Samurai Flamenco - Episode 7

Between them, Samurai Flamenco and the Flamenco Girls have been doing a sterling job... perhaps a little too good a job, given that criminals now seem to be few and far between.

Ironically, this proves to be rather frustrating for all and sundry - Hazama is left pondering what to do next, Mari is climbing up the walls without any crotches to stomp on, the hunt to reveal any of the hero's identities fizzles out and Goto's role suddenly becomes decidedly desolate as complaints about Samurai Flamenco dry up, to be replaced with nothing but letters of praise.

In the midst of all this, Hazama learns a shocking truth - his parents didn't die in an accident, they were murdered in an incident abroad.  This leads to further questions about how he should handle himself and what his future as a two-bit hero holds... there's no time to ponder this too much however, as there's a giant gorilla with a guillotine for a stomach rampaging in the midst of a police drugs raid.  No, really, don't look at me as if I'm the one on drugs here.

Having questioned on numerous occasions where this series ultimately planned to head I anticipated that things would switch up quite drastically at some point, but I certainly wasn't expecting this much of a sudden tonal shift.  So jarring is the move from sedate comedy with occasional dramatic leanings into full-on bonkers "scary monsters and super creeps" material that I'm really not sure what to say about it - is this the most foolish move in the history of anime, or a Madoka Magica level moment of shocking genius?  It's a question that we won't be able to answer until next week at the earliest, but in terms of catching the viewer unawares you'll be hard-pressed to find anything more potent this year.