Then if you still want some silly satire, watch "Samurai Flamenco".
Coming from the respectable studio "Manglobe", "Samurai Flamenco" or "Samumenco" gives us a whole parody parade drawing it's influence from many, many famous titles and genres. From "Kick Ass" to "Power Rangers" to "Sailor Moon" to more grown-up titles like Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight", you could have a game of "guess what that's referring to" while watching this 22-episode series.
While it is a parody in most ways, it does try to stand on it's own. The story is about a guy who wants to become a superhero like those he watched growing up on TV. So, he puts on a silly costume and goes out crime fighting. This starts a long, winding road where he makes new friends, plenty of enemies, and has one of the most bizarre adventures this side of JoJo. Watching this story unfold, I thought I was gonna be rooting for the bad guys because the campy "justice will prevail" stuff gets annoying quick. But, by the time I was bored with that, the story shifted gears and things got a bit serious. It was quite refreshing.
The characters actually grew on me and while I'm not going to place them in my Top 10 or anything, I will say that I did enjoy the lovable goofballs that were as colorful as the art on display. A lot of bright colors and primaries that are typical of the superhero genre with sound effects of equal ability. The music is very ordinary, with some rock opening themes and some J-Pop to close. I was hitting fast forward through the credits a lot. The Japanese voice cast did a good job (still no English dub) performing well in both the silly scenes and the more dramatic stuff. Overall, it is a well-made show from top to bottom.
The finished product that is "Samurai Flamenco" does have it's merits, I laughed out loud many times and enjoyed myself, but I did also have to grind through a few of the early episodes and questioned the rapid shift in tones and plots that seemed to happen almost at a whim. To go from a bad guy who is actually intimidating to a group that looks like a band of rejects from "One Piece" is a bit of a let down. In the final analysis, it is hardly a failure, but it struggles at times (as many before have) mixing the action with the comedy and therefore ends up only as slightly above average spoof piece. 6/10 across the board. Check it out. Cheers!
