[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Debut of Samurai Flamenco!

Here's an honest question that I've yet to ask during the progression of this thread: When you read the phrase/title of "Toku Anime" what is it that immediately pops into your head?

Is it a specific show, like say, the various Garo anime? Or perhaps it's more of an idea such as an anime dealing with Henshin Heroes? One thing I'm almost willing to bet on is that very few people, myself included, think of an anime that's about Toku, rather than just simply being in the style of one.

Because at its core, that's exactly what Samurai Flamenco is.

The first episode, while not incredibly eventful, does a great job at presenting to the audience what exactly a major theme of the show is: Toku, more specifically the Superhero genre, and the effects consuming such media can have on the psyche of those who consume it, as well as how its core values impact and reflect upon real life.

But of course, as cool of an idea as that can be, it would mean nothing if it didn't have some solid characters to go with it.

Goto is a patrol cop who, despite witnessing and being annoyed by the petty crimes of everyday life, chooses the much more adult, logical path of simply not acting unless it's a major offense. He does his job, he gets his paycheck, he unwinds at the end of each day with a smoke and a beer. Average, down to Earth type of stuff. Has a long-distance girlfriend who seems to love texting him alot though. Apparently she'll be coming to town to visit next month.

One day while heading home, he runs into Masayoshi, a young man who outs himself as the up and coming superhero to be known as Samurai Flamenco. Goto blows it off as nonsense at first, but yet is still willing to hear Masayoshi's' plight and follows the boy back to his apartment, where it turns out that Masayoshi is actually a fashion model, which is a nice little nod to how alot of Toku actors get their start(modelling). And Masa, being a huge Toku nerd, not only has a ton of collectibles, but his own built in theater for watching reruns, especially of his all time favorite Toku show known as Harikiri Sunshine.

A big chunk of the episode is actually devoted to the duo talking about not just superhero shows, but also just how much you can expect the things you see on the screen to work out in the real world. Superheroics don't land you a steady income, and the average person, whether they work out a solid amount or not, can't exactly do much against a high profile criminal. Goto takes the more cynical angle, whereas Masayoshi instead chooses to highlight how the world needs heroes for both inspiration and to motivate people to be model citizens.

Despite the talk, Masayoshi decides to continue his vigilantism, which unfortunately gets him in trouble with a local gang of young punks. He is of course scared at first, but he remembers a heroic speech made by Sunshine, which motivates him to stand up to the injustice he sees before him, and even inspires him to deliver his own speech to the delinquents.

...And for that he gets his ass kicked, but hey, points for trying, right?

The episode overall is all setup, but I feel it really does a great job at setting up how our two leads play off eachother, establishing their friendship, and bringing up topics of discussion that the show will continue to highlight in future episodes. As someone who regularly consumes superhero media, I rather dug it.

It's a quiet beginning to a big adventure, and it's a rather nice change of pace compared to other media that I've been consuming as of late.