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May 8, 2016
Story - 4/10
In a word: rushed. What is happening in this story? Well, who can really say, out of your typical audience? In the end, I was still just barely able to follow what was happening, but that doesn't mean I was without any sort of confusion. Even if the plot WAS followable (barely), that does not excuse how poorly put together it seemed. Watching this series from beginning to end, it's hard to even accept this as a comprehensive narrative. It does not flow as it should and left me often feeling the pacing was completely off. It wasn't absolutely terrible, and the concepts
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themselves could have made for a good story - but the execution was poor. Perhaps with a longer series, this could have been avoided, but as it was it felt very disjointed and rushed.
Art/Animation - 9/10
The art and animation in this series is honestly beautiful. There's no distracting or over the top effects or filters, either - just some genuinely good art. Overall very enjoyable to watch - not the absolute best it could ever be, art wise, but still pretty damn good. At the very least, where other parts of this series might have seemed dull or disappointing, the art outshone everything and at the very least made up for some of the show's shortcomings.
Sound - 6/10
To be fair, I watched the dub (not usually my first choice, but it's what was available to me), so I'm not sure how much I can comment on this in general - but it was okay overall. Sometimes the songs seemed overplayed or 'played up' so to speak - their attempts to tell the story through the score sometimes seemed to fall flat simply by way of being too over-exaggerated. Still, generally it was okay.
Characters - 7/10
The characters in this are overall fairly nice and developed just enough not to leave me with any serious issues, partially perhaps because the true focus is on so few characters in the first place. At the very least, the main characters (Izumiko, Miyuki, Mayara, and Manatsu) were generally okay and I did find myself connecting with them at least on the slightest of levels, which is more than some anime can say. I did feel for the characters and their relationships with each other, but overall the side / minor characters seemed to distract from the story as a whole some, as it wasn't clear just how much emphasis was being placed on them and they did not truly get enough fleshing out for me to care about them or understand them at all. The balance of character focus also seemed to be off in a way that I can't really place; it simply came off as weird overall, especially when sometimes it felt as if the true main character, Izumiko, would often fall to the wayside for focus on characters the audience likely didn't really have any reason to care about.
Enjoyment - 7/10
It was good and I enjoyed it as a whole, though many parts left me with more questions than answers and some of it (especially the first half) had some clear writing issues and pacing issues et cetera. Still, an enjoyable anime. I may rewatch this and I may not - it isn't something I'm rushing to watch again, but I don't think I'd say no to doing so some day either. And who knows - maybe it will make more sense on a second go. One can only hope.
Overall - 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 5, 2014
Firstly, it's important to note that Samurai Flamenco is not exactly your typical anime. There are a few genre shifts and plot twists that can seem to come out of nowhere, and for that reason a lot of people dropped this anime after the first shift or the second and gave it a low rating. Even I was apprehensive at first at the sudden genre shifts. However, I stuck the anime out until the end to give it a 'fair try' and I am very glad that I did. The final arc wrapped up the story very nicely and the last episode left me coming
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away from the whole thing feeling generally satisfied.
However, this review is also a review spurred about by my third watch of the show, so I've had more time to fully grasp the story and come to love it for what it is.
First of all, the most important thing and what really tied this anime together for me and made it so worthwhile -
Characters - 10/10.
Honestly, this show's story did sort of fall flat in a lot of ways. However, the characters were very genuine and fleshed out, and they felt real - some of the best characters I've seen in a recent anime. Masayoshi, Goto and Moe in particular will probably remain in my heart for a long time, as they just felt so genuine and really breathed a lot of life and enjoyment into the show that might not have been there otherwise.
Story - 7/10
It's not bad, but it's definitely not the best story out there either. There are four arcs to Samurai Flamenco - and some of these arcs were better than others. Particularly I found the 1st and 4th arcs good, but this does not mean that the others were necessarily bad - they just felt out of place or oddly-paced at times. It was easy to forget what I was even 'supposed' to be watching, as the plot kept shifting so suddenly.
Art - 7/10
Again, not bad, but not the best either. It's definitely not anything extraordinarily beautiful. However, it's well-animated and the art isn't glaringly bad or anything. Just your typical standard anime fare. The art style was particularly refreshing, however, in my personal opinion, as it seemed to look a little more 'realistic' than your usual anime (the proportions weren't as completely skewed as you usually see; it was more akin to FMA: Brotherhood in anatomy.)
Sound - 9/10
The OST is very good and I find myself listening to it every now and then, especially the Flamengers theme and the opening "Just One Life." All in all nice though there were a few songs that stuck out as seeming a little out of place (Usankusai comes to mind, though it wasn't necessarily bad, just... out of place.)
Enjoyment - 9/10
Keep in mind this is a rating upon rewatching the series and seeing it all really come together now that I understood what was happening. Depending on how well you can understand what's going on this may be lower.
Overall - 8/10
The point with Samurai Flamenco is to go into it with a truly open mind. If you go in expecting a certain type of show, you are very likely to end up disappointed - as the genre shifts a few times. Overall, however, the characters really make the whole thing worthwhile, and this will probably remain one of my favorite anime for a very long time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 5, 2014
Story - 7/10
People definitely aren't lying when they say that K has a lot of cliches and predictable elements to its story. But that doesn't necessarily make it bad. The last few episodes alone were enough to bump the story from a 5 or a 6 up to at least a 7 in my opinion. Predictable, sure - but still enjoyable.
Art/Animation - 9.5/10
Honestly, the art is beautiful, enough to really warrant watching this even if just for that reason. However heavy usage of distracting filters and noticeably reused animations keep this from getting a full 10 in my opinion.
Sound - 9/10
Not much to say about
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this, the music was great if a tad less memorable than some - though the opening and ending themes are both excellent.
Character - 7/10
Many of the characters are very fleshed out and well developed, and many of them were able to evoke a lot of emotions from me (namely the main two characters.) However just as many seemed to fall flat. This anime just didn't seem to have enough time in its short 13 episode run to develop as many characters as it really seemed to try to. It left with more questions than answers for many of the characters that I get the feeling the audience was supposed to love. However, the main characters are very well fleshed out and Shiro will probably remain one of my favorite characters from any anime for a very long time.
Enjoyment - 8/10
This seems like an anime for which the enjoyment level will only go up upon each subsequent rewatch. Having only seen it once so far however, I would say I still enjoyed it quite a bit, even though it was a bit of a confusing ride. Definitely planning to rewatch.
Overall - 8/10
Worth a watch for sure. Especially considering it's only 13 episodes (though I am definitely looking forward to the movie.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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