A new show from Manglobe (the studio behind Samurai Champloo and Michiko & Hatchin) have presented us a new tale about superheroes, but will Samurai Flamenco be as successful as it’s predecessors? Spoilers Ahead!

Hidenori Goto is a local police officer who is a bit disillusioned when it comes to upholding the law. After duty one night he comes across a naked man in an alleyway. After taking the young man back home, he reveals himself to be Masayoshi Hazama; a male model who claims to be a superhero known as Samurai Flamenco!

Manglobe takes another chance with an original series, and seems that it’s initial outing works pretty well.

Goto

Goto is a hard working beat cop, but is sort of dejected when it comes to catching law breakers. He doesn’t really start to question just what being a police officer means to him until he meets Masayoshi. Masayoshi is a wide eyed young man who basically gets his sense of justice from an old kamen rider-like  tv show called Harakiri Sunshine. He has a strong sense of justice, not even allowing small crimes like jaywalking go unpunished, but doesn’t really have the know how, technology, or powers to accomplish his dreams.

Their relationship is set up early on and the two seem to mesh well together as leads. With Goto being the down to earth pessimist a,d Masyoshi being the wide eyed optimist. Their initial meeting garners a laugh as Goto meets Masayoshi as he is crouching behind a trashcan in an alleyway naked (not really the most pleasant of meetings). After they clear things up Masayoshi takes Goto back to his penthouse and confidently shows off his collection of superhero paraphernalia, he even makes Goto watch Harakiri Sunshine with him.

Masayoshi

Masayoshi isn’t just posturing however as he really does try and be a superhero by going out at night and attempting to stop crimes, in fact his Goto’s meeting was a result of Masayoshi being assaulted by a drunk jay walker he was trying to stop. Later in the episode he tries to tell a group of kids loitering to go home but ends up being chased and beat up until he is saved by Goto. When Masayoshi is dealing with the kids we see more of his sense of justice and his morality when he says that no one tells them to go home because no one cares about them enough to help them be better people.

Goto himself has some moments after meeting Masayoshi when he begins to think about his own contributions to the community as a police officer, and this shows that the two may be able to learn from one another.

“The Debut of The Samurai Flamenco!” is a pretty good introductory episode to the series that introduces out main characters and just how different their views are. The animation from Manglobe is stellar as always and the music is pretty good on the ears. The show displays a lot of heart and looks to be another fall hit.

4.5/5