REVIEW: Amazons 07
So I know last week I was quite… well not unhappy with but dissatisfied with that episode of Amazons. Thankfully this week, Amazons was on form again. It just was more fun and entertaining than last week’s entry with an interesting MOW plot that, at least this week, doesn’t affect the main plot that much, but really expands on the new status quo with Haruka in the extermination team.
So I want to start bizarrely enough at the beginning of the episode since it’s honestly one of the best moment’s this week and was a clever bait and switch. I don’t really want to spoil it because it’s really clever and great, so you should go watch it. All I can say is that it plays on common tropes, teases the audience and is amazing because the bait is indeed in the realm of possibilities. On top of that it does show Haruka’s growth.
Speaking of his growth, Haruka seems to be fitting quite well with the extermination service, at least is beginning to. He seems to be extremely grateful towards them and is trying his best to fit in with them. On top of that he does have some really good chemistry with them all, since they do treat him a bit like a new little brother in the vein of Mamoru. In fact there is a cute little flashback where we see the team’s first outing together and Haruka completely messes the operation up, but the rest of the team scold him in a kind and sorta affectionate manner. Overall I’m really appreciating and loving the extermination squad’s relationship with Haruka since it’s nice to see Haruka have a home where he isn’t trapped and they all work off of each other quite well.
The mystery this week was also actually quite interesting with the identity of the Amazon being kept a complete mystery for the most of the episode. The mystery arose because the team though that this one guy, who owned a scrapyard where a body that was in a similar state to bodies that the team knew a previous Amazon liked to leave its victims in was found in, was the Amazon they were after; But instead this one guy didn’t turn out to the Amazon who was killing people and rather another guy we saw earlier in the episode at the scene of the crime.
I really like this because it does harken back to the genuine mystery that a lot of early heisei had in regards to who or what was killing people or causing havoc. On top of that the initial suspect might even be still villainous but in a wholly human way. It’s a nice way to show that Amazons could easily still be good at heart, since the preview suggests as such, and that humans can still be extremely brutal and cruel. I certainly it’s a theme they continue and develop upon.
Speaking of conflicting ideologies/sides, it’s nice to see that Jin and Haruka are still at odds against each other. It’s especially interesting because they do both ostensibly have similar goals of taking out Amazons, yet they both defer greatly in the why of their quest. On top of that, with Haruaka’s motivation, it’s not just simply left alone and accepted as the truth, but rather it’s challenged not only through Jin’s questioning of it, but the events of the episode clearly show that sometimes Haruka’s ideology is misguided. I really like this because it shows some maturity in the sense that good and pure ideologies may be those things, but they are sometimes misguided and naive. The true goodness comes from adapting those pure ideologies to a more realistic and sensible point of view, which I think is going to happen with Haruka.
As for the visuals of the show, I’m quite happy to say it’s back to the standards of the first few episodes: namely amazing and actually visible. It could just be that they are in generally well-lit areas again, but it honestly seemed like a great improvement upon the drab darkness of last week’s episode. I mean even in areas that should really be darkly lit, I was still able to see enough of the scene. One stand out scene in regards to visuals was the opening bait and switch scene I was talking about since it was gorgeously lit by fire and nothing else. Seeing the Amazon Omega suit lit under such conditions was very visually appealing and quite a treat for the eyes.
So yeah I can certainly say episode seven of Kamen Rider Amazons was a return to form for the show. With a compelling mystery, interesting character developments, a nice display of the extermination team and Haruka’s developing chemistry and having nice visuals again, I really enjoyed this week’s episode and hope Amazons continues with this sort of quality until the very end.
