[Paladin]

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

[Zolda]

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Original, unedited post:

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...

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Elaborated, edited post:

In the opening scene @ 00:01, Nemu (the heroine) has been held hostage by a criminal organization for 1 week. I was like, "Where's the police? Why haven't they done anything in a week?" When an unknown voice is speaking English @ 00:26 and telling Baku that his mission is to save the target, I've realized that this entire scene is just Baku's crazy dream, so no wonder the police have done nothing, haha.

In the scene @ 04:56, Minami (Baku's younger sister) says that Baku is lucid dreaming again. 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. Baku wishes @ 05:29 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 what Minami says @ 05:43, she could be one of the mastermind villain's agent (or perhaps even the agent) that has been tasked with keeping Baku's lucid dreaming ability aka latent reality-altering/bending/manipulation power at bay. The fact that TTFC is showing side contents titled Series of Sister's Substory Agent Minami means that that hypothesis could be correct. Perhaps she would transform into Nightmare's Rider later? Gulp! It means that Baku's entire life could be 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. Or maybe not. Maybe she's just a collateral damage and an unknowing puppet, haha. 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. Beginning in 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 (that was tasked by his superior in a mission on Mars) and made the plot becoming more ambiguous.

In the scene @ 06:19, Baku is playing with a little girl before his job interview. A moment later, an unknown man very very very easily persuades that little girl to buy a new box of apple juice. And as expected, her mom frantically looking for her. It seems like her mom never told her to never speak to strangers and never trust strangers. Dang, this story could be likely going full dumb like KR (God forbid) Gavv.

In the scene @ 07:15, Nox (the starter villain general) appears and announces that he's gonna make nightmares come true, but the world he's in has red tint and no one's there, which means that he's not in the real world, but the dream world. Somehow, after his announcement, an SUV comes into the scene, moves by itself, and almost hit Tetsuya Fujimi (police detective #1), but the actual target is Baku. When Tetsuya opens the SUV's door, he's perplexed when he finds that no one is driving the car.

In the scene @ 07:56, Minami is rushing to the hospital room where Baku is treated. Baku says that if he can do it in his dreams, then he can do it in reality too, but Minami scolds him and tells him to never do it in real-life. She says that Baku has a Guinness-level bad luck, and a news article is shown about a junior high school student that was struck by a lightning bolt on his way home from school, which implies that it was Baku. She says that every time he tries to help someone, a nightmare-like scene happens in real-life, i.e the lightning bolt and the driverless SUV. This scene could mean that my hypothesis above about Baku's entire life being a completely fake life that's been manipulated by the mastermind villain (or at least by a God-like yet malevolent entity) could be correct.

In the scene @ 09:00, a creepy-looking door opens. It's called the Heart's Door/the Mind's Door, and that's where the Nightmares enter their victims' dreams from.

In the scene @ 09:07, a new rookie cop named Nasuka Nagumo (police detective #2) arrives at the crime scene and introduces herself as a new member of the Tokyo MPD Mysterious Incidents Division that's headed by Tetsuya. I hope there are several more members of this Mysterious Incidents Division like the Special Investigation Unit in KR Drive, at least 2 more members. It'd make no sense at all if such department only has 2 members, 1 of which has only joined in this episode. Unlike the uber-dumb police in KR (God forbid) Gavv, it's nice to see 2(!) police detectives (Tetsuya and Nasuka ) among the main characters. They look like the slightly more serious, more competent version of Mikio Jinno and Shun Makura/Makki. Nasuka is giving me the Rinko Daimon v2.0 vibe from KR Wizard. Heck, even their attires and hairstyles are very similar, haha. At least the Tokyo police department is doing their job properly in this story. Also, at least one of them, or one of their close friends or immediate family members would likely be a victim of the Nightmares in earlier episodes.

Tetsuya mentions @ 09:43 that there are many unsolved mysterious cases that he's dubbed "black cases", involving suspicious deaths, disappearances, etc. Nasuka asks Tetsuya whether national security is at risk, since these "black cases" are handled by the Public Security Bureau, and Tetsuya confirms it. This could mean that the victims of Nightmares could've included important figures such as ministers, top politicians, police/military top brass, intelligence officers, etc. Tetsuya also tells Nasuka that he's find clues to the origins of the "black cases", which he pinpoints to the Nightmares, the invaders from humans' nightmares. This means that he's very likely hasn't been working alone and has been supported by other members of the police force of 3rd party. I'm interested to see who's supplied these intel to Tetsuya. Perhaps it's a double agent within Nightmare? Or perhaps it's Nox himself?

In the scene @ 10:20, Baku is lying on bed, and he's visited by a kaijin named Gun Nightmare, which strangely managed to enter his room without anyone noticing. When he gets up from his bed due to the shock, he finds that there's no one at all in the hospital, and even in the streets. The surreal chase scene that moves between several unconnected places gives away that this is a dream sequence. Strangely, in the scene @ 11:12 an electronic billboard showing Nemu's face still exists, and @ 12:03 she still exists, which means that she's likely the same species as the Nightmares, or at least an entity similar to Nox, who I hypothesized here could be a rogue agent or a former agent who is trapped in the dream realms, although her motivation to enter/stay in the dream realms could be different from Nox. Perhaps she's from a 3rd faction, not from CODE nor Nightmare? Don't know!

Now I can quite see the pattern here. In Baku's or other people's own dreams, there are still other people there as usual, whereas in a dream that has been intruded by a Nightmare (or Nox), there's almost no one there. Perhaps, pure dreams = still contain many people, while nightmares = only contain the victim, very few people, and the Nightmares (and or Nox), quite literally, haha. Also, the reason why only people who can lucid dream (like Baku) can be CODE's agents is that the power of lucid dreaming can negate the power of the Nightmares (and vice versa) as shown @ 13:07 when the Gun Nightmare manages to make Baku believe that his right hand is turning into liquid.

In the scene @ 15:36, when Baku has found his resolve after being mocked by Gun Nightmare, he's rescued to a mysterious place by hands that belong to an unknown figure, which could be Nemu. There, he encounters another unknown figure, this time it's male, which Baku thinks is Commander Zero, a recurring character from his crazy dreams. My 5th hypothesis in my post here could be proven to be correct in this scene. I hypothesized that there could be a rogue agent who has been conspiring with the enemies like Alpha/agent A in the Men in Black cartoon (1997). Like Commander Zero/agent 0, which could be the founder of CODE, Alpha/agent A was the first agent and the founder of the Men in Black organization, so there's quite a high chance that Commander Zero could be conspiring with the Nightmares. Commander Zero likely has ulterior motive, similar to Akaishi from Fenix in KR Revice or Master Logos from the Sword of Logos in KR Saber, although he's more similar to Akaishi who founded both Fenix and Deadmans and pitted them against each other for his own gain. The robot-bike (Zero) could be where Commander Zero's actual mind resides in, or perhaps he's able to switch between the robot-bike form and the human form. But, are Commander Zero (a recurring character from Baku's crazy dreams), the mysterious man, and Zero the robot-bike even the same person?

Baku is hospitalized only because he tried to prevent the little girl @ 06:19 from being kidnapped, so why does she only appear in his nightmare for about 2 seconds @ 14:04? Instead, why is it Nemu that appear the most? It's unknown what happened to the little girl after Baku was hit by the Nox-controlled SUV @ 07:33, which implied that the kidnapper man succeed in kidnapping the little girl, which means that Baku did fail to rescue her. Another weird thing is, the dream about Nemu being kidnapped for 10 billion JPY ransom was already resolved very early in this episode @ 04:34, so why the heck is she still kidnapped and is still wearing the same exact clothes and is still being held hostage for 10 billion JPY ransom (or 10,003,133,500 JPY to be exact) in the scene @ 17:18? If Baku is having a nightmare because of his failure to prevent the little girl from being kidnapped, then the only thing that makes sense is that the main target to be saved in his crazy dream mission is the little girl (or rather, the projection of the little girl that is created by his mind), not Nemu. Instead, why does he say @ 17:18 that his mission is to save the target that is Nemu, not the little girl? Nemu was already successfully saved, so she doesn't need to be saved anymore! It's the little girl that needs to be saved from the kidnapper! If I'm in Baku's position, then I'd be greatly burdened by my failure, and that little girl will always be the permanent character in my nightmares forever, haha. As usual, this is basically Yuuya Takahashi's typical weird, bizarre, faulty reasoning. *facepalm
Zeztz 01 @ 17:18


The fight scene looks nice, but man, I'm not really a fan of the Rider design. It just looks very very very mediocre and half-baked (or perhaps quarter-baked). The helmet just looks flat, almost featureless. The complete lack of armor below the waist, even just simple knee pads or shin armors, coupled with the fact that the Driver is on the chest, not waist, makes KR Zeztz looks like he's going to a bottomless party, haha. It's just looks soooooooooooooooooooooooooo empty below the waist. I like the Driver, though. The best design is definitely the weapon (Breakam Zeztzer), which will debut in episode 2 next week. I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally like multi-mode/multi-form/multi-functional weapons such as the Breakam Zeztzer, the X Gotchalibur (used by KR Gotchard), the Den Gasher (used by KR Den-O) and the Zero Gasher (used by KR Zeronos), etc. I'm definitely buying the DX Breakam Zeztzer.

Oh, and after a Nightmare is defeated, its debris turned into a purple butterfly, which was shown in the teaser videos to be spread by Nox. Perhaps that purple butterfly works similar to the Roidmudes' Core Driviars in KR Drive, so if it's not completely destroyed, then there's quite a high a chance for the same Nightmare to be moved into a new blank body and be revived in future episodes.

In the scene @ 22:08, Nox appears in the hospital where Baku's treated, albeit at the dream side. I think this scene (and the earlier one @ 07:15) shows Nox's typical modus operandi. Perhaps it goes like this:
- Nox is always in the dream world.
- He's somehow still able to control several objects in the real world by causing them to move and injure his intended victims such as Baku.
- The victims are injured and fall into nightmares. Alternately, the victims may not be injured, but the events caused by Nox could create a trauma that would make the victims easier to fall into nightmares.
- When the victims are having nightmares, Nightmares intrude the victims' minds via the Heart's Door/the Mind's Door.
- Ordinary victims have no lucid dreaming ability, so they're very likely going to be succumbed to the Noghtmares' attacks and be defeated by the Nightmares.
- When a Nightmare manages to destroy a victim's dream, that Nightmare gains strength and might likely evolve into stronger form(s). Or perhaps, they'd even give birth to one or several Nightmare seeds/proto-Nightmares (the purple butterflies) that are managed by Nox, which means that Nightmares might replicate like viruses.
- Victims that have lucid dreaming ability like Baku have the power to control at least some aspects of their dreams. It'd allow them to fight back against the Nightmare's attack and enable them to transform into a CODE Rider.
- The fact that Nox resides in the dream world yet is able to control (and likely also see and communicate with) some aspects of the real world could mean that my hypothesis (about lucid dreamers having the ability to control reality as well, not just dreams) in the 2nd paragraph above could be correct. Perhaps, Nox has gained a small fraction of the reality-altering/bending/manipulation power, albeit at the cost of having the majority of his mind being tethered to the dream realms. Dang, Nox is really the most interesting and potential character in this story so far. So stoked about him!

In the scene @ 22:24, Tetsuya sees that Baku has unknowingly worn the Zeztz Driver and possessed the Physicam Impact Capsem and Zeztz Phone when he wakes up from his nightmare. Baku thought that his crazy dreams were just dreams, but at this moment he's just realized that those weren't dreams at all. Yep, my hypothesis in my 1st post here about the existence of a connection between dream and reality in the form of a reality-altering dream is proven to be correct in this scene. It also means that Commander Zero from his crazy dreams is indeed the mysterious man from the previous scene and Zero the robot-bike that will debut in episode 2.

Next week:

Baku and Nemu is chased by police in the dream world, which means that the Nightmare victim of the week could be a police, perhaps Tetsuya's coworker at the Tokyo MPD. Also, the preview scene shows several police cars exploding after the Nightmare gives an order to blow everything up, which means that the Nightmare could be planting a negative idea inside the victim's mind with the aim of controlling/manipulating his behavior, similar to the internal logic in Inception (2010) when the protagonist Dom Cobb planted a negative idea into his wife's mind (Mal) about the real world being just another layer of dream which ultimately drove her to suicide, or when Dom, Saito, and the other protagonists tried to plant a positive idea into Robert Fischer's mind (about chasing his own dreams without living as his dead father's shadow) with the aim of making him break down his own corporation. I can see why Nox/the Nightmares' scheme is considered a national security-level threat by Tetsuya.

So far, Nemu has only appeared in Baku's dream and on TV ads/commercials/billboards/etc., but has never shown her real-life appearance like Minami, Tetsuya, or Nasuka do. Like I hypothesized above, it could mean that Nemu is another dream-dwelling entity with no actual real-life existence, similar to the Nightmares. She's basically like virtual actors, virtual bands, virtual idols, vtubers, etc.

Tetsuya is having a conflict with Nasuka because she thinks that the police's job is to solve real-life crimes, not thought crimes and imaginary villains, haha. Meanwhile, Tetsuya is seemingly a staunch believer that the sub-conscious mind ruckus caused by the Nightmares do ultimately have consequences in real-life.

The debut of Zero the robot-bike. Is he just an AI-powered robot-bike, or is he really a robot-bike that contains the consciousness of Commander Zero like I hypothesized above? Perhaps the robot-bike form is the form he assumes in the real world, while in the dream world he assumes a human form?

The debut of KR Zeztz's multi-mode/multi-form/multi-functional weapon, the Breakam Zeztzer. Nice!

I won't be surprised at all if KR Zeztz turns out to be as convoluted as KR (God forbid) Geats. The greatest shock is if KR Zeztz turns out to be a simple, straightforward detective story like KR W. Yuuya Takahashi is writing a simple, straightforward story? Now that's news! Based on what's shown in this episode, I have a feeling that this series is gonna be very very very convoluted and absurd. Is it gonna be more convoluted than KR (God forbid) Geats? I don't know, only time will tell. At the very least, it'd likely be as convoluted as KR (God forbid) Geats, because Yuuya Takahashi won't allow himself to turn down the level of convolutedness in his story, haha.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yuuya Takahashi's 4th stage of delusion, I mean, Kamen Rider series.


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?