They say that someone who is unassuming is quiet, displaying no desire for attention or admiration. To some, being called such may be taken as an insult. However my intention with saying that phrase is always a compliment. And there is no show more deserving of the title, “Most unassuming anime of all time” than Samurai Flamenco. I heard someone mention this series in passing on a message board as one of their all time favorites. This interested me because this was a series I’d never heard of before. And upon downloading and watching the first episode or so, I thought the characters and their interactions were swell enough and I’d thoroughly enjoyed my viewing. But I’d figured I had the series figured out, “Oh, so this is a Japanese spin on the Kick-Ass story”. And for anyone who's reading this and has already seen the show, you’ll know how much of an insult that is to this show and also how embarrassed I feel for having honestly thought that at some point. But why does having such an innocent misconception about a show with a name like “Samurai Flamenco” bring me so much shame? Is the show truly that groundbreaking?
Yeah, it truly is. You see, pinning this show into one genre or category isn’t impossible per se, but it’d be doing the show a disservice. The story is many things, but not all at once. The rate at which the plot unfolds is very gradual. Each development or sudden change the plot has makes sense (usually) in the moment, but by the time you reach episode 10, you’ll look back at episode 1 in retrospect and have a double take. I had one during my initial viewing and wondered if I was even watching the same show anymore. That said, the show doesn’t change its visuals or artstyle drastically in any way aside from amping up the brightness and color variety when it touches on super sentai or traveling across the universe.
Yes you read that right, super sentai and traveling across the universe. The show makes mashing up genres together as such seem like child’s play. Despite these dramatic shifts in genre, it still retains its art style throughout, minus the occasional color palette change. And that’s one of the main reasons I consider this to be the most unassuming anime of all time. Its admittedly bland visuals, at least initially. That’s not to say that they’re particularly ugly or unpleasant on the eyes, but it does look rather plain at first. The animation isn’t particularly flashy either, and the designs of the male protagonists seem like they’d fit in better in a BL series than a series revolving around protecting the universe with a naive sense of justice(at times) like super sentai. I say “at times” because the show isn’t a parody or a love letter to super sentai, like Kaijin Kaihatsu. Nor is it about fighting crime and defeating the bad guy. The show’s intention is much more layered than one might think coming into this. Throughout the show we learn that superheroes aren’t always what we thought, whether that be reality or fiction. What it takes to be a real “superhero” goes beyond being a prude about what time you leave the garbage outside, or protecting the world from aliens.
Despite the show’s tendency to feel larger than life, it still feels coherent and grounded in reality. It helps that one of the MC’s (named hidenori) is a cop looking out for Masayoshi(samurai flamenco) throughout and serves as an anchor keeping the story grounded and as a proxy for the viewer. With those characters in mind, how about I touch on the story briefly? We follow Masayoshi, a young model whose actual dream is to be fighting crime as his alter-ego, samurai flamenco. After getting dusted by trying to apprehend a businessman jaywalking, Hidenori finds Masayoshi naked in an alley after the aforementioned scrap. After learning about Masayoshi’s situation the two become friends and from then on Masayoshi’s descent into dishing out justice had only begun.
Beyond the show’s odd tale and unpredictability, I found the relationship between Hidenori and Masayoshi to be very captivating and moving. Though I’m not a fujo, I must admit to shipping the two given their tight bond and given the peculiar circumstances they find themselves in. Masayoshi is such a pure soul and quite literally, a cinnamon-roll. From fighting monsters the size of planets to stopping Hidenori from capturing the person who stole his umbrella from crossing the street because the light turned red, his sense of justice is very innocent, if not also overbearing. He’s also incredibly awkward. I feel on edge for just about every scene that Masayoshi’s in that doesn’t have Hidenori in it as well. At least for the first quarter of the series. Because I’m always bracing myself for a second hand cringe moment from Masayoshi spilling his spaghetti by saying something incredibly awkward. But that just adds to his charm and allure to me as a character. It’s because of his naivety, genkiness, and innocence that Hidenori has to act as his wrangler to make sure he doesn’t get himself into too much trouble. Speaking of Hidenori and Masayoshi, their banter is so amusing to watch. Though their friendship is sudden and hits the ground running almost as soon as they meet, one could assume they were lifelong friends given their tight-knit and brotherly relationship.
It was also the dialogue exchanged between these two that gave me quite the hoot. Given the random and absurdist nature of the show, you’d think the show would be filled with low brow humor with a hundred jokes a minute. But I was pleasantly surprised that the show's humor is much more high brow. With gags being somewhat vague and requiring more thought processing to get. Making the punchline even funnier. I don’t mean to make this show sound pretentious, pseudo-intellectual, or that it gets high off its own fumes. But I can appreciate a series that’s not primarily, yet it still puts more effort into its sense of humor than one would assume. That’s not to say that there aren’t silly random low-brow humor jokes either, cause they’re also in abundance, but those are also handled with more thought. Guillotine gorilla’s introduction springs to mind.
The jokes themselves also play a huge part in progressing the events of the story. The way the show unveils what would be one off jokes into something much more profound or important later on in the story isn’t something to scoff at. In fact, I’d say Samurai Flamenco excels in its foreshadowing, and that a second viewing, while not required, would make you better appreciate the scope of the story with how much thought clearly went into it. With its name and infamy, one might perceive it as a hodgepodge of absurdism. But don’t put all your eggs into that basket, because this show will grab the basket and chuck it across the galaxy and much like the viewers, this will either compel you to continue indulging in the series or dropping it altogether. Because where this show shines is in its ability to subvert the audience’s expectations when they’d least expect it.
To me, Samurai Flamenco is, “The most unassuming anime of all time”. But what is it about the show that makes it so groundbreaking and unassuming? Take any random shot from any episode and show it to someone who’s never seen or heard of the show. Chances are, they won’t find it particularly interesting on its visuals alone. That’s because to appreciate what this show accomplishes so well, you have to watch it, and I mean the entire way through. No other show has exceeded and subverted my expectations as much as SamFlam, and being a surprise isn’t all it has going for it. Every genre and type of show the series touches on, it knocks out of the park. It’s never the same type of series for long and always keeps you on your feet. Once you think you have a feel for the show it will surprise you and with a complete 180. But it’s not random for the sake of being random, it goes from genre to genre seamlessly. Where it’s only crazy in the direction the anime goes in hindsight, (and episode 7 on your first viewing). Every episode becomes progressively more and more fantastical, dreamlike, and larger than life yet somehow manages to keep at least one finger touching the ground of reality. The way the events unfold and the story progresses is done smoothly. And lastly, it excels at having plot threads littered throughout the series that lead from the first episode all the way to the final. The way in which the smallest instances are accounted for, must be commemorated. All in all, Samurai Flamenco is an out of this world experience that many didn’t give the light of day until after it had finished airing. And though that is a shame, the past is in the past and all those who have yet to see it can watch it and learn what it truly takes to be a superhero.
