REVIEW: Amazons 03
So in my last review, I got quite excited over what this week’s episode could entail in regards to its setting. I thought we were getting a whole episode’s worth of tension in a cramped space with the extermination team barely getting by and a lot of cramped space action. I was a bit let down with what episode 3 turned out to be. However, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad episode. It’s still really good.
So yes, we didn’t get the The Raid-esque episode I was hoping for. In fact the extermination team only arrive at the apartment around half way through and don’t encounter the massive amounts of Amazonz until the very end of the episode. Now this more of an issue with the preview from last week’s episode and the name of the episode, Colony of Ants. It would have been super cool to have a whole episode dedicated to the team, plus maybe Haruka, dealing with a whole building of Amazonz and just barely surviving and constantly being on edge. It would have made a fantastic one off episode that would have led to some super great action scenes. Alas this might be resigned to the opening action scene of next week, possibly taking up to half of its runtime.
That’s not to say what they did show wasn’t great. It was so damn refreshing to see an entire fight scene occur within the confines of a small apartment. On top of that the apartment actually got trashed! I feel like there really have not been any, or many, action scenes in Kamen Rider where the whole fight stays within one confined space. It raises the tension of the action, since our heroes cannot move much, and makes the fight feel more consistent spatially since it doesn’t jump all over the place.
But there is one teeny tiny issue I do have with structuring the episode with the big reveal of the colony of Amazonz at the end and it’s that Amazons could fall into the trap of the shitty cliff-hanger that plagues the main Kamen Rider shows. Cliff-hangers are good tools to maintain attention and tension in between instalments, but there either needs to be an extended scene that deals with the problem in a reasonable manner the next episode, if cliff-hangers are frequent, or to have a mini-conclusion that makes the episode feel satisfactory. I just hope beyond hope that the next episode doesn’t wrap up that plot point in five minutes. You all know how much I hate it when that happens.
One general thing I really noticed, now that I’ve watched three episodes, is that Amazons is doing something that feels quite obvious but is something that is lacking in a lot of shows, especially in a lot of Kamen Rider: visual storytelling. Yes we do get quite a few exposition dumps like the one last week, but I feel like Amazons is showing the audience its story more than it is just telling us about it. For example, it’s never expressly said that Nanahana is the one who bugged the Peston Service’s truck; but because we saw both the biker who did it and that biker’s gear clumped next to Nanahana, the show has visually told us that she was the one who did it. It just feels more subtle than most Kamen Rider productions and is actually taking advantage of the fact that it is a visual medium more.
What really set me off on thinking about Amazons’ use of visual storytelling was a simple moment after Haruka transformed where a puddle beneath him froze over. It’s not focused upon or mentioned anywhere else, but it’s a very good moment of visual storytelling and emphasises a key theme within the show. By having this puddle freeze over it, somewhat heavy handily, creates more contrast between Jin and Haruka as in previous episodes when Jin has transformed, we see a great amount of heat being expelled from his body; thus we get another addition to the ever growing amount of contrasts between our two heroes. I really appreciate what they are doing here with the differences and contrasts between the two on even a small scale as the freezing effect Haruka has. It means that they are really thinking about how different these two are from each other and doing as much as they can to show that without bashing us over the head with it. It shows that a lot of thought has gone into the show.
One thing I definitely have been remiss about is discussing the designs of the riders. With Amazon Alpha, it to me is a simple re-colour of the already strong Amazon design with more of an armoured feel to it. It’s a nice update of the classic design and also fits quite well with Jin’s character, as he is the wilder of the two Amazons. Omega on the other hand, is kind of a mess. I totally understand what they are going for since they want Haruka to be the more domesticated/civilised of the two Amazons; but the smooth face without any teeth is really odd with the fins on the side of the face. The rest of the suit is quite nice and fits with Haruaka’s personality, but the helmet design puts me off so much because it’s close enough to Amazon to make me think about it, but different enough from it to make it look extremely odd. I’m sure it’ll grow on me eventually, but for now… ehhhhhhhhhhhhh.
So as for the rest of the episode, I have a couple things to say. Firstly I really like what they are doing with Haruka by making him not only confront his mother over being an Amazon as well as becoming part of the Peston service. It not only asks some genuine questions about the Amazonz’s humanity and with him joining the Peston Service, it thrusts the team and him on the same path and thus keeps both in the focus of the show. I do like the new Jungler as it is a good update on the design of the old one, but it does seem better fit for Jin/Amazon Alpha; but that is probably just to do with them sharing a colour scheme. Since Haruka has the same colour scheme as the original Amazon, it only makes sense to give him the bike. Speaking of the bike, of course there is a Tachibana character; he doesn’t do much but I hope he plays the mentor role for Haruka.
So the verdict on episode 3 of Kamen Rider Amazons is that it is maintaining the quality of the show. There is less mystery now that we have a lot of the exposition out of the way, but I honestly prefer that. We aren’t left constantly questioning what is up now, thus the creators don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort on maintaining it, thus can spend more effort on making good stories. I look forward to continuing this hunt with next week’s episode.
