole ending scene just came off as- weird.
LOL!! Everyone has their own sense of humor and I thought the ending scene was hilarious. Mind you – I rarely (like almost never o_O) laugh at anime and Samumenco got me doing that so it must’ve done something right.
I can’t blame noitamina for the direction of this show because it’s only a broadcasting block right? They have released many interesting anime in recent years (loved Psycho-Pass) so I wouldn’t disregard them just yet. The upcoming Ryougajou Nanana no Maizoukin is something I’m excited for =)
This show, if it was scored on a number scale, would get a Flamenco out of 10…or a Flamwenco out of 10, in my books.
It was a wild ride, but I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it.
As a tribute to heroes from Japanese hero shows to American superhero comics it really didn’t miss a beat.
From the coming of Guillotine Gorilla onwards I was sure that there was something they weren’t telling us, and it would all make sense in the end. As far as I’m concerned, it DID all make sense in the end, including Haiji’s attempt to turn Masayoshi into a dark hero (don’t forget, his parents were killed, just like Bruce Wayne’s).
Seriously, the only possible way they could have improved that last episode was to have Masayoshi and Goto late for the opening of the Flamenco Museum because they were getting married.
I applaud the writers for doing something so unpredictable yet wonderful.
LOL! It would’ve been amazing to see Masayoshi and Gotou getting married 😉 It’s great to hear so many people that loved the show for what it was. Makes me feel glad to have finished it as well.
I’ll never say this enough – this show had absolutely no idea of what it wanted to be. At least, that’s the impression it gave. As much as I hate to use categorization, it’s not simply a deconstrunction, parody and tribute all at once – no, it’s schizophrenically going from on the other.
The first half of the show was decent. Yes, of course, when Guillotine Gorilla appeared, we thought we were seeing things, but hey – it was fun. It gave a nice twist to an otherwise not-so-fresh-anymore basic idea, and it played right. The way King Torture was the antithesis to Samurai Flamenco, the need for a wannabe villain next to a wannabe hero – I’d say it was brilliant, apart from some awkard directing issues.
But the came the trainwreck. The show simply started doing whatever the heck it wanted, stepping from one absurdity to another, until it reached something that it simply couldn’t reach if it wished to stay in the limits of respectability: a freaking will of the universe.
Sorry SF. Sorry people, this is not one of the best anime in recent years. Sure, it was unpredictable. Watching more generic things like Wizard Barristers is a lot less interesting. But it’s not that Samurai Flamenco didn’t adhere to formulas; it did. Much of the dialogues about justice, heroes etc. aren’t really that original. The reason this show is so awful (yes, it is awful) it’s that it mixed every single trope into a big cauldron and made sure that the end result tasted horrible in each of its parts. They had good main characters and plot premises, and decided to throw it all away
Samurai Flamenco’s twists would be really interesting to read in a plot summary, or in a draft for a series project. But watching 22 episodes, going through so many minutes of awful and ridiculous moments is not avant-garde, or genius, or entertaining – no, it’s simply bad.
yeah, you totally get the problem with this show. It’s like a bad fanfic – 10 twelve year olds in a board room brainstorming – We need ninjas! and aliens! and mechas! what else is popular? Magical girls! Over-the-top violence! Potential love interest? but a little Yaoi fantasy play! Evangelion style deus ex machine? And m. night shyamalan twists everywhere we can possibly fit them!
Nobody could possibly think this is the biggest pile of shit they’ve ever watched, could they?
Unfortunately, I watched Infinite Stratos 2 and Coppelion last season, so, no, Samurai Flamenco isn’t all that bad in perspective. Frankly, Coppelion wasn’t all that bad next to IS2, too.
The thing is, I see lots of people applauding the show because it was so different from usual formulaic shows. From that point of view, it was entertaining in comparison. It’s so absurd you never know what to expect. But that doesn’t make it a good show. Taken for what it is, it’s just awful writing. It would be brilliant if it didn’t take itself seriously, but unfortunately, it does.
I also think that watching this knowing what’s to come, and not week by week, probably gives you a better impression (seeing how many commenters dropped the show to pick it up again after the sudden shift)
The show took jabs at itself all the time, though. In almost every episode someone asked some variation of “this is all a dream, right?” and by the time Alien Flamenco shows up Ruby is just like “WELL OKAY”
It was making fun of itself for how seriously it was taking itself
Maybe, but it sounds really convoluted. The end result looked like a poor attempt to retain our suspension of disbelief.
lorenzo: I think you pretty much summed my initial impressions of the show as well. There’s some up sides but there are a lot of down sides… and most of them come from the fact that the audience cannot follow what is going on =S While writing my impressions every week, I had to refrain from saying “WTF” or “Whatt….?” or “Idonteven” every single line. I also think that a lot of people here are right when they say – you have to approach this anime in the right mindset. I had certain expectations out of Samumenco when I started and because it drove in the COMPLETELY opposite direction and then some, I couldn’t ever comprehend anything else. I like how you state that being “different” doesn’t make it good (I also agree that the show is different) but I applaud the people that could make sense of it regardless. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those people.
Spike: HAHAHAHA! =X laughing too hard.
Masayoshi was about to rape a bitch lol.
King Torture was the bset arc and everything after that was hit or miss for me.
Haiji was the only dude in the show that I wanted Mari to step on their balls. I felt pity for all the other bad guys lol.
I thought Haiji and King Torture both made for great antagonists. Haiji was definitely one that needed a good beating >_< I haven't felt the need to twist someone's neck so badly in a while =P King Torture was a little more justified... he felt like he was doing evil "to do good" so I felt like his actions were probably more "right"? o_O lol
Watching this episode right after the epic Kill la Kill conclusion was a huge mistake… and a life-wrecker as well.
I was about to love this show right after the King Torture arc even if it was being really wrong, but then the gayish Episode 22 came. Sigh. Samurai Flamenco. A random show blogged by Random Curiosity.
Thanks =) I’d like to think I did the show justice? Or at least I blogged it until the end? haha! Unlike you though, I thought the ending was just so fitting and hilarious. It was almost like there was so much tension in the episode that it needed some awkwardness to break it up =X
I’m with Cherrie all the way on this.
I feel that the people that produced this show don’t understand story-telling. To me, stories take an idea and build and build upon it. Samurai Flamenco never felt like that. Rather, they took an idea and would go orthogonal from it. There were evolutions, but never in a logical direction. It felt more like, “Oh, we want to make monsters a real thing now. Ah, we’re tired of that, giant robots seems like fun. Okay, bored now, time to pit Flamenco against the system.” Very jarring, never natural.
I wouldn’t say that Takahiro Omori doesn’t understand story-telling. He’s the Director of Baccano and Durarara, after all, and Baccano’s non-linear story-telling was an anime thing. A brilliant one, at that.
I’ve seen both Baccano and Durarara. I’m not really a fan of Baccano. Durarara was a much superior show.
Non-linear story-telling is a valid story-telling method. But I don’t feel like Baccano told a story that made sense or meant anything.
I don’t really feel like it was their storytelling that was bad because it was quite a very linear story in my opinion – you know, A met B and then this happened and this happened and this happened… quite straightforward in my books. I feel like where it failed is setting up the story to be what they wanted it to be (thus why it fell short of your expectations). To me, I thought the story was going to be about a fellow who wanted to become a “real superhero”. He would fail a few times and but still manage to become a hero and make a few friends. The story wasn’t like that AT ALL – maybe in a very underlying way, but not on a shallow level. Samumenco felt like the story totally took that idea and tossed it in a completely different universe with no reason for anything and left the audience lost =S So maybe that’s why you felt the storytelling was off.
Sooo Gotou and Mari didn’t end up together? :C
Last episode is not bad but I still prefer if it’s Mari asking “let’s get married” lol XD
So, here’s my two cents, since we were asked:
At first I loved the show; stopping an unbrella robbery – that was pretty awesome! The stapler weapons and whatnot, I could accept that. Even the monkey, and King Torture was interesting. However, things were getting out of hand, and I wasn’t looking forward to the show. After the break episodes backed up for a month before I got around to watching them, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I felt I had to finish it. So I made it through the worst episodes in one sitting. I say worst because I never enjoyed Power Rangers, not even when I was a kid, so to have it reguritated at me was awful. Still, I persevered and survived it, and then the ending was amazing. Finding out just how flawed the main two were was great. So itwas one heck of a ride, but I’d still like to see a show that was like those beginning episodes, without the aliens and Power Rangers and whatnot.
Also, I was totally hoping the kid was in Masayoshi’s head, and that he was actually the one sabotaging people instead; that Haiji was really dead and Samurai Flamenco had become the villan since he had defeated all the real ones. That would’ve been epic, for him to confront that kind of situation.
Thanks for responding =) I actually think so many people’s comments are so well thought out that I’m taking the time to reply to everyone.
That would’ve been an interesting spin to the Haiji crimes. It would’ve made for really dark twist for Samumenco =X but being the series finale, I knew that it couldn’t be a bad ending – Masayoshi has to be the hero in the end. I wish I could’ve just marathoned the entire middle section in one shot. Maybe I wouldn’t have disliked it as much as I did because then I would get answers sooner. Anyway, I’m still glad you ended up finishing it regardless – so many people would’ve dropped it lol
Okay, here goes.
I actually read every episode review here. I almost picked this show up, but then that gorilla showed up. So, here’s a question: If you take out the shock factor and randomness (since it won’t be so random anymore), would it be a good idea to watch this show? What are the other positives about it? The starting characters seem interesting, but the sentai puts me off. Really on the fence if I should actually WATCH this show.
It’s been an interesting read though.
Samunenco is good overall
The only bad thing in samumenco is the power ranger part(cuz of the character)
You can skip the power ranger arc though… you can just think of it as a filler lol
(I skipped most of the power ranger thingy and think that it nvr existed)
So here’s my take on it:
If you’ve read all the reviews and kind of already know what’s going to happen – then you’d really just be watching for the entertainment factor. Also, you’d probably go in expecting it to be ridiculous and random. In that sense, then yes – sure, finish it and let me know how it goes =)
If you’re still skeptical that you’d enjoy the series and was completely turned off by Super Sentai-style and the random monsters… I don’t know you’d get very much value out of watching the rest. You might just want to skip to the latter 4 episodes and finish it off that way ^^”
I was reminded of Gurren Lagann when the arcs in Flamenco became more and more ridiculous, and I enjoyed them all the same. The connection between these arcs and the more “realistic” ones I felt was an important foundation for the series.
As the series progressed, we were introduced to more characters with less time to become emotionally attached to them. More and more human lives were at stake with each new threat. Yet, we cared less and less. Once the universe reset and we were dealing with a single middle school sociopath, we cared again.
Why do we treat alien invasions and world destruction with a dismissive sneer, even though these events can end the lives of millions of people? Why do we concern ourselves more about a homeless man’s tale, an officer’s plight, and a sociopath’s ideals half a world away? The more lives at stake, the less we care? Or is it because we place more value in people we know, than in people we’ve never seen?
The reason why going from saving a homeless bum to saving the world makes a show devolve is that it’s a massive trope that has been done a million times. It’s simply not that interesting. Also it removes the story from being possibly relate-able. I mean I haven’t saved the world very often. But I have helped an individual or two.
That’s a great observation that you made and although there’s a lot of issues with the show, I’ll try and give my take on that piece alone.
I think the reason that people “care less” with the latter episodes (in which the WORLD is DOOMED) is because they have less attachment to characters as you brought up earlier. The urgency of saving the world wasn’t there and especially in the beginning – no one was dying remember? No one was hurt so even the characters IN THE STORY could care less about monsters taking over the world. On the other hand, I think the homeless man, King Torture and even that business guy who helped out Masayoshi in episode 4? were more relate-able because they had some form of development. They had a story to go with their character and the audience connected with them. On a personal level, that’s probably why I cared more to see Masayoshi save those people.
Honestly, this has got to be one of my favorite animes, ever. When I first saw the promotional poster, I thought, hell yeah, a superhero show! But contrary to most people, watching the first episode made me drop it (because a. I just wasn’t looking for SoL, and b. the animation). Luckily I saw some people mention that the show would get ridiculous later on, picked it up again and ended up loving it till the end.
It’s really a roller coaster, I don’t have any other way to describe it. And by the end it left me with a sweet aftertaste because after throwing us for one hell of a ride, it came back to its silly roots (with developments!). So happy I managed to watch this. I have no regrets.
I thought the first episode was fine… the animation was a huge turnoff but I’ve seen some horror animation before so it’s not a killer for me. It’s good to hear from people that thought the series was bad and THEN good. Usually people are fine with the beginning but LOVE the middle =X
I agree with Cherrie. I think the strongest part of the series has been it’s main cast of characters. Whenever the show is focusing on their development it really shines but of course after episode 6 everything the show had going for it disappeared and with nonsensical super hero antics that were explained through one of the biggest “deus ex’s” of the season.
Now obviously some people thought the change was awesome which is fine but i really think they just completely alienated fans of the first 1/4 of the series by going about things the way they did which overall is what hurt the series the most (and it’s sales numbers show). It also doesn’t help that they completely ignored our main cast and replaced them with the extremely uninteresting flamengers who ended up becoming irrelevant by the time things were all said in done anyway which makes me question why they were even introduced.
This final arc was good because it was the show going back to it’s roots but it’s just to bad that those too upset about the writers snorting enough crack to kill a blue whale midway through missed out on it. As many have said the King Torture arc was the only part after episode 6 i liked because it was important for Marie’s character development. Not to mention for as little screentime as he had King Torture was an overall great villain and could easily demoralize his victims just by talking to them.
It’s a shame that he had to be put in a show that had no idea what it was doing =/
Samurai Flamenco’s sales tanked from the very beginning, the switch had nothing to do with it, to be honest.
Ok so the last arc stayed grounded till the end.
But still good.
The King Torture arc is the best while the Flamengers arc the worst.
How about a movie or ova “Haiji’s Counterattack” 😛
Where Haiji gathers his team of costumed villains?
lol.
If possible it would be nice to see the story from the different villains’ point of view.
I want to know how King Torture came to be, what Haiji did to ‘train’ himself in that past year, more about the Flamenco Aliens leading to them becoming one, maybe something about the world of Beyond Flamenco.
lol, if Sunrise did this then there might be many side stories 😛
By the way, the PV of the 2nd OP is pretty fun as well:
http://en.musicplayon.com/play?v=890724
It was love hate relationship. As Cherrie said when it was good, it was real good, bad real bade and ugly you catch my drift. But I had to follow this til the end. I was not completely a loss and made a few good points. I enjoyed the bromance. I would have liked a confession from Mari like forget about your girlfriend I’m here!
I know that this anime is not for me but I’ve been following almost every episodic review just because of all the fuss around it(be it good or bad). Somehow,I regret not watching it x.x
What can I say…I’m glad it’s over. In a way that sounds bad and good at the same time. That is to say, this episode is a wrap for this anime which didn’t leave me wanting more. But I could say that the characters leave a memorable impression for me and it has made me feel that Masayoshi successfully made the world know of the name Samurai Flamenco. He truly has used up all the “weapons” a super hero can offer. With that said, I don’t think people will miss out on this anime yet for some reason I am alright with having finished watching it and not feel I have wasted my time on it. It’s interesting that I feel this way about this anime and laugh it out as random idiotic/likable content.
I enjoyed this show until the part when they should have ended it and they didn’t.
I’m talking about when they defeated King Torture.. After that I was: “ok, I wasn’t expecting real monsters, but they were not too bad”.
But then, the show didn’t end and they continued with even more and crazier non-sense. That was when I decided to drop it. The last episode I saw was episode 11.
It’s too bad the mystery of Goto’s girlfriend’s disappearance remained a mystery. Whether it was supernatural or an unsolved crime, nobody knows.
Broke down in tears when Goto texted himself saying he’s a bit lonely, dem feels bro.
Damn… These last 4 episodes where phenomenal. Goto’s past was phenomenally executed and it was definitely the highlight of the series for me. Last episode was a brilliant finale all round.
So Gotou never got over his girlfriend in the end. What kind of sick crap is that? That’s not closure at all. Was that outburst for nothing?
Why don’t you say the same about Masayoshi as well considering he’s still doing his little justice hero thing?
7 years of escapism method is not something you lose easily. If that’s the case psychiatrists would be out of work already.
Late to the party, but thanks for sticking to it Cherrie. I honestly don’t know what to think about the series as a whole, but I wouldn’t go as far as to saying that I hated it. It was a roller-coaster of a ride, literally. From really good plot development to a horrid arrangement of events; I could only imagine how you felt blogging each episode without any idea what to expect (good or bad) to come. One thing this series did well in accomplishing was to continuously surprise me.. heck I would never have guessed that he’d defeat a middle-school kid by stripping nude and preaching about love.. then proposing to his ‘bro’… LIKE WTF! Anyways, it was fun reading your posts and seeing your weekly tweets! Looking forward to what you’ll be covering next!
Late but adding my 2 cents anyway. I proudly admit I enjoyed the show. As ridiculous as it was, as much times as I faced palmed & said wtf?!, as much times as I just stared at my computer screen, mouth agape because…WTF?! in the end I have to admit I did enjoyed it.
I sometimes wondered “why I’m I watching this?” but when I think about it I didn’t walked into the show with much expectations (it was a random pick) tho I figured it’d pretty ridiculous just based on the premises (Super Sentai…really?) so maybe that’s why I had little problem watching the show despite all the craziness SF threw out (plus there was a bit of a drug factor. Good or bad I had to find out how everything goes xDDD)
Thank you for your blogging efforts tho, you are a true trooper.