Kamen Rider Amazons, Season 1 [2016]
So in 2016, Toei/Bandai decided to cater to their older audience and release a bloody, adult remake of one of their older Showa-era properties, Kamen Rider Amazon. So was born the darker-and-edgier show released as a streaming exclusive (on Amazon Prime, of course) with a clearly darker budget. If the currently-airing series are the equivalent of the fun-happy-times MCU movies, then Amazons was the equivalent of their Netflix stuff.
And as much as I do love the hammy, noisy TV shows, I definitely love my gritty, serious shows, so Amazons was one of the first seasons I checked out. It was relatively short, too, running around a dozen episodes -- albeit longer episodes than your typical children-aimed Kamen Rider shows -- so watching through it in a couple of days was definitely a blast. And while I tend to not like grittifying and grimmifying a show aimed for children... I'd argue that Amazons does it very well, especially in the first season.
Overall, Mostly Spoiler-Free Series Review:
So Amazons is a very interesting show, harkening back to the "biological science experiment went wrong" themes of the older Showa series that I really want to see explored more in modern-day Kamen Rider. Even the newer Heisei shows that skew more towards sci-fi as opposed to magic tended to never be quite as sci-fi as this show. It's also something relatively akin to manga like Tokyo Ghoul, where around 4000 test subjects from a secret organization's testing facility escaped and are now living among the populace of Japan, but they are all merely mimicking humans, and are actually able to transform into grotesque, man-eating monsters called Amazons.
It's a genuinely well-written show with our nominal main character Haruka struggling with the human and Amazon sides, as he tries to not kill humans while also protecting them, and also struggles with his inner beast's desire to kill and kill and kill. The plot running in the background about a wide-reaching conspiracy is also explored relatively well, even if there are some parts of it that are clearly just setup for the next season, and many of the main and secondary characters are handled very well. The dark, excessive carnage is perhaps a trope I'm never a big fan of when rebooting these series for an adult audience (see: The First, The Next, Shin), but for once, the blood, gore and excessive violence all feel like they work pretty well in the theme of a main character who is struggling with the compulsions of a savage beast within himself.The fact that it's less of a superhero or a team of superheroes fighting against an evil organization is also definitely muddied. Sure, most of the Amazons are evil monsters masquerading as humans, but then the assignment of guilt, the hard questions on whether Jin and Haruka still count as humans or are monsters, and themes of evolution and survival of the fittest are all brought up very well. It's a shame that they do leave a lot of the story hanging for a second season (which we'll talk about separately) but the story definitely features a heavy character arc for the main characters, particularly to how they relate to their partners and loved ones becoming monsters.
The direction of Amazons is pretty well-done, too. Sure, the mockery of the constant filter placed over the entire series to make the world feel drab is an... an interesting choice for sure, but it wasn't quite as overdone in the first season. The series manages to keep its themed and mythology relatively grounded in this sci-fi fantasy, even if there are some rather odd bits like the Driver voices still being played straight (the voice is all right and pretty snarly, but "Violent Punish" is never going to be not funny). There are also some really, really great "AAAAH MAAAH ZOOOOON" shouting in this show, which could've sounded stupid if the actors didn't really put their all into screaming. The action scenes are well done and honestly, as campy as rubber men beating each other might be, the action is clearly a lot more brutal than your traditional Kamen Rider fare.
I tend to always almost be disappointed with any show that advertises itself as gritty, adult writing only to basically overcompensate and end up just being boring, or simply just losing everything that made the franchise unique in the first place. But Amazons? At least for this season, you really get some adult themes, some fantastic monster suits and some really great writing while also carrying and playing straight a lot of Kamen Rider themes. Definitely recommended... especially since you can actually get this show legally in the Western world!
Characters [Spoilers Ahoy]
I'm going to try not to spoil too much about these characters, because I really do recommend this show a fair bit and a lot of what's awesome hinges on some of the plot twists and changes in the series.
Our supposed main character and hero is Mizusawa Haruka, otherwise known as Kamen Rider Amazon Omega. I'm not sure if they ever actually say the full moniker of either of the Kamen Riders in the show, but he's the Ken Kaneki of the show, to keep the Tokyo Ghoul comparison similar. A mysterious human who is able to transform into an Amazon when he quite literally accidentally stumbles on the Peston Service team doing their Amazon extermination deal, it's a very interesting dynamic where Haruka grows out of quite literally being a sheltered kid (the show does a lot of great comparisons with a fish trapped in a beautiful aquarium) who ends up being 'adopted' by two different groups -- Jin acts as his mentor for a while, trying to get him to basically embrace his Amazon side and become a hunter, telling him to hunt and kill all Amazons. The Peston Group is the other way around, telling Haruka to embrace his humanity, and not forget what he really is even as he kills Amazons. In addition to themes of controlling your inner beast, Haruka's story ends up being one of choosing who you really want to be, and it also ends up becoming a story of self-acceptance. It's a very solid character development told over 13 episodes, and while there are moments where Haruka's angst is played up, I do feel that it works a fair bit considering the show's bleak tone.
Also, that is an awesome-looking suit. I just won't shut up about how cool the two primary Amazons look.
Takayama Jin, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Amazon Alpha, is the biggest wild-card of the show. He's initially introduced as a wild-card vigilante who really has a thing for eating raw eggs (which is disgusting), but we later on learn of his story as being part of the team that caused the Amazons to be unleashed onto humanity. Injecting Amazon cells into his own body and developing the belt system, Jin ends up becoming Amazon Alpha, who is intent on wiping every single god-damn Amazon from the face of the world. That includes himself, and when he befriends Haruka, him as well... it's a unique and somewhat interesting character. Sure, the goals is a bit insane (and Jin himself is honestly a bit insane), but the introduction of a wife and his relationship with Haruka really lends some humanity to what could otherwise just be a rambling, raving maniac with a single goal.
Jin's story is very interesting in that he's basically a self-destructive force bent on wiping out his own mistakes, being sort of a vindictive force seeking for redemption, but we never really get any hard stance from the show that tells us "this is great and heroic!" or "this is a fool's journey". Both sides of the vengeful crusade is noted to be pretty valid in Jin's story, and I do like it. The final clash between Jin and Haruka at the final episode of the series becomes more of a clash of ideologies more than anything, and I'm definitely a huge fan of that.
Also, Alpha is an awesome suit.
Mamoru, the Mole Amazon, is... he's an interesting character, and one that I argue is probably handled best in the first season. He shows up as the Peston Service's resident Amazon ally, a friendly, child-like man who is only concerned with sticking with his buddies and doing what is told of him. "Child-like" characters tend to not always be handled well, but the writing is great enough to make Mamoru an interesting, innocent perspective on the world. All he wants to do is for his family to stick together, and after seeing a couple of them die in the first couple of episodes, Mamoru's role as the glue that holds the team together is amazingly done.
Of course, Amazons likes its tragedy, and Mamoru starts to slowly lose control when he accidentally tastes some human flesh, and the slow, gradual change as he starts finding human food unappetizing and the growing realization and conflict as he is torn apart internally by his burning desire to consume human flesh and his internal desire to remain part of the team... it's genuinely well-done, and it's such a tragic moment when he eventually succumbs to his desires. Another pretty well-written character.
Shido Makoto, Takai Nozomi, Kazuya Misaki and Fukuda Kouta make up the rest of the Peston Service team and... and they're badasses. I don't really know what to say about them since their personalities are honestly just "another member of the team" (Makoto's the old one, Nozomi's the sarcastic one, Kazuya's the laid-back one, Fukuda's the serious one), but they definitely are pretty awesome. Their acting is authentic, and they genuinely feel like a family. Perhaps part of why they feel particularly 'real' is just how down-to-earth they are. No real huge character quirks, no exaggerated catchphrases, no nothing... but while not the most exciting characters in the show, they are definitely a pretty distinctive presence in the show that helps to ground both Haruka and Mamoru. Just how well done the Peston Service Team is probably illustrated best in comparison to the team that replaces them in the second season, which is utterly forgettable.
Nozomi has one of the best scenes (and one that's admittedly hard to watch) during the pre-climax episodes where she and Mamoru are subjected to a particularly nasty human sociopath, Makoto gets a lot of great scenes arguing with Haruka, and the team as a whole end up getting a pretty dramatic conclusion near the end. They could definitely have been utilized better, but I didn't mind them a bit.
Maehara Jun, later on revived as Amazon Sigma, is... he's probably the most traditionally villainous character in the show. Initially introduced as a member of the Peston Service team that got killed off in episode two, Maehara seemed to just be a narrative sacrifice to show off that this episode isn't afraid of killing off humans... but then gets revived as what's essentially a remote-controlled zombie, Amazon Sigma. He's probably one of the weaker spots of narrative writing because we really don't get a huge feel of Maehara-as-Sigma other than the fact that he is heartless and soulless, but I guess that's the point of the character -- to show that sometimes tears and friendship isn't enough to bring a dead man back? That's a cool suit, nonetheless, and the action scenes he is involved with is pretty damn awesome.
Misuzawa Reika, Haruko and Mizuki's mom, is... she's there. She cares for her son, she sponsors the Peston Service, and she has a lot of enigmatic connection to everything that's going on, but the Nozoma Pharmacy characters are frankly under-utilized. Kano Shogo, Reika's stern and ever-loyal subordinate and sidekick, is also sort of there. Both start off the season as pretty flat recurring characters... but thankfully get a lot better during the final arc, where Reika struggles with a way to instantly end all the Amazon threat with "Operation Tlaloc", and also the thought of killing her child. We get some great, great arguments as Reika has to struggle with her beliefs that ends up being shaken when Haruko starts embracing his Amazon side. The side-plot of Kano and Reika trying to basically outwit the other higher-ups in Nozoma is pretty... pretty fun, but honestly always felt pretty under-developed and sort of brushed aside.
Izumi Nanaha, Jin's wife (girlfriend?), is a spunky and very interesting character. It's easy to brush her off as just being an accessory to ground Jin and make him feel actually human, but the interactions between Nanaha and Jin are actually pretty cute and heartwarming, and she does manage to basically work on her own agenda -- admittedly, said agenda is basically to make sure Jin survives long enough to complete his mission... I dunno. She's not a character that really has a concrete character arc in the show, but definitely a fun presence and one that I enjoyed.
Misuzawa Mizuki is Haruka's sister (half-sister?) and basically spends a good chunk of the series just confused and trying to get Haruka back to their old, normal life, not quite realizing how uncomfortable Haruka is now that he's a beast that has experienced freedom. Mizuki's all right but mostly forgettable in this season, having some great emotional scenes, but ultimately more of an accessory to Haruka than anything. She does get better in the second season, though.
Dr. Maki Tachibana Yugo is Reika's biggest antagonist, the other huge higher-up of Nozoma Company. Sure, there are other minor members involved, but Tachibana (another case of that name being used in the franchise) is honestly a pretty bland character that only serves to oppose our characters and just wants to weaponize the Amazons, creating the Sigma program to fight against them. He's an alright, smarmy antagonist, but doesn't really become particularly relevant until season two.
Tenjo Takaaki is the chairman of the company, and he's... he's honestly pretty dang under-utilized. He's okay with a lot of the flesh-eating monster stuff because he is a pretty insane social darwinist, but while some scenes are definitely awesome because of his monologue in the background about survival and whatnot, the character himself is honestly pretty flat and sort of a disappointment. Thankfully, the show's focus isn't about him, but on other more interesting characters.
Our supposed main character and hero is Mizusawa Haruka, otherwise known as Kamen Rider Amazon Omega. I'm not sure if they ever actually say the full moniker of either of the Kamen Riders in the show, but he's the Ken Kaneki of the show, to keep the Tokyo Ghoul comparison similar. A mysterious human who is able to transform into an Amazon when he quite literally accidentally stumbles on the Peston Service team doing their Amazon extermination deal, it's a very interesting dynamic where Haruka grows out of quite literally being a sheltered kid (the show does a lot of great comparisons with a fish trapped in a beautiful aquarium) who ends up being 'adopted' by two different groups -- Jin acts as his mentor for a while, trying to get him to basically embrace his Amazon side and become a hunter, telling him to hunt and kill all Amazons. The Peston Group is the other way around, telling Haruka to embrace his humanity, and not forget what he really is even as he kills Amazons. In addition to themes of controlling your inner beast, Haruka's story ends up being one of choosing who you really want to be, and it also ends up becoming a story of self-acceptance. It's a very solid character development told over 13 episodes, and while there are moments where Haruka's angst is played up, I do feel that it works a fair bit considering the show's bleak tone.
Also, that is an awesome-looking suit. I just won't shut up about how cool the two primary Amazons look.
Takayama Jin, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Amazon Alpha, is the biggest wild-card of the show. He's initially introduced as a wild-card vigilante who really has a thing for eating raw eggs (which is disgusting), but we later on learn of his story as being part of the team that caused the Amazons to be unleashed onto humanity. Injecting Amazon cells into his own body and developing the belt system, Jin ends up becoming Amazon Alpha, who is intent on wiping every single god-damn Amazon from the face of the world. That includes himself, and when he befriends Haruka, him as well... it's a unique and somewhat interesting character. Sure, the goals is a bit insane (and Jin himself is honestly a bit insane), but the introduction of a wife and his relationship with Haruka really lends some humanity to what could otherwise just be a rambling, raving maniac with a single goal.
Jin's story is very interesting in that he's basically a self-destructive force bent on wiping out his own mistakes, being sort of a vindictive force seeking for redemption, but we never really get any hard stance from the show that tells us "this is great and heroic!" or "this is a fool's journey". Both sides of the vengeful crusade is noted to be pretty valid in Jin's story, and I do like it. The final clash between Jin and Haruka at the final episode of the series becomes more of a clash of ideologies more than anything, and I'm definitely a huge fan of that.
Also, Alpha is an awesome suit.
Mamoru, the Mole Amazon, is... he's an interesting character, and one that I argue is probably handled best in the first season. He shows up as the Peston Service's resident Amazon ally, a friendly, child-like man who is only concerned with sticking with his buddies and doing what is told of him. "Child-like" characters tend to not always be handled well, but the writing is great enough to make Mamoru an interesting, innocent perspective on the world. All he wants to do is for his family to stick together, and after seeing a couple of them die in the first couple of episodes, Mamoru's role as the glue that holds the team together is amazingly done.
Of course, Amazons likes its tragedy, and Mamoru starts to slowly lose control when he accidentally tastes some human flesh, and the slow, gradual change as he starts finding human food unappetizing and the growing realization and conflict as he is torn apart internally by his burning desire to consume human flesh and his internal desire to remain part of the team... it's genuinely well-done, and it's such a tragic moment when he eventually succumbs to his desires. Another pretty well-written character.
Shido Makoto, Takai Nozomi, Kazuya Misaki and Fukuda Kouta make up the rest of the Peston Service team and... and they're badasses. I don't really know what to say about them since their personalities are honestly just "another member of the team" (Makoto's the old one, Nozomi's the sarcastic one, Kazuya's the laid-back one, Fukuda's the serious one), but they definitely are pretty awesome. Their acting is authentic, and they genuinely feel like a family. Perhaps part of why they feel particularly 'real' is just how down-to-earth they are. No real huge character quirks, no exaggerated catchphrases, no nothing... but while not the most exciting characters in the show, they are definitely a pretty distinctive presence in the show that helps to ground both Haruka and Mamoru. Just how well done the Peston Service Team is probably illustrated best in comparison to the team that replaces them in the second season, which is utterly forgettable.
Nozomi has one of the best scenes (and one that's admittedly hard to watch) during the pre-climax episodes where she and Mamoru are subjected to a particularly nasty human sociopath, Makoto gets a lot of great scenes arguing with Haruka, and the team as a whole end up getting a pretty dramatic conclusion near the end. They could definitely have been utilized better, but I didn't mind them a bit.
Maehara Jun, later on revived as Amazon Sigma, is... he's probably the most traditionally villainous character in the show. Initially introduced as a member of the Peston Service team that got killed off in episode two, Maehara seemed to just be a narrative sacrifice to show off that this episode isn't afraid of killing off humans... but then gets revived as what's essentially a remote-controlled zombie, Amazon Sigma. He's probably one of the weaker spots of narrative writing because we really don't get a huge feel of Maehara-as-Sigma other than the fact that he is heartless and soulless, but I guess that's the point of the character -- to show that sometimes tears and friendship isn't enough to bring a dead man back? That's a cool suit, nonetheless, and the action scenes he is involved with is pretty damn awesome.
Misuzawa Reika, Haruko and Mizuki's mom, is... she's there. She cares for her son, she sponsors the Peston Service, and she has a lot of enigmatic connection to everything that's going on, but the Nozoma Pharmacy characters are frankly under-utilized. Kano Shogo, Reika's stern and ever-loyal subordinate and sidekick, is also sort of there. Both start off the season as pretty flat recurring characters... but thankfully get a lot better during the final arc, where Reika struggles with a way to instantly end all the Amazon threat with "Operation Tlaloc", and also the thought of killing her child. We get some great, great arguments as Reika has to struggle with her beliefs that ends up being shaken when Haruko starts embracing his Amazon side. The side-plot of Kano and Reika trying to basically outwit the other higher-ups in Nozoma is pretty... pretty fun, but honestly always felt pretty under-developed and sort of brushed aside.
Izumi Nanaha, Jin's wife (girlfriend?), is a spunky and very interesting character. It's easy to brush her off as just being an accessory to ground Jin and make him feel actually human, but the interactions between Nanaha and Jin are actually pretty cute and heartwarming, and she does manage to basically work on her own agenda -- admittedly, said agenda is basically to make sure Jin survives long enough to complete his mission... I dunno. She's not a character that really has a concrete character arc in the show, but definitely a fun presence and one that I enjoyed.
Misuzawa Mizuki is Haruka's sister (half-sister?) and basically spends a good chunk of the series just confused and trying to get Haruka back to their old, normal life, not quite realizing how uncomfortable Haruka is now that he's a beast that has experienced freedom. Mizuki's all right but mostly forgettable in this season, having some great emotional scenes, but ultimately more of an accessory to Haruka than anything. She does get better in the second season, though.
Tenjo Takaaki is the chairman of the company, and he's... he's honestly pretty dang under-utilized. He's okay with a lot of the flesh-eating monster stuff because he is a pretty insane social darwinist, but while some scenes are definitely awesome because of his monologue in the background about survival and whatnot, the character himself is honestly pretty flat and sort of a disappointment. Thankfully, the show's focus isn't about him, but on other more interesting characters.
Gimmicks, Costumes & Power-Ups
Oh, and both Omega and Alpha are some of my all-time favourite Kamen Rider designs, full stop. Both designs just look amazingly sleek, looking cool while also embodying the sheer primal bestiality. Part of it is probably thanks to the fantastic acting that the suit actors and the actual actors do for the characters (particularly Jin), but the end result is easily some of the coolest and most unique Kamen Riders ever.
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