The honor of a samurai and the passion of a flamenco...Samurai Flamenco Hazama Masayoshi a 19yearold model and actor has always dreamed of being a TV show herothe kind who is committed to justice and is resilient enough to conquer anything in his way. Resolving to bring his late grandfathers superhero concept Samurai Flamenco to life Hazama dons his bicycle helmet and spandex to rid his city of crime by confronting juvenile delinquents and litterbug salarymen. Reality ensues. Thats the first and last time that anything in this show can be called realistic. Buckle up kids its gonna be a wild ride. Story Holy moly where do I even begin? SF on the surface claims to be a tokusatsu parody but then hooks you with strange conspiracies and actual high stakes. It sounds clich but rest assured: this is not your average Power Rangers ripoff. The plot unfolds like a 30car pileup: the absurdity and carnage rise exponentially the more you watch. Even the most seasoned tokusatsu buffs will have difficulty predicting the plot so if that sounds appealing this is the show for you. Its a story with a cheap premise that compensates for it with sheer insanity. 8.1/10 Characters I like to watch parodies for the character development No one ever SF boasts a motley crew of side characters some that youll like and others youll dislike. Some of them even make rational decisions which is refreshing given the bizarre situations the characters find themselves in. Most of the side characters arent important and only serve to drive the plot forward. However you will find a few who actually change over the course of the story main characters included. That said none of the cast members are particularly fleshed out in the first place. Its a parody of course no ones invested in the characters but a good character arc or two wouldnt have gone amiss. 6.8/10 Visuals The cover art greatly oversells itits lackluster in terms of animation. The animation quality may have been fine in the early 2000s but it just looks dated in 2013. Character design while interesting isnt particularly detailed. The entire anime is a mashup of tokusatsu and mahoushoujo tropes which leaves little room for originality. Despite its obvious artistic limitations it manages to give us two different OPs and EDs. Personally I didnt notice any recycled footage which is a common pet peeve of mine. Theres little to no use of CGI but its hard to say whether more CGI would have made the show funnier or not. 5/10 Audio SF is reminiscent of tokusatsu shows in that the OST is appears exciting but is pretty bland upon closer inspection. Some of the OST songs sound like generic royaltyfree music while others are charming and give off a Persona vibe. The verdicts may vary depending on the listener. Both of the OPs were good choices hard to go wrong with some good Jrock. The EDs stood out not only because the studio and VAs went to the effort to record original songs but also because they were surprisingly catchy. The OPs and EDs are actually very relevant to the anime and if you pay attention to the lyrics youll have those lightbulb so thats what they were singing about moments. 7.3/10 Enjoyment Tighten your seatbelts keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle and bring a neck brace for the extreme mood whiplash youre going to suffer. This is not a contemplative anime that will make you question the meaning of life it is an adrenaline rush and a half. 8.8/10 Conclusion Samurai Flamenco is bonkers in the best way possible. It falls short in terms of visuals and some may be turned off by the absurd humor but its an experience like no other. If nothing else I recommend a watch because its a show that doesnt promise much but man it can deliver.