[DreamSword]

Episode 22: Samurai Flamenco, Naked!

Bet you never expected a title like that to belong to arguably the most dramatic episode in the entire show.

Also, I think this episode might actually be my favorite in the entire show?

This hits every bit as hard as the (in)famous ending of Roseanne did for me, in that it managed to recontextualize the entire last arc that the show has done and spin it into something higher than it was. And in a very believable way too!

Essentially, the reveal here is that the entire last arc of Samurai Flamenco, while still very much about the themes and ideas already established, also serves as a meta play/commentary on not just the endings of superhero media in general, but also how, if a hero is popular enough, their tale WILL get rebooted.

Because see, now that the story of Samurai Flamenco is over, Sawada wants HIS version of Flamenco. His obsession is to the point of him gunning for a suicide pact in an attempt to turn the Samurai into an anti-hero known as Samurai Flamenco Darkness, which makes complete and total sense for the mindset of an edgy teenager like Sawada is.

This serves as some really fun meta play too, given that almost every superhero ever has gone through a darker and edgier reboot of some kind. The Dark Age of comic books, the 2017 Power Rangers film, Kamen Rider Black Sun, the list goes on. And both in real life and in the universe of Flamenco, very rarely does anyone want that, let alone it turn out well. And very rarely do the people who vouch for such things actually know what it is that they're asking for.

It's a tense situation, and all of Masayoshi's' traditional tactics are of no use here, but while doing his best to talk down both Goto and Sawada, Masayoshi realizes something. The best way to get Sawada to see reality is to destroy the very image of Samurai Flamenco that Sawada has built up in his head. And how exactly does he do that, you might ask? By confronting Sawada not as Samurai Flamenco, but as Masayoshi Hazama.

He achieves this by getting naked.

What better way to destroy the image of perfection and remove any and all ounces of dramatic darkness than by being in the most ridiculous and vulnerable state you can possibly be in, right? It's certainly enough to shake Sawada, to the point that he has zero idea of how to handle this. Despite all of the grand posturing and the claims that he'll be Flamenco's' one and only, Sawada for the first time actually meets his object of worship, and it is not at all the grandiose picture he'd built up in his mind over the past year. Even hearing that despite everything, Masa still cares about him shakes Sawada to his core.

And ontop of that, Sawada's' super romanticized idea of being one with Samurai Flamenco is no match against the genuine companionship that Masayoshi and Goto have built up over time. It's not some super dramatic embrace, or a melding of minds where the two are perfectly in sync. No. Real friendship involves alot of talking, alot of bickering, alot of clashing of viewpoints and ideals, and finally and most importantly, alot of forgiveness. All things that Sawada has never experienced and would know nothing about. And it's this absolute mundane aspect of everyday life that defeats Sawada. Not some super powerful attack, just two grown men trying to reconcile their differences.

When all is said and done, things continue to play out as you'd expect an epilogue of a toku show to, but when it comes to our two leads, well, there's an interesting bit of ambiguity to the entire thing. Fans are rather split on what the whole thing means in terms of character development: Did Masayoshi finally find love in Goto and was genuine in his marriage proposal? Or did he just make the offer out of a naive desire to bring Goto happiness after all that had happened? Has Goto finally accepted that his girlfriend is gone and that there's nothing he can do, or did he regress in an example of how old habits die hard? Are the two best friends, or have they become lovers during the brief time that's been skipped? I think this entire element only enhances the story, personally.

As for me, well, my interpretation ties into what I brought up earlier: I think that the ending is meant to be an example on how superhero media is handled in general. Yes, superhero stories will always exist as long as there are people to tell those stories. Some will be darker, some will be wildly different than their source material, but in the end, alot of times, superhero stories tend to find ways to return to their roots and overall stay true to their status quo. And I personally believe that That is what the final shots of the show are meant to entail: Masayoshi and Goto have certainly grown from the experiences they've gone through together, but in the end, there are just aspects to themselves that can never be shaken. Goto will always find texting an easier way to express his emotions than talking, and Masayoshi will always do what he can to uphold justice in whatever way he can.

Overall this was an absolutely fantastic way to end the show off, and I wouldn't have it any other way.