Despite it’s flashy name, Samurai Flamenco‘s first episode is surprisingly low key. Not that I’m complaining though, because what I ended up getting was more than satisfactory and leaves me intrigued in the show’s future, especially its development of the mains’ view on heroes.The episodes’s story is pretty simple and mainly revolves around Hidenori Goto and Masayoshi Hazama, our two mains, setting up their friendship which starts, oddly enough, with Hidenori accidentally finding Masayoshi stark naked in an alley after losing his first fight as the heroic Samurai Flamenco. When Hidenori visits Masayoshi’s apartment after accidentally burning his clothes, the two have a lengthy conversation that mainly boils down to the two talking about heros, specifically Msayoshi’s perception of a hero and how it applies to Samurai Flamenco. The episode wraps up with Samurai Flamenco once again trying to “nip evil in the bud,” only to take a beating by some middle schoolers, be saved by Hidenori, and come out of it as determined to fight evil as before.
Admittedly, I’m a sucker for hero stories so I was initially drawn to the series because of the premise alone. What makes me want to keep watching, though, is how it looks like the hero aspect will be handled; though it’s being dealt with somewhat realistically, there’s still a sense of fun and silliness, probably best seen in the OP and how Masayoshi acts. The episode itself has a sort of earnest tone that drew me and not only left me wanting to see more, but also made me appreciate it more in a way. Though the episode probably isn’t the best thing to have premiered this season, it does lay a relatively solid foundation for its future which is much appreciated.
What I really enjoyed is the contrast between Hidenori and Masayoshi. Hidenori is the more “grounded” of the two: He’s cop, a modern day hero position, is in a long distance relationship (something rare and much appreciated), and tends to think of tings in more realistic terms. He views heroes as most of us would: normal, everyday people who perform their heroics through their job. Though he’s much different from Masayoshi, he listens to him, and, despite thinking he’s a bit dense, never really makes fun of Masayoshi, instead finding himself just the tiniest bit interested in this weird guy who seriously aims to be like the heroes of his childhood. Masayoshi, on the other hand, is much more of a…character. His passion for becoming a hero is, honestly, kind of endearing, even if it is a bit silly, because , aside from his idealism, he isn’t particularly unrealistic in the sense that you can still sort of relate to him, see where he’s coming from, and not write him off as a total nut case. The contrast between the two makes for some interesting chemistry that I’m interested to see more of, especially in terms of the potential changes in the two it might bring about, especially in terms of Masayoshi.
Lookswise, the episode looks pretty good. The animation has a lot of energy to it which I really enjoyed, and the character designs are pretty okay themselves (cough pretty boys cough). Surprisingly, the BGM also stood out for me and was also pretty energetic which helped to bring out a more hero-y aspect at times.
Overall, I really enjoyed the episode. Though it wasn’t everything I was expecting, it definitely gave me something that I’m interested in seeing more of. Samurai Flamenco has a pretty solid start that leaves me optimistic for its future.
This series is streaming on Crunchyroll.
