This is review number two hundred and seventy five. This anime is part of the Fall 213 lineup. I am so cnear to closing this damn lineup, I can f*cking smell it. I just need a bit more push. I can soon vanquish the longest anime lineup I’ve seen so far. Anyways, the anime I’ll be reviewing is Samurai Flamenco or Samumenco. It’s a twenty two episode anime about a guy that loved superheroes so much he decided to become one. It’s a really wonderful show. I have my complaints but you should really check this one out. Let’s read on.

Story

This anime is about a guy named Masayoshi Hazama. He is a small time model hoping to make it big someday. He is also secretly a huge fan of Kyodai Hero shows to the point that it consumes his life. Masayoshi always had a dream of becoming a superhero and he decided that he’ll don his costume and finally fight evil. This plan of his led to being naked on an alley with an off duty police officer finding him curled up on a corner. Hidenori Goto eventually helped Masayoshi and soon discovered his plan of becoming a superhero. Masayoshi wants to change the world because there are too many evil going on. It’s not much but patrolling the street wearing a costume and lecturing jaywalkers for committing their crime is a good start. His good intentions eventually caught the media’s attention and other kind of shady people. Let’s just say a wannabe Kyodai hero who wanted to emulate his beloved heroes would actually end up saving the world. How? That’s actually the fun part.

Taking the Pants Off

Samurai Flamenco is a weird anime. I spent a good time analyzing it because it just felt a bit disjointed but I also feel that it’s done on purpose. This show is a marriage of the two well-known medium. Its anime and tokusatsu joining hands together and giving us a unique experience I’m sure you’ve never seen before. Maybe you have seen power rangers in anime before but nothing quite like Samurai Flamenco. Add in the fact that it’s written by the dude that gave us R.O.D. and directed by the guy that did Baccano and Durarara then you have something that just screams success. Samurai Flamenco is a really exceptional experience because you’re often spending a lot of time figuring out what it’s about. The way the show escalates from something severely simple to ultra-mega save-the-universe grand is something that also makes the anime unique. It’s really just one hell of a show that I urge everyone to try. On the other hand, I also don’t think the anime is really all that great. It had a smart setup and near perfect execution but I think it was heavy handed at times. It was being mean to the audience on purpose and it tried to do too much that ultimately sours the experience. I’m actually torn about this show. It’s really good with the way it presented the appeal of the tokusatsu medium but it also wrecked the story in a very questionable way. I guess it all boils down to the experience the anime will leave you and this differs from person to person. For me, the pay-off was lacking because it had potential to give something more but it settled on something I personally didn’t like. The show isn’t shy on giving us over the top moments though and you’d often never see them coming. The ultimate question of superheroes existing in this world of ours is tackled by the show and blew it up in a way that is just crazy and intense that will easily hook you.

The premise of the anime is simple enough. A guy who loved Kyodai hero shows so much was so moved by his heroes’ actions that he decided to be one when he grew up. He doesn’t have super powers though so he just goes out at night capturing jaywalkers and telling people not to smoke on non-smoking areas. For Hidenori Goto, he sees this handsome model as nothing more than a freak that has a big delusion that he can actually become a superhero. It’s a stupid delusion for sure. Masayoshi may not have the powers his heroes possess but he makes up for it with a lot of heart. He is very passionate at what he does. He believes that stopping small crimes like jaywalking isn’t a useless thing because jaywalking can be dangerous and accidents can be avoided if people just follow the rules. For Masayoshi, being a superhero is serious business and Hidenori is eventually swayed by his determination. There is this endearing quality to the show that can really capture your attention. Masayoshi’s sincerity doesn’t just affect Hidenori but I’m sure the audience will change their mind as well. This small time model’s determination is fascinating that you want to see where this will end up to. The premise is actually pretty similar to that Kick Ass movie but there is no Nicholas Cage or Hitgirl in this anime. Instead, we just have one guy hoping to do good as he don his kyodai hero costume and hope to stop small crimes from happening.  It’s a simple premise and you really just watch the show to see were this superhero thing will turn into. In KickAss, the main character inspired another guy to become a villain and blow the whole thing out of proportions. Samurai Flamenco had the same setup so naturally you are just waiting for things to escalate and turn wild. It’s a bit surprising though that this anime is actually pretty precise in its story and the focus is actually on the characters at first.

The first few episodes pretty much explored the relationship between the model and the police. The police officer is often asking the model to stop what he is doing because it’s dangerous but the model would counter it by displaying a lot of heart. Masayoshi isn’t just a simple fan of kyodai heroes that decided to wear a costume. He is actually dreaming to become one for a long time now so he is very serious at what he does. He would chase after a train just to receive something the police officer lost so you can tell just how dedicated the guy is. As the story progresses, the relationship between the two characters eventually deepen. Hidenori would find the model fascinating and soon learn to embrace the idea of superheroes as well while Masayoshi is actually indulging himself in the company of the very first friend he actually made in his life. It’s cute. The two characters have a natural interaction between them that you can’t help but love. This makes the show all the more interesting because you wonder how this relationship will play out in the story later on. For the manner of the impending escalation though, more characters enter the mix and turn this simple story into something more complex.

Aside from the adventure of Samurai Flamenco patrolling the street to stop small crimes, the anime also features Masyoshi’s career in entertainment. He is a small time model for now but his manager hopes that he’ll break out soon. He is making small appearances at variety shows and he is becoming extras at dramas and stuff. The focus here is the things Masayoshi deals with when he is not being Samurai Flamenco. He has a strict manager. He hides his love of kyodai hero from her because she knows she’ll object to it. As he is also venturing outside the walls of modeling where everything is new to him, he is trying to balance his hero time and his model time. Much like his dream of being a hero, Masayoshi is also serious into making it big in the entertainment world. His passion is carried out in his actual job but it doesn’t take long before the two worlds come together. The entertainment world is actually a strong component of the story because it helped the simple premise blow out of proportions. Through the help of multimedia, it doesn’t take long for Samurai Flamenco videos to be uploaded on the internet. It doesn’t take long for the hero to become a celebrity and it doesn’t take long for a bunch of crazy characters to find out more about this superhero deal.

The simple premise of a guy wearing a costume grows into something more. He eventually trained and hones his skills. He met a bunch of people that support his cause and he also met a lot of people that share his ideals of being a superhero as well. Masayoshi is no longer alone in his fight against evil. As the media is putting the spotlight on him, his quest to vanquish small crime is actually taking effect. A lot of people now believe in his kyodai hero ideals of being good and following the rules. More people are now sharing his cause. Hidenori can only look on though as this little plan of a model with delusions of being a superhero grew in to something he can’t comprehend. The story isn’t just about Samurai Flamenco’s rise to glory though. The anime also explores what it means to be a hero. As things eventually grow into something bigger, Masayoshi is now confronted with a lot of personal conflicts. He is having a hard time balancing his model life and his kyodai hero life, he is faced with difficult situations that make him question his mission in life and a lot of people really want to know who the man behind the Samurai Flamenco mask is which complicate things a lot. Masayoshi often does a lot of thinking and coming with a lot of ways to overcome these problems but it’s often not that easy. Samurai Flamenco’s duty as a superhero is a really hard thing to uphold but it’s often interesting to see how Masayoshi will handle all the hurdles he is facing.

Lastly, Masayoshi’s life isn’t the only thing transforming. Samurai Flamenco also has an incredible growth in the start of the show. He is a small time hero confronting jaywalkers and telling people not to loiter but his new found fame made him undergo certain transitions as well. Masayoshi began to train more so he can actually fight like his heroes. He began to develop a fighting style that suits the Samurai Flamenco character and this made him a well-rounded vigilante. He also learned to use different weapons just like his superheroes. He doesn’t carry anything dangerous though like swords or stuff like that but his arsenal greatly improved Samurai Flamenco. It doesn’t take long for him to go into more dangerous patrols. He also tries to take out people causing trouble and achieve a bigger kind of peace that is different from small petty crimes he used to handle. Basically, the anime is actually trying to make Samurai Flamenco into an actual kyodai superhero complete with all the bells and whistles that come with the job. This is then set in a more practical world that kyodai heroes don’t usually function in. Samurai Flamenco would fight evil at night but Masayoshi would often be busy with his personal life as well. The effect of multimedia is also a huge thing that gives us a sense that Masayoshi is operating in the real world where his ideals is as stupid as a chicken hoping to be a dog. There are certain scenes where the ideal kyodai hero scenarios have an air of ridiculousness to them because of how unreal the situation is. Certain climactic moments feel a bit stale because there is always this notion that Masayoshi is a wide eyed idiot that wants to be a hero. Even as the show slowly escalates into something with more characters complicating the story, it’s still a fact that Samurai Flamenco is in a world where kyodai hero is not real and he is just an endearing character who you want to see make dreams come true. The anime is very precise about this and I think that’s why episode seven caught everybody off guard.

Guillotine Gorilla.

The anime has made every step to make sure that all the things Masayoshi did follow the logic of real life. He fights random people that commit crime and he talk to characters that aren’t all that special themselves. The show convinced us that whatever is coming up will still be bound by reality and all the logic it possess. Oh yeah, that doesn’t happen. I don’t want to spoil it so just google Guillotine Gorilla. The moment reminded me a bit of that magical girl that got her head eaten by a cute monster that I seriously didn’t see coming. It’s a good chance you won’t as well. The anime was building up to this moment making every scene as normal as possible so this bomb can be dropped on us. The show still clings on the fact that it’s real life so you’re often left wondering what exactly is going on. I love this approach by the anime because you really have no idea how the show will play out from here. A simple story of a guy dressing up as a kyodai hero actually escalated into Guillotine Gorilla. The anime never hinted at such an absurd thing to happen and yet the tables have now turned. If the first few episodes convinced us that the show was about a real life setting with an endearing story of a guy that wants to be a hero then the remainder of the anime is telling us that it has now transformed into a kyodai hero show.

Throughout the rest of the show, the relationships are toned down. The side story of Masayoshi’s modelling life is shoved to the corner and it now focuses more on the adventures of Samurai Flamenco. This is different from the first few episodes where the progression is precise. As I said, it’s gone full Kyodai Hero now. The emphasis is on the fights that Samurai Flamenco encounters and the over the top nature of the medium being presented in an anime. The anime gave us a villain that is very much a cliché of a Kyodai Hero villain and the guy even have a bunch of henchmen he orders around that just gets beaten up by our hero. The fact that the show is still very much about real life still lingers though and the audience is actually left figuring things out at times. The anime never clearly explain why anything is happening in the show. As a mark of a kyodai hero show, things just happen. You don’t really question how Ultraman gets to transform into a huge Ultraman and you also don’t question why enemies blow up when they die. Kyodai hero shows are basically for kids so explanations are often glossed over. With the anime now embracing being full on kyodai hero, the logic of the medium now applies. This is where things get tricky and unbelievable brilliant as well. The anime convinced us that Samurai Flamenco is just a guy in a costume fighting people. Everything has been meticulously explained from the start and the show keeps on layering the premise with over the top stuff that reflects a guy in a costume is fighting evil. After establishing that, it then introduces us to everything the first few episodes convinced us wasn’t actually part of the show. Real life monsters? A bad guy that loves to monologue? It defies the logic and rules the anime placed upon itself. The show escalated in unexpected ways.

The rest of the first half is now about an actual villain bringing the fight to Samurai Flamenco. In typical Kyodai Hero fashion, Samurai Flamenco fights a lot of random monsters. He is trying to stop whatever plan they have in store. He saves whoever is in danger and he dash to the sunset after the job is done. Samurai Flamenco has shown incredible growth as he fights the various enemies he faces. It’s all going too well though. The villain actually has a bigger scheme in store and it’s a sure plan that’ll finally end Samurai Flamenco. It’s not that complicated of a story since it follows some Kyodai Hero cliché. The interesting aspect of this story is still the effect of media on the world where every fight of Samurai Flamenco is being broadcasted to the entire world. It gives us a good example of the frenzy media can stir up but also how people loses interest quite easily in this short attention spanned kind of world. It’s pretty deep. Aside from media, this story also gives us a good example of how batsh*t crazy the second half is going to be. The anime turned full on Kyodai Hero in the end of the first half but it has now up the ante on the second half. It’s now full on Super Sentai.

Super Sentai involves heroes wearing colorful costumes. Ultraman and Kamen Rider are solo heroes that fight giant monsters. They’re categorized as a Kyodai Hero. Sentai heroes are a team of color coded warriors that fights giant monsters. I am sorry if I am wrong on the terms. I really don’t care for tokusatsu shows and I know most fans of this medium hate it when terms are mixed up. I grew up with Ultraman and enjoyed a few Godzilla movies but I just didn’t like the effects which actually make the medium unique. Anyways, the first half involves Samurai Flamenco beating up evil on his own. The second half is now about an evil army in cahoots with the first villain and Samurai Flamenco is asked to join a group to fight that army. Staying true to the crazy cliché of Super Sentai, the story involves our main character and his group fighting giant monsters. At this point, logic is thrown out the window as you see the show go from one event after another without proper cohesion. I personally left a bit confused at times with disbelief at the back of my head. “Oh my god, the anime is going there? Wait, I’m sure there’s a completely good explanation coming soon” is what I usually say to myself as I watch the events of the second half unfold. Things just happened in the second half without proper explanation and then you slowly watch the show go out of hand. It started with a guy catching jaywalking people that transition into a guy fighting a kyodai hero villain. That then transforms into a fight with an army of villains that soon transition into a fight with the universe at stake. Good gawd, it’s like being in a burning car going down the highway with the brakes not working and you just watching in horror at the fact that you can’t do anything.

I do get the appeal of the crazy progression of the second half. All of it is homage to Tokusatsu. I understand that. The clichéd aren’t just there to mess with people. It’s there to fully showcase the beauty of the medium. I actually feel like the writer is deeply in love with Tokusatsu and they wanted to present all the wild things they experienced when they watched it back when they were young. All of the nonsensical progression of the story, the feel good moment of beating up bad guys, the over the top villains that were destined to be defeated and the adrenaline you get when you watch it was encapsulated in the second half. It’s actually pretty damn beautiful. The anime setup it up though with real life still a huge component of the story so it can be a bit confusing but all the ridiculous things found in the second really just pay homage to Tokusatsu. Samurai Flamenco’s insane second half is also nothing new. Hideyuki Kurata is known for Read or Die and that depressing anime called “Now and There, Here and Then”. The depressing anime is actually setup as a Shounen and then slowly become a nihilistic experience. It was a really good bait and switch. Hideyuki’s style is more prominent on ROD though. People who’ve seen the OVA understand just how this guy operates. He takes a genre or a concept and just blows it up beyond recognition. The world of spying is never the same after ROD. He takes all the beauty of being a spy and turns it crazy with a very little cohesion to the plot. I think his style is more on the experience the audience attain rather than a compelling story. I do appreciate that. There’s not a lot of people that think like him and I actually appreciate seeing his craziness come out of Samurai Flamenco. The way he spins the Tokusatsu genre is unlike anything you’ve seen before but it’s not that unusual if you’ve seen him spin Shounen and James Bond before.

While I understand the appeal of the stupid progression of the second half, I also think that it damages the anime tremendously. The second half abandoned the relationships that the show is built on. The model and the cop has a playful relationship that they would do anything to make sure the other is safe. It was a huge component of the first half because their contrasting personality deepens the story. A reckless high spirited hero and a logical thinking cop driven by emotion is actually what made me want to watch Samurai Flamenco. The show dumped all that goodness to basically just fling crap to our eyes. It introduced characters that are badly one dimensional and majority of the moments, despite being serious nods to tokusatsu, felt forced. I guess it was done on purpose because the show was intentionally trying to confuse you and want you to keep asking “what’s going on” but that can be achieved without shoving the relationships to the sideline. The best parts of the second half actually involves the strong relationship of the characters and the conflict that arises after the first half. All of the crazy tokusatsu references didn’t mean as much. It was the resolution to the various relationship conflicts was actually the thing that made it special. Besides that, the anime also relied on short sighted storytelling. I hate this style of presenting an anime. It basically focuses on one thing happening right now without building the story for the rest of the episodes. A good example of short sighted storytelling is Coppelion. There was a scene where they were rushing a pregnant lady to a hospital. They were attacked by bad guys so they forgot about the pregnant lady in painful labor to focus on the enemy. After that, they fought more enemies and saved a bunch of people. It was one event after another. Four episodes later, the pregnant lady is still in labor and the anime picked up the situation as if the poor girl wasn’t in pain for such a long time. Short sighted storytelling is bad. Samurai Flamenco applied this on the second half. It’s basically one event after another. The problem here is that certain events lack proper build up so the show often just goes through the motion until the event is resolved. Some of them are also a bit short for anything worthwhile to happen. It came to a point where I no longer care what is going on in the show and I was just bored watching the anime escalate the story further. The first half was precise and every moment adds to the overall story. This doesn’t happen in the second half. The events are really just random things that Samurai Flamenco faces and they don’t really have anything to contribute to the overall story. There was a feeling that maybe all of this can be explained by something like maybe Samurai Flamenco is just imagining everything happening in the show but you’d be surprise how shallow the story is. It’s a bit annoying because all of these crazy events just really needed one thing to hold them together and the anime didn’t come up with one. Again, maybe it’s on purpose but ruining the show by denying its potential is a bit off putting for some like me that enjoys a good story.

The characters are all interesting and they actually made the show engaging. Masayoshi is an endearing guy that you just want to cheer for. He is an honest guy that shares his feelings with others. It’s pretty amazing how good minded this guy is that he would feel guilty stealing someone’s umbrella and never forgive himself for that. His strong energy is the thing that makes Samurai Flamenco an interesting hero. When he would don his costume, he would pose and he would monologue like his heroes and the things he do just comes off as a bit stupid. You often just want to see him do it so you can see him happy. He’s a funny character and his relationship with Hidenori is pretty special in a way. The cop is a straight laced kind of guy that looks at the big picture. He accepts that evil exists and there’s nothing people can do about it. The model’s strong passion eventually rubs off of him though and soon, you’ll see Hidenori caught up in Samurai Flamenco’s adventures as well. The two also have a rather “cute” relationship that the show often pokes fun at. Something about two guys spending time together in a room by themselves just sets off some signals here and there. In fact, this relationship ultimately culminates in one of them being naked in front of the other. No joke.

There are a lot of side characters. They’re actually the best part of the anime for me so I won’t discuss them further. Some of them think like Samurai Flamenco and they would try to help him in his cause. They would provide support and just do anything to help Masayoshi achieve his goal of vanquishing evil. Some of them are shady characters though that would want to do harm on Samurai Flamenco. With his popularity rising, some people really want him unmasked and they’ll do anything to achieve it. The fact that these are ordinary people getting caught up in the craziness of Samurai Flamenco is actually the best part. It turns out that Masayoshi isn’t the only one with a screw loose and it doesn’t take long before a bunch of eccentric characters enter the story to complicate it some more. The villains are all pretty decent. They were clichéd bad guys that had a specific role in the show. Some of them die easily while others are scheming little bastards that really want to do incredible harm to Samurai Flamenco. The show was lacking a good villain though. They were all over the top and stupid that you can’t really take them seriously. The anime didn’t put enough effort on them. Samurai Flamenco made us want to cheer for him easily so I think a villain that can do the same would’ve done wonders for this particular show. It could’ve explored the idea of being a superhero and it could’ve elevated the story in return.

This show is a good example of how noitaminA is slowly getting back its momentum. The timeslot is once again giving us some amazing anime that is both unique and entertaining. I look back the bleak lineup of 2012 but it looks like things are going back to normal. I would’ve loved another surge of Josei but that’s just me. When I saw this anime though, I never would’ve thought it was done by a studio like Manglobe. They struck it big once with Samurai Champloo but they’ve cooled down ever since. The best thing they’ve done so far is the Hayate Combat Butler series that I personally don’t like. Imagine my shock when such a studio gave us this insanely entertaining show. It’s pretty damn incredible and I seriously can’t believe it. Hideyuki’s style of writing is something I truly missed and I sincerely hope he do more anime like this. He has a knack for the bait and switch style of storytelling that I can’t get enough of. I just wished the second half could’ve been more polished but that’s just me. I see some serious things happening for both Manglobe and Hideyuki. I hope they give us more anime like Samurai Flamenco because there are not a lot of unique shows like these. Unique is a rare thing nowadays but they seemed to have it nailed down perfectly.

Sight and Sound

Character design is pretty decent. This was made by Chinatsu Kuruhana who also designed the characters of UtaPri. Seriously, I just mentioned an otome anime in my review. Chinatsu’s design is actually pretty magical with a huge emphasis on the outfit of the characters that accentuates their body figure and then highlighting their faces. There is a gentler color palette that suits the design to capture the intensity of the characters. Manglobe wasn’t able to capture the color palette though but the simple base of Chinatsu design’s still applied. We have beautiful characters that have very beautiful body figures that make them rock out superhero costumes with ease. I love Masayoshi’s design. He has a messy hair and then some pretty decent details on the face but you’ll be drawn more on his figure. The Samurai Flamenco costume starts out decent with a guy just wearing simple color coded clothes, a scarf, a helmet, black glasses, and a face mask. You’ll often notice the slim waist of Masayoshi while in costume as he does his cool poses and stuff like that. The rest of the characters share the same details. We have some colorful costumes in the show that nods to the tokusatsu medium while also being unique on their own. Again, the emphasis is on the body of the characters as they strike cool poses while they fight. The normal characters are pretty decent as well. There was some nice variety among them that accompanies the crazy personality they possess. Even though some of them are forgotten on the second half, they have left enough impression that you’ll eagerly wait for their return.

The designs on the monsters are pretty decent as well. They are usually over the top and borderline ridiculous because they’re often made of stupid stuff like a talking monster telephone. Again, it’s a nod to the monsters of every tokusatsu show. They’re menacing while each design accentuates the ability they have. There are monsters designed like perfume bottles, animals that looks like cyborg and even a fighting vending machine monsters. It captured the colorful and intense appeal of the medium and given it a nice anime spin. The main villains are also nicely designed with their own kind of over the top outfits. Some of them adhere to the menacing guy concept that monologues a lot. Others villains have menacing costumes on that exudes awesomeness.

Animation is decent as well. The fights are nicely animated and the small details similar to tokusatsu fights are also applied in the show. Enemies explode while no named henchmen just scatter as they’re being beaten up. There no actual focus on the fights though. These scenes are just a way to convey the story some more and there aren’t a lot of fights with its own pacing to set it apart. Other take long but it’s really just a device to carry the story. As long as you can see Samurai Flamenco lecture enemies before beating them up then all is good. Still, a really flashy over the top fight scene boasting some crazy animation is something that would’ve elevated the show a lot. It was precise on paying homage to the other medium so the audience can relate to what people experience watching Ultraman beat enemies up. I do appreciate the effort put on that aspect but I also would’ve loved a fusion of anime mentality with tokusatsu logic since the show already shattered the mold past the second half. The first few episodes does have some amazing moments animation wise like Masayoshi being beaten up by a bunch of school kids and a scene where he chase after a train. It would’ve been awesome to see some scenes like that on the second half.

The anime’s has two OP. The first one is “JUST ONE LIFE” by SPYAIR. This is a really catchy song. I love the instrumentals on the opening seconds of the song. The singer has a pretty decent voice but it’s really the instrumentals that make the song special. The verse was decent but it’s the chorus that was really awesome. It was loud and fast paced with some incredible rhythm on the back. The OP sequence featured all the characters and then a fight scene involving the model and some random robot. This OP boasts some incredible animation. From the waving hair on the first few seconds to the flashy camera angles of the robot fight. It just screamed awesome. The second one is “Ai Ai Ai Utarete Bye Bye Bye” by FLOW. The last time I heard FLOW, it was back in Code Geass so it’s a bit special hearing them again though I find it a bit shocking they’re doing this OP. This is also reminiscent of tokusatsu songs. Its high energy and it really just had a sentai feel to it with the way the chorus is busted out. The singer’s voice is pretty awesome and it actually captured the wonderful tokusatsu appeal the song was going for. The OP sequence features all the new characters with their beautiful character design and a short montage of the events of the second half. It nicely embodies the sudden change of the second half from the first half as well.

The anime has a lot of ED songs. There are two regular ones though. The first one is “Date Time” by Mineral Miracle Muse. It’s wonderful how three seiyuus can just blend together perfectly. The song is a bit slow though. It was also very sugary sweet which I guess is part of the appeal. It’s nothing special but the group does blend well together. I think it’s a sugary love song as well but I’m not sure. The ED sequence features MMM looking cute together.  There are also some CG different colored balls raining down in a white backdrop. It is a bit random but the animation is amazing nonetheless. The second one is “Flight 23-ji” by Mineral Miracle Muse. It’s the same as the first ED. It features the idol group just looking cute and sexy. I often wonder why the ED was so sugary and I think it’s really just to sell albums. I wouldn’t mind trying out an MMM album. Anyways, it is catchy and it has a nice progression highlighted by the wonderful voices of the singers. The ED sequence features a cut out of the idol group that is both creepy and cute. I love the choreography though even though it’s a bit simple. It looks absolutely beautiful to me. There are two more songs sung by the idol group as well. There is “Namida Hoshi” by Haruka Tomatsu who voiced Mari Maya. This is a solemn song with a lot of emotion into it. I remember the girl being a hostage and after the traumatic moment, she went to her concert. Still in tattered clothes, she went on stage and sung the song. It’s a very tragic song with Mari often crying between the lyrics. It ends with a rather small whimper of the high notes. It was really beautiful. It was accompanied by a sequence where the credits roll and alongside that is Mari on the stage swaying and singing. The other one is played on the last episode of the anime.

Overall Score

8/10 “It was a love letter to the tokusatsu genre but sacrificing the story just didn’t sit right with me.”

I love a good story on my anime and this show had it. Samurai Flamenco had the potential to really become the third anime I’d give a perfect score to but it had other plans. It wanted to showcase the beauty of the leotard color coded superheroes it took inspiration from. It is certainly a unique experience but it could’ve achieved the same success without obliterating the wonderful character driven story it had going. If you’re a fan of tokusatsu then you should definitely check this out. This anime was made for you but just block out the BL elements on the first few episodes. If you’re a fan of action then you’ll love how over the top this show can be. If you’re a fan of noitaminA then you should see the shows its releasing that is slowly capturing the beauty the timeslot was meant to have. If you’re a fan of a good old fashion superhero story then you’d enjoy this one. It’s a one of a kind experience you might never get to see again. I highly recommend it.