Kamen Rider Zeztz Case #3- "Erode" Discussion

Paladin · 09-19-2025, 08:56 PM

Zero orders Baku to find the door into the mind.

Zolda · Yesterday, 09:33 PM

In the scene @ 02:07, it's reported in the news that a mysterious explosion happened at the Tokyo MPD's Oumi police station in coincidence with the explosion caused by Bomb Nightmare in the dream realm in the previous scene. Baku is baffled at how an identical explosion happened at the same exact location in the real world and asks Zero about it, and Zero tells him that the ruckus caused by the Nightmares in the dream realm also happens in the real world. Zero tells him @ 03:13 that he as KR Zeztz must infiltrate other people's dreams and stop the Nightmare's rampage by finding the Mind's Door that belong to the victim somewhere in the dream realm. If a Nightmare manages to open all of the victim's Mind's Doors then the victim will never wake up from the nightmare, which means that his mind is taken over by the Nightmare. Yep, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 2 thread here last week that Baku/KR Zeztz must prevent the Nightmares from opening their victims' Mind's Doors is proven to be correct in this scene.

In the scene @ 04:09, Tetsuya has an appointment with one of Tokyo MPD top brass named Tsukasa Toudou. Tsukasa tells Tetsuya that his Mysterious Incidents Division is disbanded as of today because he thinks that the MID's performance is insignificant and only wastes taxpayers' money. Tetsuya tries hard to convince Tsukasa that the mysterious explosion that happened at the Tokyo MPD's Oumi police station last night could be caused by the Nightmares' activities, but Tsukasa dismisses immediately. He low-key mocks Tetsuya's hypothesis about Nightmares as something that merely exists in dreams and that Tetsuya is just obsessed with a nonexistent delusion. Naturally, the straightforward dismissal and rejection by one of his superiors makes Tetsuya seemingly greatly disappointed in himself because he has wasted a significant portion of his career on a delusional obsession. So yeah, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 2 thread here last week about Tetsuya being disillusioned with his career is proven to be quite correct in this scene.

In the scene @ 12:45, Bomb Nightmare manages to bomb the Tokyo MPD HQ in the dream world, which means that Tetsuya's twisted/corrupted dream is now fulfilled. Bomb Nightmare takes over Tetsuya's body and breaks out of it in the real world and creates a huge purple shockwave that spreads the purple butterflies (that are managed by Nox) that latch to pretty much everyone. Yep, once again, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 2 thread here last week about the creation/replication process of Nox's purple butterflies is proven to be 100% correct in this scene. So far, sooooooooooooooooo predictable.

Oh, and Baku is able to transform into KR Zeztz in the real world. He could've simply tried that in episode 2 last week since it only takes less than 5 seconds to confirm.

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

Frontier · Yesterday, 10:01 PM

No OP three episodes in a row? Bold, are we?

I honestly wasn't expecting the Nightmare to be able to cause real world damage before they possess their host body. Then again that car that tried to kill Baku was a Nightmare attack, wasn't it?

So the Capsem conveniently follows him into the real world too?

Minami has cute PJ's.

Why would you drink fuel like tea? Why wouldn't you if you were a sentient gentlemanly bike robot!?

I love the staircase popping out while Baku followed Zero.

So it's not just about destroying the Nightmare: Baku has to get to the root of the dreamers' subconscious that the Nightmare is preying on.

Well, admittedly the director was kind of a condescending jerk, but it is probably hard to justify a police division with no concrete evidence and no one having ever seen a Kaijin in their life.

I'm glad Baku has mastered the art of conveniently falling asleep when necessary. That will serve him well.

So it doesn't seem like Baku's relation with someone outside their dream tansfers to their dream perception of him. Baku became friendly with Fujimi outside his dream but inside of it he still sees Baku as public enemy #1 and throws him in Dream Jail.

I'm still not sure how aware Nem is of everything but she seems loyal to the dreamers and role she plays a part in.

It is kind of rough seeing someone you came to respect was actually deep down invested in the idea of blowing up his own department. Though you gotta appreciate the Bomb Nightmare went out of his way to blow up the directors' office.

So it's not just the Nightmare taking over the body of its host and appearing in the real world, it seems like the fabric of reality starts falling apart and Zeztz has to stop them in the real world.

I...guess that clarifies that Baku can Henshin in the real world? Or was it only because things were starting to get...weird? Either way, at least we know that if he stops the Nightmare in the real world, it can save the person being possessed.

Loving neon Zeztz!

Reed Richards, eat your heart out with this stretching Capsem.

How to stop a Bomb Nightmare? By defusing him, of course!

If only Nasuka had actually seen the Bomb Nightmare at all, but I mean...at least now the police HAVE to think something really weird is going on, right?

Look, an out of suit bike ride while riding straight in front of the camera at the end of an episode! Like the Showa days!

So...Nox is after completely destroying the world or reality? Checks out.

Next week: A dream bride! A bird nightmare! And Zeztz takes flight!

Fish Sandwich · Yesterday, 10:02 PM

I would've loved to see the version of this series that managed to run with the conceit that ZEZTZ only exists within dreams, but I can appreciate the poetry of the Rider becoming real in the episode where the stakes finally become real for the protagonist. I ended up really loving what it brought to the story to have it be Baku confronting the Nightmare in the end, rather than Seven. The way he's so scared throughout, the way he can't pronounce English as well, there are a lot of nuances to that section of the episode that made it really enjoyable. Credit to the actor for managing all that so early on.

More importantly, I like how this concluding chapter lays out a proper motivation for his heroism in a way that's more about how intensely he feels his mission deep down than how much he understands it rationally. It's really easy to get a sense how much this whole experience with Fujimi has affected Baku by the end. In the premiere, Baku was only stepping up to protect his own good dreams, but I can totally get how this guy would now feel a burning desire to do the same for others after this. Pretty strong conclusion to this opening trilogy; kinda makes me wanna see it as one long director's cut movie, even?

Switchblade · Today, 01:29 AM

Really impressed with the cinematography on this show. I hope that we can keep knocking it out of the park like this every week.

I think they were definitely wise to hold back the stretchy limb stuff for a couple weeks to get people hooked on the plot first. That said, it looked about as decent as it was ever going to.

GoldenXtreme · Today, 08:20 AM

I'm still enjoying this show, but my feelings towards it are cooling awfully fast to be honest.

Anyways, this episode seems to be the last part to this show's introductory arc, where the show fully establishes how Baku has to stop the Nightmares within the dream world, and what exactly happens when the Nightmares take over their host. Since the dreams affect reality, it gives to real stakes even to the dream world sequences, which is nice. We also get to see Baku steel his resolve and fight in the real world. As Fish said, the actor did a good job feeling like just a normal guy who has to confront a monster to save someone, but I did find myself wishing that he had a more faltering fighting style after transforming too, to reflect that he doesn't have any actual combat experience in real life. Would have made for an interesting contrast.

I do want to reiterate my comment from last week that I really wish Baku had more of a supporting cast, an issue aggravated by the divide between the real and dream world meaning the cast doesn't really transfer between them. I think it might actually be intentional at this point though, I genuinely think they are aiming for a "lonely Showa era hero" sort of Kamen Rider for this show. Not sure I like it, but it's an interesting idea.

Sh Ranger · Today, 08:20 AM

Zeztz is like reverse Wizard. When Wizard fails in the real world, he has to take the fight to the Underworld. When Zeztz fails in the dream world, he has to take the fight to the real world. The way the Nightmares enter the real world is the opposite of how the Imagins enter the past.

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