REVIEW: Amazons 06
So I'm not necessarily dissatisfied with the show, I still think it’s a fine programme, and despite this week being an improvement of last week’s episode, it still felt… well not spectacular or amazing. It could easily just be the initial excitement of the show being something new wearing off or even just the fact that we are 6 episodes into the programme. Either way, the show is still entertaining and good, this episode is just again nothing spectacular or amazing.
One reason could easily just be that the show is taking its time and, for lack of better phrasing, not blowing its load all at once. It’s incrementally doing things bit by bit, rather than having big moments every episode. I feel this could possibly be to the programme’s detriment since the first four episodes were moving at a break neck speed and pace that made me want to come back every week to watch a new episode. While now I do still like the show, but I don’t have that massive urge to download it as soon as possible and watch it then and there. But hey, there really isn’t anything wrong with having slower moments/stretches; it’s just slightly disappointing considering the first four episodes of the show.
That isn’t to say nothing happened this week since it seems like we have now arrived at a new status quo both with the makeup of the various factions in the show as well as with Haruka. Firstly, Haruka has now fully joined the extermination team and rejected his mother and the pharmaceutical company as a whole, thus shifting who is on whose side. But more interestingly, Haruka has emotionally arrived at a new status quo as he now has his reason to fight: to protect anyone whether they are Amazon or human. I kind of guessed that this is the point we were going to get to with Haruka, since with his questioning of his humanity along with the fact that this is a Kamen Rider show, it was only natural that the protagonist was going to make this noble cause his ultimate goal.
And y’know what, as clichéd as it is, I’m quite happy with it. It’s a nice way for Haruka to accept his beastly nature, yet still be a hero in his own way. But I do like the added twist that he fully accepts that he could easily go berserk any time, thus he needs to stay with the extermination team. Haruka is probably the closest Kamen Rider we have had thematically to the original because of this, hence why it may feel bizarrely refreshing yet clichéd at the same time. I certainly hope they do more with the theme of grappling with one’s humanity.
Yet again Jin was confined, quite literally, to a reduced role this week and I have to say that is definitely one of my biggest complaints of the series so far. Despite being billed and presented a protagonist, Jin has simply been relegated to being a secondary character who doesn’t seem to impact the story that much. I understand that Haruka is the protagonist of the series, but Jin is such an interesting and charismatic character that I want to see more of him and how he became a rider or even him in more action scenes. Now that he’s escaped from the Nozoma Corporation’s clutches, we may see more of him, but in what capacity I do not know. I hope he does become a proper antagonist/rival to Haruka so then they can have one big blow off fight at the end against each other, or to team up. Considering that Haruka’s story seems to have wrapped up or reached a bit of a peak, we might see more of Jin and his story in the latter half of the show.
On the topic of complaints, there is one major gripe I do have with the show and that is its lighting/contrast. I know I praised these exact elements of the show in y review of the first episode, but there it never felt overwhelmingly dark to the point where it was difficult for me to see some of the action. The first episode, despite having a low contrast, was still brightly lit and easy to see. There were definite points in the episode where I had to crank the brightness of my laptop up and close the curtains to see anything. Its fine to have a darker aesthetic and I welcome it in the Kamen Rider franchise, as long as it’s done in a beautiful, meaningful and visible manner like in the first episode. I want to be able to see my TV show.
But yeah, the show is still good and entertaining, just not grabbing my attention as much as when it first started. It’s again not an issue of quality per say, but really me getting more used to the show, which could be the case for you readers. I still highly recommend the show, but I wouldn’t tell people to watch these episodes.
