The debut of Kamen Rider Amazons left the audience with plenty of questions right from the start.
A police officer transformed into a creature and fought against another monster.
What stood out most was how much more violent and bloody the combat was compared to Kuuga.
The creature, which looked like a mole, battled the spider monster. With the help of the police, the mole-like creature pinned the spider monster to the ground and slashed it with its claws.
While guns had barely left a mark on the spider monster, the mole creature's claws tore through the monster's body like paper.
Blood splattered everywhere, staining the mole creature's body a deeper red.
With a roar, the creature's red eyes flared, and the sound of flesh being ripped apart echoed.
"Can this even be called a Kamen Rider?"
"It doesn't feel like a Rider at all. This police officer turned into a monster—maybe he's an escaped experiment from a mad scientist's lab?"
Many fans felt something was off.
The scene was far too violent, a stark contrast to the slightly more elegant and heroic battles seen in Kuuga.
The spider monster writhed on the ground, shrieking in agony, but its struggle was futile.
With the sound of ripping muscle, the mole creature pierced the spider monster's chest, pulling out a glowing, translucent object.
The object pulsed faintly in the mole creature's hand, and the light flickered in time with its movements.
Although it wasn't explicitly stated, many fans immediately guessed that this was the monster's heart.
As the mole creature crushed the heart, the spider monster's trembling body dissolved into a puddle of ooze.
"That's gross!"
"So bloody!"
"Is this really Kamen Rider?"
At this point, many fans were taken aback.
In their minds, Kamen Riders weren't supposed to be like this.
Weren't they supposed to make grand, heroic entrances and defeat enemies with style?
The brutal fighting style of this mole creature left them puzzled—it was raw and savage.
But what came next in the episode made fans even more confused.
After the mole creature had dealt with the spider monster, the special forces team made a call to someone, asking for more information about the creature.
From their conversation, the fans picked up a few details.
An experiment two years ago… Experimental subjects… All referred to as "Amazons." Both the mole creature and the spider monster were called by this name.
"Wait, so these 'Amazons' are the result of human experiments? And the mole and spider monsters were once humans?" Daniel, who was watching the episode, stroked his chin and began to speculate. "Are all the Amazons created from humans?"
Daniel thought about it for a moment.
Maybe there were three types of Amazons: the Amazon Riders like in the trailer, and the Amazon creatures like the mole and spider monsters.
The difference seemed to be that some Amazons could control themselves, like the mole creature, while others, like the spider monster, couldn't.
"This episode is pretty long, though."
Daniel glanced at his phone.
His fan chat group was buzzing with discussions about the new Kamen Rider, and the screen flashed every so often, showing him the time.
Unlike Kuuga, where each episode was about twenty to thirty minutes long, Amazons was still going strong after what felt like a full episode's worth of time, with plenty of content left to go.
"No wonder the TV guide only showed one episode today. This one's probably twice as long as a normal episode," Daniel thought, settling in to continue watching.
The story continued.
The special task force received intel that more monsters had appeared, and they set out to exterminate them. But this time, there wasn't just another spider monster.
There was also a bat monster.
With only one mole Amazon on their side, the task force quickly found themselves outmatched by the two monsters.
While the mole creature held its ground against the bat monster, the rest of the team was getting destroyed by the second spider monster. Even when another team member transformed into a dragonfly-like creature, the spider monster easily overpowered them.
Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, everyone turned toward the sound of a calm voice.
They looked up to see a man standing on top of their vehicle. Unlike the terrified reaction you'd expect from a normal person who had just stumbled onto a battlefield filled with monsters, this man seemed unfazed.
But the fans weren't surprised.
They recognized him from the trailer. However, he looked a little sharper and more alert than the scruffy version they had seen earlier.
The man casually held a belt in one hand and a raw egg in the other. He tapped the egg on the belt a couple of times before cracking it open and eating it raw.
The calmness with which he did this made him seem completely out of place on this chaotic battlefield.
"If he had popcorn instead of an egg, he'd look just like a spectator," some fans joked.
The man jumped down from the vehicle and strolled toward the fight, slowly putting on the belt.
"Alpha."
"Amazon!"
He spoke softly.
And just like in the trailer, an explosion erupted around him!
The blast sent a shockwave rippling out, knocking back everyone around him, including the special task force and even the monsters.
Just from the force of his transformation, it was clear that this man was on a whole different level compared to the spider monster.
Then, the fans watched in awe as the transformed Amazon Alpha sprang into action.
The spider monster's attacks were useless against him, as he effortlessly blocked every strike.
He even had the time to taunt the monster with a classic hand gesture, beckoning it to come at him.
"Goodbye."
With those words, he slammed the spider monster to the ground with one hand and raised his other arm high.
The spider monster panicked, driven by a primal instinct to escape.
But it soon realized that it couldn't even break free from the man's one-handed grip!
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