Samurai Flamenco - Episode 17

Cornered and with all hope slipping away, Hazama needs a friend... thankfully, he's realised that he has one just in time to turn to Goto for help in this time of need.

It seems that our favourite policeman has been waiting for just this moment too, and with some further assistance from Harazuka and his ever-reliable stash of gadgets Samurai Flamenco lives to fight another day... a day which involves a visit to the Diet to pay a little visit to the Prime Minister, whose approval rating continues to soar as he looks all set to pass a law banning all heroes as supposed vigilantes.

Although Hazama's plan is simply to talk with the Prime Minister, the man himself has other ideas, and after removing the press from the Diet and cutting any audio feeds of proceedings he reveals a shocking secret - he, too, is a superhero with a Flamenco-related name of his own, complete with a special, Iron Man-esque suit that is powered by his public approval ratings.  With this rating edging ever closer to 100% it seems as if this man is unstoppable, and there's nothing that Samurai Flamenco, Goto and his alter-ego of Flamenco... err, Policeman... and the Flamenco Girls can do about it.  Or can they?  Once again, luck (or destiny, perhaps?) seems to be on Hazama's side, although once again another layer of the series' conspiratorial onion is peeled away to reveal even more danger ahead.  Well, overhead, actually.

I've doubted it many times, but I'm just going to come out and say it - Samurai Flamenco is a work of genius.  Utterly, batshit crazy, dumb genius, but that's actually what makes it so - this series knows that it's being stupid, but it's real craft is in playing all of its insane goings-on and escalations with a straight face while simultaneously making it abjectly clear that it's in on the joke and that you should be laughing at what you're seeing.  Oh, how I laughed too, at this beautifully ridiculous story that sneaks a few little pointed jabs in the direction of politicians and the like in its midst.  Admittedly this show hasn't always got it right, and a few times it's threatened to go off the rails, but when it gets serious about not being serious there are few series that can boast more entertainment value.