For a moment, it smelled like this episode was potentially leaning toward
some larger point about American superheroes (and pop culture, by extension?)
threatening Japan’s cultural identity. It leaned back off of that,
of course, but if this is the world seen through the eyes of a personified Tokusatsu
history, I suppose the yearly box office dominance of Marvel and DC flicks would
seem a bit threatening.
The episode does end up throwing some direct criticism at
politicians at large. I generally try to avoid getting into any political
commentary here but, suffice it to say, this particular bit of satire was quite
fun. I find it endlessly amusing how otherwise rational people simplify
complicated debates and elections as if it they’re actually the
kind of simple super-battle you’d see in one of these shows. The fact that
prime minister gets wrapped up in poll numbers as if they actually mean
anything was sharp touch, too.
Anyway, given how the design of Alien Flamenco is so… specific,
I suspect there are a lot of specific allusions I’m missing here.
There’s
another notable superhero story, KINGDOM COME, that was generally regarded as
the major “reconstructionist” work of the 90’s. Basically, a middle-aged
Superman comes out of retirement to rid the world of the crasser and more
violent heroes who have succeeded him. It’s maybe not advisable to outside
riders, because in addition to requiring knowledge of DC Comics’ superheroic
pantheon, it also really requires you to know a bit about what was going on
behind the scenes of the comics industry at the time.
I can’t help but wonder if these developments are similarly supposed to
meta-fictionally mirror behind-the-scenes events in tokusatsu history that I’m
simply not familiar with.
Watch “Ultimate
Prime Minister” and decide for yourself, then read my comments about the
previous episode.
About the Author
 | Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk |
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