Friday, 8 November 2013

Samurai Flamenco - Episode 5

The double-act of Samurai Flamenco and Flamenco Girl remains at the cutting edge of crime-fighting, although even amongst the criminal fraternity interest has piqued far more in the latter than the former, not least because the bounty on Flamenco Girl's head is twice that of her predecessor at this point in time.

All of this is enough for Hazama to start seriously questioning where he should go next in his career as a superhero - a question which Kaname really isn't all that helpful in answering either, while Goto is more worried about having a role within the new "vigilante counseling unit" foist upon him at work.  When a super sentai show come calling with a view to casting Hazama in a role within their series, even Samurai Flamenco himself decides that it's time to take a break and leave things to Flamenco Girl.


Mari naturally relishes this chance to take the spotlight alone, but given the increasing interest in capturing and unmasking her working without a partner to watch her back proves decidedly tricky, leaving her with injuries that would be difficult to explain away during her day job as a pop idol.  Still, it's nothing that some more training and gadgets can't fix in her opinion, although when she looks set to come a cropper again, Samurai Flamenco returns with a new look, and indeed a new outlook on his life fighting for justice, all provided by the legacy of the grandfather who inspired this love for justice in the first place.

Perhaps my expectations for the direction this show is ultimately aiming to head are skewed, but I thought this episode was being set-up for a big change in its pace and goals, only for the ultimate reality to seem a little more mundane and more like a recipe for more of the same.  Not that I mind that prospect too much, as I am still being entertained by Samurai Flamenco, but I do wonder how much longer it can traverse its current path before it becomes stale - the introduction of Mari certainly shook things up, but that can only take it so far in my mind.  Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong and time will tell given that a number of plot elements seem to have come to a head to some degree, so we shall see what the coming weeks have to offer.

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