REVIEW: Amazons 10
So after last week’s more philosophical and conceptual episode that focused on the morality behind the various characters hunting down Amazons and how the latter live in society; we have a more character and plot focused entry to the series this week. Rather than asking big questions and bringing up moral grey areas, we spend more time this week with a lot of the characters and are also introduced to a new Rider, Amazon Sigma. Was it good? Was it bad? Read on to find out!
So with this larger focus on characters this week, less events happened in this episode. As I have said before, these kinds of episodes are extremely important for the overall feel and quality of the series. It can easily be considered ‘boring’ when not much happens, but I think that’s a naïve way to look at this show. With these quieter, more personal episodes/moments, we are shown the characters being fleshed out and become more real and human, despite all the irony involved in that statement in regards to the sympathetic Amazons. To base the ‘quality’ of the programme on the number of things happening I think is a poor way to judge a show.
For me, yes a good pace is extremely important, but like in a race, you need to slow down a bit or you will get tired too quickly and not cross the finish line. By having these quieter episodes, the show can focus on developing the characters without the fear of killing any tension or momentum that is created from having a mystery or problem or any other pressing issue in an episode’s plot. Additionally character development to me is in fact just as important to a programme’s quality as a show’s plot is. If a character wasn’t interesting, I would also think the events happening around it to be uninteresting as well.
But what character development happened in this week’s episode and what did I think of it? With Haruka, we simply got him firming up his ideals in regards to Amazons. I still find it absolutely fascinating that Haruka has grown from hating his own existence and status as an Amazon to becoming their champion in a way. On top of that he is still a bit apprehensive about how his ideals are going to affect his relationship with other humans. It shows great maturity from the writers since having Haruka blindly follow an ideal without thinking how it affects others and on top of that having no consequences coming from it, would be very naïve and to be frank bad; but they are doing the opposite with Haruka and I really like that and makes his character worthwhile.
It’s also interesting that, again, the character that is both designed and marketed as the more domicile/human made of the titular riders is the one who is not only the more beastly, but the one who is leaning more and more towards his monstrous kin. I like that the show is kind of subverting expectations and I personally think it’s a really smart move. I would really love to see, possibly in season 2 or near the end of this season, for Haruka to become a leader for the Amazons and have the final battle between him and Jin to be fighting over whether to protect humans at all costs, protect Amazons at all costs, or, what’s probably most likely going to happen, the two to defeat a big bad together and put their differences aside; which in all honesty I won’t mind either.
One thing that Haruka actively goes against within this episode specifically is the drone system to take out all the Amazons in the city which I will not attempt to spell because I know I will mess it up. Now, I really think this plot point is a very shallow attempt to maybe reflect the current issues surrounding drones being used. It really honestly feels like an attempt by the writers to make the show have more ‘quality’ by tackling a real world issue, but for me it really falls flat since it doesn’t really say anything about drone usage except ‘it’s bad’ and since it’s against such an easy enemy such as the Amazons, it’s commentary and maturity takes a significant hit because of it. But I will admit by having our protagonists confront it a bit, the plot point does gain a bit of maturity, but it still feels a bit too shallow for my tastes to really praise that much.
I have been focusing a lot on Haruka so far in this review, so let’s change gears and talk about Jin who was heavily focused upon this week which makes me extremely happy. After his defeat at the hands of Amazon Sigma, who I’ll address later, Jin was seriously banged up in this week’s episode, yet he still was adamant about his mission to kill all Amazons, including himself. Now normally this sort of character is dull in my eyes, but again because we see the consequences of his recklessness though Nanaha san, it’s really interesting and good in my eyes. We see that he’s in fact reckless and stupid, despite being a hero/protagonist; thus showing again that sometimes Amazons can be mature, rather than gritty.
As I mentioned earlier, with this week’s episode we got the introduction of Amazon Sigma, which if we didn’t get it leaked earlier because of trailers and the magazine scans, would have had a greater impact; but that is an issue for another article at another time. What I want to talk about is his impact on the programme. With his introduction he throws a wrench into all the dynamics of the show since with him, another faction, lead by Tachibana, now has viable power in the conflict. On top of that because he is a resurrected Maehara, the extermination team now have a great personal conflict dealing with him; Add to that he is now an emotionless powerhouse and it all adds up to a character that is really disrupting the status quo and is a great addition to the plot.
The thing I’m not too hot on is Sigma’s design. I understand that he is supposed to be a prototype Amazon who is kinda of shambolically put together, but it really would have been nice if they made a brand new suit, rather than just repainting Haruka’s base Amazon form. It kind sends a mixed message since Sigma is supposed to be this brand new type of Amazon that we’ve never seen before… yet we have under a different colour. Maybe they could do something interesting with this where Haurka gains an upgrade or decides to just use his primal form since it’s more powerful, but who knows if that is going to happen. We’ll just have to wait and see.
But with the episode ending on Haruka being potentially mortally wounded, then promptly a minute later we see him okay in the preview, I’m left with a sense of disappointment at the end of the episode. Not that the episode is bad, far from it. Just that because of conventions and tradition, all drama and tension is removed from this genuinely interesting ending to an episode. I certainly hope next week’s episode makes up for this mistake and leaves me with a sense of satisfaction, rather than making me roll my eyes. So yeah, I quite liked this episode, just disappointed with the poor usage of footage in the preview.
