[Paladin]

An invincible agent with the power of lucid dreaming finds himself up against a Nightmare.

[Zolda]

Yep. My hypothesis in my 3rd post here 2 months ago was proven to be correct. Baku/KR Zeztz does have the power of lucid dreaming where he can control virtually all aspects of his dreams.

In the scene @ 05:29, Baku also wishes that he's able to control reality as well. My hypotheses in my 1st post here, 3rd post here, 4th post here, and 5th post here could be proven to be correct in later episodes where it'd be revealed that he does indeed have the power to alter reality as well, similar to the reality-altering/bending/manipulation power that was possessed by Sougo Tokiwa/KR Zi-O and Haruhi Suzumiya.

His inability to do so could be caused by some kind of mental block that was planted into his mind by the mastermind villain of the story. Based on Minami (Baku's younger sister) @ 05:43, she could be one of the mastermind villain's agent (or perhaps even the agent) that was tasked with keeping Baku's lucid dreaming ability aka latent reality-altering/bending/manipulation power at bay. It means that Baku's entire life could've been a completely fake life that's been manipulated by the mastermind villain, and almost all the people around him could be agents/actors planted by the mastermind villain in order to suppress Baku's power as much as possible, while at the same time allowing the Nightmares to roam free. This plot about a secret agent that was planted with some kind of a mental block by the mastermind villain to keep him at bay is quite similar to the plot of Total Recall (1990), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Starting from the middle part of the film, the reality of Arnold's character (Douglas Quaid) started to blur with his dream about being a secret agent and made the plot becoming more ambiguous.

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

[GuardianAngel87]

Just finished watching the first episode of the new Kamen Rider series. Despite my initial reservations, Kamen Rider Zeztz is already off on a pretty good and interesting start and like with the last few seasons of Ultraman like Blazar, Arc, and Omega, I may be watching this series on a weekly basis with great interest.

[Enchilada645]

So I watched the raw and just got out of the premiere right now.

I think this might be Takahashi's strongest premiere for the Riders he's done? The style the opening sequence held reminded me of Wizard. Also very disorienting with the dreaming aspect and I really dig that. I'm hoping with the advanced filming we can keep that up.

Also I was originally worried about Baku being potentially Ace 2 given the vibes when we first saw him. But this episode definitely sold me on him since he is way more than that. Real nice guy and I love the Spy Otaku aspect of him, just the quick shots we see of all his memorabilia really gives us a lot.

Really curious to see how this goes.

Probably not going to comment on every episode thread, but I figured I'd do it this once.

[Frontier]

I kind of imagine anyone checking out this first episode with NO frame of reference for what this shows' plot is thinking it's some kind of Super Spy Kamen Rider season. And it is! In the protagonists' dreams!

I can't help but look at that Nem hostage sequence and think of Neon's backstory. I wonder if Takahashi was intentionally going for a parallel/reversal.

Don't worry, it's a kid show so he's only shooting the criminals with blanks! Also, I know it's a dream, but I appreciated how one of the thugs was a woman. Women can commit crimes too!

Every time I hear the English in this show I'm going to wonder if it's just in there for the "cool" secret agent factor and because this is trying to appeal to a worldwide audience.

It feels like we've been getting some great fashion plate Heroines as of late and Nem in that red dress is quite eye-catching.

In his dreams, Baku is a suave, capable, and effective secret agent. In reality he's just a wholesome fan of spy and action movies who wants to help people in any form he can.

If I had a nickel for every Kamen Rider who lived with their sister...though Minami is a little harsher than usual, even if ultimately she's just worried about what's going to happen to her brother every time he leaves the house (how did he survive the meteor?!)

Okay, so he technically DID save the little girl by causing enough of a scene that the abductor realized it was better to hightail it out of there rather than keep kidnapping the girl.

Kamen Rider Lopo as a beautiful lady cop is pretty on-brand. Rinko would be proud.

I wonder if everyone in the department thinks Fujimi is a nutjob for what he thinks is causing these rash of crimes...not only can the Nightmares seemingly induce people into committing crimes but also kill them in their sleep.

I appreciate they capture how crazy traveling through your dream can get, Inception-style.

Kaijin can't even let a Rider rest in the hospital these days!

Maybe it was a bad idea attacking a dude in his dream where he's literally a more capable, confident, version of himself. Then again, an ordinary dreamer can't effect a Nightmare and this Nightmare was effectively destroying everything he had built up for himself in his dream. That's why you need a Kamen Rider!

Is it just me or did the hand that pull Baku into the office look like a woman?

Oh hey, Cyclone! Kind of!

It's going to take me time to adjust to the belt not being on the waist. It's like there's something on the chest that shouldn't be there. But nevertheless: Arize, Kamen Rider Zeztz!

It's cool how much Zeztz can effect the environment with his massive strength, creativity, and the fact that this is a dream world. Not sure how consistent they'll be able to keep that, but it probably depends on Toei's budget.

I love how the Rider Kick is like him winning the jackpot...and putting the Nightmare to sleep before recreating them as a harmless butterfly?

I wonder...was the red dress Nem ever the real Nem at any point? Or will he not meet her until next episode?

Well, the driver now exists in the real world (meaning he can also Henshin outside his dreams?) and Fujimi knows Baku is connected to this case.

Next week: Baku a wanted fugitive! The bike! And the bomb Nightmare!

[Fish Sandwich]

This'll be real basic because I'm writing it right before catching some actual Zeztz of my own, but my first impressions of this show are pretty positive. A belt worn on the chest is like two decades too late to feel like the cRaZy!! gimmick they want to make it sound like, but in this genre where intangible feelings and concepts are so often given literal form to explore as stories, a Rider who exists in dreams is maybe one of the best premises for a tokusatsu show you can ever have? The sort of punchy, exaggerated comic book quality Yuuya Takahashi's writing often has seems pretty suited to that concept, and Kazuya Kamihoriuchi is 100% the guy to call to direct it.

The visuals in this premiere especially definitely take advantage of that dreamlike quality that film can do where editing lends a flow to things to that otherwise have no logical connection. I find the idea of a series where Toei Geography is actively justified by the basic premise pretty hilarious. That being said, I didn't think the actual Kamen Rider fighting part was especially impressive, and in general, I'd really like to the see the show push some of the ideas established here further in episodes to come. Which is maybe my general opinion too. A promising start, and an enjoyable episode, but one I hope ends up feeling like the weakest episode of the series in retrospect.

[Switchblade]

Oh, it's three 7s. I get it now: 7e7t7

This was a lot of fun. It looks to be going for a serious vibe again this season but without the massive dissonance between the plot and visual aesthetic that always bugged me with Gavv.

I really love the editing in this: the scenes with Baku running through his dream did a great job of capturing the disorienting way that location shifts work in dreams. The sound design is also freaking fantastic and adds a lot of impact to the fight scenes. Speaking of, the choreography in the opening fight was really good. If Toei is going to try to draw in a new audience of foreign fans (which I'm not sure they're actually interested in, to be fair), they definitely went out of their way to make sure things started off very stylishly. Curious to see if the show keeps up like this or if we get the usual scaling back of more dynamic and expensive visual elements. That was more practical than CGI, so hopefully this kind of action direction won't get budgeted out as we go along.

[Daikaijuman54]

Hey ho, gango! It's been a while, but I've been busy and not a lot of free time on my hands, but here we are on the premiere of Zeztz!

For the short version, this was a very promising and enjoyable start to a new show with some great action and intriguing cinematography functioning for the "lucid dreaming."

For details, I won't go too much on them in this thread, but I will say that the Zeztz suit has been an up-and-down deal on the lead up to the show (that I haven't brought up since it got revealed before going back to my dungeon) which has honestly grown on me. For the most part. The suit still looks naked without the belt on the waist at times, but I'm still getting used to that. The Nightmares, no beating around or anything like that, but they look fantastic! Probably my favorite Monster Designs from the Reiwa Series.

Baku does remind me of Ace, albeit with more personality and a story that I rather like. Worth noting that the actor is a huge fan of Kamen Rider W, and I can honestly see him taking after Shotarou Hidari. The Agent 7 is clearly a reference to James Bond, but I feel like it might also be a nod to him being the 7th Reiwa Rider (depending on if you count Revice as two Riders or Zi-O among them).

I can't help but be reminded of Lango from Gavv (which I really want to talk about later) when I see Nox, but I also get a bit of the Time Jackers and Roidmudes whenever he appears.

Overall, a great start and will be fun to watch officially!

Next Episode: Go to Jail! Go directly to Jail! Do NOT pass GO! Do NOT collect $200!

[skyh0und0028]

There are numerous references to stuff most of us are familiar with, but Zeztz when I was reading and hearing the pronunciation...also is a reference to ZZZ.

However, I did a bit of a deep dive of my own while going over this.

There's definitely some Inception like reference and sort of makes one question "Which is real?" "Which is the dream?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Oh, it's three 7s. I get it now: 7e7t7

This was a lot of fun. It looks to be going for a serious vibe again this season but without the massive dissonance between the plot and visual aesthetic that always bugged me with Gavv.

I really love the editing in this: the scenes with Baku running through his dream did a great job of capturing the disorienting way that location shifts work in dreams. The sound design is also freaking fantastic and adds a lot of impact to the fight scenes. Speaking of, the choreography in the opening fight was really good. If Toei is going to try to draw in a new audience of foreign fans (which I'm not sure they're actually interested in, to be fair), they definitely went out of their way to make sure things started off very stylishly. Curious to see if the show keeps up like this or if we get the usual scaling back of more dynamic and expensive visual elements. That was more practical than CGI, so hopefully this kind of action direction won't get budgeted out as we go along.

[Mesnick]

Well, Zeztz is available in the same place where I watched Gavv, and that's good news.
The other good news is that I really enjoyed this pilot. The episode takes the time to fully introduce the audience to Baku, showing his strengths and weaknesses, desires and fears. So when the action starts, we understand his motives and actions, and we really care about him.
Again, my first problem with Geats was that there was a lot of Rider and not enough Ace, which made him not feel like the main character. To a lesser extent, Aruto and Emu were also often in the background. But if this show is really going to be built primarily around the main character, then Baku is a good choice.
The other characters are also pretty good. Megumi has an association with Shizuka for me because of her older brother's care. The policemen are also the first phase of Heisei and I wonder what their contribution to the plot will be. Nox is much more mysterious and mystical than I expected, although I think the actor is a bit lacking. It could have been more scary. Although maybe that's the point: to be more strange and incomprehensible than scary. Nemu only a background character for now, but I think that will change soon.
Dreams open up a limitless space for locations and plots. Also, all illogicalities instantly disappear, because it's a dream, which means everything is possible.
Nightmare turned out to be really scary, fully justifying his name. However, he was clearly not ready for resistance. I hope that Nightmares will not be turned into punching bags anytime soon.
If we talk about minuses, then the fight scene disappointed me. After Gavv, Zeztz's power fighting style looks a little boring. Also, the camera seemed too active to me, which, together with filming in the dark, was a bit confusing. But these are minor details.
Overall, an intriguing start with an interesting concept and pleasant characters. I already want to watch the next episode and get some answers to the questions asked.
P.S. The credits on the cartridges are a great idea.
P.P.S. So, was the kidnapped girl saved?