| @inim @23feanor @filifjonkan @RandomFriday @Antalk @jdvz @JokerVentura @ruckes @kekekeKaj @OrlahEhontas @cipheron @botnetMAL New thread for Samurai Flamenco starting Wednesday, September 18th.  |
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| Thanks for making the thread :) |
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| Episode 1 Looks like this one's set in a city. A man runs into a naked blonde dude who claims to be a superhero. Half expected him to say he needed his clothes, his shoes and his vehicle. The OP is decent, nice to see that the action for this series should pop off pretty well with those Zaku-like mobile suits and Power Rangers-esque transformations. Turns out the clothed man is Goto and apparently he's a police officer in his day job and likes to daydream about Kamen Rider, so he has a draw towards super heroics but is told to keep his head down and do his work. His run-in with the naked Hazama results in the latter's suit being burned accidentally (I guess he was mid-change, not sure why he'd choose an alleyway instead of a phone booth like a normal person), so needless to say, he Goto gets invited up to Hazama's place. Hazama seems pretty wealthy due at least in part to a modeling career, but he also fights drunks on the street... badly. Dude is a strong believer in justice and even has a Super Sentai show cued up just to show his commitment to the bit. Unrealistic or not, he wants to be a hero. Hazama kinda lucked into this lifestyle and the opportunity to play hero. These two don't see eye to eye, but their banter is pretty good. I like seeing how Hazama has both expressed and tempered his idealism, and while Goto has his issues with the model, he's not dismissing him entirely and he doesn't end up turning him in for vigilantism. They exchange phone numbers and move on their way. Hazama's been keeping his agent in the dark about his moonlighting as a hero. Goto's the first one he told. Hazama returns to hero work in a guise that looks a lot like Mumen Rider from One-Punch Man, but is clearly less effective at striking fear in his enemies. Goto tells him to tamp it down, but he's driven to action by the fictional hero inside his head, so Goto goes out looking for him. Hazama is getting his ass beat by a bunch of teens and gives them a speech about stepping up and not being a public nuisance. It doesn't really work, but hey, he tried. Goto bails him out. ED's less interesting, mainly showing off a number of female outfits and bouncing balls. Little bit of a post-credit scene where, once again, Hazama tells Goto he screwed up. Looks like a fun one. I like the dynamic between these two, with Goto functioning as the straight man to Hazama's ridiculous decisions. Guessing the latter's going to end up being the right man for the job soon enough when things go off the rails. |
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| Episode 1. I'm solo with Theo so going to keep this brief. Like the duo, Goto (voiced by my all time favourite male VA aka Gintoki from Gintama) is very much the straight man to Hazama's silly antics. One is a model who has looks, money and feel into his job role, the other a bored police officer working in a police booth (koban), who seems like a regular guy with a girlfriend (long distance). Hazama is a tad more eccentric, with figurines, and his favourite super sentai show, Sunshine, ready to play at the push of a button. Have to admit, I sympathised more with the kids on the street than Hazama. I was a teenage 'street rat', although we weren't belligerent, a nuisance or rude (growing up in a leafy suburb gave us plenty of spaces to hang out without being in the way), and Hazama comes across as a jobsworth, sticking his nose in and lecturing the kids. He does have a point and large groups of 'youths' can be intimidating. Think I've seen a couple of shows that play around with the superhero trope, MHA for one, but that's more straight up superhero shounen, and Love After World Domination, which was a romcom parody of superhero stuff. It's a topic that gets parodied a lot, like in Mitsudomoe that we watched, which had a pretty fun ep long super sentai parody. This show seems to playing it straight, a regular guy, and an eccentric (but good looking and rich) weirdo team up to fight crime, but neither have powers. |
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| Episode 2 Samurai Flamenco (SF) is exacting in his attempts to rid the city of... extremely minor crimes... more like rule-breaking, really. G&H still have a fun dynamic, with Goto trying to convince Hazama to tone it down. We meet Ishihara, Hazama's manager, who seems very exacting and forceful with him, even grabbing his face and squeezing to make a point. At a shoot, we meet Mineral Miracle Muse, or MMM, a group of three idols in striking pink and black outfits. Hazama is tense as hell, while Ishihara has another manager of a larger agency hit on her. To calm down, Hazama starts singing a song from Sunshine under his breath, which one of the girls recognizes, but brushes off. Since these 3 are in the ED, they've likely got their own heroic streak to them. Later, back on the beat, SF gets accused of trying to look up a girl's skirt when he falls over exhausted. Feel for the guy even if he's doing this all wrong. G&H meet up and we find out that, for some reason, Hazama doesn't use umbrellas, which stems from a minor story from his childhood involving borrowing an umbrella leading to a child getting a cold. Goto tries to convince him to give up the SF guise for now, but Hazama refuses to let the vicious cycle that results from these acts of rule-breaking continue. Goto ends up with his umbrella stolen and they both chase after the perp, Hazama on a janky bike obeying traffic laws (he really is Mumen Rider!), following the train from station to station before catching up to him and getting it back. The whole thing is recorded and uploaded to YouTube where it's broadly celebrated and Ishihara sees it without recognizing her client. We even get a funny scene of Hazama on a game show answering correctly that it's SF in the video. After the credits, we find out one of the girls is watching that very show. |
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| Episode 2. The OP has quite the opening few bars, some lovely electric and bass guitar riffs. So SF is continuing his one man crusade to prevent minor infractions of the civic code, including stopping a lady from putting her trash out because it's still 5 mins too early for Friday I believe, which is a just a tad over the top. I may have misunderstood, was she supposed to put it out in the morning? Goto has been eating over at Hazama's, and confesses he's his only friend, nice that he's met somebody to be his pal. Then his manager turns up and he's scared of her. Turns out the agency is paying for most of his expenses still, so his lavish lifestyle is largely paid for by someone else, who's no doubt making a lot of money from him. Liked the scene with Hazama at the studio and Ishihara being hit on by the other agency dude and just going 'huh', thinking 'is he hitting on me this blatantly'. Reminds me a bit of the backstage scenes from Skip Beat, but without the overt comedy. Just noticed that SF gets about on a folding bike, doesn't exactly scream superhero. Hazama is only 19, suppose I should've guessed, he is just a little idealistic and naïve. Side note, love the little booths you get in Japanese restaurants, somewhere you can seclude yourself to chow down and have a drink. Then we get to the bit about umbrellas, which is both dumb and endearing at the same time. Mumen rider, he was cool, even though he had no chance he went straight toward danger. SF goes viral recovering the umbrella and ends up as a clip on the show he's a guest on. |
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| Episode 3 Hazama gets interrogated about being SF by Ishihara because of course, but he doesn't flinch and denies it outright. H&G go to watch a live Money Rangers (love the name - own it, guys) performance before going to seek out some weapons because that's what heroes do. They find out about an effort to unmask SF that comes with a substantial reward, which leads to Hazama getting an appearance on a game show called The Wow Show (apparently the same one he was on at the end of last episode). Just as it looks like they're honing in on him, though, a bunch of Putty-looking shell-headed grunts show up and try to abscond with him before they're stopped by... a much bigger, more effectual and violent SF!? Dude unmasks himself as the actor Kaname behind a character called Red Axe from his own show involving these shell heads as well. Guess he was fed up doing his own stunts and... cleaving Japan in two with his giant axe!? Damn, I was to see this show. Kaname makes a big show out of his decision to reveal himself, using the prize money for the reveal for charity. Guess he just wants the attention. Hazama doesn't seem broken up about him since he idolizes Kaname, and it looks like the show is just going to start following Kaname around during his "hero" work. But Hazama does care when he's out of the spotlight. H&G end up watching some of his Red Axe show and he even got Kaname's signature. He considers letting Kaname take over the SF persona, but Kaname receives some mail that suggests someone knows he's a fake. H&G confront him with both Hazama and Kaname in their costumes (Goto eats it hard when Kaname jumps off his bike). Hazama reveals his identity, and though Kaname doesn't recognize him at first, he asks if Hazama would be willing to give up the role. Hazama refuses, and they fight to determine which will be the real SF. Of course, Kaname has every advantage in this fight, but Hazama is persistent, fighting to save both the Red Axe identity that Kaname represents alongside his own. Clearly, his spirit reaches Kaname, who thinks he taught Kaname a lesson instead because I guess he even wants to steal this. Hazama is dubbed the second SF (lol). Kaname later goes live on TV and tells everyone he's back to being Red Axe before introducing the real and still masked SF... except this one is Goto, so it's another lie done in part to convince Ishihara that Hazama isn't SF. And I guess Kaname's now joined their friend group and is helping Hazama train. |
whiteflame55Sep 19, 2024 7:00 PM
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| Episode 3. More I listen to the OP the more I love the guitar chords in the bass and electric playing together. Good that Ishihara asks Hazama about being SF despite her not appearing to care when someone mentioned that SF sounded like Hazama. She keeps her inner thoughts to herself. This ep was all about uncovering SF's identity and looks like H&G have a new ally in the fight against injustice. The old actor in the show Hazama likes, Red Axe, declares that he is SF, giving Hazama a bit of cover to allay Ishihara's suspicions. He calls out Kaname by sending him an old disc of the Red Axe show and they face off with Kaname declaring that he's stronger and the better entertainer so he should be nominated the 'real' SF. IN the end he's won over by Hazama's enthusiasm and states he was just testing Hazama, and he can be the 2nd SF. Then the tv show they were both on cuts to a live feed of SF and Kaname, with Gotou wearing the costume allowing Hazama to meet Ishihara whilst this is airing, hopefully putting to bed her suspicions. We end on H&G and now Kaname all sitting down to eat curry, and I think watch superhero shows. |
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| Episode 4 We're back to 3M where one of the girls, Mari, seems distracted. SF has a run-in with a would-be purse thief and saves a woman's bag. Training under Kaname improve physically. So he steps it up and goes to a dangerous part of town alone after Kaname ditches him, immediately getting overrun with fans and having to escape. Popularity is a problem. He finds a couple of car thieves and gets captured. They then try to expose him for the reward money, but get interrupted by... a magical girl!? Mari's cosplaying as Flamenco Girl, who comes equipped with changing weapon equipped with a taser and theme music blaring from a pink jeep. The outfit's all yellow and blue, not a bad design. She easily defeats all 3 of her foes and rescues SF, recognizing him as Hazama and revealing herself as Mari. They head to Mari's secret lair where he finds out that Mari has been preparing to be a hero for a long time and resents Hazama for beating her to the punch. Now she wants to use him to look good. By blackmailing him with the possibility of revealing his identity, she starts her reign of terror on the criminal element becoming a bigger attraction than SF. After her prolonged absence, the other girls in MMM are worried about her. Goto and other officers are tasked with tracking down SF and FG, mainly due to the whole "running around with a dangerous weapon and being violent (nailing a lot of guys in the crotch)" problem. Goto finds them and they have a serious conversation about whether to put a stop to this, after which Goto gets tazed. They meet up later and decide to tone it down and work together. Mari reveals that she's fallen for Goto - should be interesting to see where that goes. Turns out the other girls in MMM know she has a *ehem* "uniform fetish," so I guess the police uniform does it for her. |
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| Episode 4. Looks like Kaname's instruction has paid off as SF is getting punched less and even snags a purse thief which makes the local news. Ofc Kaname takes the credit for being such a brilliant tutor, you've got to admire the guys swagger. SF goes into a populated night time location, and..., gets mobbed by people who recognise him from the tv, lol. The OST is a bit weird, kind of jaunty and off beat, but it works, kind of, maybe. SF then takes on 3 toughs that are a bit of his league and gets knocked out and kidnapped. And just when his identity is about to be revealed, a magical girl in a pink jeep arrives, Flamenco Girl, Mari in disguise, she seems fun. Turns out Mari has been waiting to debut as a real life crime fighting magical girl, but SF stole her thunder by appearing on the scene first. So now she's going to be his sidekick, or maybe more like he can be hers. FG quickly steals the spotlight and SF seems to only get drinks for passersby and FG now. Gotou gets an internal police memo about the brutal level of force being used by FG, as well as many grateful wishes from would be victims. He takes the issue up with FG and SF, who agree to try and work with him, or else fight crime out of sight. Mari is certainly a live wire, kicking guys in the crotch, kissing her co workers and having a uniform fetish. |
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| Episode 5 Hazama keeps getting ambushed for the million yen prize. FG rescues him once again with all the posing, and while she has double the reward, she's also a beast, so she isn't taken down as easily. All this is just another opportunity for her to use him as bait. Meanwhile, she's worrying the rest of MMM. Even when Hazama gets cast in a show and can't go around with her, she goes on a rampage solo brawling everywhere and leading the police to step it up, Goto included, who we find out is involved in counseling people post-vigilante encounter. We get some fanservice of her naked and bruised from her fights and "wrestling" with a police body pillow. Hazama gets cast in a Super Sentai show. Of course, he has notes about the script, but gets denied. He wants to do his own stunts, but gets denied. Generally, he learns that his fixation on and dedication to Super Sentai isn't shared by the staff behind the camera. I know we talk about it anytime they come up, but I love me some goofy ass villains, and Chalkboard Screechy Screech with his Wolverine claws and drawn-on expressions is a great example, though he's on screen for a sadly brief time. Hazama's still being sussed about being SF by the other manager who is still trying to pick up Ishihara. She does send Hazama a package apparently from his grandfather, entrusting him with the SF persona fully, which was apparently created by his grandfather to help with the loss of Hazama's parents and something to strive for. This also contains his outfit with a more interesting helmet. He re-enters the fry, this time to protect FG rather than the other way around. They win the fight and FG has a whole colored smoke-filled send-off for them. Hazama refuses to be Mina's slave any longer, and they resolve to fight for justice as equals. Oh, and I guess the rest of MMM is getting in on this as a whole trio of Flamenco Girls. |
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| Episode 5. The Brass Rangers Ensemble and Screechy Chalkboard, lol. I had to check but this show is listed on mal as a comedy and parody, although they're playing it pretty straight atm, but leaning into the humorous nature of SF's escapades. Kaname is very self absorbed and doesn't come through on his promises to help, there's always 'a call from Hollywood' or 'attending a film festival in France', but he's a fun addition. A vigilante counselling group, that's hilarious. 'whether it's reality or fiction, superheroes aren't what I expected', poor Hazama is becoming disillusioned with the gig after being cast in a sentai show, only to discover no one on the staff shares his passion. For them it's a job. I wonder what the deal with Gotou's gf will be, is she going to end up being a superhero as well, or maybe a villain? Or maybe she's just a regular gf, although her text 'until you become happy, I don't want to see you anymore', ouch, what's she going to do, install a happiness meter on Gotou and when it hits the right level, hey presto, his gf appears. Liked the backstory for SF created by Hazama's granddad for him after his parents passed away. What a sound granddad. He even provided a cool new helmet. SF returns to the mean streets with renewed vigour and purpose. FG even adds some colourful explosions to end out their attacks. Looks like Mari roped the other girls into her act. Their songs are quite catchy. |
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| Episode 6 MMM works on their superhero introductions and bond over their shared secret identities. Mari then goes off to get Goto to help her with a song because she really wants to see him in uniform and wants a cavity search. Hey, get your kicks where you can I guess, just make sure Goto's onboard, which he isn't. Would like to meet this gf of his. I guess SF isn't always wearing that new helmet of his. He meets some random dude in a suit who tells him he'll die soon. Turns out, this is Harazuka, who works for the Monsters Stationery's in R&D. Apparently, his ill omen was the result of seeing SF's fighting style as putting himself in too much danger without the required weapons. So dude gives SF some weapons. Problem solved. Apparently these include an eraser and a pen that, when combined with another device, form a non-lethal projectile. That, combined with an extra-sharp razor that somehow gets sharper when more force is applied, a surprisingly awesome set of stapler nunchucks, and heat vision looking glass makes this a really excellent set of crime-fighting weapons that he gets entirely for the purpose of collecting data on their uses. And, man, does he ever get data from that tape measure grappling hook and those glue gloves. He goes on patrol and ends up in a large group attempting to unmask him (they've taken to calling him "Samumenco" or "Menco" for short) but he escapes... only to be captured briefly by a random dude taking out the trash. Man, when you've got a bounty on your head (which has been raised to 10 million yen), everyone's after you. All the people pretending to be injured, fighting or sick should be ashamed of themselves, though - they're distracting attention from real concerns. He manages to deal with all these with some surprisingly cool lines and weapon uses, as well as the help of his FGs in the background, who continue to assault the crotches of every male scumbag they can find. SF also proves his mettle with one of those guys who is after him for the prize, ending up converting the gentleman onto his bandwagon for now by putting his body through the ringer. Kaname's physical absence from the story and very "you can do it if you believe in yourself!" advice might be the best running joke of this series. Dude does want to help and clearly believes in Hazama, but he's so done with getting involved himself and has shifted to focusing on his own career. By contrast, Goto always seems to be there when he's needed. H&G for life, truly an awesome bromance. |
whiteflame55Sep 22, 2024 11:56 AM
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| Episode 6. SF gets a glow up thanks to some weapons from, and I think this is right, a stationary R&D manufacturer. Mari tries to seduce Gotou but no luck, he's only got eyes for his gf, who seems to be talking to him again. SF, now abbreviated to Menco, is mobbed and chased for his reward whenever sighted. Price of success, or maybe it's the 10 million reward. SF uses the stationery weapons to good effect against a group of street toughs. The Kaname being absent bit is a funny gag, this time he was at a charity event in Africa. The OST suddenly switched this ep, more rock beats and insert song from MMM I think, all sounded good. |
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| Episode 7 The whole Flamenco gang has run out of villains to deal with, and SF wonders if they’re nearing the final episode (checks the episode count… nope). Hazama is doing well in his acting and modeling, though. Even Goto’s bored. Everyone is because SF is boring now as a basic hero. His group, however, has grown with the return of his master (now back from abroad) and arms supplier (now in house). The two get along well and drink themselves into a stupor. He goes to visit his grandfather’s grave and we learn the origin of the Flamenco name seems to come from Hazama’s grandmother, who performed as a flamenco dancer. He also finds out that his parents were murdered overseas by an unknown assailant - super hero origin story alert! Mari’s taking the downtime way harder, eating flowers and daydreaming. The police chief, happy with the crime prevention from the Flamenco Foursome, wants to make SF police chief for a day to do a PR stunt involving a drug bust. He meets with Hazama and tells him about the parental murder mystery, talking about how he never knew his parents and how he has no emotional connection to the case. Goto, truly the best friend one could have, tells Hazama he’s a freak, and a good one at that, not a hero, but that makes him human and Goto trusts him as a result to figure out how he’s feeling. Running into a drug dealer, SF struts his stuff to find his reason for being, tying him up in Samurai Tape because why not? SF joins the drug bust the next day only to find himself facing down a true supervillain threat: a man transforming into an armored gorilla of gargantuan size with a guillotine for an abdomen. SF’s attacks prove useless against it, but Goto uses a shot of drugs to the eyes to blind it and they push the beast out the window to self-destruct below before he meets a ghostly figure claiming to be King Torture. All this is obviously real. I have no questions. |
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| Episode 7. So they've run out of villains to fight, that's quite a funny turn, heroes with nothing to do. With the return on Kaname, and the addition of the stationary guy (Harazuka), they've got a proper little cohort going, like it. SF's backstory is expanded and Hazama learns, through an imaginary sketch where his grandad is the professor who created SF, that his parents were killed whilst abroad and the murderer has never been brough to justice. Making SF chief for a day is another absurd but brilliantly funny idea (like vigilante counselling), it's the sort of marketing PR you'd expect irl, if people actually tried to be have a go heroes. Hazama is conflicted after learning about his parents death as he has no desire for revenge and thinks that a negative reflection on himself, that he doesn't care enough about them, but that's because he didn't know them. Gotou answers with the 'you're a good freak' speech to pep him up, that's a good mate, telling you straight what's up. Then we get the first major twist, an actual superhero villain appears during the drug bust, guillotine gorilla, but unlike sentai shows he quickly decapitates a bunch of officers and throws their bodies out the window. He seemed to morph from a regular human, so maybe it's some sort of drug? After making every effort to play the story straight, it'll be interesting to see how they play this twist. I mean the gorilla had a guillotine where its stomach should've been. And you had a huge illusion in the sky, King Torture. |
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| Episode 8 The show has gone full Super Sentai complete with ridiculous villains and I am here for it. The first, a bird named Kite (go figure), gets Duck Hunted by Goto before exploding. They fight in non-descript rocky terrain that is clearly not in the city (oh Dragon Ball...). We learn that everyone can see King Torture's big projection speech where he tells everyone to become his slaves and that the apocalypse is beginning, threatening to kill SF, which pisses off FG because she's not included in the call-out. The police and the government (with a perpetually nodding prime minister) are taking all this very seriously, even calling out the JDSF. Even now, with things at their worst, Kaname must return to Indonesia for... reasons! So they must go face Boiling Rhino, who is a horrible pick-up artist and apparently part kitchen utensil holder, and his definitely-not-Putties without him. By his and the Flamenco Girls' powers combined, they are able to defeat him and make him self-destruct and pose for good measure. Hazama, ever the pacifist, wants to save the monsters as well. That's tested when he runs into Delta (Hobby?) Horse (Unicorn?), who wishes to release a bacteria that will induce gossiping, the vile fiend! Despite his incredible speed, he's defeated by fly paper and stapler nunchaku before exploding. Yay for formulaic fights! Yes, I know they're the bread and butter of Super Sentai and that seems to be the point. Then it's Wheel Orochi, a... cobra car defeated by a ballpoint pen shield and a tornado attack that... also explodes. The Flamenco Girls are losing interest and SF is losing faith in his strategy to keep his enemy alive. The governmental meetings that happen after each of these fights just seem to get less and less important, which tells you how good a job they're doing, though the PM basically does nothing throughout. G&H seem to be acknowledging that this has become a regular task for them, almost like a weekly show. Huh. Hazama tries not to worry too much about the monster death toll - after all, their careers are doing well and they win their fights. Nonetheless, something is wrong, and Torture King prepares quite the trial for him. |
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| Episode 8. whiteflame55 said: As am I. It's hard to make super sentai format feel real and not cartoonish, but this show has done a good job of grounding our characters and the world they inhabit from the get go. So now it feels like this is a new revelation for them and us, 'wow cartoon sentai villains have actually appeared' OMG!The show has gone full Super Sentai complete with ridiculous villains and I am here for it. King Torture addresses the country demanding it's surrender and enslavement of the people and FG is pissed because she wasn't tagged, lol. 'Have you ever been attracted to rhinos' lmao Hazama is bothered by the death of the monsters and wonders whether they were brainwashed. They don't appear to be human, but guess they are sentient beings. Lucky Hazama has such a good supply of stationery equipment. It is quite an inventive reach for him to effectively get superpowers through stationery. Gotou has some misgivings about how events are shaking down, but Hazama seems happy. He's getting to act out his childhood fantasy of being an actual superhero. |
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| Episode 9 SF always has the best priorities, and as we all know, "distributing tissues without a permit is being a nuisance" and therefore must be stopped (also... is that the PM just sitting on the scene in his car?)! The fact they're poisoned is really only a sidenote. That vile fiend Branding Piranha with his selfie stick (I think...) and... snorkel? He's a fish, right? I like the effort, but it makes no sense. Also, SF has clearly upgraded his gear to a full suit of red armor. Guess the FGs are taking a break. Love how the news reports on this like it's the goddamn weather. They're all just bored of this now, even among the police - you know, your everyday mutated humans exploding while screaming "torture!" Damn, 3 months of this really makes all of this so boring, so much so that Whipping Walrus didn't even make an appearance on screen (save for a short recording) before exploding. Kaname trains with Hazama before going off on another tour (because of course) and tells him he never knows "what could happen to him in the final episode." Lots of meta from this guy. Hazama is also successful outside of SF, getting big roles while his manager keeps rebuffing pick-up attempts (noted that they're playing the Pink Panther music in the background of some of these scenes). FD is ready to bring the fight to King Torture and, as she says, crush his balls (he's King Torture, so maybe he'd get off on that). Meanwhile, she's getting off on dressing Goto in uniform, who is also getting into a pointless break-up with SF over little-to-nothing. Meanwhile, Harazuka's out here asking the hard questions: why are all these monsters exploding? Even SF seems to be getting numb to it. Speaking of King Torture, dude's stepping up his game. He's kidnapped Konno (other kinda skeevy manager) and is putting him through the physical ringer with explicit torture. He got one last call and asked Ishihara to marry him. She quickly rejects him once again, and now Konno, who is unwilling to bring her to KT, is set to die. Instead, though, Konno is convinced that, for the purpose of entertainment alone, he'll sell her out. KT, you vile fiend to have converted him into a monster! Some analysis later, Harazuka has some very promising images on screen. FYI, those are cool color pictures of viruses (on the left) and likely endothelial cells (on the right) that are probably more CG than not but are relatively accurate at least, even if they don't suggest the high tech alien particles that Harazuka's talking about. But things are about to get real as we get an image of FD being tortured by KT. Yep, that's some fanservice right there with her in her torn uniform, there to draw SF into a trap. SF gets a new special costume to fight with and goes to meet his foe, Harazuka gets his cool moment to say "go on without me," and we leave the climax for the next episode. |
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| Episode 9. Yeah the monster designs are kinda random. Also Piranha is uncommonly polite, waiting whilst SF answers a call from FD. And the poison causes split hairs, oh no. This is wild speculation, but i wonder whether Kaname is actually King Torture, and that's why he keeps disappearing. Maybe jealous of Hazama who has become a real life hero when he only played one? There's fatigue and boredom with the continued attacks, to the point that they're now included on the news like the weather, rather than a major civil emergency. I listened carefully and it sounds like an improv version similar to the Pink Panther theme song, but doesn't have the key section, at least that I could tell. Sounds like they fiddled a few notes so it sounds almost identical, but just different enough not to breach copyright, something like that. I do like that jazz bit of the OST, smooth but silly. FD wants to go after KT and feels the monster of the week bs is beneath her, saying that SF can deal with the low level monsters whilst she targets the big fish. As predicted by Gotou, KT does make a move, he picks up Konno and prevails upon his desire for entertainment as a way to win him to the dark side. Konno lures out FD and they capture her off screen, although maybe it's a ruse, and contact Hazama. With their phone numbers in hand, you' think that KT might threaten to reveal FD and SF's real identities, but he simply says that all the fights with his monsters were a prelude to their climatic battle. |
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| Episode 10 Despite all his high tech armor, SF is still cruising on a bicycle, saving the planet. So it turns out FD was hunting down KT and that's how she got caught. Seems on brand. She lost badly and was captured with one of her idol group members. But now KT doesn't want to fight her, instead using her as bait for SF. In part that comes down to wanting to face the protagonist, but it's also because FD views what she does as more performative, which KT just hates. KT also goes pretty hard on FS, torturing her with finger-crushing implements and offering to let her take FD's torture in her place. Due to her closeness to Mari, FS does end up offering to take her place, which KT respects deeply, letting her go. Meanwhile, FD is accused of trying to get FS to sacrifice herself. Didn't get that impression, but I guess they believe it. SF arrives and is invited inside to face KT alone. He's shown pictures of the monsters he defeated, all of whom apparently submitted themselves as humans to be transformed and to die for KT. They all apparently feel strongly about using evil to unite humanity, whatever that means, and are willing to submit to gruesome mutilation to do it. Even KT himself cuts off his arm to go all Ash Williams on SF with a chainsaw arm, but it's countered with a Swiss Army Knife attachment. KT then proceeds to kick SF through a door and show off his collection of action figures as a sign that they're not so different after all with SF actually creating KT (the ultimate supervillain cliche grab bag!). KT believes superheroism is pointless and that evil is more entertaining. He's not wrong, and offers to convert SF to evil, which SF refuses. They have a brief spar where KT gets stabbed, kicked, run down by a car (Goto's involvement) and accidentally impaled. That barely keeps him down, though, as apparently the Torturemin Cells (wtf is with that name?) of the monsters SF defeated have been spread all around the city (I guess that explains why they exploded), interfacing with this own and forming a kaiju TK. To bring them together, he launches project Rocketorture (who is he now, Dr. Evil!?) and takes off the mask (doesn't look like anyone we've met), announcing he will create Torture Planet, invoking SF's absurd heroic speech (these speeches really bleed the clock, don't they?). Goto heads off to stop the rocket, taking a text from his gf on the way (don't text and drive!) before just shooting at it with his gun and then just ramming his hummer into it. SF reaches his arm into the newly created cavity in KT's body, pulling a strange glowing stone out. That somehow wins him the day, as KT collapses and the cells that were forming together fall apart. Mari sings a mournful song of defeat at a concert (which plays over the credit scroll), Konno is at the airport and "was entertained," and SF reveals his identity to Goto's shock. Oh, and it looked like Red Axe arrived on the scene to help out a bit in the background. |
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| Episode 10. KT informs Mari in brutal fashion that she doesn't have MC energy and he's only interested in SF, ouch. Pretty harsh torture there, ripping into FS's finger, I do not like excessive physical violence in the form of torture and one of the reasons I don't like watching horror/gore movies, although I don't mind violence in battles like BLack Lagoon or GoT. One aspect that makes this show, and the villains, stand out from regular sentai shows is that they've killed people and will resort to some nasty physical torture. So the monsters were once human and mutilated into their current forms. I did wonder if that was the case. HOw was that achieved, was it alien tech, or just advanced tech using exotic biological material? How did KT come by this tech? Peace hasn't worked, so let's try being evil, well that's a novel approach I guess. He's not wrong about years of civilisation still not being perfect though, and wars and suffering still taking place. But how much suffering would happen if everyone went evil, just a guess here, but a lot more. KT also loved sentai shows, but he was drawn to the evil characters and monsters and inspired him to create his own evil organisation. Suppose they're like 2 sides of the same coin. Gotou arrives at the crucial moments and aids SF in defeating KT who is impaled on a spear. Looks like KT is at least part cyborg, he mentions to SF that he should join with them and become a cyborg. And he wasn't Kaname, although I've got a feeling he'll be involved with the evil side somehow. KT is planning to kill the people in the city by reacting with the particles released by the monsters who blew themselves up. Suitably dastardly. KT is defeated by removing a crystal from his chest, which along with the fact he survived despite being impaled through the chest makes me think he wasn't fully human. We end with FD and SF revealing their identities. What will Ishihara say? |
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| Episode 11 So we get Ishihara's response first, as you requested. Son of a bitch. Red Axe arrives on the scene, late as usual. He didn't go to Africa, that was a lie. Then, pieces of a floating castle rise out of the water in a nearby bay. Red Axe somehow knows what's going on and summons a helicopter to fly them out immediately. It looks like one of the helicarriers from The Avengers (one word: how!?). When approached by the Navy, the castle launches missiles, and Red Axe, now outfitted in an admiral outfit, informs SF that they are 10 billion times (that's pretty specific) stronger than KT, coming From Beyond and hijacking the broadcasts in the area. We then see an assortment of shots of various creatures From Beyond which seems like... a produced trailer or OP? Huh. They apparently gave KT his power. The PM calls Red Axe (guess they have their transmission back) and calls the Samurai Squad Flamengers (LOL) to action. He's got a colorful secret base full of stuff and things. Seriously, where did he get the funding for all this!? SF is recruited as the Red Ranger Flamen Red, but his other Flamengers are nondescript literal red shirts who died before he arrived due to a very kissy perfume bottle person who is spreading toxins around the base. Apparently, this toxic being can even make viruses sick, and his name is... Ugly Toxic Poison... wow, work on your names, guys. This is just sad. You've clearly got a PR guy, hire a publicist who can come up with decent names. Dude is powerful, though, and uses his poison to great effect while they Red Axe calls in backup members. So the Flamengers transform, all of them wearing the Flamen Red uniform because that might as well happen. To be fair, RA clearly loves the color, but it also means that everyone's the leader. RA leaves because that sounds like a problem for them to figure out, so they talk it out in Hazama's absence and he's declared Blue for the day, much to Hazama's chagrin. RA returns to face off against UTP solo, giving a heroic speech about he's a natural hero upholding justice while slowly dying of poison, lighting himself on fire, and handing over the reins of power to Hazama. So, finally, they rally behind Hazama, with each of the others taking up a different color and using an assortment of strange abilities to attack and defend. For some reason, Hazama's the only one who doesn't have any special tools and just doles out hand chops. UTP grows to kaiju size because this might as well happen (we've become Power Rangers, after all), so it's time for their vehicles to form together into a very "v'd" up giant robot with a large blade. One strike is enough to defeat the villain. Turns out, RA didn't light himself on fire after all. It was all another beautiful lie! They are introduced to the other three Kings: Heatnoid, MMM34 and Killing Joke before the villains rise off into the sky to fight another day. After the credits, Hazama sees a bunch of missed calls from Ishihara. So we've changed to another genre of Super Sentai that falls somewhere between Marvel and Bandai. Guess we're doing this, not quite sure what to think. |
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| First off, hope you're ok. Saw that the flooding and typhoon had hit parts of Tennessee, something about a damn breaking or leaking, so hope you and wife are doing ok and not in the danger area. Episode 11. Red Axe suddenly arrives, after KT has been beaten and he doesn't have to do anything. I've got this gut feeling that he's going to be the one behind everything, it would work thematically, as the guy Hazama looked up to as a child turns out to be the one behind the attacks (maybe working with someone) because he wants to create a stage to become a real hero with real villains but SF stole the limelight. Now we've got giant kaiju and an enemy 'From Beyond'. How does RA know everything about the enemy before anyone else, and have everything prepared ready to counter them, almost as if we all prepared carefully in advance, hmmm. Why Dear Sherlock, when did he have time to plan this all out? When you ask my dear Watson, why maybe when he was on his long business trips perchance? From Beyond (FBy) even have a swish intro ready for their debut. The Flamengers, lmao. As you point out, the monster names need some work. Nice promo for UTP though, very polished. Thinking about the PR dept of From Beyond puts me in mind of that seasonal from a few years back where you had people working for the 'evil organisation' who weren't that evil, just over worked salarymen and women. It was Combatants Will be Dispatched from Spring 2021, good little show. Personally I've always preferred the blue and black ranger suits, not sure what the fascination with red is about. Power Rangers came on tv too late for me, and whilst I have seen an ep or two (likely because the pink or yellow one was cute) I never got into it. I do however distinctly remember the Simpsons starting and everyone going mad for Bart, and we had an assembly meeting at primary school (age ~10) where we were all told not to shout 'cowabunga dude' as it was like a swear word and bad language, lol. Power Rangers landed a few years later when I was in secondary school and had moved on from 'kids shows'. I wonder what my young self would've thought about my anime watching now, haha. Wasn't that combined robot from Voltron not Power Rangers, or did they have a giant mech too? Anyway, this show has morphed once again, and like you I'm not exactly sure what we're watching anymore, but can't deny that it's entertaining. |
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| Thankfully, we are fine. The hurricane charged through much of Georgia, western North Carolina, and swung north of us into Kentucky, but we only got the edge of it. Plenty of rain and wind, but nothing terribly dangerous. Worst thing that happened around here, which was pretty scary, was that our rabbi had a tree come down and nearly crumple his car (he'd moved it just in time). Thanks for asking! Power Rangers definitely followed Voltron's lead on the giant mech (Megazord) formed of various smaller mechs structure, they just used a lot more varied small mechs. Episode 12 New intro! I like the change in format, solid song to boot and a good deal darker to suit the recent tone shift. Don't love that it just shows a lot of the fight with UTP in place of something more interesting. Maybe that will change episode to episode? I agree, everything feels like it's a little more staged now, as though all of this was planned out ahead of time. RA does come off as the obvious "surprise" villain. Heatnoid attacks by burning up the city and it's up to the Flamengers to take him out. They blast him with a massive laser (I love that they were banking on him dodging and he just didn't), he grows in size, gets sliced to ribbons by the Megazord/Voltron (MV from now on). So much for these grand Four Kings, kinda disappointing after the first one. Everyone gets their plaudits for participating in their own unique ways, but they don't hang out because they don't really like each other. Hazami's identity as Flamenger Red is outed immediately and now Ishihara seems... happy about it? Weird. I guess it helps his profile. Wouldn't you know it, they've already made action figures of MV called "Framen Robo" (no... just no, I'll stick with MV)... seems awfully quick. Yeah, none of this is adding up. Something's afoot. Hazama goes to hang out with Goto who refuses the role of Yellow Ranger. Harazuka's fine, but he had all his fancy gadgets confiscated. MMM is doing well, but Mari's in seclusion (with Goto, it turns out) and they aren't fighting crime. Hazama gets respect in the streets now - he's a hero, no longer the freak that Goto respected. MMM34 and Killing Joke decide to attack together (the former freezes, kinda like Brooke from OP with his frozen slashes, the latter attacks with an elastic cane) and hold hostages to avoid fighting. All the Flamengers disagree about how to handle it, but Hazama manages to unite them. Setting up a trap, they snipe Killing Joke (man that's cold) and shove MMM34 off a building only to shoot him with the Flamen Cannon before exploding. Turns out, he's just one of 34 equally dastardly villains with the same powers who all arrive now because reasons. Now massively outnumbered, they must fight as a team by... standing back-to-back in a circle and shooting every one of them. One of them, as well as Killing Joke (who survived having his head blown off) grow to huge size and the fight is joined with MV. Just when things are looking at their most dire, they get some premium parts, turning into the love child of Megatron (that looked like a cannon, but it's a winch for some reason - more like Scorpion I guess), Gurren Lagann (the drill) and... is that a satellite dish dick attachment?! It even seems to make their opponent hot and bothered. It isn't long before these new weapons win them the day with a brand new attack pattern. The Flamengers end up agreeing that Hazama is their leader now and they eat and drink together. Improvement! Of course, even with the Four Kings dead, it's not over: now there's 64 War Gods (I guess they just cubed the number!?) to contend with, and at least this one looks like a badly made console controller with wings. Seems excessive, but here we are. New ED. I like the visual design on this one with the varied color palette. Fun and bouncy song. Interesting that they continue to focus on MMM for these EDs. |
whiteflame55Sep 28, 2024 8:47 PM
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| Glad to hear you're ok. Episode 12. Staged is the word. It's a change from the first part of the show which felt like a guy trying to become a hero in our world, then suddenly everything seems staged like the real world were in actual fact the backdrop for a sentai show. New OP is ok, some nice guitar chords, but that first OP really got into my head, loved all the guitar playing in it. 'From Beyond to Heaven' and 'Flamenger Period', they've all got catchphrases, even the monster as it's about to blow up. Gotou has gone back to his beat and Mari has disappeared despite MMM topping the charts. And oh, Mari is actually holed up at Gotou's, hope nothing inappropriate going on there. Shame we're not seeing more of MMM and Gotou. The latter part of the show starts using a interview or docudrama narrative style, with a narrator talking over the Flamengers actions and decisions and them answering questions. Turns out it was a tv programme that Gotou was watching about the exploits of the Flamengers. Gotou gets a text 'Sir Go, is Sir Masayoshi having fun', guessing that's from his gf asking after Hazama in a playful style. Had a new thought. What if Hazama's parents and/or grandad aren't actually dead, and somehow they're the ones staging all this for his benefit. In conjunction with Gotou's gf maybe, as some sort of go between? I'm stretching a bit, but feel the reveal is going to be something along these lines. The flamenrangers are boring so hope we switch back to Gotou and MMM soon. |
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| I'm with you on the Flamengers. They're pretty boring characters, especially compared with Goto and MMM. Maybe that's part of the point, that they're kinda tropey inclusions in the plot to make it more in-line with your usual Power Rangers setup (making this feel yet more staged), but it's definitely a step down. Episode 13 The Flamengers are working to track down From Beyond, who have gone into hiding. With 64 War Gods, you would think they'd be on the attack... and with 256 Generals, all the more so. Apparently, they've been fighting some of the former, but only a small fraction of a very large group. Their math leads them to believe there are over 65,000 members to From Beyond, which is just absurd. How do they even outfit and feed that many? It's like a goddamn army of monsters. Also, not sure where he's getting that from - I think he's just assuming that their numbers are exponentially larger than the ones claimed so far, at which point he might as well just assume that they have infinite monsters. RA is unsure how to act given this information and seems out of sorts, but Hazama remains resolved to protect the city. That lasts about as long as it takes for him to dream up Domestic Violence No. 1 (basically a house with arms and legs dragging around a dog-house hybrid) blowing up a meet and greet and killing a child. Dude's affected, but Ishihara supports him and it's nice to see even she's backing him now. There's an all-out attack planned by From Beyond for February 7th. Attempts to evacuate or warn the public are rebuffed by the PM with a series of Bright slaps, and he entreats them to keep the info they have secret to not rile the public. It's in this context that Hazama earns the National Hero Award; we even get a "nothing happened" moment straight out of One Piece. RA eventually gets the PM to agree to an announcement, with one major caveat: all the bigwigs are getting out first. Even the Flamengers get a pass out with those close to them, which invites the question: do you take it, and with whom? Despite their frustrations, one by one, almost all of them choose 5. Hazama heads over to Goto's and finds a naked Mari there who tells him to die, learning the whole sordid tale, including that Goto's gf already knows Mari's there and believes he won't cheat on her. Dude's too good to do that. We get a little conversation between G&H that feels like a slice of better times when they two were working together, but it's tainted by what Hazama knows. How to choose 5? And RA asks the good questions about other countries being attacked. Who to defend? RA decides not to tell anyone, including his wife, resolved to fight and win against overwhelming odds. He heads off to fight alone, though we don't know where. Needless to say, everyone freaks out, and even Hazama loses his cool, being placed as the leader of the whole organization now. He goes on a show, and decides to tell everyone to escape. On brand for him. |
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| Episode 13. How on earth did FBy get so big so quickly with established bases all over the country, just doesn't seem feasible. The prime minister being more concerned with the image of the country on the international stage than the safety of the people seems off, like he's being turned into an obstacle. I do get his point that releasing a warning without sufficient preparation could cause mass hysteria and panic. So Mari is still staying with Gotou. She does seem to have taken her defeat hard, but then again, if this were real and your friend was tortured in front of you, it would be a traumatic experience. FBy are planning an all out attack and the PM wants to focus on getting the VIP's and their families in shelters before the general public is warned, but Hazama and the rest of the Flamengers feel this is wrong. Then RA goes missing, my guess, he's got some plan in his back pocket and is searching out FBy. Hazama can't take the hypocrisy and leaks the info about the attack. |
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| I know I said before that this series has felt like it's staging things, but now it seems to be skipping whole steps to both up the absurdity and increase the degree of threat presented. If it isn't staged, I would think this is some kind of bad computer program where it's been given the basic outline of characters besides Hazama, but they are all functioning almost as caricatures and the world itself just builds itself on the fly to respond to story beats. I'd say I'm tempted to read summaries of the upcoming episodes, but I'm more intrigued to see this play out as is. Whatever the explanation is, I suspect it's going to be ridiculous. Episode 14 The PM literally orders his people to bomb the TV station. Dude is straight cold, and it wouldn't even help anyway. Before anything can happen, everyone's phones go off as though they're all simultaneously getting calls from more than 65,000 individual members of From Beyond, giving their names and stating when they'll attack, with the PM receiving a call from Big Leader himself... whoever that is. Honestly, I'm not even sure he's the actual leader. Protests begin. A national emergency is declared and they shut down roads. They prioritize defense, and though Hazama wants to help, he gets a Bright slap for his trouble. Ishihara and Konno come to pick him up (how did she know he was here and where is security for this building?!) and Hazama puts on a live broadcast explaining the situation, giving his backstory, and giving his thoughts on being a hero. We get views of various people and... yeah, Goto and Mari certainly look like they're getting close. Back at Flamengers base, he finds the other 4 waiting for him. What's the deal with absent gfs and wives (I noticed RA's wife showed up briefly later) in this show? Anyway, they resolve to defend the city, and Goto returns to work to do his part. The other two members of MMM arrive to take care of Mari (I guess the end of their lives hasn't broken through her fragile psyche). We get a scene of both Hazama and Goto thinking to contact the other, but they both decide not to. So sad. So it's Flamengers vs. 65,000+ enemies. Their vehicles help, but the varied enemies they're facing are just too much and too widespread, with the police and military quickly rendered powerless against their multiple flying fortresses, which, of course, combine into a giant spike drill that burrows into Mt. Fuji to make it erupt while another set becomes a giant kaiju to protect it. Just as things are looking impossible, RA arrives with other heroes in tow - all the heroes of various shows Hazama watches regularly... where were these guys before this? Why are they all super capable when they just acted these roles before? Why do they have all the abilities only made possible by studio magic? Irrelevant questions as they proceed to curb stomp From Beyond despite the still massive numerical disadvantage with some help from the normal people around them. The Flamengers get their second wind and become extremely effective. Just as they begin their counter-attack, they get a call from the final member of From Beyond mentioned earlier as missing from the count. Ominous. This is... Hazama in a long black coat!? It's From Beyond's Beyond Flamenco, Hazama's long lost brother! What, are we in a soap opera now? |
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| I don't mind how the plot has skewed to the absurd with the level of scripted staged moments, almost like this was a show right and the over the top cartoonish opponents. My main issue is that the characters we're seeing now are all boring and mundane, even Hazama has become boring. To pull off this sort of twist you need character writing that's going to allow them to react in a way that is entertaining. We haven't had that so far since the show went full on sentai mode. Episode 14. Literally the entire population gets called on their phones by members of FBy, just how would that work, maybe there are millions of members? Ok, it wasn't everyone, just 65k members of FBy who called the most important people. So now Hazama is at the 'being a superhero isn't what I expected' point of his character arc. I think it might be more Mari acting close with Gotou, although who knows. Wonder if we'll ever meet Gotou's gf, hope so, otherwise what was the point of introducing her and having us see all her texts to him (some of which made her sound fun 'sir Masayoshi and sir Gotou...'), would be a wasted opportunity. Why is Mari pissed at Moe, she was willing to sacrifice herself for Mari. I like the bromance moments of Hazama and Gotou looking at each others numbers on their phones then putting them back in their pockets with sigh and walking on. The OST has morphed again and now it's smooth jazz playing as events build up to the big attack. The fights against these random ass monsters is quite fun to watch. Just as the situation is looking dire, RA arrives with a host of.......other superheroes, now where in the heck did he get them from, is it their actors now playing the role of superhero? Delinquent Moon, lol. I think it's best to not try and understand how all this works and just enjoy what's in front of us. Healthy suspension of disbelief dose administered. The appearance of the superheroes precipitates a call to action from the public from everyone who ever wanted to fight alongside their childhood superhero. Finally, the big bad boss arrives, and holy shit, it's Hazama's long lost twin! What is this, a telenovela, lol. |
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| Episode 15 Beyond Flamenco burned too hot and too fast, largely talking in platitudes before stating he really has no clue why he's doing this and using Hazama's gun to shoot himself. RIP you weird doppelganger. With him goes a lot of the weird monsters they were all fighting... except for the giant drill, which continues to plunge into Mt. Fuji. Putting their lives on the line, the Flamengers go in after it. The PM wants to drop a bomb on it (...seriously? Dropping a bomb in Mt. Fuji to stop it from exploding? Where do they come up with these ideas!?), but RA and crew shut him down. Anyway, the Flamengers become the drill that pierces the heavens, barely escaping what looks like a sealed fate via rocket punch. So, Hazama recieves... another National Hero Award. Wow. Did it come with "Sorry We Tried to Kill You" balloons? They they get a tickertape parade (lol at the look on Kaname's wife's face when Flamenger Pink goes by) before closing up the Flamengers and all going their separate ways in a perfectly pentagonal pattern... I guess we're going into the next phase and need a reason to get the band back together later. Hazama runs into Mr. Justice, an American hero who's just going for it with that costume and seems suspiciously like Kaname before nearly getting arrested by the Bureau of Peace who open fire on the two heroes before getting shitwrecked by Mr. Justice's tackles before making off in a giant semitruck with a huge American flag on the side and singing the national anthem. Dude's got a brand and he's gonna milk it ostentatiously. The other Flamengers are making short work of the Bureau themselves before surrendering themselves for reasons, with only Blue making it out and finding his way to the PM. They get a moment alone, and Blue accuses the PM of hunting them down. He was a villain (probably not the boss... no... no one's ever the boss...) all along, and easily defeats Blue off screen. So now all the Flamengers stand accused of treason, Kaname included. Why are they trying to save this country again? And why are we getting into world politics now? We learn that Mr. Justice was made to fight all manner of Hollywood-made creatures to distract from Vietnam and Iraq before, once again, the Bureau of Peace makes their appearance. Hazama escapes while Mr. Justice does some crazy damage with a bat and beam before getting tranquilized. So now, Hazama's on the run, the world his enemy once again. |
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| Episode 15. Shit Beyond Flamenco just offed himself, wasn't expecting that so suddenly. PM wanting to drop an atomic bomb is a dead giveaway he's a wrong-un, he's been acting funny for a while. To begin with he was silent and only nodded, now he's the epitome of a self serving cowardly corrupt politician. The Robo uses its drill to stop the big drill and the crisis is averted. The Flamengers are feted as heroes then they all go their separate ways, walking off in different directions, which makes no sense when they're in a rock strewn field on the side of Mt Fuji. Next up Hazama is surrounded by the Bureau of Peace (?) and told to surrender, so now they've defeated FBy, the superheroes are being rounded up by someone, hmmm, sounds fishy. After HAzama is saved by Mr Justice, Flamen Blue approaches the PM to ask why they're being targeted and gets his ass knocked down, so yeah, looks like dude is on the dark side. As you say, there are all these fake big bosses, will it be the PM? Likely not. I think Beyond Flamenco gave us a hint, saying his name was a hint to something Hazama would find out later. Mr Justice says that the monsters and FBy were used to bolster the politicians favourability and allow them to pass legislation, sneaky. I could completely imagine this being something Trump would try 'I saved you from the monsters...no one else could've saved you....they respect me like no one else....they were eating the dogs' lol The PM declares that Hazama orchestrated the entire attack by FBy, presumably so he could play hero, is anyone going to believe that? Seems so as Hazama is made public enemy no 1 and now being hunted by police and public alike. Will he turn to Gotou and MMM? |
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| I laughed at that Trump line. "Monsters. Big, strong, scary monster walked up to me the other day, tears in its hundreds of tiny eyes and he says to me 'I want to thank you, Mr. President, for saving our country' before proceeding to just level this six story building. No one levels buildings like a good American monster anymore, get these literal aliens out of here and give the monsters back these demolition projects." Episode 16 Ooh, another new OP. I guess the series has taken a turn so it makes sense. I like the music they use for this one and how they use color wipes to show the various costumed forms of our characters. Hazama remains in hiding. Ishihara is lightly interrogated, released and followed. Harazuka has his stuff confiscated (again?!). The Flamengers and Kaname himself (who is in "the late great Hannibal Lecter" gear - I know this came out way before Trump said that line, but couldn't help it) are visited by Kaname's wife, who is working to get them out. Meanwhile, the PM's favorability keeps increasing while he hunts Hazama. You'd think with their national heroes jailed, that number would go down. Hazama is kicked into action when he sees Kaname's going to be executed, though he refuses to ask Goto for help. Mari blames Moe for "trying to look good" by volunteering to die in her place. Wow, no words for how twisted that perspective is. It's clear Mari blames herself, but can't just accept that blame and try to grow. While I may not love this scene, it's raw and real in a way that the series has not been for a good bit now. Mizuki rightfully decks her after Mari says she'd tear off Moe's face to avoid feeling ashamed, then Mari says that she's the only one that matters among them, which leads to Mari's running out and visiting the site of her torture and worst moment, wallowing in shame. I always find it weird and off-putting when an anime portrays vomit as a glowing substance, makes me think they swallowed the contents of a glow stick. Mizuki and Moe find her there, the latter with a bag over her head because Moe's too good to put the blame where it belongs. Moe entreats her to come back and sing with them despite all the terrible things Mari said, and this finally gets through to her... Then they start making out. I mean, there was some tension here, but I didn't expect a full yuri session after Mari just puked her guts out. Gross. The PM goes on TV to malign the Flamengers as an evil organization. Hazama, who has been on the run and hungry, decides not to steal a pastry that was ripe for the picking. Heroic even in desperate times. Still, he's massively disillusioned, hungry and alone. He's picked up by an older gentleman who appears to be a largely blind homeless aside from a makeshift tent who gives him some food. Hazama blames himself for this turn of events (dude, you're too hard on yourself) while thinking about Goto. The older man tells his story about his own disillusionment and run-in with a hero who saved him, who just so happened to be SF. He was inspired to do good because of SF's actions, and now it's come back around to him. So, at last, Hazama is inspired to seek out Goto for help. G&H reunited and it feels so good. My guess? Beyond Flamenco was a future version of Hazama, the one he'll become (or at least, could become) if events continue to play out this way. Maybe he turns to evil after Goto's death. |
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whiteflame55 said: lolI laughed at that Trump line. "Monsters. Big, strong, scary monster walked up to me the other day, tears in its hundreds of tiny eyes and he says to me 'I want to thank you, Mr. President, for saving our country' before proceeding to just level this six story building. No one levels buildings like a good American monster anymore, get these literal aliens out of here and give the monsters back these demolition projects." Episode 16. Hazama is certainly in a sorry state on the streets whilst the rest of the Flamengers are locked up and every one of his colleagues and acquaintances tailed. Agreed, good character writing. Mari is completely in the wrong and knows it, but we're seeing her frustration at being reminded she failed and her weaker colleague offered to save her. Writing good flaws isn't easy to do, they may not always make sense, but then peoples' actions don't always make sense (sometimes hard to remember when we watch a character suddenly act out or make a mistake). We all make bad decisions and then go 'now why the hell did I do that?'. Also liked hearing Misuki honestly admit that she's well aware that she and Moe aren't 'needed' in MMM and Mari is the one with real talent, must've be hard to admit out loud so credit to her. This show can do solid character writing when it wants, but it's only been with Gotou, Hazama and MMM. Ditto with the rainbow/coloured sick. It works in a comedy setting, ie Aqua in KonoSuba, but when they suddenly have a character puke rainbows in a regular setting it's just weird. I wonder if it's a censorship thing, ie not being able to show bodily fluids, so they colour it? Looked it up and yes it's a soft censorship thing (so the show can air in certain tv broadcast slots) as it is a bodily fluid. Also post puke making out, ick. I thought Mari was just being eccentric and vivacious when she kissed Moe before, but that looks like they're really into it, as if they're secret lovers maybe? The concept of the guy who's always wanted to be a hero, first becoming a joke/meme, then sensation, then actual hero and now turned fugitive is interesting. Problem is after some decent build up, events have happened at break neck speed, and it's become a tad unbelievable and having trouble accepting the more meaningful character moments, like Hazama at his lowest about to steal some bread, against the backdrop of such absurd developments on the larger scale. Hazama saying 'all this' is his fault is a bit much and it's all down to his selfish actions. A huge deception took place, taking in everyone, the superheroes, the public, the media. Bit hard on himself. Finally Hazama seeks out Gotou to ask for help. About time. |
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| Episodes 17 Goto’s ready with a gas mask and a set of makeshift weapons plus Harazuka with a 007 tricked out car. Love these guys, welcome back to the main plot. Konno’s here too, as is All Might Star and Stripe Mr. Justice. They’re here to stop their version of the Sokovia Accords from Marvel that kicked off Civil War. Seems legit. Our heroes break into the capitol as heroes do to shout “I object!” SF has yet another new outfit and even Goto’s striking a pose as Samurai Policeman. Get some of that spotlight you mad lad. A giant paint brush as a weapon… what is this, Okami? Time for the PM to go ham because we’re not dealing with an ordinary PM, you see. He’s Okazaki Flamenco Shintaro, and he manifests the power of former PMs to serve as power armor. That design evokes Japanese gods and insects for some reason. Watching his support tick up is kinda like watching Mob’s percentage rise in Mob Psycho 100. He does get stronger as it increases. Is the Flamenco name something that indicates power now, like D. in One Piece? Anyway, SF just wants to talk, but now it’s fisticuffs and SF is quickly overpowered. He manages to get a microphone on the PM, though, and reveals his dastardly plot to the world. These power-ups are looking more and more fantastical by the episode, dude even wields the Kamikaze Winds. Just when things are looking dire, FGs show up to help after their yuri session and are back to just crushing some testicles, and SP tells Okazaki he doesn’t support him. That… is unacceptable! Progress to JoJo meme! The microphone eventually does its job as Okazaki reveals his scheme because villains love to monologue. He loses support, SF and SP overpower him. For once, the villain doesn’t die or explode, but instead pulls a Gurren Lagann and says he was doing all this to stop an even bigger and more unstoppable villain that is a threat to all of Japan (cue the surprise music). And that threat is… Mr. Justice? No! It’s Alien Flamenco who looks completely different after removing just his mask, and he’s just one of many! Okazaki’s plan is so convoluted and silly that this reveal had me laughing. And now there’s a giant glowing ship in the sky. This show has officially become insane and with the gang back together, it’s time to face a galaxy level threat. |
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| Episode 17. Theo and Aria have colds and things are hectic, either one of the other crying non stop. Great to have G&H back together, Samurai Policeman lol, Gotou fully embracing his freakish side. The PM has some ultimate suit which derives power from his support, which collapses once people hear his plans laid bare. And then PM reveals there's yet another big baddy waiting in the wings. He's been playing the villain trying to become powerful enough to defeat alien flamenco. And yeah, why is everyone Flamenco, wasn't that a name given by Hazama's grandpa, or did it have some hidden significance? Looks like we're going Independence Day route but with superheroes. As you say, good to have the gang back together. |
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| I see you caught the premier episode of Re:Zero S3 as well. It was a long one, but damn did it ever hit hard at the end. Good to see the series back in strong form. Episode 18 Flamenco in Space. Yes, we're doing this. Alien Flamenco broadcasts his message of doom to everyone in Japan. I agree with the FGs at this point: "it's starting to get old" and "they should try something else." Love their commitment to the bit, but jazz it up. Sometimes a giant alien spaceship just isn't enough to get me in the mood, you know? Our heroes (and the PM) speak to Alien Flamenco (AF) directly and we learn that AF is doing this for the benefit of humans... somehow, and now they try to recruit SF as a fellow Flamenco. SF steps up to fight alone with Goto's support. AF, who carries 5 million Flamencos in his heart (apparently a lot like From Beyond), knows his anime tropes and has them talk on a riverbank. AF was also behind King Torture, so everything's been their fault so far, but they apparently are very good at peace by forcing rapid evolution. They want SF to evolve, too (this seems like a One Punch Man plot now), but SF rejects them due to his sense of justice and rejection of logic. SF then faces off against a gigantified AF before picking up the evolution stone and using it to make himself gigantic, too. They fight on the ship then on the moon, SF gives another heroic speech about how evolution isn't the way before sending AF blasting off again into space and crushing the lunar lander. The ship leaves with a "goodbye forever" from one of the girls (lol). Kaname was trying to escape prison with a small axe delivered by his wife (perfect woman), but gets freed anyway. Hazama somehow ends up normal sized and in a normal home... but it's not because he starts speaking to the universe's will (UW) made manifest. There are a bunch of heroes and villains here from previous fights. UW exposits about everything, we find out that Beyond Flamenco was Hazama from another universe who made different choices. Apparently, all the crazy things that have happened up to this point in this universe were the result of Hazama wishing for them, which... actually makes a lot of sense. This seems very much to mirror Hazama's desires, though I can't imagine he wanted to starve on the mean streets. So UW offers to either keep him battling forever or live a peaceful life with his stories on the shelf. He chooses the latter, believing that his goal isn't enemies, but the pursuit of justice. Finally, Hazama meets with his grandfather and thanks him. We learn that Flamenco in this universe is pronounced "Flamwenco" (OK...) and the word itself has a very low chance of granting a wish. I mean, if that was the case, I guess I'd be shouting the word at every opportunity as well just in case. Hazama returns home, finding Goto waiting for him, and tells him that he crashed into the moon, leaving behind a tracking pen. |
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| Re Zero S3, hmmm. I struggled with it tbh. I was tired when I watched it so maybe that impacted my enjoyment but it dragged for me. First off, I had to jump out and look up a recap of S1 and S2 so I could understand what was going on, had no idea who Priscilla or Felt was. I also dislike it when fantasy isekai suddenly bring Japanese settings wholesale into the world. Slime isekai did it in S2 and it's just lazy writing. I get the authors are trying to appeal to their domestic audience 'here's a setting, food and clothes from our homeland', but I want to see fantasy settings, rich and inventive, not bog standard Japanese ryokan with hot springs and yukata. To me it shows a lack of imagination on the part of the author and I roll my eyes whenever I see it in an isekai. Now Mushoku Tensei did something more interesting, having the mask girl, who also comes from Japan, try and imitate things from Japan and summon them, but you don't get an entire Japanese setting recreated in-world. Seeing aspects of our world appear is ok, and hints at some possible link between worlds, but when an author just dumps an entire setting, complete with massage chair, into a fantasy world, it is plain dumb and only for the benefit of the audience. Grinds my gears, lol. Lastly, I watch both sub and dub, and enjoy both. I watched S1 of Re Zero dubbed but S2 subbed. I really enjoyed S2 with the witches cult and sanctuary, but the sub got on my nerves for this longer S3 ep 1. As I've mentioned before, I don't like it when you get lots of Japanese suffixes for the names in fantasy setting, and Re Zero is full of them. Every other sentence it's san-dono-sama-tan, and it just doesn't work for me. You're in a fantasy world and everyone speaks with your distinct local way of addressing people, almost as if everyone were back home in Japan. Just started Danmachi S5 and it has the odd Bell-kun, but not as prevalent. It's a little thing, but it bugs me, so going to wait for the dub for ep 2. Yeah the ending was a bit brutal. Forgot to say that you're guess about Beyond Flamenco being a future version of Hazama was a good one and sounds like it was on point. Episode 18. So the aliens have one body but a hive mind, interesting angle. A trope aware alien taking Hazama to the riverbank, lol. So the aliens have been behind everything, KT and all the evolution of the monsters. AF wants SF/Hazama to evolve, but SF refuses out of a sense of justice. They then size up and battle on the moon where SF kicks AF into space. Then we get weirder. Turns out it was Hazama's will that caused these events, and this is explained to him by the will of the universe itself, taking the form of a superhero who he admires. Now Hazama can decide whether to keep wishing for more enemies to fight, or whether to go back to a normal, but mundane, way of life, in which case the exploits that have occurred will be catalogued and used as entertainment for other dimensions. Like that. Flamwenco, the magical charm, lol. Bizarre but funny. So sounds like all evil has been dealt with the SF is retiring! |
23feanorOct 5, 2024 5:01 AM
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| I get what you're saying. I'm not the biggest fan of the Japanese setting they're using for this one either (not like they haven't come up with good fantasy settings before), and yeah, the sub does have some issues working within the fantasy world. It wasn't as strong of a premier as I'd have liked, but it did what I wanted to see most, which was kick the arc off in earnest by the end. It's an open question whether it will go somewhere interesting. Episode 19 A 6 month time lapse and Hazama's living a peaceful life training and... apparently being the President? Well, not yet. He's humanity's hero (deserved) and they want to make him World President, whatever that is. Everything seems calm with the world. G&H meet up to talk like it's any other day, and Goto's off on a date with his totally real gf. Ishihara meets up with Hazama as well, and she might be dating Konno. MMM is doing fine, even if they don't seem to be pulling big numbers now. The other Flamengers have found places for themselves, and even Harazuka is a hot commodity. Turns out, world peace is boooooooriiiing. You'd almost think this was the finale if you didn't look at the episode count. Mari decides to keep Hazama in tow to stalk Goto because of course she would. At one point, he calls her "the last source of evil in the world." Lol. They find their way to Goto's mother instead, and we find out that he dated a classmate in high school. The girl went missing mysteriously, and that umbrella Goto had at the start of the series was found where she disappeared. They never found her, and so though he's been messaging her, there's no one on the other end to receive them, sending himself responses as well as a coping mechanism. This whole trip was to the bus stop where this girl went missing as a ritual of sorts. Mari tells him off for doing it, but he just goes back to doing it all the same. Hazama seems to do nothing about it. On his way home, Hazama runs into a young boy who asks to shake his hand before ranting about how adults undermine him and calling him a nuisance. Just as he does, an explosion destroys a room in the building above them. |
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| I really enjoyed S2 of ReZero with the witch stuff and Emilia's background, the sanctuary was good, as was the twist about Roswal, Garf was fun and unpredictable, there was the clones and Echidna. All really good. ReZero has loads of solid fantasy settings, the slums from S1, the mansion, the witches tea party, the capital, the sanctuary with the graveyard and ruins, so I was just a bit disappointed to see the old Japanese ryokan setting make an appearance, just fan service. I don't mind if there's a culture in the fantasy setting with an eastern feel, a bit like Japan/China/Korea etc, but give it its own feel, so it doesn't come across like you've dumped a setting from our world into this new city we're encountering. Episode 19. World Govt President hey, Hazama has sure gone up in the world. So Gotou is going on a date. I've already read your post before watching. We knew something was up with her but man that's heart breaking. And, does he have 2 phones and then swaps between them sending messages back and forth? I think Ishihara is quite fetching, quite a fire cracker, although she's very busy so in practical terms dating someone with such a busy schedule likely wouldn't work, or at the least you'd never see them. You hear that a lot about modern day Japan and salarymen and women who work till late and then get the train home, arriving after 10pm and have to up the next day and back in for 8am, so they only spend a short time with their partner and most of that time is sleeping. That would suck. All very boring now, what about drugs, murder and rape, theft, car accidents, have they all been eradicated? Mari and Hazama tail Gotou on his date. We hear the story from his mother. So Gotou has her phone and must be texting back from that. Wonder if she was taken by the aliens? Will she suddenly make a shock appearance or will Gotou finally get over her and get together with Mari, I've no idea. Or maybe she ran away, with the bus driver, and will turn out to be someone we've met, given this shows flair for the dramatic, I wouldn't bet against it. That hurt seeing Hazama look on at Gotou sitting at the bus stop with his hand to his own chest. Poor guy. A kid then appears and talks about how kids need to be taught, and adults don't understand and then an explosion happens. He introduces himself and says 'nice to meet you again' SF? Who is he, a new enemy from the will of the universe, or an actual earthly bad guy? Find out tomorrow on the next episode of SF [cue music]....... |
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| I'm hopeful that Re:Zero S3 will manage to be effective despite its somewhat blase choice of setting. It is intriguing that there's a flooding mechanic to the city, as well as these walls capable of keeping the city from going underwater. Wonder how the Archbishops will use that. Episode 20 So we're back to having a real villain in Sawada Haiji, who claims to have met Hazama before and planted those bombs in his room. He's also unnaturally strong, and just walks away from the scene. Hazama reports to the police, disbelieving that he faced either an alien or a garden variety terrorist. Holing up at a hotel, he watches all the news (there isn't much else to talk about) and receives a call from Haiji, who calls himself his last enemy. They met back at the beginning of the show when Hazama got beaten up by middle schoolers and apparently struck a chord with Haiji. He became obsessed with SF, and wants to be evil to challenge SF's justice, basically with the aim of just terrorizing him... ...except the police can't find any trace of Haiji, who they say died. No explosives in his apartment (the explosion seems to be a gas leak), no poison in his food (despite the threat thereof over the phone). Is this all in Hazama's mind? Has he... conjured a villain in the absence of one? I don't really like that explanation. The police don't track calls on his phone (he's received one recently from a cell phone), they don't post guards for a potential future world president... it's all weird. Another call, another threat, this one to the other Flamengers, who lose things they care for via various sordid means. Particularly heinous is Pink's loss of hair, though you'd think her being right next to the person who did it would at least give them a lead. Harazuka is shoved down some stairs, Kaname gets his by Truck-kun (where's the Red Axe isekai we all need!?). Harazuka seems to think it's some fourth dimensional being using a dead body to confuse Hazama (love this guy). Haiji is desperate to get Hazama to become SF again and fight him. He riles him up by threatening Goto because of course, so G&H reunite. Goto seems to think Hazama isn't in his right mind (come on, man, after all you've seen, I just don't buy the dismissiveness). This sparks an argument where Goto gets physical after being told that his gf is gone. Goto rejects Hazama because we've got to separate these two at a moment where Hazama needs Goto the most. Hazama speaks with Haiji one more time on a riverbank, somehow refusing the opportunity to take a picture of him with his phone when he's right in front of him and having him vanish before they can once again meet face to face. Even Hazama thinks he might be conjuring Haiji mentally, and thinks he has to defeat himself in the end. |
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| Episode 20. Is the kid, Haiji, real or is it a figment of Hazama's imagination, or manifestation of his imagination care of will of the universe? Haiji seems to have become interested in SF after he was beaten up by the middle school kids following his lecture to them on behaving themselves. This put him on a path to become SF's nemesis, aspirational kid. Next Haiji targets the Flamengers, ranging from cutting Pink's hair to hitting Kaname with a truck, although if Haiji is a middle schooler how did he get behind the wheel of a truck? You'd think the police would try and trace the calls to Hazama's phone, that would tell them firstly if there was an actual call or whether Hazama imagined it, and secondly the person who the phone is registered to. Or ccty, but that would bring an abrupt end to this little mystery so not expecting an answer just yet. Gotou has a point, all the attacks that Haiji has perpetrated seem a bit beyond a regular middle schooler. His death sounds a bit mysterious and his parents have disappeared, so there must be more to it. Maybe Haiji tapped into the lucky charm of 'flamwenco' and his will is being made manifest, just like Hazama's was. Hazama is seeking reassurance from Gotou, wanting someone to believe him but they end up arguing after Hazama mentions Gotou's missing gf. More soap opera melodrama, predictable but works between these two. Is Hazama himself the last boss? Not quite sure where this last arc is going. |
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| Episode 21 The penultimate episode. Hope things will start clarifying a bit this episode. MMM is back performing on a big stage. Moe and Mizuki collapse on stage, foaming at the mouth, poisoned by coffee they drank ahead of time that likely got there because of Haiji. I get that police aren't finding evidence for this, but a string of attacks against this many people close to Hazama can't be coincidence. Mari avoided it by chance, so now she's likely on the warpath to find the culprit. Hazama, meanwhile, considers suicide as he blames himself for creating Haiji (always so harsh on himself). Ishihara collects him and they go to the ICU to see Kaname. Kaname claims to have heard and seen Haiji himself, so he's not just a figment of Hazama's imagination. Kaname tells Hazama he has to handle this alone with love, which isn't the best advice and doesn't inspire confidence in Hazama. I did enjoy the back-and-forth between Flamenger Pink and Kaname's wife - the divorce papers and "this is the wrong place for a rectal exam" particularly got a chuckle out of me. And yeah, the feud between G&H remains strong with Goto particularly frustrated. Hazama wants to know what love is. He wants Ishihara to show him. Dude's been obsessed with superheroes so long that he never learned, apparently. Didn't know those were mutually exclusive. Ishihara brings out all the materials she saved from Hazama's career, revealing that she knew about SF all along and running through the insanity that has been this plot before explaining that she's watching over him and wants to be his support. She's the first person to really hear him out and accept what he's saying about Haiji, and contacts Konno to investigate because he has good sources that the police don't. Nice to see her step up this much, and she really does try to teach him what love is and does an admirable job. Meanwhile, Goto loses his phone and gets a new one. Score. Unfortunately, he's also getting messages from his dead gf telling him to give up on her and goading him into getting his phone back. This is probably Haiji. Konno contacts Hazama directly and gives him more info on Haiji, but beyond being apathetic about his parents who loved him and disappeared a year after he died, there's nothing new, though it may be a hint as to why he's obsessed with SF. Haiji then calls him from Goto's phone holding Goto hostage, confirming in a monologue to Goto that he was apathetic about everything before SF appeared in his life. He wants to evolve SF by becoming the ultimate villain, pulling the trigger on a gun aimed at Goto after saying "see you tomorrow, Go-chin." |
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| Episode 21. Love it when Moe says 'you remember how when Mari saved the world and Hazama helped a bit', girls only got eyes for Mari, lol. Haiji gets to Moe and Mizuki, but Mari's luck spared her from drinking the poisoned coffee. You're right, she's going to be on the warpath. On brand for him, Hazama jumps straight to the notion of killing himself so Haiji will stop targeting the people he knows. Kaname confirms that Haiji does exist, although how did he engineer all the attacks on so many people at almost the same time, he must've had help. Pink vs the wife are funny, wish we had more of those moments. Love is the heroes secret weapon, ah and here I thought it was a special canon or rocket pack. And would you know, Hazama doesn't know what love is, what about his gramps, surely he loved him. I get he may not know about romantic love, but love comes in many shapes, colours and sizes. He talked about his gramps with affection. Turns out Ishihara has been watching over Hazama a lot more closely than it appeared. More like a professional crush, but she hides it well. As you said, she did a pretty effective job of describing the various forms love can take. So is love going to save the day, maybe a brotherly love between G&H? Haiji kidnaps Gotou and orders Hazama to come to his old apartment if he wants to save him. We end on what appears like Gotou getting shot! |
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| Episode 22 Alright, time for the finale. I'm not sure what to expect, but it should be interesting. Batshit crazy prediction: it was Goto's gf behind everything all along! We start off looking back at Goto shortly before and after his gf's disappearance. Much as it's easy to appreciate Goto's position here, the lack of any characterization for his gf makes it hard to hard to fully come down to his emotional level. Even just a little insight into how long they were together and what their relationship was like could have made this plot point stronger, since we only see how much Goto was affected by her disappearance. That much, at least, we do get to appreciate more as we see him continue through his life without her for a long while and be confronted by her parents about the messages (and yeah, that would be pretty messed up to keep receiving messages from her bf after she died). We see how he acquired the phone and messaged to himself relentlessly, even bearing a different phone in each hand at school and messaging himself in real time at his desk. Everyone handles grief differently, but this seems very unhealthy. I feel for his mother who has to watch him spiral like this and decides to burn the phone, leading Goto to burn himself to rescue it. This is also when he decided to become a cop with "her" encouragement. At least he found a good outlet for these feelings, something protective and proactive, even if it does feel like an extension of his desire to resolve what happened to his gf, something her father still can't let go either (we're getting more characterization of her father than we are of her). Back to the present. The bullet goes straight into the wall. Haiji wants a Se7en situation where Goto kills him to scar Hazama for life. To make him go crazy, he decides to go back to the last message Goto's gf sent him, the one he's been obsessing over for most of the episode, the one that allows him to continue thinking she's still alive... and delete it. Yep, Goto wants him dead now. Outside, we find out that Haiji's parents faked his death at his request (crazy). Mari's following Hazama when he finds his way to Haiji and Goto. Haiji wants to complete SF by turning him into a dark hero with emotional baggage that will leave him scarred and is willing to sacrifice himself for that. Yeah, kid's insane and also brilliant to execute all this. So Hazama takes the obvious response: he disrobes in front of Haiji and Goto, resolving to face Haiji as Naked Hazama, saying he wants to find love with this middle schooler. Not creepy at all. It definitely throws him off, so mission accomplished. Hazama shows that he cares about Haiji, but in the scuffle, Goto gets loose and picks up a gun. Hazama refuses to let him shoot Haiji, instead proposing marriage... so not quite the brotherly love you were mentioning, but hey, love is love. They argue for a bit (lovers quarrel, lot of "morons" thrown around, particularly by Hazama who just devolves into saying "baka" a lot), but then Goto calls him a freak (d'aw! No, seriously, that conversation about how Hazama was a freak and not a hero was pretty touching and it's nice to see it come back around) and backs down with a final message from his gf, accepting that she's gone... ...but not Mari, who arrives on the scene to punch Haiji and give him a swift kick to the balls. On brand. After a roughly 6 month timeskip, we're at a museum to all things superhero with Flamenco Pink and Kaname's wife sniping at each other (I laughed at the "pig-keeping school tour" line, doesn't even make a lot of sense). We find out that the Flamengers are fine now as are those close to them. Konno is weirded out by Ishihara being nice to him. Haiji's locked up and unrepentant, so he'll be back to haunt Hazama, but Hazama seems fine with that. MMM seems back and tour and just fine. G&H aren't a couple (BOO!), but Goto has a living, breathing gf who is in Nicaragua (what's the deal with never getting to meet his significant others?) and Hazama's still SF going after litterers. Neat little wrap-up to everyone's stories. This was a wild ride of a series. I kept expecting the other shoe to drop as things kept getting more and more outlandish, and while it kinda did with the Universe's Will (I don't know how else they could have explained everything that was happening, but it was a deus ex machina that came out of nowhere), it made for a pretty odd series that I nonetheless enjoyed. I think it was at its best, though, when it was more grounded. The relationship between Hazama and Goto really was the centerpiece of it, and Mari, Moe and Mizuki were often investing as well, both at their highs and lows. When it got into their heads, this series was definitely at its best, and it even did pretty well wrapping things up. That being said, the absurdities in the middle got to feeling a little much. I could appreciate all the crazy monster designs until they were literally everywhere, then it all just became a mishmash of crazy. The constant escalation certainly had its moments, but as the cast ballooned, a lot of its best elements faded into the background, so I'm glad it all came back to its roots in the end. Haiji ended up being a strong way to bring things around and really show Hazama having come into his own as well as giving us some real development from Goto. In the end, while I do think this series was uneven, it leaned into it in a way I can definitely respect. 7.6/10, a worthy recommendation from Geoff Thew, and I look forward to Kids on the Slope next. Thanks again @23feanor for sticking with me throughout, always appreciate your thoughts. |
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| Reading your post I thought it was going to transpire that Mari was Gotou's missing gf, glad they didn't do that. I think they missed a trick not resolving the issue of Gotou's missing gf, maybe they could've had Hazama uncover the mystery, although it wouldn't have had a happy end, either she's dead (which at least would've been closure), locked in the bus driver's sex dungeon for the past 15 years, or else she ran away and didn't contact her parents or Gotou. Any of which may have been a bit downbeat so I can see why they didn't delve into the mystery too much. I was also reminded of the will of the universe we met in Excel Saga, the wheel which slept with Pedro. Only other time I can think of where the 'will of the universe' has manifested into an actual character. There are probably other examples but suddenly thought of Excel Saga. Episode 22. It's pretty hard watching Gotou deal with his gf's disappearance, we're invested in Gotou, he's a good lad, so feel for the dude. The not knowing would be crushing. I think they've deliberately left the gf vague as they don't want us to obsess over her disappearance (we're doing it anyway) given they won't solve it. As I said above, they don't tend to have good endings, either something happened to her or she chose to run away, painful for Gotou either way. Haiji has thought this out and wants his death to trigger SF's next arc, the morally grey dark hero. Loved Hazama going commando and confusing Haiji, then the proposal to Gotou, brilliant how they brought it back to these two and the little 'freak' conversation they had back in the early eps. Nice epilogue. Good conclusion. This was a wild ride and you never knew what was coming next. I just wonder whether this show might've worked better as a parody, still with the core character writing between G&H, MMM and Ishihara, but leaning more into the comedy with the absurd twists. It's easier to portray the sudden appearance of actual monsters and aliens through comedy (ie exaggerated reactions and acknowledgement, maybe by breaking 4th wall, that this is a parody, although this show did mention the ep count more than once) than try and write characters going through the chaos that would ensue if sentai villains turned out to be real or aliens appeared, the world and everyone in it would grind to a halt. The way the public went about their everyday business and monsters attacks were reported with the weather just felt unreal. It was entertaining. Apart from Pink the rest of the Flamengers were non entities and felt like NPC's. I wasn't sure about my score for a while, it ranged from mid to high 7 to a mid 6. The soft landing in this final ep helped decide me and scored it a low to mid 7/10 (7.3), similar type enjoyment to Birdie wing Golf Story and Bang Bang Bravern, good but could've been better. Thanks as always @whiteflame55, Aria just started nursery, I'm looking for a job and things are a bit of a whirlwind right now, but having these watches keeps me grounded so thanks a lot, really appreciate it. Onto a music anime, it's on HiDive which is a bonus as I'm getting sick of buffering/lagging where I'm watching on the high seas atm. I can't find any other site that works as well as 9anime/aniwave did, se la vie, 'oh it's the life of a pirate for me....'. I would honestly pay quite a bit more to get access to more anime via streaming, but I'm not willing to pay stupid amounts to get a blu-ray when I'll watch a show once and then it'll go on a shelf. I know Geoff touched on this, but a lot of shows I had in my library seem to have quietly disappeared from Crunchyroll and some never made it over from Funimation like Index and Railgun dubs. |
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| Hey @Aoi_hana, always good to see someone interested in joining our little watch party. I certainly had a good time with it, hope you enjoy! |
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