It's been a great year for American Kamen Rider fans. Previously the show rarely, if ever, made its way to America. But this year, Rider fans have been treated to a simulcast of Fuuto PI and a series of exclusive comics based on Zero-One. That isn't everything American Kamen Rider fans will be treated to, however. On October 28th, Kamen Rider Black Sun, an adult remake of 1987's legendary Kamen Rider Black, will launch worldwide on Amazon Prime Video -- but this isn't the first time Amazon Prime released a dark spin on Kamen Rider.
Released in Japan in 2016 and America in 2018, Kamen Rider Amazons -- or Amazon Riders, as it was called in some areas -- was written as part of Toei's Super Hero Year promotion. This was designed to celebrate Kamen Rider's 45th anniversary and Super Sentai's 40th anniversary. Amazons was a gritty reboot and reimagining of 1974's Kamen Rider Amazon, the fourth Kamen Rider series. However, this new version of the tale was darker and grittier than the show that inspired it.
The Gritty World of Kamen Rider Amazons
Amazons is set in a world where thousands of monsters called Amazons hide in every facet of society disguised as humans. When a human transforms into an Amazon, they go on a rampage, killing and eating anyone in its path. Because of this, the Nozama Peston Service was formed to find, hunt, and kill these creatures. Amazons follows Haruka Mizusawa, a young man with amnesia. He lives in seclusion, with only his mother and sister for company. Haruka's mother insists that he takes drugs every day, but these suddenly start to give Haruka horrific flashbacks.
One day, Haruka skips the drugs and suddenly finds himself drawn to the forest. In the forest, he witnesses a battle between the Nozama Peston Service and one of the Amazons. As he watches, Jin Takayama arrives at the scene. Jin uses a special belt and transforms into a being called Kamen Rider Amazon Alpha. The sight of this causes Haruka to lose control, turning into an Amazon himself. This throws Haruka's whole world upside down as he has to learn about himself and the dark secret of the Amazons.
Why does Kamen Rider Amazons stand out?
Kamen Rider Amazons stands out from the core Kamen Rider franchise because of its tone and style. The first noticeable attribute going in is the show's darker color palette. The environments are often dim and shadowed, and many combat scenes have a green filter over them, making everything look washed-out and stark. The Rider suits are muted in color, setting them apart from the hyper-colorful Riders from the modern mainline Kamen Rider series.
Kamen Rider Amazons is also darker in tone, featuring more intense violence, a deeper storyline, and a lot of moral ambiguity. Rather than heroic Riders fighting evil-doers, the monsters and the Riders are complex and often do horrible things for their cause. Plus, there are no comedic or silly moments, which is rare for modern Kamen Rider. As the franchise usually uses comedic scenes to take the edge off the darker or more intense ones. But Amazons is completely serious the entire time, and the only jokes that exist are there to show us the character's fractured mental states.
A New Way For Western Fans To Indulge In Tokusatsu
This change in tone is very noticeable during the combat sequences. The fight sequences are great, but they're much more grounded than what you see in the mainline Kamen Rider franchise. Punches and kicks have more weight, and the Riders don't swap between forms or use power-up items during combat. Plus, unlike the mainline series, the fight scenes feature blood, that while dark green rather than red, still makes the fights feel way more vicious than those seen in the mainline franchise.
However, Kamen Rider Amazons is overlooked in America, and it's easy to see why. The show received little promotion before release, meaning many fans didn't know it existed. Even worse, while Amazon Prime streams the first two seasons, the movie that concludes the storyline, Kamen Rider Amazons: The Last Judgement, was never released in America, denying American fans the true ending to the series.
Kamen Rider Amazons is a fantastic series. It puts a unique, dark twist on the Kamen Rider formula. And while it won't appeal to all Rider fans, those looking for something edgier and morally gray will likely have a good time with Amazons. However, only time will tell if Kamen Rider Black Sun can present a darker twist on the Kamen Rider format and turn it into something American and Japanese fans will love just as much as the original shows.