Accidental Innuendo: In Episode 19, Masayoshi sees a 'D' on Goto's calendar and spends some minutes wondering what it stands for. Western fans had a field day taking it out of context.
Adorkable: Masayoshi, so, so much, especially when he fanboys over superheroes.
Angst? What Angst?: Appears to be lampshaded. Society isn't worried about the monsters. They simply rely on the police. Samurai Flamenco and his sidekicks are actually happier than ever.
Audience-Alienating Premise: A lot of viewers thought this show was like "Kick-Ass meets Kamen Rider" due to six episodes of a vigilante trying to be a hero and beating up thugs. Then, episode 7 onwards came with the introduction of villains and monsters that look and act like they came straight out of the Tokusatsu shows this series is inspired by. Viewers who were unfamiliar with the Tokusatsu genre (and its Sentai subgenre) started to drop the show, while a majority of those who remained were Tokusatsu fans and those who were in for the wild twists and turns.
A lot of viewers, particularly those unfamiliar with the Tokusatsu genre, began to alienate from the series after the Genre Shift in episode 7 onwards which some calling it an Ass Pull or bad writing. However, there are those who still enjoy it, particularly those who are Tokusatsu fans.
Go to any forum/board, and ask whether Masayoshi and Goto are an item by the end (or if Masayoshi's proposal was made out of romantic love, for starters). Sit back, grab a drink, and watch the rabid discussion ensue.
Masayoshi/Justice, due to Masayoshi's obsession with the term.
Goto/ Cell phone. Based on Goto texting himself as his missing girlfriend.
Critical Backlash: Back when the show aired, it earned a lot of criticism for its Genre Shift after episode 7. However, as years passed, some viewers still found the show enjoyable despite how ridiculous the story is and considered it more of a love letter to the Tokusatsu genre.
Cult Classic: The show received poor ratings and BD sales, yet developed a small, devoted fanbase.
Death of the Author: After an interview in which both the director and the writer stated that Masayoshi and Goto aren't together by the end and neither of them learnt anything after all they went through (Masayoshi doesn't know what love is, Goto hasn't made any progress moving on from his lost girlfriend), most of the fandom promptly called on this.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Mr. Justice, a Captain America-Expy, got a lot of love from viewers. And then he's actually Alien Flamenco and his popularity grew even more.
Fanfic Fuel: Beyond Flamenco, and whatever could have happened in his past to lead him to his action in the story proper.
Goto's girlfriend and her whereabouts and current activities.
Fandom Rivalry: The Sam Flam fandom has a mild case of this with the Kill la Kill fandom, since both groups are praising their respective show as "the savior of anime industry".
Fan-Preferred Couple: Despite Goto's loyalty to his girlfriend, Masayoshi/Goto remains a pairing that a good portion of the fandom is enamored with; the girlfriend's presence being limited to text messages compared to Masayoshi's close onscreen rapport plays a major part. Not even Word of God stating that the pair doesn't get together after Masayoshi's proposal and Goto doesn't move on from his girlfriend's disappearance deters the ship.
Fridge Brilliance: All of King Torture's underlings have a torture mechanism attached to their character designs.
Two days after the revelation of Goto's girlfriend who went missing without a lead, flight MH370 suddenly disappeared and, as of now, any signs or remains of the plane still haven't been found.
Episode 12 features From Beyond monsters giving eternal winter to the various cities in Japan. And in January 2014, the northeastern region of North America are experiencing a winter storm. Then, on the first week of February 2014, most of Japan also experienced the worst snow storm ever.
All those moments in which Goto argues he already has a girlfriend (such as rejecting Mari or her thinking Goto and Masayoshi are an item) aren't so funny after The Reveal that Goto was deluding himself.
Goto dressing as Samurai Flamenco and enjoying the moment. His actor, Tomokazu Sugita, is very famous for voicing a samurai who is a fan of superheroes. Also, Goto's password to call Harazuka in episode 17 is "Elbow Rocket". Sugita is part of the Japanese dub cast of Pacific Rim where his character called one of his attacks, "Elbow Rocket".
Episode 17 will remind a lot of people of the action game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, since both are over-the-top action works with the hero facing a superpowered politician as a major plot point.
WHAT IS GOING ON? Explanation What people repeatedly stated during every episode starting with episode seven.
WELCOME TO THE SENTAI GENRE! Explanation What veterans of the Sentai genre said to fans who were put off by the new storytelling style introduced in episode eight.
Every bit of Moe's Gratuitous English, especially Oh my God and Decadence... ouch!.
A common joke in Imageboards is posting a picture of Guillotine Gorilla and asking what his name was. Cue tons of replies with similar Alliterative Names.
Samurai Flamenco Samumenco Samumenko Samumanko Samfla SamuFlamu SamFlam Samen Samon Salmon Semen Shampoo Flamingo Shamingo Sandflan SF thread. Explanation This is usually included in the first post of almost every Samurai Flamenco thread on image boards. Most of these have stuck with the community as Fan Nicknames, particularily Semen Shampoo.
SIT DOWN! Explanation with SPOILERS Alien Flamenco uses a lot of Gratuitous English.
COME ON! Explanation with SPOILERS Like, he uses it A LOT.
On that note, Haiji Sawada is known as "the lovechild of Shinji and Kaworu", or simply Kaworu.
HOMO END CONFIRMEDExplanation The Ho Yay in this show is rather rampant.
Totsuka best boy Explanation with SPOILER Totsuka (Goto's partner at the police station) is very popular despite barely appearing in the show at all, on accounts on being, according to fans, very Genre Savvy and "seeing the gay end coming from Episode 1"... only based on his face when Masayoshi visited Goto at the station.
FLAMWENCO Explanation with SPOILER It's the word that repeated enough times and with some luck, can cause a wish to come true. Frequently used by fans to express their own wishes regarding the show.
While Guillotine Gorilla was treated with the utmost seriousness, the monsters the gang eventually start fighting become just as silly as those you'd see in a cheesy toku show. Which is typical for toku shows. The minions even have shibari-style ropes on their outfits.
The scene in episode 22 where Masayoshi tells Goto to stand down and bluntly tells him that he will marry him in place for his missing girlfriend can be very touching if it weren't for Masayoshi being butt naked and yelling, "moron, moron, moron, moron" like a Broken Record.
Then there's Sawada, who's a pretty effective villain as he actually poses a personal threat to Masayoshi. He blows up Masayoshi's apartment, gets Kaname run over and even kidnaps and ties up Goto. And he's a middle schooler. The guy is just straight up Nightmare Fuel.
One-Scene Wonder: Beyond Flamenco who is voiced by Akira Ishida. He appeared at the end of episode 14 as Masayoshi's "twin brother" and later, died at the next episode. Though it's a Small Role, Big Impact where it led to the government's crackdown on superheroes which forced Masayoshi into hiding.
One True Threesome: MMM. Mari and Moe are definitely an item, and they want Mizuki in too.
Paranoia Fuel: After the twists from episode 7 and 11 several fans are making theories about the reason behind all the supernatural elements.
Imagine getting a text from someone you know and getting a horrific picture of them instead.
Replacement Scrappy: The Flamengers, due to them usurping the Flamenco girls as Masayoshi's back-up and having minuscule development. Midorikawa and Momoi get off a little easier—the former for being The Smart Guy whose findings discover From Beyond's exact numbers, and also saves the Flamengers from dying at Mt. Fuji; and the latter for being more developed, giving her a history with Kaname and a troubled family life, with them renouncing her for going after a married man.
The Scrappy: Mari became this after her debut as Flamenco Girl, due to her brash personality, greater reliance on violence than Masayoshi, and the perception that she stole screentime from Masayoshi and Goto. Also she tried to charm Goto by sexual appeal and she seemingly wanted to become a hero purely for fun instead of helping someone in need. She was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap for some after she was called out on her violence and acknowledged that she and Samurai Flamenco have different working styles, but she's still pretty well disliked in the fandom for her treatment of Moe and the way she reacted to Goto's girlfriend.
Signature Scene: Guillotine Gorilla's appearance at the end of episode 7.
Many people compare Samurai Flamenco to Tiger & Bunny or Kick-Ass due to its superhero themes.
It could also be considered a spiritual successor to Don Quixote. Both are about a man who decides to become a hero after consuming to much escapist fiction, drags a relatively sane companion along on his adventures,
So Bad, It's Good: Relatively mild example compared to a lot of others, as many fans believe it genuinely does certain things quite well, but a lot of viewers mostly continue to watch it out of curiosity for where it goes next in spite of its poor animation and often nonsensical story.
Suspiciously Similar Song: Happens at some points, where the background music sounds like famous western songs, like The Pink Panther theme song or Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life"/Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"
In Episode 19, the reveal that Goto has been texting himself all this time. It's absolutely heartbreaking.
And on the next episode, Masayoshi and Goto having a row, ending with Goto telling Masayoshi to leave and not come back. The look on Masayoshi's face as he is apologizing while running away is painful. And the fact that they both sounded like they were close to tears during the whole thing only made it worse.
The entire first half of episode 22. Seeing Goto like that just hurts.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Why many viewers who enjoyed the series for its realistic crimefighting aspects were not happy with the direction the series went after episode 7.
endings
