(L+CR) Samurai Flamenco

[DragoonKain3]

Damn they should make Tomatsu do hyper genki girls more often, ala Lala from To Love Ru, Yuina from HanaIro, and now Mari from this series. Like I know she has great range, and her tsundere is loved by a lot of people thus getting her typecasted as such nowadays, but I do think her genki perfomances are her best by far and away.

In any case, I'm glad Hit Girl Flamenco Girl has arrived, since it brings up the question "Does the ends justify the means?" Because the way she's going right now, she is becoming as criminal as the people she's apprehending.

[Requiem-x]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

Well perhaps but she also seems to have developed a thing for Goto by the end of the episode.

Darn, someone brought it up first. Maybe Mari doesn't have so much of a dark secret and is simply really childish/immature/curious, thinking crotch stomping is just fun.

I was expecting this girl to deliver, and she has, in ways I had never expected. Mari is a character of extremes in every possible way, which unfortunately includes her crime fighting style. I was genuinely expecting the episode to end with her bashing the skull of an innocent bystander, but luckily Masayoshi came through. For how long is now the question.

Also, I'm surprised at how has happened so far without it feeling rushed, especially in this episode. If I didn't know better, I'd swear this is a 1-cour show, but there's still plenty of Samurai Flamenco left, and it could really go in about any way imaginable.

This and The World God Only Knows are what I look forward the most every week.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Using tasers the way she does she's seriously going to kill someone - it's a question of when, not if. Not to mention hitting them full strength over the head with her magical staff which is presumably made of aluminium or similar. It wouldn't surprise me to see Kurata actually have that happen - it would be an interesting direction to take the story.

It's not going to happen, because if the show was going in such a serious direction, Kaname would have destroyed his career the moment he punched those variety show MCs on live television, and Hazama would have never caught up to the guy who took Gotou's umbrella either. Gotou would have also followed through on his threat and arrested Flamenco Girl for assaulting a police officer.

It's not just Mari - all three hero fanatics are beyond eccentric and would never get away with half the things they did in this show had this been real life. But as Kirarakim said, that's not the point.

The show is directed for comedy. I strongly doubt Mari will kill someone. She may try, but if it the show was going in a darker direction, it would have happened by now.

[MCAL]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

The show is directed for comedy. I strongly doubt Mari will kill someone. She may try, but if it the show was going in a darker direction, it would have happened by now.

It's only the fourth episode of a 22 episode series. Saying it should have happened by now, is way, way too early.

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

The show is directed for comedy. I strongly doubt Mari will kill someone. She may try, but if it the show was going in a darker direction, it would have happened by now.

I'm with Enzo on this one. The show clearly set some flags screaming that Flamenco Girl is going to do something very very stupid - if not outright killing, at least seriously injuring someone. The show IS going in a darker direction. It's true that this is a sort of tonal shift from the previous, more comedic episodes, but the signals are all there, and after all, it's 22 episodes - do you expect them to carry through all of them with the "dorky guy who thinks he's a super sentai" gimmick? The fact itself that Samurai Flamenco is now more competent and that he got seriously beaten/threatened by actual thugs rather than middle schoolers raises the stakes. I wonder whether this will attempt more to be a commentary on superhero stories or on Japan's relationship with the sense of what "crime" is - a sort of Death Note with costume heroes instead of Kira. I hope for the second, because deconstruction of superheroes has been done to death - Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and of course Millar's works Wanted and Kick Ass - and I can't see Japan providing anything too original to the topic, considering how superheroes were born in USA. In other words, I'd rather have witty social satire than Super Sentai Kick Ass (though the latter can be heaps of fun).

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

I'm with Enzo on this one. The show clearly set some flags screaming that Flamenco Girl is going to do something very very stupid - if not outright killing, at least seriously injuring someone. The show IS going in a darker direction. It's true that this is a sort of tonal shift from the previous, more comedic episodes, but the signals are all there, and after all, it's 22 episodes - do you expect them to carry through all of them with the "dorky guy who thinks he's a super sentai" gimmick? The fact itself that Samurai Flamenco is now more competent and that he got seriously beaten/threatened by actual thugs rather than middle schoolers raises the stakes. I wonder whether this will attempt more to be a commentary on superhero stories or on Japan's relationship with the sense of what "crime" is - a sort of Death Note with costume heroes instead of Kira. I hope for the second, because deconstruction of superheroes has been done to death - Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and of course Millar's works Wanted and Kick Ass - and I can't see Japan providing anything too original to the topic, considering how superheroes were born in USA. In other words, I'd rather have witty social satire than Super Sentai Kick Ass (though the latter can be heaps of fun).

"Going to"? They have been doing stupid things from the beginning. And I'm seeing more arguments on how you want to see the show shift to a darker direction than there being any actual hints.

Sorry, but I don't think ending an episode with "I didn't think he'd look so good in uniform!" as a punchline is a very good sign of more grim things to come.

[kuromitsu]

^Yeah, I'm with Shadow5YA on this one. I don't doubt for a second that the show is going to become a bit darker (we'll see to what degree) simply because we need some drama to fill out the 22 episodes. But I don't really see how this episode in particular was "obviously" a hint about the anime becoming a grimdark social commentary on the Nature of Crime in Japan.

(Frankly, I think all the focus on Gotou's girlfriend and him texting her, if she even exists, is more of a hint about the near future... )

Originally Posted by Gan_HOPE326

and I can't see Japan providing anything too original to the topic, considering how superheroes were born in USA.

Oh ffs. *grinds teeth*

[MCAL]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

"Going to"? They have been doing stupid things from the beginning. And I'm seeing more arguments on how you want to see the show shift to a darker direction than there being any actual hints.

Sorry, but I don't think ending an episode with "I didn't think he'd look so good in uniform!" as a punchline is a very good sign of more grim things to come.

Like I said, saying that there is no way you can say the show isn't going to go somewhere different on episode 4 of a 22 episode series is too premature an opinion.

[Guardian Enzo]

As far as this widespread feeling that Mari's actions are being played mostly for laughs, and that this isn't the sort of show to "go dark". I disagree - I think there are already hints it's going much darker, and we have two cours to see it happen. We'll see who's right - it's too early to claim victory for either side.

One thing I wouldn't say that abut, though, is the claim that Mari's actions are no different than Hazama's - that they're both just weird. I call BS on that - Mari's dysfunction is not comparable. Even if you don't believe she's a man-hater (which I think is made pretty clear) at the very least she's obviously a sadist - and there's no sign of that whatsoever in what Hazama does. They may both be delusional and misguided, but she's way more messed-up than he is.

[Kirarakim]

I think I am with Kuro & Shadow, I can see the show adding more drama and conflict for the characters, but yeah looking at the opening and ending I don't expect this to get too dark. I definitely don't think this is going to turn into Death Note with super heroes.

At least i hope not because I don't think Death Note was good at all.

I also personally don't see Mari a man hater, but we will see. Even if she didn't develop feelings for Goto, she never showed that she hated Masayoshi. And since she recognized the Red Axe song, it seems she was a fan of him as well. I just think she has taken the magical girl thing way too far. And no I don't think she is a sadist. Although perhaps there is a reason that she wants to hurt criminals, as she said "I think criminals should die". To me it's not that she is a sadist but that she thinks she is above the law & probably feels being in power thrilling (well I guess that last part could be a bit sadist).

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by MCAL

Like I said, saying that there is no way you can say the show isn't going to go somewhere different on episode 4 of a 22 episode series is too premature an opinion.

Claiming the show is going towards a darker direction based on the current four episodes is also too premature of an opinion.

[GDiddy]

I'm sure something will happen eventually if it's 22 episodes...has to keep the plot up...but we're still in the early stages here, meeting most of the players.

So last week, we had Jackie Chan parody and this week we now have a magical girl otaku.

[OkamiNoKaze]

I wonder if Gotou's girlfriend is one of the other Idols? I'm guessing Mizuki the short haired one

[Kakkou]

Throwing in my towel with the faction that feels it's too soon to conclude the show'll turn edgy grimdark super real social commentary etc. based on these 4/22 episodes. Also some people really need to get it in their heads that this show is taking it's inspirations and tropes from tokusatsu (and with Mari, now magical girl) shows rather than the western superheroes and comics they grew up with. Please go to Tiger & Bunny or the Marvel anime series if you want your anime western heroes that much.

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Oh ffs. *grinds teeth*

I was about to say more but I think I'll just do as you did and grind my teeth at that.

On a different note, where is the fuel for the whole "Gotou's girlfriend may not be real" thing coming from? I must've missed it.

[Haak]

I also don't think it is going to go superdark. At most I think what will happen is that Mari could end up really hurting someone and she realises that she's going a little too far but the person she hurts turns out to be okay and there no real consequences to her actions.

Not that I mind because I'm totally loving this show anyway. Hazama is what Izuru from Majestic Prince would be if he lived in normal setting, Mari is what Yuina from HSI would be if she had a secret superheroine complex and Goto...well Goto is what Sugita would be if he were a cop.

[Kakkou]

Originally Posted by Haak

Goto...well Goto is what Sugita would be if he were a cop.

He's still a bit too serious to be Sugita. The Goto who enjoyed standing on the roof as Samurai Flamenco is a little close though.

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Oh ffs. *grinds teeth*

Sorry, I expressed myself in a rather crude way there. What I meant was mostly that Japan's superhero genre is way different from the western one - the Super Sentai were inspired by western superheroes but turned more into fighters protecting the Earth from external threats than dealing with crime or other internal issues. In this case, a very close example would be Fantastic Four. What we're seeing here, though, despite the Super Sentai appearance of SF, is closer to vigilantism - more like Spiderman, Batman, or, of course, Kick Ass. In this sense, I think the big difference is that superheroes are an integral part of american culture and they carry a lot of political subtext (which is made even more obvious in events like Marvel's recent Civil Wars, not to talk about how the Dark Knight movies carried some pretty heavy political implications). I think these specific issues are a bit extraneous to Japan's superhero tradition, and I can't see why they would want to tackle them, least they alienate their own public.

[Manabu]

Originally Posted by Kakkou

On a different note, where is the fuel for the whole "Gotou's girlfriend may not be real" thing coming from? I must've missed it.

The suspicion that he is texting himself this episode and the opening scene where he throws flowers to the sea.

[Shenlong]

I'm in the "he gets dumped later in the series" camp and hooks up with either one of the idols or the manager :3 Long distance relationships are notoriously problematic and would add to the darkness and drama the show needs to sustain the amount of incoming episodes.

[Anh_Minh]

They're especially problematic if he ditches her whenever his moronic friend does something stupid.