..

It's funny cause after Black Sun I can't help but look at the two and think of how Amazons feels like what people think a darker take on Kamen Rider would be while Black Sun is what a darker take on Kamen Rider actually is.

To be honest, the darker look for me is both Shin's films and maybe Inoue's First and Next. The Amazons and the Black Sun for me are more likely to exploit shock content, like the recent Winnie the Pooh slasher. Actually, that's why I consider them not so much adults as teenage shows.

I thought Drive handled it pretty well, with each form having some sort of drawback.

On the other hand, Kiva, Ghost, and Ex-Aid were awful at this.

I haven't seen Black Sun yet, but Amazons felt at times like edgy teens trying to be "mature." I still enjoyed it, however.

My main takeaway was that I didn't like either very much. Too dark and edgy for me.

For Amazons, sure. For Black Sun, though? It's very grounded and gets violent, but there's a legit message behind it.

It's telling a story with very distinct subtext that Kamen Rider has kinda always had in the past, only now updated to modern times. Individuality isn't a sin, it's okay to be different, the government can't do its job so long as it brings in corruption, authority isn't as influential as it thinks it is, nothing will change unless we stand up against injustice, etc.

Amazons did have some stuff there. Amazons were once people and these people deserve to live because they've been dealt an unfortunate hand and are being treated as monsters as a result. The way Haruka and Jin also seem to swap personalities with the wild, uncontrollable one gaining balance and a clear mindset while his "mentor" became more deranged and single-minded. How men can become monsters and vice versa.

That said, it leans so hard into the edginess. Lotta blood. Lotta gore. The dull color filter over everything. S2 onwards only ramping all that up to uncomfortable degrees in ways, even if I do like how bittersweet S2 was. The director (Or writer, can't remember which) condemning modern rider for being too geared to kids only to churn Amazons out just screams overly-edgy.

Amazons is definitely a "This feels geared towards older teens"-feeling sort of series.

Black Sun, and Shin Kamen Rider imo, feel more geared towards older fans who get what Kamen Rider's all about while also being love letters to their source in one way or another.

It was producer Shirakura who thought modern Rider lost its edge. Honestly my only beef with Black Sun is the ending, it honestly soured the whole thing for me.

I personally liked how bleak the ending was. Granted I like when stories don't end with clear happy endings and aren't afraid to be serious and be like "This problem isn't magically fixed and it would be for a long time".

Which, I think, could be passed without tearing off heads.


Surprising, because the whole topic of the Dark Sun is full of accusations that he did not give a damn about the original source. And at the expense of earthiness and realism: the minister was killed when he peed on the flowers left for the murdered boy? This is both unrealistic and turns a corrupt politician into a caricature villain who just enjoys doing nasty things.

It's almost like his character was depicted since his youth to be a cowardly, pig-headed, pompous slimeball who only gets into power through familial connections and manipulation and has no right to be there or something...

He acts like that when eyes aren't on him and saves face when they are. Extreme or not, it fits the role.

It sounds more like "This is violent ergo it's overly edgy" is the stance here when there's plenty of media out there with the same level, if not more, that also have something to say and say it well.