Rumble in the Concrete Jungle

Wait, What the—!?

#28? What happened to #9~27?

Oh, I'll get to them all eventually (I want to at least get out the Blade & Faiz Worlds this week.) But with Decade ending this month and Double starting up next month, I might as well try to get back on track. And what better place to do it than on the first half of what's probably one of the stranger port of calls for the Decade team: Kamen Rider Amazon's World!


AAAAAAAA-MAAAAAAAAA-SPOOOOOILER-WAAAARNING!



Kamen Rider Decade Episode 28: "Amazon, Friend"
Written by Yonemura Shôji
Directed by Nagaishi Takao

Alright, I will be referring back to some episodes that I haven't reviewed yet, but hopefully you've seen by now. If you haven't, stop reading this, go watch them (like a million-billion groups are subbing them... okay like 3) and then come back after you're done.

Back? Good. I'll try not to preempt too much from the original Amazon, since a lot of people are now watching that subtitled thanks to the fine folks at Hi No Tori Subs. But I do want to talk about that, for reasons which should be obvious, so proceed with caution.

Decade's journey has certainly gone down an interesting route over the last few weeks. After the final Heisei Rider world (Hibiki!), Tsukasa & the gang went to the so-called Nega World, which was like the world from episode #1, but evil! Well, it had some evil Riders in it. And Otoya was there for some reason. Overall it was kinda strange, and mostly served to introduce Decade's super-duper power-up, Complete Form, which everybody seems to have a different take on (I've gotten used to it, and the toys are cool. No Annual Bigass Rider Sword™ though!?)

After that came Diend's World, which was also evil! Sorta. It's like a weird version of Missing Ace without the links to the TV series (including the TV characters), and overall felt a little empty. We learned a little more about Daiki and why he does what he does, but overall they're probably some of my least favorite episodes of the series (though it was cool to see some old faces back.)

And then the Shinkenger crossover which was just plain fun, and the BLACK RX & BLACK episodes, which were pretty outstanding. They had to be, given that they included 1) Kuratat himself 2) Apollo Geist! and 3) Femme kicking butt. It was BLACK's butt being kicked, but hey, I like him even more now because of it.

And now we've got... Amazon?



I've got to admit, even after seeing the first episode, I don't quite know why the staff chose to go with an Amazon-themed world. I mean, if you're going to go to a Shôwa Rider world older than BLACK's, the most obvious choices seem to be the original or ZX, because both have thematic significance (one being the beginning of everything, the other being home to arguably the Shôwa's version of Decade, a Rider who is in part defined by his predecessors.)

After them, I'd say V3, due to his popularity and the Miyauchi Factor, or X-Rider, because the proceeding two-parter reintroduced his archnemesis and even featured the X-man in a brief cameo. Plus Toei really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really owes Hayami and apology.

But lo, we have Amazon Rider. Now, there is a moment in the episode I'll talk about where it did sorta click as to why they chose Amazon's World, though as I often say these days, I need to wait for Part 2 to see if they follow up on it.

On the other hand, there's a part of me which is just saying "Dude! Amazon Rocks!" and maybe that's all the reason you need. Cue Tangent!



While I like nearly all Kamen Rider (and at least find the worst of it still entertaining, i.e. the comics) I'm not going to kid around: the original series is still my #1 favorite, and Rider 1 & 2 are still my top Riders (though Skyrider & X-Rider come pretty close, both the shows and Riders.) It's long, it's from the 70's, and it's doing everything for the first time, but that's why I love it.

To me, Kamen Rider works like this: the original series is the best song ever written, and all the other series are covers of it, each with their own unique spin. Some I find more enjoyable than others, but they've all got some value because they're riffing on the same idea which was so great to begin with.

But saying that, I think I'd safely say Amazon's my childhood favorite Rider. Even back in the days before I really got into the series, he always stood out. Because he looks damn awesome, with that strange pattern and distinctive helmet, that funny thing on his arm and those sharp fins on his arms and legs. Before even seeing his show in full, just based on clips from Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider and model shots from Hobby Japan magazine, I knew Amazon was bad-ass.

I wouldn't say I like the character any less now, just that some of his fellows climbed up the ladder with their themes that struck a chord with the older me. Here's the thing: I think Amazon would particularly appeal to a kid. It's telling that one of the main characters is a little boy, and this comes between the virtually kid-free Kamen Rider X & Kamen Rider Stronger.

Part of it is just the way Amazon works: he's like a big kid himself, coming into a strange, scary world, and he has to learn about it as he goes through it. He runs around and swings from trees. He's a very active hero, whereas most of his fellow Riders have their sit-down sessions over coffee and work things out with science and reasoning as well as their fists, Amazon's always on the move.

There's themes in the series which I think I lot of kids can relate to. The feeling of isolation and alienation (many Rider series have this, but in Amazon it's especially clear.) Having to grow up and act mature in the modern world. It's a coming-of-age story where the protagonist fights with a giant snake-man.

Plus there's over-the-top, nearly-cartoonish violence and big, animalistic villains. The monsters in Amazon don't quite look like anything else in Rider. There's just something about all that which I can see appealing to kids. Or maybe it's just me! I dunno.



Despite all this, I still like Amazon a helluva lot, and I feel both the series and the character are one of the big turning points in Kamen Rider. Now I know we all have our different tastes, and I can respect that, but I do feel a little disappointed in someone when they bash Amazon for being "too different", because honestly guys? Kamen Rider as it is now would not only not exist without him, I don't think it would have even been accepted without him. And although those big statements gets trotted out a lot ("Rider 2 changed everything!", "BLACK changed everything!", "The Delzer Army changed everything!" "The episode of Super-1 where he breaks the fourth wall changed everything!", etc.) with Amazon it's especially true.

You have to try and put yourself into the viewer mindset of late 1974. There had just been 3 series that basically told us the heroes were cyborgs created by super-science. There were strong links between the first two and third one introduced them more gradually, but they were there. The villains were secret organizations, the heroes were bright young guys who also excelled in sports and generally liked racin' bikes.

Riderman was kind of the stand-out, but I sort of think it's not until Kamen Rider X that he actually was viewed as being on the same playing field as the others; in V3 he's more of a curiosity who earns his wings in death. But ignoring that, he's got that visual link to the others and is pretty much in-line with the how the heroes worked (bright, good-hearted, knows how to beat the crap out of someone bare-handed, etc.)

Suddenly Amazon comes along and breaks all the rules. Not only in the premise of the show, but the premise of the hero. Amazon might not be a cyborg created in the conventional sense (of the others), but he is still a Kaizô-Ningen, internally reconstructed with Incan Super Science!™ right in the first episode. But put that aside, and he's a totally different sort of character than what we're used to at that point.

The show also makes bold moves too. There's almost no connection to the past Riders aside from Tachibana. This is where the "Kamen Rider as a general linking name" thing got started, when Masahiko uses it in the first episode despite no explanation why. It's because it's a Kamen Rider show, that's why!

The usual henchmen battles don't really happen until about halfway in, making it more about the Rider & the monster going one-on-one (y'know, like in Kuuga.) Amazon gets one of the monsters as an ally and friend, at the time unheard of. What's more, he goes on to become a likable, sympathetic character! The villains have evil schemes 'o the week, but also an overarching goal of getting Amazon's Gigi Bracelet. I'm pretty sure it has Rider's first-ever pre-credits sequence in episode #1.

Hell, even the narrator's different from the other Rider series of the 70's, done by Naya Gorô himself. This results in me always thinking the whole thing has this kinda "bedtime story" feel to it, except read by the Great Leader.

Looking back now of course, there's been Riders since that did the "wild Rider" thing. Shin, Gills... But even more than that, the very nature of what Kamen Rider can be was redefined by Amazon. This isn't to say the first 3 shows are all the same (since they aren't) but they do all have more in common with each other than any of them do with Amazon. Considering that show's now one of the golden oldies, the classic Riders of the good 'ol Shôwa era, that's pretty wild. Audiences accepted Amazon.

Let me put it this way: when Ryuki came along, I wasn't bothered at all by the fact that he wasn't an insect (neither was Agito, but I don't think most people knew that until later years, unless they looked at the website.) Because there was precedence for it.

There's a ton of other examples I could point out (Hibiki's a huge one, since that show was conceptualized as being "the Amazon of the Heisei era", at least after it stopped being "the Henshin Ninja Arashi of the Heisei era".) To make a long story short though, I think Kamen Rider has been able to expand to encompass so many different ways because of Amazon. No matter how wacky things get, there's always roots going back to the green lizard guy from the jungle. So even if it isn't your favorite series or he's your favorite Rider, you gotta respect what both did for the franchise. You'll be a better person for it!



Now that I've blathered on about Amazon for a few dozen paragraphs, let's get to the actual episode, which features Amazon! Although not quite the Amazon we know. Yes, in the same vein as many (but not all) of the past worlds, there's a new actor playing a new incarnation of the featured Rider. Obviously, I have mixed feelings about this, but let's talk about our new wild man.

There's been a lot of complaints about the new Amazon, played by fashion model Sakamoto Enrique. To be blunt, much of it is deserved. It's pretty obvious just from the trailer for this episode alone that they cast him on looks rather than acting ability, and Enrique's very small list of acting credits attests to this fact. Okazaki, he ain't. I would call it one of the weaker performances in the show so far, were it not for one very important fact...

...he's playing Amazon. And that does changes things immensely. So yes, once again I'm going to step up to bat for one of the unloved corners of the Riderverse and say that I actually don't think Enrique is that bad. He's not going to win any Oscars for this, and the criticism has plenty of merit, but I think there is a method to the whole thing which actually just about makes it work for me. It's still got flaws, but I don't think those are all the actor's fault.

For starters, there's the writing. Yonemura's been on an upswing lately, winning me over with his work on the recent TV episodes and the movie, but I think he stumbled a bit with Amazon.

In all fairness, Amazon's probably the hardest of the old Riders to recapture, being very much a product of his original writers (yeah, a given, I know.) And the writer of the first four episodes, IIRC, was none other than directer Nagaishi and then-producer Hirayama Tôru, under a pseudonym.

Later things were handed over to the usual crew, including the man himself, Igami Masaru, who I need to write about in-depth some day. Later appearances would usually get aspects of the character right, but lose some of the subtlety and just make him the crazy guy who yells everything. Spirits has of course done him great justice, but that's another story.

But anyway, there's a very distinct difference between early-series Amazon and later-series Amazon in the original show; about halfway in, he learns to speak Japanese more or less fluently. This is a big deal, because it affects how the character responds in dialogue scenes, and how his patterns of speech flow. Early on, Amazon keeps it short and to the point. Me Amazon, you friend. And ever that's pretty complex. A lot of the time fight scene banter is growls and snarls.

This is true even later on, but at least then you've got Amazon naming attacks and doing the usual "You won't get away with this!" and such. Early Amazon is literally a wild animal who over the course of the show, becomes... well, slightly more civilized. He still retains some of his old characteristics, which I think is good for defining the character. Amazon's referring to himself in the third person is something I just love, I'm glad they kept it in here.

Now I know this is technically AU Amazon, different than the past incarnation. But it's pretty clear they wanted to really make him like the past one, more so than with some of the other remixed Riders. So when we have Amazon making speeches like his later self, but in the way that his earlier self would talk, it ends up being a little stilted and awkward. This does actually kind of work, but I think it would have been wiser to veer more towards the earlier, less-civilized Amazon for some of the dialogue.

For instance, when Amazon first shows up, his lines are roughly "That's far enough!" and "You guys get out of here." I would have shortened it to a growl and just a harsh, guttural "Run!" His Japanese is actually very formal. Drop the desu man! Stuff like that. Amazon has a lot to say in this episode, and while it's interesting, I think they could have cut it down and it would have played more to Enrique's favor.

Because, let's be honest, he sounds very unsure of himself a lot of the time. Some would call it boredom or flatness, but I think it literally is like the poor guy has no idea how to say his lines, so it's a very restrained performance. At least I feel like he's trying, unlike Shimada Kyuusaku in THE NEXT (and everything else I've seen him in) who doesn't even seem to care.

We could fault the direction here, but Nagaishi's such a veteran that I think it's more to due with Enrique's lack of acting experience. He's pretty good as a physically performer though, which is why I think giving him less dialogue and more to do with just body language would have helped. He often looks a bit lost, but there's times when that unreadable look actually worked. I'll say this, whenever he's on screen, my eyes were always glued on Amazon.

I think maybe the biggest problem is that Amazon just isn't expressive enough. He's underplayed here, and Amazon's probably the last character you want to do that with. To make a really bad analogy that I really love, if the Kamen Riders are the Muppets, then Amazon is Animal (Stronger would be Doctor Teeth, BTW.) He's a wild man! Growing up amidst dangerous animals in a secluded part of the Amazon rain forest, he has no concept of the world outside. He wears his emotions on his... well, his sleeve if he had one.

He needs to be played cranked up to 11. When everybody else stands around talking, Amazon climbs up on the counter and hunches over. If When I get to write for Kamen Rider and I have Amazon come back, I'd play up his quirkiness the way Spirits does, making him the guy everybody has to do a double take on. Socially awkward, but kinda adorable in his strange way, and easily the most emotionally open of the Riders.

So while there is that social awkwardness, Amazon here feels less like a wild jungle man and more like a lost tourist trying to fit in, but only half-heartedly. This is especially evident when he's got to get loud; his "AAAA-MAAAA-ZOOON!" and "Dai Setsu Dan!" calls have been criticized to hell and back; I can't really add much there other than maybe he'll improve a little next week.

And his outfit's kinda weird, not quite achieving the iconic image of the original's and at one point looking like a trash bag (when he's knocked over at the end) but I've gotten used to it after about the third viewing. The red "leaves" are a nice touch. This is definitely and episode which improves with a further rewatching.



In spite of everything, I've got to kind of praise what they're doing here. I like that they tried for some authenticity in casting the half-Peruvian Enrique (yes I know Amazon is Japanese and just raised in the jungle, and it wasn't Peru but another part of South America and shut up! I mean in terms of getting someone who in many ways is an outsider in Japan.)

And I even admire that in not getting an accomplished actor, they have ended up with a guy who is as strange and offputting as Amazon's meant to be, if not in all the right ways. If nothing else, Enrique does capture that innocence Amazon's supposed to have; I liked how he trusted Masahiko implicitly, even when he's dead wrong. He does seem genuinely hurt by the betrayal at the end, but now we're getting into the characterization.

And if you put aside the performance, and Yonemura's indecisiveness over how Amazon should talk, I really like the way Amazon's written in terms of his motivation and personality. At least on a script level, he's great. I love that he accepts Decade almost immediately, which is a big change of pace from everyone else. That feels particularly like Amazon, as kindness and trust have always been big parts of the character (re: Mogura-Jûjin.)

I like his quirky little touches, like walking into the Hikari Photo Studio and calling it his base (maybe it used to be Tachibana's place, like how it seemingly replaced the coffee shop in Kuuga's World.) Making the traditional medicine is a nice moment too. And most importantly, they retained his "sign of friendship", complete with the original sound effects. I've always loved that. It's like the grandaddy of Hibiki's little hand wave. These guys do their trademark gestures, and you know everything's going to be all right.

Why the heck does Tsukasa thinks he would speak English though? Oh right, because in Japan, all foreigners speak English!



Alright, I've talked enough about Amazon. So how about... Amazon. As in his Kamen Rider self. Well, what I can I say. It might not be the original Amazon character, but seeing him on screen, and I'm suddenly a kid again. It's awesome having him back on TV.

As I said in the movie review, I'm glad they didn't mess with the design. Why should they? You don't need to change Kuuga's design, you don't need to change BLACK's, so you don't need to change Amazon either. The band on the GiGi Bracelet's more detailed, but that's about it. Also note that he's got the lighter orange chest of early-series Amazon, but I think that's the more iconic look anyway (how many people even know that his colors change over time?)

So instead, they play off of audience expectations and memories, doing all they can to make Amazon the way we remember him. The use of the classic sound effects was beyond awesome. I think the battle cries were a tad high-pitched, closer to the Shocker combatants, and it's kinda weird to have human Amazon's grunts at the same time as those, but maybe like Kuuga's tinny voice in episode #1, they'll work that out next time.

I like that he gets to use some of his classic moves, and that, accordingly, there's blood! Okay, it's purple and green blood, and it's not shot with the slow-motion glorification of the original show, but standards have changed since the 70's. Nobody's lost any limbs yet, but I wouldn't count the possibility out.

As for the Henshin, well, like BLACK & RX in the last two episodes, it's different. I think they could have gotten away with a more retro-style Henshin with CG effects and it would have worked, but what we do get is cool. It reminded me a lot of comic Amazon and even a little of that weird novel dude, Kamen Rider Gaia (from the EVE story.) I like that his eyes turn red like in the original, and like all the Riders in Decade, he gets the "eye flash" after it's complete.

So overall, I'm quite happy with the return of Amazon Rider. Now where the @#$%'s Jungler?



As for the regulars: Tsukasa's kinda weird this episode. In the weeks since the last time I reviewed Decade, I've felt that while Inoue always gives a good performance, it's often helped or hindered by the writer. For example, I had a lot of issues with him in the Blade World, which I'll talk about when I review that. Comparatively, he was nice in Agito World, and I've liked him a lot in the last couple. This week, he's obviously bothered by the idea of a world full of regular people who would gladly attack him, but...

Tsukasa, dude. You've been through it before! Maybe he wanted to forget Diend's World ever happened. In any case, it seems kind of strange for him to be so indecisive when Amazon's like "let's team up!"

The scene with the Shocker thugs roughing up the shopkeeper got some unintentional laughs, because most Riders would probably have, you know, done something. Minami Kôtarô would yell "Yamero!" and run into the middle of it, inevitably getting into a fight with someone. Shinji would have gotten up in somebody's face and gotten hauled off himself. Ashihara would punch everything. Tsukasa's content to just stand back and watch the exposition before the exact same lady from before points him out. Small world.

I'm also not sure about the baseball player thing, but I guess it ties into Masahiko's dad. I would have liked it if Tsukasa had left the Studio in a yellow jeep and cowboy hat, but this probably makes more sense to the plot. He sure ditches it quick though. It made for a great gag when he transforms though.

Yuusuke's great. Depending on your point of view, the character's either been badly treated by the writers or performing exactly as he should be in his loyal often-comedic sidekick role. I think he's mostly been doing okay. I like that they've giving him more chances to transform and get into the action lately, though it'd be cool to see him use some different forms again, since that is Kuuga's deal. Maybe he will in the finale.

I like his reactions to everything Amazonian. Once again though, we have a guest Rider telling Tsukasa something Yuusuke told him off-screen. I know they've got to keep things moving, but I'd actually kind of like to see this stuff. One of the things I really liked about the Kiva World is how there was a lot of scenes *just* between Yuusuke & Wataru. He's less prickly and confrontational than Tsukasa often is, so it makes sense to have the Riders listening to him so much.

Natsumi's her usual self, Kivaara's CGI again, and I like Eijirô's Mogura impersonation, even if I can't believe Toei didn't revive him with an Imagin-style makeover. It is a bit strange watching Eijirô now after seeing the movie, but that's all I'll say on that.



Daiki is... Daiki. I'll talk about him more in other reviews, but I just haven't been feeling his character at all. He's got an interesting angle and Diend does allow for some neat return appearances of past Riders, but so did Narutaki, who basically got his gimmick stolen from under his nose. And beyond that, Daiki just doesn't feel like he's really gone anywhere.

Every time he gets development (Hibiki's World, the Shinkengers' World and his own in particular) he just goes back to his usual self the following storyline. It looks like he's going to get some new card next week, and hopefully the finale will do something with him.

Speaking of Narutaki, that poor bastard. He's fallen out of favor with fans over the past 20 or so episodes, and probably for the reason I mentioned. His coolest power was basically jacked by Diend, so he makes the threats and the doom-laden proclamations, but does nothing about it.

I mean look at him here. He used to appear mysteriously whenever there's a fight, stalking Decade and hinting that he knew what the real story was. Here he's literally just standing around, cursing out Daishocker (but again, doing nothing), and of course he also has to blame Decade for everything. I kinda wish we got a scene of someone saying "Hey, who's that creepy old guy?" and Narutaki hoofing it.



So hooray for some real villains! Fresh off of their movie appearance and introduction in the last storyline, Daishocker is in full control here. As I've said, I love the concept. All the Riders' villains team up for one mega-conglomerate to conquer everything. It's simple, and startlingly fresh. It's great seeing the old Shocker Combatants again. I like that they went 110% like in the old days, and have the Daishocker Official Certificate of Achievement™ seen a couple screen caps up. I love the little details like that. There's also mention of the Leader, whoever it may turn out to be...

I'll save most of my Apollo Geist gushing for when I review the RX/BLACK episodes, but he's back again this week, and as great as ever. We've probably only got one more episode of him so I'm hoping he has a cool demise, so he'll go out on a high (getting Super Dai Setsu Dan'd wouldn't be a bad way to go.) His introduction episode was great and even after going through hell last week, he's back on his feet here. You know he's got to be tough as nails to take a double Rider Kick and live.

Kawahara's great. He's not an actor I've paid much attention to prior to this, and apart from an episode of Ryuki he's not been in Kamen Rider before, but he's really good as Apollo Geist. It's a faithful recreation of Uchida's performance without being an actual imitation. He captures all the right characteristics.

I actually like how he expects Decade to just hand over the Perfecter, even though anyone could see a mile off that our hero would just wreck the thing. But Geist still gives it a shot in the off chance, then makes his displeasure more than known when things fell apart. That kind of twisted honor is key to the character. He'll take hostages and play dirty, but he'll still shake your hand when you win (and then have his arm turn out to be a bomb. I'll do cartwheels if they retain that for his finale.)



Joining Apollo Geist this week is an update on Amazon's arch-villain, the Jûmenki (Ten-Faced Demon) Yum Kimil, who sounds like some kind of exotic dish. He's a huge redesign from the original show's Gorgos, so much so that I actually feel like he's a whole new character (which he kinda is), inspired by the original, but with his own take.

Like Apollo Geist, I don't mind villain redesigns because those guys tend to look different every time they come back anyway; Geist changed once in the series, got another redesign for SD Riders, had a pretty awesome S.I.C. version, and now this new one, which draws on elements of them all.

In this case, Yummy Camal looks like he came right out of the architecture of some Central/Southern American civilization. I'd say Incan, but for whatever reason my 6th Grade History is telling me Aztec even if the former makes more sense. In any case, he looks awesome. I like how they incorporated the Daishocker double-headed eagle into him. The giant globe thing he appears in is cool, and giving him the ability to move around without it is sort of a nod back to the original, though Gorgos is only seen walking on his own in publicity photos.

Yumi Killme's got a great new power too; 9 of his faces are the 9 Heisei Riders (the 10th being his own face) and this allows him to use their own powers against them. Having seen the costume in person, a tale I'll tell about sometime soon, I can say that there's a helluva lot of nice details on there, making each of the masks recognizable but still working with the whole look.

Your Cartmel's voiced by Ishikawa Hideo, not much to say other than it's okay. I like the raspy vocals of the great Sawa Ritsuo on Gorgos, but Yoyo Kalihoo's a different guy, so it's cool. I like whatever modulation they put on his voice, giving it just a slightly inhuman reverb.

Overall, Yui Kamisama's... I mean Yum Kimil's a pretty cool new addition to the Rider villain ranks. I'll remember his name yet.



So the big golden one oversees business in Amazon's World, which has a great concept: What if the bad guys won? Diend's World tried a similar thing, but there it was kind of half-baked and weird, with overly nice people all mind-controlled by Blade villains acting out of character. Fourteen had an interesting plan, but it was hard to reconcile that version with the movie one, and no Albino Joker involvement to explain it all away just made things even stranger.

Here we get the full-on, take-no-prisoners, balls-to-the-wall real deal. It's a nightmarish world where everybody does the Shocker salute, Nazi-esque secret police haul suspected traitors away, people cheer on the monsters rather than the Riders, neighbors distrust one another, and even kids are indoctrinated in the ways of evil and get cool pins.

It draws on a number of classic series episodes and oft-repeated ideas, including the "evil kiddie version of ____________", which I've always sorta liked because it is just so wacky. If When I write for Kamen Rider though, I'll do the story where the commander in charge at the time feels uncomfortable with the whole idea and talks the boss out of it, instead setting up an "evil high schoolgirl version of ____________".

As an aside, I love how Apollo Geist doesn't ever return the salute to anyone. He's like "I am so over this."

I'm sure it's coincidental, but I like how of all the old monsters they chose to feature here, one of them is the Porcupine Grongi. You may or may not know the deal with him, but the long story short is that even out of the many, many fearsome foes of Kuuga (and there are many) he in particular is one chilling sonnuvabitch.

Due largely in part to the fact that he killed kids on a Sunday morning TV show, and his death (where Kuuga literally loses it) is rightly famous. There's something extra creepy about seeing him here, cheered on by the masses.



In the middle of this world is poor Amazon. Short on allies, surrounded by evil and running low on bananas, his joy at Tsukasa & Yuusuke arriving is pretty sweet. It's clear he's got some history with Masahiko, and anyone who's seen the original series knows how that might work.

Speaking of Masahiko, and his sister Ritsuko: they're both okay, but I'll need to wait for next week because the show doesn't try to make them very sympathetic. And Ritsuko makes funny faces, but maybe that's just "brainwashed by evil" acting. I will say though that I feel the actor for Masahiko in the original series is one of Tokusatsu's better child actors, because there's times when he's scarily good; the kid here's just sort of going through the motions, but again, I like how easily Amazon trusts him whereas Tsukasa is suspicious the whole way through.

I mentioned waaaaaaaaaay earlier in this review a scene that almost maybe explains why we're in Amazon's World this week, and it's the brief conversation (while the heroes hide from an angry mob) between Tsukasa and Amazon about his journey. This is the place where Amazon yakking away really does kind of help, because it gets across the point easier than drawing them in the dirt and grunting probably would have (though I'd have liked to see how they did that!)

For you see, Amazon describing his own journey hits home with Tsukasa, especially the part about not fitting in anywhere, being a friend to none. I liked this scene a lot. It's a quieter moment in an episode with a lot of running around and fighting, and it's probably the one place where Enrique's toned-down moody Amazon really works.



I mentioned fighting? There's some good fights, particularly the epic conclusion with the triple Henshin. It's good fun and you know, I'm actually really starting to like that "Ride the Wind" song.

The cliffhanger's great. Kuuga down for the count, Masahiko running off with the GiGi, Amazon shot by Apollo Geist (he's extremely lucky, original Apollo Geist's gun was pretty much instant death!) and Decade getting hammered by two Daishocker officers. Great stuff.

So there you have it. After watching this one again another time or two, I really grew to like it. While the new Amazon isn't all he could have been, I think there is some good bits in there, and for the most part the rest of the episode's pretty good. Hey, Kamen Rider Amazon's in it, it has to be good. I can't wait to see how things go down next week.

***