Samurai Flamenco – 13
The unlucky thirteen bitchslap is it for us.
Samurai Flamenco…People have been talking a lot about this superhero show, but not in a good way. It’s been bashed and mocked heavily ever since the Guillotine Gorilla event changed everything without warning. Even before then it’s had quite a bit of scorn for looking like a dog’s breakfast and failing to deliver a decent plot. Kyokai and I hung in there as long as we could, eyes a-glimmer with hope for change. That change never came.
Overcooled has summarized our sentiments quite nicely. When Samurai Flamenco premièred in Fall’13 under noitaminA block with Donna, it looked quite promising. Both of us were very excited with Omori’s involvement and Manglobe does have some nice niche titles that have gone big so the possibilities were numerous. However, both of these noitaminA titles failed to capture audience’s attention and when Donna wrapped up in a single cour, Samurai Flamenco is still chugging on, but really nothing is left of that bright beginning.
When the Highs Become the Lows
Overcooled // My favourite part of Samumenco was the drama. Masayoshi had formed a lovely relationship with Goto (no, not like that…unfortunately), and adding Mari to the mix made things all the more interesting. Unfortunately, even that begins to go downhill this week. The conversations between Goto and Masayoshi lack the same spark they used to, as Goto may as well be talking to a wall. Masayoshi has clammed up and doesn’t tell his buddy about even the most rudimentary things – such as an impending alien invasion that’s going to kill everyone. It’s frustrating. Especially so when Goto is being the most open he’s ever been, gushing about his relationship with the as-yet-unseen mystery girlfriend and talking about Mari.
I’d much prefer to see how Mari and Goto are getting along than this idiotic superhero garbage. There’s clearly a lot of drama going on in his small apartment with a heartbroken idol pawing at him constantly. It would be a hell of a lot better than seeing the Flamengers grapple with the most ham-fisted attempt to make a statement about the government and cowardice. Evacuate all the rich people first? Make the prime minister such a dick that he slaps Red Axe around not once – but repeatedly? I want to cry. Even the “behind the scenes of the heroes” bit has gotten to be a real drag. I suppose it’s mildly better watching them argue about justice and go through personal struggles than fighting ugly monsters, but only by a hair’s width. At this point, there is no redeemable quality to this show.
When You Can’t Find a Head or Toe
Kyokai // I watched Voltron, Thunder Cats and Transformers when I was a kid. It was a wonderful experience and I had fun enacting some of the less risky poses around my friends just for the heck of it because heroes are cool. They inspire us and some of the well-written ones actually make us stop, think and take stock of our own life. The concept of cool changes as we grow up but as I still watch anime, marvelling at strong heroes is nothing new. The reason I looked forward to and even liked the original tone of the series, which centred on heightening the underlying morality of the society by making them aware of small mistakes that become big when they accumulate. I’m a person to whom small things matter more than big; so, this was just up my alley.
Not to mention, Masayoshi’s innocence, Hidenori’s straight talk and Mari’s craziness was something that kept me going week after week. Their character interaction was something that I always looked forward to and we did get them for a while. Though, who expected that the genre switch would become so extreme that the main support cast of the anime would almost fade to background with many unannounced characters taking their place? This too without any plausible reason of a head or toe. You could say, “But Kyo, this is anime, thus anime logic.” Yes, I’m well aware of this logic but even that has some limit and Samumenco passed it the moment Flamengers were introduced. See, I’ve been tolerant with King Torture’s minions and his monsters but these nobodies who supposedly have powers just waltz in hogging the screen, while my favourite characters appear in a few piecemeal scenes? Really, there is nothing here for me to see.
Talk to the hand because WE ARE DONE! ___ψ(‥ )
So without further ado…WE QUIT. There are just so many other important things we could spend our time on, like blogging other shows or banging our head against a wall all day. We’re not the only ones either. Samumenco had some promise at first, but it was squandered the second that gorilla appeared. From that point it’s just been a blur of disposable villains that try to terrify the world by handing out tissues or spraying perfume. I have seen scarier puppies than that. Even if they were supposed to be cute, kind of like the bunny-robots in Witch Craft Works, they still are boring to fight. Even worse, the Flamengers are boring fighters. Boring enemies and boring heroes? Hmm, how could that ever be a bad idea?
I still have no idea why they would choose to create a team of Power Rangers. It sounds like a joke that halfway through a regular show you add in giant robots without warning. Why did anyone think this would work? I can only hope this whole show is one big joke and that they run out of money and have to draw the final episode with crayons. I am frustrated that I spent 13 episodes waiting for this show to get good. I would be willing to go through electroconvulsive shock treatment just to erase those memories. Remember, kids: when a series gets bad, just drop it. Drop it and never look back! There is no shame in doing so…especially if the offending series wants to convince you that giving up and copying the Power Rangers halfway through is an original idea.
I’m out. (⋆ˋ⑉̈ˊ)൭൭⁼³₌₃
This is the first time I am quitting a show without finishing it. I have dropped a lot of shows but not the ones I decide to blog, because I kind of feel responsibility towards it but this is really not worth it. How long can you survive when the content thrown at you is garbage and every episode you start with a glimmer of hope that things might go well but get even worse? In no way I expected things to boil down so horribly. Boiling Rhino and Beheading Gorilla were awesome in comparison to the lame monsters that have recently cropped up on the show. They are so uninspired that it seems that the designs have been filched from a school art contest of the primary kind. And as I swear by children’s creativity, they are extraordinarily better than this rubbish. Sorry kids, for even comparing them to you.
From a growing strong character, Masayoshi has become a stony-faced leader who is just pulling things out of his ass without any foreshadowing or even sharing it with his supposed friends. Jouji became a doormat and Sumi didn’t even give Masayoshi the proper beating he deserved. Mari’s mood swing is the only plausible thing along with Hidenori being the only one staying still in-character. While, Moe, Mizuki and Jun have faded into the background for a bunch of jumpy deplorable brats. It seemed the Flamengers bug will blow over like King Torture upgrade but even if it does, I don’t care any more. For a few episodes, it has been a struggle and I was still hanging on just for the audience but I am sure that even our readers won’t mind. Rather than banging our heads together for thinking what to write, Overcooled and I have come to the mutual agreement of quitting this for good.
Over and out! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
If they had done the Voltron Rangers thing for that one first episode and then imploded it at the beginning of the next, they might have had a chance. Swinging through every genre of hero show was at least an ethos. But to go through everything else, and then land and stick on that to finish, that was a terrible decision.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Yep, I was banking on that to happen but alas, it’s been a few episodes and this theme isn’t letting at all. 🙁
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It makes you feel cheated for all the time that was invested in it, only to be rewarded with disgust.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It’s a shame really, the show did hold promise. But was it the promise we looked for? For me, it had a bit of subversiveness to it. But that rather quickly revealed a truth; you cannot deconstruct something as insipid as these types of superhero shows. At least not for two cour.
I think it was done rather brilliantly in another show, for one episode. That would be the first episode of the second season of Mistudomoe.
Thanks for all the memories. I’m sure we will all find something do to in the wake of this show.
Cheers.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’d imagine most people have already found something else to do. I know I haven’t watched the last couple episodes. There’s plenty of other shows on Thursday.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
My crazy long backlog of stuff from last season too doesn’t help. There are many other shows to watch instead of this!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Just how big is your Fall 2013 backlog? Surely, it’s not more than 10 shows.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I can bet everyone already found a better distraction in another show a long time ago. They were probably just waiting for a unanimous vote to drop this one once and for all. I didn’t even bother download the recent episodes.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
it must have been a really bad show if even THE Boss-Lady decided to drop it, thankfully i sticked by the 3 episode rule and the show didn’t sit as good to me…but the post is pretty well made thanks tag team |\(^v^)/|
and
it could have been a comedy…it would have worked better
and
i agree with HW we have plenty of other shows on thursday
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Well, we had to put our foot down after all the mindlessness. A lot of things could have done to save this but oh well, what’s done is done.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But the thing is that 90% of the series was already mindless and whatever sensibilities were left got taken over. For a while, I knew the show was beyond saving.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
What started out as a cool attempt at a anime version of KickASS I had high hopes for Samurai Flamenco because I didn’t find Gatchaman to be all that great personally, but wow this series failed so freaking hard! I swear that the producers had no idea what they actually wanted to do with this and turned it into LOL-rangers…
I will still watch this just to see the huge troll ending because I really don’t take this serious at all! SO BRING IT ON FLAMENCOOOOOOO
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Tell us what happens in the end because I never want to see another Flamenger as long as I live u_u They really had no clue what they were doing, indeed.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
It was never supposed to be an anime version of Kickass. The fact that people expected such a thing was a problem from day one.
Besides the Rangers thing won’t even last. Just like the one against King Torture only lasted a couple of episodes.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Kickass or batman or whatever you want it to be its still a dude with no superpowers putting on a suit to fight crime, but I was expecting something more serious like the start of the series! I guess things happen.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But the moment he started saying he wanted to be a hero because of those he idolized on TV, that’s when things began to go awry.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
He did say at the beginning of the show itself that he wanted stop the small crimes and work his way up to fighting evil organizations. That was always his goal.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s true. Maybe I wouldn’t be so flustered had he said he’d do so by being an authority figure in law enforcement. The heroes he idolized aren’t quite in the realm of possibility without being labeled vigilantes which of course is what he had to deal with at the start.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You’re a brave man to keep going with this, Fosh. I endured the likes of Shining Hearts and it was nowhere near this horrible. Even Gatchaman Crowds kicks this show’s ass with ease.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True I can agree there minus the trolololo ending.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Mari is a terrible person and the fact that you try to make her out to be a decent character when she just wants attention and doesn’t care how she gets it, treats others like garbage or uses them for her own needs unless they fit her fetish, and all about hitting people in the groins because she can is not the makings of a good character. This weeks episode only made me hate her more with how she spoke to Moe. She is a selfish brat and I’m happy King Torture took her off the pedestal you’ve placed her on.
Masayoshi was outright told to not tell anyone by the Prime Minister about what was going on, and the fact that he couldn’t even bring up the shelter to Goto showed he just couldn’t bring himself to select who to save. That’s why he counted as he saw a poster of the girl’s group. Also, really? He outright vomited in that bathroom before he went on TV and told everyone. The pressure clearly getting to him. He wasn’t just pulling things out of his ass like you falsely say. The guilt was clearly getting to him.
Hell the episode even made me sympathize with at least one Flamenger (Blue) just by showing me what his home looked like. Not to mention most of those other characters didn’t have that much screentime even before the Flamengers, so I don’t really see how anything’s change. The focus has mostly been on Masayoshi and Goto.
It was also speculated and pointed out even during King Torture’s arc that he had alien technology and someone had to have funded him. So these nobodies were bound to exist and be behind him.
I won’t deny this show isn’t that great, but then it has its own shine to it and its something that I enjoy. I can even tolerate Mari on occasion like I did this episode cause what happened to her clearly shook her up and showed her how ugly she is on the inside.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
To each his/her own really. To us, Mari was the only crazy character that kept things going even with her flaws; though, Hidenori comes to a close second of saving this show.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Mari was the only reason I decided to pick the show back up after dropping it like a hot potato after how irritating the first episode was to me but not even she was able to keep me wanting to watch the pure drivel Samurai Flamenco became.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
No, sir, this was diluted drivel. Purity would have been a selling point…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Miracle Muse (and Mari) was the only reason I didn’t drop the show at around episode 2, to be honest. And Goto. I never really liked Masayoshi at all.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What a waste of time this show has become and to think I gave it a second chance. I feel nothing but regret. We really must be gluttons for punishment thinking there would be any improvement whereas it definitely wasn’t the case. I didn’t even bother watch the 13th episode. In fact, I deleted the folder of episodes from my laptop and external hard drive to make sure erase any trace just to show how disappointed I am.
Overall, good riddance to bad rubbish and it’s good to know I’m not the only who feels that way. I’ve got an open time slot, a bunch of Winter shows and 8 other ongoing animes that are doing much better than this.
The only interesting character for me was Mari. *sigh* Where am I going to find another show with a girl that isn’t a vulnerable damsel in distress, who chases guys but kisses girls with no deeper meaning behind the act?
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I think you are already watching Noragami? Now there’s an awesome female lead there. Haven’t watched Nobunagun past first episode but that seemed promising as well in this department.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, I’m watching Noragami and Hiyori is a good female lead. Also, Nobunagun is doing well in my opinion.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
On the bright side, samumenco gave us the SPYAIR opening, which I like a lot despite not having seen any of the series.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Yep, one of the highlights of this show fo sho.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Date Time for the ED is also really nice. I made it my phone ringtone.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, I will admit the first ED was nice to listen to.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I hadn’t seen the translated lyrics to it, so I finally just now took a look at them, and it’s a fun and interesting message. The singer’s going out on a date with her boyfriend who she wants to get a lot closer to.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I like the interpretation. By now, that ED should be available to download.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My interpretation there is really broad brush. It’s actually a lot cuter and more interesting. The first chorus is like:
And the last chorus is something like
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Agreed! One of the good things to come out of the show! I don’t remember the OP, so I’ll need to watch it again.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The OP is a great straight up hard rock song. If it was released in the mid-80’s, it would have been considered metal, since it’s a lot like bands like Judas Priest, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard, but I don’t think it really would count as more than hard rock now (since metal has moved a lot more hardcore).
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Ahh, that would explain why I don’t remember it. Rock/alternative music really isn’t my thing, though I’ve tried it (mosh pits and all).
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Now that you are dropping Samumenco, what do you plan to fill in its stead? I’ve heard comments that Buddy Complex is starting to show potential.
Someones got to fill the mecha void since Foshizzel doesnt want to follow Nobunaga the Fool.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Fosh is the only likely to tackle that task since the other bloggers don’t seem to be that into mecha.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
If you want mecha (at least a little bit), Kyokai and I have mini-talks with Jrow and Fosh about Space Dandy. The most recent episode had a Hawaiian shirt robot and that’s pretty much the best type of mecha there is.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I’m still on episode 6! I have to 8, I probably won’t watch more than that because I have little interest in watching them gain superpowers. But episode 5 was cute seeing the other Miracle Muse girls being forced into costume ^^
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Until the girls were around, this series was passable. The moment Flamengers came into the scene, we have been flipping tables and now we are done. >>;
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But your patience was abnormally long. I thought you’d drop this the moment King Torture showed up.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hmm, good to know. I don’t know what Flamengers are, but I take it to be a bad thing.
Thanks Kyokai~