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REVIEW: Samurai Flamenco Episodes 7-10 Streaming


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yoshiyukiblade



Joined: 10 Nov 2012
Posts: 305
PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:17 pm Reply with quote
Ignoring everything that happened before it, I actually liked the little story arc with King Torture. It felt dark and brutal. It also tested the resolve of the major characters and the results were about as crystal clear as you can imagine. Everything after it has been kinda meh though. I guess spoiler[introducing his other comrades that he had no intimate development with ] was kinda off-putting to me.
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Sven Viking



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 1032
PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:03 pm Reply with quote
I generally appreciate series that trick their viewers (e.g. Sector E), but while I realise the insane version of Samurai Flamenco still has many good elements, it's caused me to almost completely lose interest in what had been one if my favorite ongoing shows. In general:

- The introduction of the bizarre elements was very poorly handled imho. Nobody seemed genuinely shocked or particularly interested in why the world had gone mad, which just made the whole thing feel like a dream sequence. The beheaded policemen were forgotten almost immediately.

- The mix of lighthearted comedy and torture/gore never gelled for me. They seemed badly mismatched.

- Some of the best characters have been relegated to the background and replaced by characters I don't care about.

- Super sentai shows already often include elements of self-parody and exaggeration, making some segments not that much different from a standard show.

I persevered until shortly after King Torture then just started skipping through the episodes.
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lizardking461





PostPosted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:39 pm Reply with quote
An A- for story? A "knockout arc"? I used to think Carl's views and tastes were a pretty good approximation of my own - recently this view had come into question.

The fact that a complete and utter disregard for aesthetic unity or holistic story telling seems alright in so many people's books worries me.
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:33 am Reply with quote
Quote:
- The introduction of the bizarre elements was very poorly handled imho. Nobody seemed genuinely shocked or particularly interested in why the world had gone mad, which just made the whole thing feel like a dream sequence. The beheaded policemen were forgotten almost immediately.

I believe they did that purposefully so that you would keep speculating whether it was a dream sequence or not.It was rather brilliant way of tricking us.
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Just Passing Through



Joined: 04 Apr 2011
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:11 am Reply with quote
I'm in the 'not the show I started watching' camp.

What started off as an interesting exploration of one man's delusions, is now a wretched trainwreck. I'm still watching it, only to see just how stupid it will get. Each week manages somehow to elicit my WTF face, after I thought the previous episode had reached a limit.
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Sven Viking



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 1032
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:16 pm Reply with quote
danilo07 wrote:
Quote:
- The introduction of the bizarre elements was very poorly handled imho. Nobody seemed genuinely shocked or particularly interested in why the world had gone mad, which just made the whole thing feel like a dream sequence. The beheaded policemen were forgotten almost immediately.

I believe they did that purposefully so that you would keep speculating whether it was a dream sequence or not.It was rather brilliant way of tricking us.

They did trick me, I admit -- I was hoping they'd finish the weirdly-extended fantasy sequence and get back to the actual story even during the second episode of the King Torture arc. I just feel that tricking people into thinking they may not be ruining the show and then proving them wrong is not necessarily as brilliant as it at first appears Smile. Even as a dream sequence I didn't like it.
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Knoepfchen



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 698
PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:13 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Yep, this arc is definitely a real dividing line - some hating the new direction, others digging it. I was definitely taken offguard at first and kept expecting that some super-clever explanation was in the offing. When it became clear that there wasn't, I simply went with the flow and have been enjoying it on its own terms ever since.


That. I admit I kept waiting for some clever explanation for the sudden crazy for a long while, but now, I still (or again) enjoy the hell out of this show. Thanks to the subtle character development of the earlier episodes, Flamenco & Co still seem very real to me, despite being placed in a world that gets more and more unreal every week. I am not completely up to date due to a very annoying lack of time these last couple of weeks, but I am absolutely still on board.
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EternalKnight001



Joined: 01 Mar 2013
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:33 pm Reply with quote
I know it was a little whacky (ok.... make that a LOT whacky); but I thought this arc was completely fabulous. Sure, there were some moments where I was like- are you serious? (talking about the 'paperwork' to be filled out after each robo suicide, SamaDia turning down the volume on Goto's radio as she made him cosplay so he misses the call from Flamenco etc); but still, that episode 10.

Can't wait to see where the show goes from here. (just finished 10; playing catchup... too much good anime this season/last season...!)
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 1617
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:37 pm Reply with quote
I just finished marathoning this show (after previously only having seen the first few episodes) and I LOVE it so far, honestly. Yes, it's crazy, yes the show's genre seems to switch every couple of weeks, but what really ties it all together is the characters. I completely believe the development of nearly everyone (although spoiler[the other Flamen Rangers] are a little weak in development and that makes me sad), and they all still feel like more or less real people even as the show gets crazier and crazier. In particular, Masayoshi struggling to deal with his sudden responsibility as an actual hero has been really, really enjoyable to watch.

Actually the more I think about it, I think I'm realizing why Kill La Kill never clicked for me but this show has--I genuinely care and believe in most of the characters in this show, whereas with KLK I honestly don't really care what happens to anyone.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:45 pm Reply with quote
This show turned to garbage when it started to actually do the tokusatsu thing straight, with the actual monster. It was better as Jaoanese Kick-Ass (or maybe Super).
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leeoflittlefaith



Joined: 08 Apr 2012
Posts: 104
PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:05 am Reply with quote
Got halfway through episode 10 and stopped watching this series altogether. Hated the twist, with it the show just turned boring and threatless. Sentai shows aren't good, remember? That's why you're parodying them.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:31 am Reply with quote
^
For nearly seven episodes Samurai Flamenco wasn't parodying super sentai shows, it was deconstructing them. It showed what it would actually be like if someone wanted to be a real-life superhero. It also highlighted how soulless and commercially-driven the super sentai shows really are.

Next, Samurai Flamenco wanted to be a real super sentai show, but a really dark one with actual torture and decapitation. There were some parody moments - the minions for example insisting that they're relevant - but generally it was played straight.

Now that the King Torture arc is finished the show looks to have gone full-on parody. Except it's so similar to an actual awful super sentai show there's no real difference between the two. A parody is not supposed to be the very thing it is lampooning, otherwise it is just as bad as what it is supposedly making fun of and you might as well watch a bona fide show from the genre.
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 4:08 pm Reply with quote
I watched a few episodes into the King Torture arc but then stopped. What I loved about the show is that everyone was so human in their reactions. It seemed like all that was lost- all his friends, most of his new relationships just don't matter any more. And it's all spectacle, not people. There are enough shows like that on already.

Plus what dtm42 said. The show was clever because it wasn't a real superhero show, it was about real people trying to act like they were in one. I was a lot more interested in the latter than the former.
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SnaphappyFMA



Joined: 14 Jan 2009
Posts: 216
Location: California
PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:00 pm Reply with quote
I didn't like the King Torture arc, and spoiler[ I went on to watch episode 11 and liked the introduction of the multicolored Power Rangers even less.] I stopped watching after episode 11.

I'm afraid I'm done with Samurai Flamenco. The King Torture arc was too nasty for me. Not just the torture and gore, but the spoiler[ way Flamenco Girl and Konno were psychologically destroyed was so ugly to watch, and too much of a departure from the light tone of the show up to the King Torture arc. ] Basically, I feel like the producers fucked with my head too much, and so their reward from me is that I've stopped watching the show period.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:09 am Reply with quote
The general reaction to King Torture arc and Beyond (pun intended) has generally been a love it or hate it stance, that said it is pretty accurate to compare it to Kill La Kill in the nature that both shows are going for the "see how high the Shark can Jump" to see if the audience will still stick around or call on more buddies to see the madness raise there stakes for next week, honestly I feel Masayoshi is a character who simply is WAY in over his head while, even with development, Ryuko STILL feels more like a hot blooded caricature that exists solely to fight in her world, which for Ryuko is fine because the whole world she exists in is just one big brawl after another.

That said it is pretty easy to see why a viewer might give a pass for KLK and get table flipping angry with Samurai Flamenco if they didn't catch that an overly convenient doctor giving you super hero weapons was a sign that "shit is about to get crazy soon".
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