I'm on two minds while I agree that the new Decade version is alot less bonkers. I just apploud the Rider faces adorned over the new versions suit. And having him be able to relfect the Legend Rider powers is such a great power for an Anniversary season.Whoever had that idea for this guy makes the entire Amazon arc worth it in my eyes. Also I'm a sucker for black and gold.

https://www.kamen-rider-official.com...5/main_image/4
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnkWidMUsAAlmYc.jpg

Oh I hadn't seen this design from behind before!! Super cool to see the other faces, thank you :)

I believe I've mentioned that out of the Showa shows I've seen the most of, it would definitely be Amazon (for now). Got 12 episodes in before finding and watching Decade, because I couldn't find the rest of the episodes.

Now I love the idea of Amazon, being the most naïve and open Rider having the least trustworthy world where it's ruled by the villains, which kind of fits the theme of his show. Also, we're back to AR versions of the characters, and this one kind of lacks the primitive charm from the original, which is a bit of a shame.

Supposedly the original idea of Amazon was that he was going to be heavily martial arts focused and that he'd be based off Bruce Lee with a dragon motif (or at least his name had something to do with dragon after many of Bruce Lee's films), before they decided to base him off Tarzan. It's still interesting how different Amazon is from every other Showa Rider at the time, like being based off of lizards (whose design I adore), or how he doesn't get introduced like a normal person, or tragic past, but just this bizarre superhuman on the run from Gedon.

I always thought the Jyumenki design for Decade looked pretty neat, but quite a departure from his original look, more-so than Apollo Geist. But seeing how his ten faces are the Heisei Riders is something I never noticed in my original viewing, and now I love it even more.

I wasn't too thrilled with Amazon's arc here, but now seeing some of these details and stuff other people are mentioning, my appreciation for this arc has grown phenomenally.

The Mole Beastman reference was one I got! One of the major Amazons characters is a Mole Amazon who struggles with being good, so I figured (after seeing Decade's scene) that it was something from the original. But I appreciate the clarification!

I don't mind it if a show wants to make a character's struggle into a recurring theme, or a motif, but this isn't that? This is just (to me) a lesser version of the same story we got last time. It's not about Tsukasa regressing, it's about him being a gigantic jerk so he can feel guilty for most of the story.

That is a pretty great description of how Kaitou does things!

Team Tomoko! We gotta stick together.

Yeah, I... maybe this is colored a bit by my knowledge that Tsukasa will keep popping up for another 12 years, but I sort of like it better that this show doesn't feel like it's closing in on an endgame. I dislike the focus on Tsukasa's need to find his home and settle down, because a) I know he doesn't settle down, and b) it's not what this show needs for either its narrative or its theme. Just, like, let him and his friends wander forever. Just do that.

He's definitely the most appealing Showa concept, to me. Glad to hear these extra details!

This marks the second arc in Decade I actually enjoyed. AR Amazon's' acting included.

I hate to disappoint you before you even try the show, but those characters are last seen on the ship that takes them to America. We never see them actually arrive.

I thought I was going to stir shit again making that declaration, but (good that) actually it gains an approval. I would say though the one who "placed the cat in the middle of the river in the first place" means their act cannot be condoned as (morally) good one.

Well it's good that there's an explanation of the Amazon in the episode being seen less favorably... I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶y̶p̶o̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶n̶t̶i̶-̶r̶e̶g̶r̶e̶t̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶v̶a̶l̶r̶y̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶j̶e̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶A̶m̶a̶z̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶e̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶T̶o̶m̶o̶k̶o̶!̶ The Amazon here had the same name as the original Daisuke Yamamoto, but he has different actor for the Decade one Enrique Sakamoto (not "obviously"... Ichigo had his original actor Hiroshi Fujioka back for future reappearences!). I guess this is a nice assessment that, while there are characters that aren't handled the best way, there are some limitations of the reaction to them, like not actually doing something wrong in the Amazon's innocence here, where it'd be too extreme otherwise to, like you said, outright being mad and hating on him, which = being mad at puppy. Though not everyone gets some pass like Amazon here... ._. You may find Amazon's trait difficult to disregard, but not everyone so, like Amazon had a part where he got his trust betrayed to be tricked by Masahiko handing over the Riders to the Great Shocker; being tricked and manipulated is an event I frequently see made people mad of the tricked characters (and heroes are the more likely to be subjected to this). The stereotypical Grim Masculinity... yeah that'd appeal more on those who'd focus on manliness or such, but otherwise I guess it's good that the solution around this isn't necessarily making them dubious (if stays stoic) or turn 180 from stoically to over the top; Amazon's trait is refering to himself as 3rd person though.

And also, an appreciation of a... cooperation here, which is true for Amazon and Decade. I mean conflicts are said as the most memorable stuff rather than everyone getting along and like you said, Decade has mostly about the people vilify him, like the Shinkenger, where that'd be for sure a conflict and I thought it'd be better be kept throughout the Decade for more memorable stuff, and that conflict would never become overexposed, while even doing a few getting along part is still treated as mainstream or such. This stands out too to me, both are relatable to each other and flock together of him being another Rider seen as threat by public, it's Showa Decade albeit he doesn't have Decade's unpleasant traits.

Exclusively talking for Decade episode, this gives me a vibe of something like Paradise Lost before, where the humans are at jeopardy in the world due to the established rule by the scientific organization, seems that the bad guys won in Amazon world. Though this probably would ruin the funny part of yours (well though you also want for it to be more than just a joke), I'd like to know how the Dai-Shocker manages to get a genuine approval from the citizens, they're all fully loyal to a fault to the Dai-Shocker, to the point of being outright zealot-ish. Almost at first feels like the Dai-Shocker may be the villain in name only (which ofc KR followers know not as Shocker is notorious franchise-wide), that they're portrayed as such due to the Riders being hunted for some reason. It's not that, they feel like they suffer or such under Dai-Shocker's reigm, of course except of the victims like the ones being accused as spying, which of course probably Dai-Shocker would try to hide the executions or such, but when there are families who'd feel loss from those executions (like about how one of the members never come back).... Good too that this talk also recognizes the negative impact of the life in Dai-Shocker's rule, despite that this is funny. For Sh Ranger this can't be called "chaotic methods of heroism" as this'd be at best anti-villainy.

Probably not even easier that Masahiko is also a child. Though Masahiko seems to get showered with approval at first from the Dai-Shocker uppers, this seems to be an example of child soldier employment in KR, similar to something like Namba Heavy Industries from Build, a series that tries to bring back Showa flicks such as the inhuman laboratory experiments. Though Masahiko at worst will be an (extreme) anti-villain as Dai-Shocker underling, I'd think it's probably quite refreshing to see a child who doesn't have a bratty attitude, more of the mature and responsible too, if misguided (well, he's not innocent due to being misguided though before the monster experiment). The Showa scheme of turning everyone into monsters... that's seen in several Heisei shows later, like Faiz, Kabuto, Ex-Aid (sort of, turning everyone into data, but lives as Bugster). All of those shows have their own motives of turning all races into their own kind, but for Showa one....

I think that, though Amazon is a parallel character, Tsukasa won't ever be someone who'd be open on his 'weakness', where it had to happen if Amazon would make Tsukasa express more of himself or such. I probably think that Tsukasa won't be shaken on finding certain someone who suffers similar way as he did in a world that rejects them, I mean he had endured that for most of the time, and there's someone who'd be harder to feel (or at least openly) for others if they've gone through as bad or worse problems which'd make them feel that other's problems are small or no big deal in comparison, and probably Tsukasa's that type... I think that also roots from his claim of him being unable to feel the pain from others, and that going through it himself can increase that (or probably the reason) further...continuing from below...

..that Onodera's proposed solution to Amazon is even having him join them on their journey, which Natsumi disapproves due to the state of his world (not due to rejecting newcomers), which kinda makes that Tsukasa is the solution to Amazon. People can have their opinions and that I've seen some thinking that Onodera is what defines Kuuga to them, but I think Kuuga's form progression and change is one of the best the series had handled, and it's a shame if people would overlook how Kuuga's form change originated in the series by seeing Kuuga's Titan Form in this episode.

I mean I've tried until ep. 6 at the time I typed this. Well it's ok, I don't really have any expectations, just wondering if they'd actually film it in America... or having an excuse to not too... kinda expected that it's the latter, using the excuse that it's done on the end of the series.

So much cooler than his counterpart in Decade who acts more like a generic evil dude.

ZX has a cool design (ninjas, duh), but his special was an unfortunate waste of time considering the whole first half is just a documentary and then Ryo's backstory is shown through expository narration so we don't really get to learn anything personal about the character. It feels like he was overshadowed by his predecessors and maybe he should've got his own solo film before having a big crossover.

Regarding the Double Riders, yeah, if I ever get around to watching that, I'll probably be looking for a condensed episode list. Goranger's 84 I can handle, but damn, 98 is a lot!

The journey started with Zatyme. And now it will end with Zatyme. How appropriate.

They probably wanted to clearly show the concept of Dai Shocker allying with other evil organizations throughout the Showa Era but the problem with that is the fact that Great Leader is running a lot of those as secret Shocker branches. Geddon is only vaguely connected to Shocker, so that might be part of the reason other than Amazon's uniqueness.

In Amazon, Mole Beastman has the opposite problem of struggling with being evil and he's generally a really nice guy and a good friend and comrade to Amazon.

You should watch out for Mushroom Beastman though. He's not a nice guy.

Team Tomoko FTW!

Although like Hibiki, Amazon's real name is pretty much never relevant and I recall the only guy who knows about it is the narrator. Fun fact about Sakamoto, he's half Peruvian, which is adjacent to the Amazon.

I was actually referring to the Riders for that statement. Sorry if I was unclear. I meant that's how people are conditioned by Dai Shocker to see them.

Which is why I appreciate Muraeda for expanding his lore in Kamen Rider Spirits. I remember ZX's rep getting a boost around that time during the 2000s. It also helps I think that he is the other 80s rider other than Black and RX so his design is not the 1970s biker look his predecessors have. It's a nice blend of Kamen Rider and Space Sheriff.

I feel like learning more about how Dai-Shocker runs the world would only make it funnier. The more details, the more insane the picture.

I don't know if I see it that way? Tsukasa definitely understands people's pain; every other episode ends with him talking up someone's ability to persevere in the face of hardship, or fight no matter the cost, or etc etc etc. He gets that folks might have it hard, even if he doesn't visibly empathize with them. He's not, like, demonstrative.