Samurai Flamenco

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Alternative Titles

English: Samurai Flamenco

Synonyms: Samumenco

Japanese: サムライフラメンコ

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 22

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 11, 2013 to Mar 28, 2014

Premiered: Fall 2013

Broadcast: Fridays at 01:20 (JST)

Producers: Aniplex, Dentsu, Movic, Fuji TV, Kyoraku Industrial Holdings, DeNA

Licensors: Aniplex of America

Studios: Manglobe

Source: Original

Genres: Action, Comedy, Parody, Super Power

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 6.95¹ (scored by 35,722 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet aired' titles are excluded.

Ranked: #3889²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #988

Members: 100,097

Favorites: 773

6.95

Ranked #3889Popularity #988Members 100,097

Fall 2013TVManglobe

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Episodes: /22

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Synopsis

"A hero will never give up, never hide, never be defeated and never accept evil!"

Firmly believing these words, Masayoshi Hazama has been obsessed with superhero shows since childhood. By day, he earns his living as a famous model, and by night, he becomes the gallant hero Samurai Flamenco. Armed with only his superhero costume, he seeks to bring justice to the city and faces anybody who tries to break the law—even rebellious juveniles and people who litter on the street.

Masayoshi's heroic antics later catch the attention of the public, leading to the fateful discovery of his identity by policeman Hidenori Gotou. Although initially telling Masayoshi to leave the crime-busting activities to the police, Gotou ends up joining him in his antics. However, things soon escalate from preventing littering and petty thefts to bizarre adventures that involve even the fate of the world. Together with their newfound comrades, Masayoshi and Gotou embark on a battle with the world and themselves in order to find the true meaning of being a hero—with or without superpowers.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Samurai Flamenco first aired on the noitaminA programming block which was then simulcast by Crunchyroll.

A mobile phone game adaptation is also available for both iPhone and Android.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:

Samurai Flamenco: Another Days

More characters
Characters & Voice Actors

Hazama, Masayoshi

Main

Masuda, Toshiki
Japanese

Gotou, Hidenori

Main

Sugita, Tomokazu
Japanese

Gorilla, Guillotine

Supporting

Imaruoka, Atsushi
Japanese

Morita, Moe

Supporting

Yamazaki, Erii
Japanese

Maya, Mari

Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka
Japanese

Kaname, Jouji

Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta
Japanese

Flamenco, Alien

Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki
Japanese

Harakiri, Sunshine

Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu
Japanese

Ishihara, Sumi

Supporting

Nakamura, Chie
Japanese

Aoshima, Souichi

Supporting

Morikubo, Shoutarou
Japanese

More staff
Staff

Oomori, Takahiro

Director, Sound Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Nagai, Shinpei

Episode Director

Satou, Akira

Episode Director, Storyboard, Character Design, Key Animation

Higashide, Futoshi

Episode Director, Storyboard, Character Design, Key Animation

Edit Opening Theme

#1: "JUST ONE LIFE" by SPYAIR (eps 1-11)
#2: "Ai Ai Ai ni Utarete Bye Bye Bye (愛愛愛に撃たれてバイバイバイ)" by FLOW (eps 12-22)

Edit Ending Theme

#1: "Date TIME (デートTIME)" by Mineral Miracle Muse (ミネラル★ミラクル★ミューズ) (eps 1-9, 11)
#2: "Namida Hoshi (涙星)" by Haruka Tomatsu (ep 10)
#3: "Flight 23-ji (フライト23時)" by Mineral Miracle Muse (ミネラル★ミラクル★ミューズ) (eps 12-21)
#4: "Macaron DAYS (マカロンDAYS)" by Mineral Miracle Muse (ミネラル★ミラクル★ミューズ) (ep 22)

More reviewsReviews

Mar 28, 2014

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

SleepyBear (All reviews)

155 people found this review helpful

Samurai Flamenco is a strange animal. Despite its conventional appearance, it is full of twists and turns. Overall, Samumenco addresses its core themes very effectively, primarily the theme of heroism. It has likeable and developed characters with distinct personality traits. It also comments on general character/plot tropes, mainly involving heroes and villains, as well as the sentai/tokusatsu genres. (And doesn’t always take itself too seriously while doing so.)

It’s hard to find a show like this where you truly don’t know what to expect. It may be for this very reason that this show received such widespread negative reception: it's a bit quirky, but it isn't initially apparent whether or not it's trying to be. Many would say that Samumenco isn't quite sure what it wants to be. But now that it’s over, I can say that I’m very glad I stuck with it and that the writers had a clear objective in mind, even though the execution of that vision wasn’t always apparent.

Details:

Story: 8
It starts out as a slice-of-life about an eccentric wannabe superhero, and proceeds to go through two major tone/plot shifts. The plot is paced somewhat erratically, and many might find the plot twists jarring. However, both of these shifts contribute to the overall themes of the story.

Art: 6
At its best, Samumenco’s art and animation is solid. At its worst, the animation was pretty awkward. Unfortunately there were often moments where poor animation detracted from the experience as a whole. While this can be forgiven for background characters, there were some important moments that would have had more impact if not for the distraction of poor animation. I think it would have been interesting if Samumenco had a style of animation that mirrored its eccentricity, but for the most part, things are pretty conventional.

Sound: 7
The OST itself wasn’t especially memorable. The BGM fit the mood well, but there were no standouts. The OPs are enjoyable and fit the tone. (Personally, I really liked them both and they got me excited for each episode.)

Characters: 8
The characters range in development, but overall they were all believable and likeable. The eccentric main character, Masayoshi, is an upstanding young man with a strong vision of heroism. What he lacks in ability, he makes up for in spirit, which is pretty darn endearing. Another major standout was Maya Mari. The story starts out from the POV of the other male lead, Gotou, the "average joe" who gets fleshed out gradually, if not as thoroughly as some other main characters. Some of the characters had very distinct and often conflicting personalities, which made their interactions very entertaining to watch. (A good example being Masayoshi and Mari’s contrasting senses of justice.)

Enjoyment: 9
Although there are a lot of fields that Samumenco could have improved in, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. There are both serious and humorous quoteable moments. I found myself crying and then laughing at some points. The humor varies from a little tongue-in-cheek to downright hammy and ridiculous.
I really loved the initial concept of the show, and was a little sad to see the plot veer from the slice-of-life superheroes plot of the first segment. For a period of time I wasn’t sure what to feel, as the rapid plot and tone shifts made it seem as though the show was going through a rebellious teenage phase. However, after a certain point everything fell together (albeit somewhat messily), and I would recommend that anyone who is interested should give it a chance and stick with it.

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Aug 10, 2015

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

ZephSilver (All reviews)

129 people found this review helpful

Some shows jump the shark, while others perform a Samurai Flamenco.

Deconstructions are some of the most demanding and intricate kinds of stories to pull off. It requires the creator to have proper knowledge of the formula they're trying to deviate from by understanding how the tropes and trappings of said formula should be incorporated, in order for it to feel natural. With the right pedigree of writing and proper usage of the commonalities associated with the given formula needed, the creator is expected to build the illusion to the viewer that they're simply following the setup they've already experienced countless of times before. And during read more

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Aug 5, 2014

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

tsundines (All reviews)

88 people found this review helpful

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 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.

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Feb 20, 2017

22 of 22 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

jzmcdaisy (All reviews)

39 people found this review helpful

There’s something that really grabbed me when I began watching samurai flamenco and I think it was its charming blend of humor and realism. But the charm just petered out when the show decided to do a 100% overhaul in tone and thought process. While the initial realism still can be seen fossilized in some of the satirical ideas and jokes throughout the series, they’re overall very thinly spread. I want to tell you that this is anime Kick-Ass but it’s just not. The show’s opportunity to be a brilliant satire or at least meta-commentary of superheroes is sprinkled throughout, but the end result of action and pointless, unfulfilling arcs soars over the simplicity that made the show good to begin with.

The sound and the aesthetics of the show do their job as good as they can, but should be mentioned for doing an admirable job being there. SF suffers from being one of the shows that repeats background music as mercilessly as its bland villains. Interestingly enough the battle and villain music are repeated the most, making a lot of the fights seem more repetitive and grating given the repetition of the writing too. I will say both openers were appropriate given the rising action of the first half and the continued action of the second half. The openings do the best part of showcasing the character’s goals and dreams, honestly better than the rest of the show did. And while little breaks the mold in terms of art and story, the openings honestly did the best at showcasing the ideas and character design the creators wanted to happen in early, better thought out, and less rushed drafts of the entire project.

The plot for sure rises and builds on itself, but its sequence of events is plotted like an erratic heart rate. Jesus Christ I felt like I should have called a doctor on episodes 8 and 17 because the plotting was going into cardiac arrest. The shifts in what the show wants to do with its plotting are so janky they’re feats in and of themselves. Yes samurai flamenco goes to fight the forces of evil, but Masaoshi stops growing as a person when monsters start falling out of the sky and wreaking havoc. This again shows the unsure and lofty goals of the anime. Masaoshi grows and is a hyperbolic but interesting little soul, but never grows out of that, nor does his team. Goto’s subplot of lost love is by far the most interesting, but even the way the show explores it towards the end isn’t fully realized. The way he copes with his past is interesting and yanks on your heart strings without mercy. It’s something that could have been put throughout the show rather than squeezed in during the third arc of the series.

The characters personality traits are more a rogue’s gallery of quirks that never really go anywhere or influence action or decision-making plot points in the show. I liked that in the beginning Goto immediately has a conflict of interest between his job and helping someone he saved. Mari’s conceited character became more so when she has a chance to hone it as the first of the flamenco girls and she grows in the beginning. But as soon as the show’s tone escalates from a contemporary setting to a larger-than-life superhero setting, the character development flatlines and doesn’t get better. Sure Masaoshi develops better bonds with the characters around him, but that gets him a spare tool from Jun that might work in one situation or moral support from Jouji in another. There’s not a lot of deep or complex staying power in the bonds that he develops with the other characters. The only time it happens is in the climax with Goto, and even then the resolution turns into a ridiculous naked joke. I wanted all of this to be better but it just tried to do so many things and missed all of its marks.

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Samurai Flamenco

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