3ET: Samurai Flamenco

That outfit was made shopping the bargain bin at the Ralph's.

Studio: Manglobe

Director: Oomori Takahiro (Durarara, Natsume Yuujinchou)

Writer: Kurata Hideyuki (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Waka Ja Nai, Kami nomo zo Shiru Sekai)

Main Cast:

Masuda Toshiki as Hazama Massayoshi

Sugita Tomokazu as Gotou Hidenori

Character Design: Yamashita Yoshimitsu (Meine Liebe, Sakamichi no Apollon)

Music: Tamai Kenji

This season's hype train hits full steam with Samurai Flamenco, an anime original directed by one of my personal favorites, Oomori Takahiro. He has a way of really getting audiences emotionally attached to the characters and really caring about whatever plot they may go through. Basically, anything directed by him in the last several years has been really enjoyable for me. And if the first three episodes of this show are any indication, I'm in for more of the same.

The plot is about a male model named Hazama Masayoshi, who is obsessed with super heroes. Obviously, since this is Japan, he's not obsessed with Western comic book heroes, but rather Japanese tokusatsu, or the guys who dress up in costumes and fight monsters played by guys in rubber suits. From this inspiration, he becomes Samurai Flamenco, a superhero who tells people to pick up trash. And not to smoke in non-smoking areas. And not to jaywalk. All with complete sincerity.

Gotou is wondering what exactly is wrong with his newfound best friend.

So, yeah, he's pretty lame. And with no actual superpowers, he tends to get his ass kicked a lot. One night, after ending up naked, he runs into an off-duty police officer, Gotou Hidenorri, who takes him under his wing. Hidenori is the obvious straight man to Masayoshi's more energetic and completely naive personality. And their interactions are pretty good. Masayoshi tries to convince him that his version of vigilante justice is correct, while Gotou tries to figure out where all of this justice stuff comes from. The two also bond over old tokusatsu shows, as well as store bought curry. It's been fun seeing the two become a strange sort of friends.

Then, something weird happens, Samurai Flamenco, the hero, starts to become popular. Enter the whole song and dance about Masayoshi having to hide his secret identity. It has the rumblings of an interesting take on how media culture develops celebrity. It also does something interesting when a washed up tokusatsu actor tries to take credit for being Samurai Flamenco. Masayoshi then has to do battle with this fake, to hilarious and ridiculous effect. Of course, Gotou observes the whole thing, and I felt just like he did after all was said and done.

"What... I... I don't even... I can't. I just can't."

I'm pretty excited about what Samurai Flamenco can do. It's down to earth setting makes it easy to relate to everyone so far. And the fact that everyone is likeable helps as well. I want to see how Masayoshi changes over the course of the show, especially when the world is revealed to not be as black and white as he sees it. He has the mind of a child right now, and I want to see that mind mature as the plot develops.