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「静かな生活」 (Shizuka na Seikatsu)
“The Quiet Life”
Since episode 2, everyone’s probably been asking the same question… Who is this infamous girlfriend? Is she the mastermind behind all the monsters? Is she actually someone we already know? Is she really a man? Or is she perhaps… dead? I remember reading a lot of theories of how Gotou’s girlfriend could be one leading all the monsters attacks, but I don’t remember reading too many comments that talked about the possibilities of her being dead. Of course, that doesn’t mean that nobody guessed it, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it. Or rather, I was hoping that she’d be more of a protagonist (or antagonist) in the story. As it turns out (for everyone who hasn’t seen the episode – or care to) Gotou’s girlfriend disappeared a year or so ago and until now, he’s been talking to himself. Technically, he’s been texting himself. Masayoshi and Mari find out and it’s a devastating blow to all of them. It’s a mixture of pity and sudden realization that Gotou might be more mentally unstable than he seems. It’s a depressing hit to the story and sh*t just got real again…
After the initial shock settled in, I felt a huge surge of different emotions for Gotou. For one, I definitely pitied him – because a tragic love story is always going to hit me in that soft spot. His girlfriend disappeared without any reason (not to mention that her body was never found) and he was left alone to wallow in his self-pity. Gotou just didn’t seem like the type of man who would break down like that and he simply felt so put together with his whole life ahead of him. This is such a great example of how deceiving people can be; just when you think you know them, they actually have a closet full of skeletons behind them. Not that Gotou’s a murderer or anything, but he’s just not as stable as everyone thought. He has his own insecurities and regrets and this is his way of getting through it. I feel bad for him, but I can see where he’s coming from and even worse, I understand how it must feel to miss someone so badly that you end up talking to yourself. At the very least, it’s not depression and he hasn’t started doing drugs or committing suicide, but it’s not healthy to continue living life in your own world. I can imagine the need to fill this void that your ex left behind, but I can’t imagine desperately missing someone for the rest of your life – enough to fabricate their existence. Gotou needs someone to help him get through this and I think that’s where Mari might come in. Oh that’d be an interesting development!
So life moves on 6 months later after the monsters attack… and unlike Gotou and his girlfriend, the rest of the world is moving forward. They’re thinking of forming a government unit for the world with Masayoshi as President! What is this world coming to? But it’s like the Prime Minister said, nothing like a little fear to bring the world together and united for a single cause. I can’t imagine how a “World Government” could be sustainable in the world, but it’d be interesting to see what happens if Masayoshi actually leads it. Everyone else seemed to end up in a good place as well – with the Flamengers living their life and Mari and gang continuing their musical careers. I thought this episode was very well suited for a finale… but life for Masayoshi doesn’t seem that easily settled. Just when I thought all was going to go back to “normal”, a new boy introduces himself as an old friend. At first I thought he was a character that I’d recognize, but I don’t… so maybe there is still “evil out there”. To me, it suggests that nothing can be perfect (with the lack of crime and “drama” in the world) and Masayoshi’s life, just isn’t meant to be quiet. Chaos will follow him wherever he goes, so it’d be interesting to see if this arc is as crazy as the last. I’m hoping not but with Samurai Flamenco, you just don’t know.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: All that anticipation for Gotou’s gf has finally been revealed! #didyouguessright? #samumenco
It’s good to have samurai go back to it’s root. The whole show felt so bizarre after the gorilla appeared.
This kind of realistic portrayal of people is what I like about Samurai Flamenco.
Boo. I was expecting Goto’s girlfriend to be Ultimate Flamenco or final boss of the series. Yea, heard lots of people predicted it, definitely not me though. Sigh…and now we got that kid from episode 1 (when SF was saving someone from a gang of kid bullies) back
Meh. I watched this episode casue I wanted to see about Goto’s GF but…I was extreemly annoyed at Mari for just being a complete bitch. . .and then the episode seemingly piting HER or something. instead of going all crazy, they could have made this a focus and had her disappearence be somethign to lead the plot of the show. . . .whatever. So. . yeah, back to not watching the series.
This episode killed me ;_:
I feel so bad for Goto.
And then you realize that Masayoshi’s delusions at the beginning of the show are pretty much nothing next to Goto’s. This show never fails to deliver.
The kid is one of the one’s that Samurai Flamenco gave a speech about how they are wasting their potentials.
In episode one.
Am I the only one who still thinks that Mari and Masayoshi would somehow end up together?
The kid is from the very first episode. Sawada was the only one who listened to Masayoshi’s speech, but he used his words to become a villain, not a hero.
Batman Arc engaged.
And Cherrie, you’re not giving this show enough credit. The fact Gotou’s GF wasn’t killed off means she’s been brainwashed and part of the terrorist group and the bus driver was in fact the man who killed Masayoshi’s parents.
I love that I can type that and be half-serious about it. This show <3
Hmm, Batman.
Nothing mentioned about Masayoshi’s parents yet?
No shrine cabinet with parents photos or anything.
But its only 3 episodes more before “Nanana’s Buried Treasure” takes over the time slot.
damn, thanks for keeping up with the blog. reading the plot details here about gotou, the “get your shit together” guy, who turns out to actually be a tragic nutcase pining over a missing girlfriend he’s been imitating as is pretty shocking! i might watch a little because of it, but at the same time i know i’m setting myself up for disappointment given this series. this show can be disturbing and very detailed about the ugly/pitiable side of human beings but i really can’t handle the arc(s?) where they turn a full 180 and suddenly become a comedic parody of super sentai series.
bah! i’ll peep this series in its entirety when im 52…many many many years from now…hope Cherrie…….time out…………….CHerrie!?….ok….hope Cherrie’s blog is intact when i do…for comparison reasons..peace
To be honest, I wasn’t that shocked about it. I figured something was up after not having seen her after all this time, and there was that shot of the first OP of Goto tossing flowers in the water and whatnot. As for how the show handled it, it was okay, I guess. I wish Goto had gotten some more development to really make it hit home, but I can appreciate this low-key approach.
BUT. I’m kind of terrified this show will toss it out of the window soon enough again. After all, his girlfriend went *missing*. For all we know, she’ll suddenly show up as the big bad or something, wearing a goofy outfit and yelling something about Flamenco this or that. Yeah, goodbye dramatic tension in that case. Please don’t dissapoint me. Again.
And world government? Yeah, that doesn’t sound disturbing at all. Brilliant idea to put the relatively clueless Masayoshi in charge of the entire world, what could possibly go wrong?
The music while they were following Gotou was very reminiscent of the Pink Panther theme. If only they had been wearing trench coats and the hats like Inspector Closeau.
Zetsuen no Tempest, anyone?
Is kinda similar somehow 😀 (Goto’s GF thing)
Still looking forward and wishing this show an awesome ending.
realy good ep
btw want to add some info about the kids you see at the end, he was part of the first group of kids in the early ep but that not all !
you see him after at a shop and he say hello to the hero, then you see him after torture arc in one scene again behind… he just there !!
litle touch like that make me love the serie
also when the hero do the jogging in the last exp the kids who go for shake hand was also one of the first kids who got helped by the hero 🙂
for the people who say this show was just make up randomly each week… got something to tell you 🙂
The one who got the message right.
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
The one who got the message wrong.
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
Please blow my mind next week again.
Hey, just a question, how did you do that image embed in your comment?
The girlfriend disappeared several years ago, when Goto was still in high school, not “a year or so ago.”
Yeah, that’s missing a pretty big detail.
But I guess if you’re not enjoying the show, you’re not really paying attention. Goto is at least 26, he’s been doing this for YEARS.
Goto it 23.
Definitely the best episode of samumenco so far(my opinion)
And damn poor Goto…. That explain the scene from the first OP… the scene where Goto is wearing some suit and throwing some flowers
Now I’m hoping for a Goto x Mari ending… Not really a fan of Mari but It’s really cute how she got jealous when she heard that Goto and his GF are going on a date <3
Need more Goto pls.
I never guess these things right ;/. At first, I thought the GF was really just the final boss, before the reveal I thought Gotou was getting catfished, but the truth hurts. The feeels D:.
I think the boy at the end is King Torture. The only cool villain in the entire anime.
remember: the body is missing. sunrise rules: “A person can’t be ruled out dead until you see the body!!”. who says the theory about the GF being the biggest antagonist in this series has been really ruled out? imagine what happened when gotou finally see her alive, but she turns into villain?
I remember when I was small, I watched this japanese tv series, I forgot the name, but it is something like power rangers. Well, the leader of the rangers lost her GF, and the body has never been found. One of the female rangers has a crush on him, but she is pushed away, with that “I still have GF” excuses.(the same like Mari I guess?). Later she finds out that the leader’s GF has been dead for long, and he keeps on dating with this imaginary GF. eg: he goes to restaurant every saturday, have a moonlight dinner with empty seat and 2 meals on one person, talking and laughing to himself.:D. But u know what, further into the story, close to the finale, he finds out that GF is still alive! And not only that, the GF doesn’t love him anymore, and certainly, she is one of the ultimate villain now:D. With the death of the former GF, he finally let go of his past and hook up with that female ranger:P.
Ok, thats why Gotou was looking so sad in the first opening.
The empty bus. Makes me think of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.
Wonder is there any significance in the story? Abducted by aliens?
Will there be closure to that incident?
Sawada Haiji, look back at episode 1 and you will find him.
Is he related to that explosion? Looks so or does he have slow reaction?
Wonder whats next?
Looks pretty much like down-to-earth terrorism at the moment.
Just an explosion though.
3 more episodes to go.
Looks like I was a bit blinded by the sadness of Gotou that I forgot the “girlfriend could be the last boss” thing 😛
Can the empty bus be linked to the Flamenco Aliens?
Does Gotou have a Flamenco middle name?
Could the empty bus and girlfriend somehow be the beginning of all the events that happened?
Now I’m excited to see how they will wrap things up.
This show is so all over the place. I’ll admit, the twist was a GOOD one. But, like everything else, it was executed awfully. A person that’s deluding himself (I know it’s the wrong term, but just bear with me) DOESN’T act cheerful like that, unless he’s pathological. If the writer didn’t even give us a HINT of foreshadowing (apart from those few frames from the first op) and gave us EVERY reason to think his girlfriend is alive, then sorry SF, it was just a cheap and ridiculous way to give us an out-of-character twist.
Besides, this doesn’t fit into the series’ plot or themes in any way. And it wouldn’t be a problem in another series, but given how irritating this show is, I’m not expecting anything.
https://randomc.net/image/Samurai%20Flamenco/Samurai%20Flamenco%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
Gotou’s tears is so yummy slurrp(oops sorry, just a side-effect of overexposure to BL manga.)Gotou is so moe, I want to hug him.
I’m so looking forward for Goto’s episode, and it’s not disappointed at all. My only qualm is the ending where the scene shift back to Masayoshi’s. I hope this arc will focus on Goto and Mari relationship more than flamenco’s over-the-top story.
Yeah, I’m one of the few people who want Goto as the main character instead of Masayoshi.
Of all the episodes that ended up with a cliffhanger, this is one of the best ones for me. Also if you rewatch episode 1 when Masayoshi gave his speech to Sawada and friends, there’s just something weird on the way he delivered his speech. He talks with a low voice and his very lines were intriguing, especially on the part “society won’t change, you won’t change, I won’t change.” then he suddenly kind of shifts personality when he went “Don’t block the roads, don’t litter….” aka the usual Masayoshi lecture about being a good citizen. I wonder what is up with that.
Gotou’s girlfriend is actually a magical girl and met her end against a witch…….