Autumn 2013: First Impressions – Samurai Flamenco & Galilei Donna

I believe this is the final first impression post (unless Pupa actually materialises) and it’s our two noitaminA shows of the Autumn season – Samurai Flamenco and Galilei Donna.

Samurai Flamenco

This really wasn’t what I was expecting, but I still liked it.  I’m not quite sure what kind of feeling the show is going for – it’s not straight up comedy, but it certainly isn’t drama or pure social commentary either – it has quite a lot of different elements to it, and they don’t all gel together perfectly.  I’m not sure what exactly I’m meant to be feeling about our superhero wannabe – I laughed at his naivety, but I also admired his zeal and and sympathised with his dissatisfaction with reality.  He’s certainly a bit of an oddball, but there’s an endearing quality to his earnest love for superhero’s and straightforward desire to make the world a better place through tackling petty crime.  That doesn’t mean that I didn’t find his speech and subsequent pummelling by those kids somewhat uncomfortable – it went on just a tad too long.  The cop character is pretty great though – just your ordinary guy who’s slightly disillusioned with the world – he’s a nice guy who just can’t leave our superhero wannabe to his own devices, since it is so apparent he’s a bit defenceless….shipping that by the way.

The production values are okay, it’s not a visually stunning show but the direction is pretty good.  The script and acting are the major strength and draw of the series for me – loved the easy flowing dialogue and the voice acting is superb.  I’m definitely interested in seeing where Samurai Flamenco is going.

Galilei Donna

Now this was different in every way – much flashier and attention grabbing – I really enjoyed this opening episode even if I have absolutely no idea what the actual story is going to be for this series!  There is lots of things fired into the mix in this first episode – Galileo’s descendants, sky pirates, goldfish mecha – there is very little downtime but somehow it all flowed together nicely.  The three sisters have clear personalties – the eldest is an opinionated, drunken law student, the youngest has a talent for machines (the fantastic flying goldfish mecha being her handiwork) and…..well the middle sister is a bit boring at this point, not sure what her ‘quirk’ is meant to be – they should be interesting to watch in the future.

It’s also a very visually appealing show – bright colours, smooth animation and interesting designs (loved that goldfish mecha!!) – A-1 are doing nice work on this show as you would expect given their past shows.  Acting is pretty good as is the music.  I’m definitely keeping Galilei Donna on, I think it will be an interesting trip.