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Open your Amazons
It’s 2018 and I’m still amazed at the number of official tokusatsu (live-action special effects) productions that have left Japan. Shout! Factory gave us some classicSuper Sentaishows (Power Rangers’ source material), Tsuburaya released a fewUltramantitles on streaming Websites, and Kraken Releasing brought the dark late-night franchise known asGaroto Blu-ray in North America.
While it’s impressive to see these titles arrive in the West, there was one franchise that didn’t cross the pond. Luckily, we can scratch Kamen Rider off the list sinceKamen Rider Amazonsisstreaming onAmazon Primein the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., and Germany asAmazon Riders. This came as a surprise since it took a long time for them to give us an update on their plans to stream it outside of Japan. Thankfully, they didn’t cancel the idea and we can see Toei’s bug-eyed biker officially kick evil in the face.
One thing that setsAmazonsapart from the other installments is that it’s aimed towards older viewers, instead of younger ones. This works well with the fact that Amazon loves to rip his enemies into pieces, which was an element in the originalAmazonseries. While I’m not a fan of the nameAmazon Riders, I’m happy to see another uncutRidertitlein the West.
Prior to this release,Kamen Rider the First, Toei’s attempt to bring us a “realistic” take on the original hero, came out in North America through Media Blasters. Of course, the well-known one wasSaban’s Masked Rider, which borrowed footage fromKamen Rider Black RX. IfAmazon Riders’first season does well, I hope it leads to its sequels being released in the future. Who knows, this might result in us seeing moreRidershows in North America.
Kamen Rider Amazons Available in English on Amazon Prime [The Tokusatsu Network]