Samurai Flamenco is a Superhero, comedy-drama released during the Fall 2013 anime line-up. Playing out like an anime version of the movie Kick-Ass except even more ridiculous, the shows constant switching in tones and arcs as the story progresses, as Richard Eisenbeis states “…depending on how the series so far is interpreted, it's either brilliant or terrible—and I can't seem to decide which.” (Eisenbeis). Samurai Flamenco, despite this, shows the audience as they follow the journey of Masayoshi Hazama, that even while the distinction between the real world and fictional world of heroes like The Power Rangers blurs: that being a hero is much more than trying to become like the ones in the different shows and movies. Key events that portray this progression into the fictional world but also Hazama’s growth is finding about his parents death, his talk with his friend Goto, and the appearance of Guillotine Gorilla and King Torture during what would have been just a PR event drug bust all occurring in episode seven, which happens to be called “Change the World”.
Briefly, according to the official site Samurai Flamenco is “For those “grow-ups” who don’t want to be adults.” (Manglobe), with the story being about “…the birth of a true hero featuring these two young men with a touch of comedy and serious drama, while they come face to face with hardships as they search for the true meaning of becoming a hero of justice in this world!”(Manglobe). Directed my Takahiro Omori, who is famous for his live-action-style directing, Samurai Flamenco starts out as a fairly light-hearted series focused around the main characters Masayoshi Hazama and Hidenori Goto as Hazama begins his journey to become a superhero without the use of powers or advan...
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...s past and coming to terms with his existence was preparing him for fighting an even bigger threat, like King Torture and his minions.
In the end, Samurai Flamenco is a peculiar anime, which had a very light-hearted beginning and then suddenly shifted to being a dark super-hero show that still manages to have moments of folly. Masayoshi represents the child within all adults that wants to fight for the ideals his childhood hero’s stood for, to be the cause of a change in society no matter if it is abiding the rules of the real world, or the ones of a Japanese super-hero TV show.
Works Cited
Eisenbeis, Richard. “I Can’t Decide if Samurai Flamenco is Brilliant or Terrible”. Kotaku. N.p.,
14 January 2014. Web. 6 April 2014
“Samurai Flamenco: #07 Change the World”. Daisuki. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 April 2014
Samurai Flamenco. Manglobe, n.d. Web. 6 April 2014
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