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(All episodes watched--twice): I had thought that 'SamFlam' would, as the title suggested, be set in the Warring States era, but it turned out to be a both amusing and somehow moving present-day story. Perhaps because I knew nothing at all of what to expect, the revelation, even before the OP sequence, of what Hazama was up to drew a LOL from me. I was reminded of Tiger and Bunny somehow; perhaps the two guys as main characters, one older and kind of jaded, the other younger and more enthusiastic; and/or the premise that being a superhero is not all it's cracked up to be. This show is set in the present day and really could happen, however. Hazama isn't crazy, and Goto probably recognizes a spirit he once had but has since lost. It's kind of sad how Hazama gets nothing but trouble in exchange for trying to help his fellow citizens. I got some decent laughs out of this and I suppose a developing friendship between the two of them (or maybe the recruitment of numerous others, as in the artwork above) will follow. All-in-all, this was a show which turned out to be much better than I had expected. Whenever the first episode of a show makes a good impression, there's always the possibility that one good episode was a fluke, and the remainder of the show won't live up to the same standards. So you go into episode two with your fingers crossed, so to speak. Fortunately, the quality of SamFlam seems to be constant and reliable. I like this show! It's going somewhere. We meet Hazama's domineering female manager, and a minor Idol singer who he has met seems to have something in common with his superhero ideals. As a result I am eager for the next episode, to see what will come of this. This is a fun show. It doesn't belong to an established genre, instead it is largely original. There are no supernatural powers, no lives in danger, just a fun story. Hazama seems to be accumulating a group of loyal supporters who know his secret; like 'Flamenco Girl', who delights in tying captured criminals up and then repeatedly kicking them in the nuts. Strange twists abound, like the famous but now out of work actor who claims to be SamFlam. Whereas I tired of the plot of Tiger & Bunny, which wasn't making much sense or compelling me, the plot here is plain and obvious, yet intriguing. What will become of a young man who only wants to do good? The way episode three ended reminded me of how much I was enjoying this show. The excitement went into sort of a lull afterwards, as crime decreases and Hazama reflects on what got him into the hero role in the first place. However, things take a very strange turn in episode seven as we discover that Hazama's life has been more like that of a classic hero than we had thought, and his obsession isn't as unrealistic as it had seemed--basically, there really is a dire need for a hero. This turns everything we thought we knew upside down, and whether it will work out well or be a disaster remains to be seen--but the quality of this series up to this point makes me more optimistic than pessimistic. Episode eight was... confusing. Spoiler: Apparently, some genuine freakish monster-villains have appeared; and they fight Hazama/Samurai Flamenco and the Flamenco Girls in the usual manner of sending one flambouyant bad guy at a time, so that the job of beating them doesn't get too difficult. But it was unclear how seriously I was supposed to take this; jokes about the behavior of the Japanese Prime Minister, among other things, suggest that this is a sort of parody; yet people definitely got killed in episode seven. The fantasy superhero world and the present-day real world get entangled with one another in a bewildering manner, and since they are ultimately incompatible I feel that I must have misunderstood something, but I don't know what it was. Isn't it obvious to you characters that things in the real world are working out almost exactly as they would in a typical superhero anime? Basically, SamFlam told us in episode one that this would be a real-world show, and for six episodes it was, but then the rug was abruptly yanked out from under us in a confusing manner. So, I am getting some very mixed signals and don't know which are the ones I'm supposed to get and which came by accident. After being not so sure where this show was going for awhile, things seemed to get back on track in episode nine. Perhaps I was reassured that the glaring similarity between what typically happens in superhero anime and what is happening in Hazama's Tokyo wasn't just an unexplained coincidence (or shortcut), no, there is some sort of purpose to it. 'King Torture' acknowledges how manga or anime-like his actions have been, and clearly has taken great pains to make it so, though why has yet to be explained. Basically, why are events working out in just about the best way they ever could from the perspective of an admirer of superheroes? Is it all a dream? Despicable acts by the King and discoveries by the scientist backing Hazama make things serious and intriguing, with the result that I want to know what's going on here. This is actually pretty cool--that was a thought that occurred to me during episode ten. The story makes some sense after all; just as Hazama has fallen in love with the good guys of anime hero series, somebody else has fallen in love with the bad ones. King Torture isn't just plain crazy, or a cheap stereotype, no, he talks intelligently and makes some good points. There's no way this could really happen in real life, but that's permissible since it is handled in such a cool manner. The conclusion's conclusion was a little too abrupt, though; quality varied somewhat throughout this episode. Still, this conclusion(?) works pretty well. But why is this series seemingly wrapping up during episode ten (and there's clearly at least one more episode to come)? Is this another 11 episode series? I guess something is still missing, like us learning how this experience will affect Hazama and whether he'll retire from the superhero business now (or something else). What was I thinking? The battle against stereotypical evil forces isn't over, no, it has barely begun. An even greater threat than King Torture appears in episode 11. It's still hard to say just how seriously I am supposed to be taking this (or how seriously the makers were taking it), but it remains bizarre in a fun way. Maybe a greater effort should have been made to make the plot seem realistic and plausible; or maybe all efforts to do that should have been abandoned and the show should have gone whole-heartedly the other way. I don't know; it just seems kind of teetering on the edge between plausible and parody. Will it all be revealed as nothing more than a dream at the end, like in the OP sequence? With a show as freaky as this, anything could happen. After going missing for three or four weeks, SamFlam is back in the Winter Season. Hazama is now the leader of a new five-member team, the 'Flamengers', who are clearly a Power Ranger parody. But Gotou and the Flamenco Girls are still around, and will clearly continue to play a part in the story, which is good news. This is a show which continues to claim that it is taking place in the real world, yet all sorts of classic anime superhero stuff takes place. I remember that back after the rug was pulled out from under us, I wondered if it might all turn out to be a dream or alternate universe, since those were about the only explanations I could come up with. The show seems to be doing a balancing act between comic parody and (occasional) serious action, and while it confuses me at times, so far it seems to be working. The farther it goes, the more clear it becomes that this is a show which likes to repeatedly yank the rug out from under us. It seemed that the From Beyond evil organization was going down too easily, and sure enough yet another bizarre turnaround takes place, which nullifies that accomplishment and places Hazama and his allies in a new sort of danger. It's hard to believe that anybody could come up with enough of these resets to keep the show as a whole from crashing and burning at some point, but so far the makers have done a masterful job of it. All sorts of stereotypical events which are common to hero series occur (like discovering that you have an evil twin), and Hazama and the others (and us) must try to make sense of it all. I was LOLing during episode 15, something I hadn't done during either of two comedies which I had watched earlier. 'Mister Justice', the American hero who turns up in this episode, was hilarious. But how could SamFlam as a whole possibly end? I liked episode 16, in which after having the carpet yanked out from under us yet again, we get back on our feet and make sense of what's going on. And, to our relief, it does make some sense. The Flamenco Girls, who have been shunted aside for awhile, are back, and their leader comes to grips with her all too realistic problem. The argument between them fascinated me and left me saying to myself that SamFlam is a damn cool show. Some touches in this episode were a little too predictable, but in general the story is continuing to expand and stretch it's envelope even farther. Somehow, this show just takes stereotypes and finds ways to reuse them in a fresh and intriguing way. It's hard to put the technique into words; you have to see it for yourself. Episode 18 ended in a way which made me wonder if the series as a whole wasn't over; an existential, mind-stretching explanation of why Hazama has been on this neverending (until now) quest to defeat evil and protect justice is revealed. But no, there's more to come. Perhaps the show will move back towards the premise it had when it first began, namely a guy with nothing particularly special about him other than an admiration of the hero ethos, living in everyday, boring Japan. The characters have gotten a lot of development, and I would like to know how the story ends for them as well as for Hazama. Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be good. Evil has been defeated, and life is so safe that it is frankly boring. It seems too good to be true, and indeed it is. In episode 19 we learn about a startling problem on the part of Gotou, who had seemed the completely level-headed and rational guy up until now. And Hazama gets a cryptic message from a stranger (or is he?) about trouble that still lies ahead. The problem is, I couldn't understand it at all, not even after reading the subtitles twice. Hopefully the next episode will explain things better. I'm also not sure if I understand the strange habit Gotou has developed. There's probably just three episodes yet to come in which to make sense of all this, but I'm looking forward to it. This presumably final opponent for Hazama is a strange one; on the one hand he seems like nothing more than a teenage boy; on the other, he might have some inexplicable powers--and given all the weird stuff Hazama has encountered, anything is possible. This will need to be a very good arc, since it will wrap up the series. With this show, it's always hard to believe that it will be able to come up with something which is both new and on par with what we have already seen; but so far, it always has. The naïve Hazama employs an unconventional tactic against this new opponent. In short, the theme of SamFlam seems to be that solving one problem only creates another. The most honest and revealing compliment I can offer for Samurai Flamenco is that I have just finished rewatching it in it's entirety. My favorite line: "Prime Minister! Based on your answer, I may have to kick your ass!" --Flamen Blue Last updated Tuesday, August 04 2020. Created Thursday, October 17 2013. | ||||||||
