Gotou Hidenori is a policeman, used to dealing with law-breakers and wrong-doers. One day after his shift at the police-box he’s stationed at he encounters a young man committing the grievous crime of exhibitionism in public – although the said young man assures him that it’s a misunderstanding, and, by the way, he is a superhero. This man, Hazama Masayoshi, later reveals to him how that as a child, like most children, he greatly admired superheroes. Unlike most children, he carried on his dreams of being a superhero into adulthood and is determined to become one. Luckily he has the funds – he works as a fashion model and was even able to contract a designer to make a suit for him in order to make his dream of becoming vigilante Samurai Flamenco a reality. The problem, of course, is that his ‘villains’ are limited to petty law-breakers such as litterers, loiterers and jay-walkers. The other problem is that he completely lacks any fighting ability whatsoever and his attempts at bringing ‘justice’ to petty crims do not go over well. Now that he and Gotou have formed a bond of sorts, Gotou is about to find himself having to bail the starry-eyed Masayoshi out of trouble time and time again.
Samurai Flamenco was one of the new titles I had literally no idea what to expect, but the funny title at least promised a fun ride. But I didn’t predict a ride so fun that I could declare it the best first episode of everything in this season I’ve seen so far.
To many the plot must sound very familiar – after all, it’s the basic premise of cult comic-turned-movie Kick-Ass (something I also loved). While I can understand the skepticism about this, I don’t think it would be wise to write this show off as a simple rip-off. It’s true that I can’t tell at this point what direction Samurai Flamenco is going in, but it seems like it could be a very different one to Kick-Ass – it already has a much more pronounced focus on the difference between fantastical superheroes and the more realistic policeman, and the bond between the two men is clearly going to be the focal point. On that vibe, I was actually reminded much more of Tiger & Bunny than Kick Ass in terms of atmosphere and character dynamics.
Masayoshi has a charming naiveté that makes him incredibly endearing, although also makes me wonder exactly how the hell he managed to live by himself for so long. To put it bluntly, he’s kind of an idiot. An adorable idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. Gotou, meanwhile, is relatively down-to-earth and not quite straight-laced but definitely disciplined. Their dynamic, so far, is your typical boke and tsukkomi/silly guy and straight-man routine, but it’s already quite touching. (There is something about Masayoshi’s actions that suggests to me that he might not have any friends. He already said that Gotou is the only person that knows about his superhero obsession, too.) The ending theme and Gotou’s text message correspondence with his long-distance girlfriend promise at least three key female characters, so I’m looking forward to seeing what role they play.
I can’t tell if Masayoshi and Gotou’s bond and the plot they share is going to end up primarily comedy or suddenly veer into heartwarming and/or heartbreaking territory, but I’m definitely going to find out. Have you ever had that special feeling about a show, that feeling that comes around once in a while and makes you think that you just know this is going to be your favourite show? I haven’t felt that since Fate/Zero, but I’m feeling it again right now. I hope I’m right. Welcome to the blog, Samurai Flamenco!
Out of 5,
I’d like to take on at least one more series to blog besides this one, and I’ll decide which one it will be when I finish the First Impressions.
Moeronpan 
How did he manage to live so long? Modeling of course! He got lucky in the looks department and being able to just stand there and have pictures taken of him seems to have kept him off the streets.
I was actually expecting something akin to T&B in terms of superheroes, but I too think that the main selling point of the show will be the characters’ relationship.