REVIEW: Amazons 02
So with this week’s instalment of Amazons the hunt continues as questions are answered, blood is (of course) split and we get the proper introduction of Kamen Rider Amazons Omega! Spoilers ahead so, if you haven’t watched the episode, please do not read!
So the first thing that really was on my mind critically as I watched this week’s episode was how great the members of the Nozoma Peston Service are. I was remiss to not discuss them last week since they are such a core part of the show. I love them because, firstly, of their diverse cast of members, who mostly fit into stereotypical roles and archetypes, but through the course of this episode they all seem to break that shell and seem more human and three dimensional. But what I really like is the fact that they are caught up in the war of not only the Amazonz but also the brewing conflict between the Amazon riders. It adds a great amount of the human element into the fight since these are powerless onlookers in a fight between two super powered monsters. It’s a perspective I feel that has been lacking as of late within the franchise and it’s nice to see that, at least up to now, they have been the focus of the programme. They are a great identification point for the average viewer as they learn just as much as we do about the large plot in play.
However, with the decimation of two (and maybe 3) of their members, I feel like they are going to fade into the background of the fight between the two riders. Before I jump into that I do really want to praise Kobayashi, the writer of the series, for making one of the members into a wild Amazonz. By doing this she creates a very dramatic, tense and pathos filled plot as the rest of the team must hunt him down. In fact the moment where the leader forces himself and the others to justify killing their fallen teammate because they need to eat, not only is a great reinforcement of the hunt or be hunted theme of the show, but also is a very touching and sad moment since over the course of two episodes, I’ve surprisingly grown to love them and seeing them breakdown like this is quite tragic and poignant.
But the fact that now two and maybe three of the team have been killed, I’m a little bit more scared about the show going down the route of violence and death for shock, rather than to actually have some dramatic impact. Now, as I said just a paragraph before, Ryuunosuke (the team member who turned out to be an Amazonz) is a justifiable death as it was quite poignant and on top of that since he was killed by Haruka/Amazon Omega, some very interesting drama and conflict could occur between him and the Peston Service apart from Haruka being an Amazonz since he did steal the kill, for lack of a better phrase, that they honourably should have had.
But by also killing Jun (another member of the team) as well as maybe Mamoru (the Mole Amazonz who is on the team) I feel like they are going a little overboard with the deaths. Again there isn’t anything inherently wrong with deaths occurring in this show, in fact it kind of raises the stakes and shows that the writers/producers aren’t fucking around. But to have a violent death of one of two of the secondary protagonists, and maybe a third, within the first two episodes does feel a bit much. Even more so if you take into account how violently they died. But I will fully admit that I did go ‘Oh shit’ at both deaths so they did their job at being shocking. I just certainly hope this doesn’t become a reoccurring thing that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
As for the rest of the team, I certainly hope they do not fade into the background because I really am enjoying their interactions with each other and the before mentioned human element they bring to the fight between super humans. I’m just a little worried now that our two protagonists both have been introduced and both have their rider forms proper, that they will be phased out of the story to just become lackeys or just unimportant. That would be quite sad since they are again really entertaining, are the heart of the show and offer a great point of identification for the audience. Judging from the preview however, this doesn’t seem like the case since they may be teaming up with Haruka in the next episode.
Speaking of Haruka, he finally transformed proper into Kamen Rider Amazon Omega this week and what they did with it was quite interesting. Despite having the more refined and sleek design of the two, Haruka still acted more beastlike than Jin/Amazon Alpha did after he transformed. Was this a case of Jin being more used to the form or Jin being special since he doesn’t wear the armlet that, we now know, injects medicine to prevent Amazons from going wild. Despite all that props to the suit actor and action director since the choreography of Amazon Omega was extremely brutal, wild and extremely refreshing to see. For so long the fighting style and action of Kamen Rider has been quite same-y, apart from some variations here and there, and seeing something this unique was a treat. Also I’m really enjoying the transformations of the Amazons; despite not being too flashy, I do like that they emit so much heat that some surrounding plants did burst into falmes.
Seeing more of Jin was also a lot of fun. I’m really glad he isn’t the brooding anti-hero type, but is more joking and witty that I first expected him to be. He does his best to help Haruka, with the caveat that he will eventually kill him because his mission is to kill all Amazonz in the world. On top of that he is the one who saves Haruka and imparts his ideals of if you aren’t the hunter, you are the hunted. It’s an interesting ideology and theme that is being set up here and if the programme continues the way I think it’s going to go, Haruka is going to have conflicting beliefs, thus deepening the twos’ rivalry to a more cerebral level.
One thing I forgot to note last week was the ending theme of ARMOR ZONE. It’s your generic darker-than-most J Rock track musically, but it’s lyrics about revealing your true self, letting yourself go to your more bestial instincts, being the hunter or the hunted as well as having the “taste of tragedy clung cold inside your throat” are very appropriate to the show. If that last lyric is prophetic of the rest of the show, I’m looking forward to it because to have some genuine tragedy within Kamen Rider is quite, again, refreshing; as long as it’s done right and not done for cheap shock value.
So yeah, we got another great episode from Kamen Rider Amazons! It again benefits from taking its time and the longer runtime and is overall very entertaining. By only complaint is the numerous deaths of multiple main characters and I certainly hope this doesn’t become a reoccurring thing. Next week should be interesting since it seems to be a sort of unique one off situation where there is a whole apartment complex filled with Amazonz, very reminiscent of The Raid or the recent Judge Dredd film. If we are getting some interesting one-off episodes, the overall structure of the show may indeed be very interesting. See you next hunt!
