[Paladin]

Baku has a new mission: Eliminate Nox.

[Frontier]

So what happened to Baku after he got sucked into the black hole? Retreating deep into his own consciousness, that's what! Complete with all the Capsem elements! And even Nem in her red dress!

"Eliminate the Enemy" - So Zero is just straight up telling him to assassinate NOX. Baku kind of rolls with it since it's stuff Bond would probably be ordered to do...but deep into his mind there seems to be some kind of resistance. At least he gets cell reception in his mind!

What is Baku's core nightmare? Walking home during a lightning strike? But what's this really suspicious cram school where he and a bunch of other kids wore headphones, closed their eyes, and saw really weird visuals on a screen!? In a class taught by Odaka/NOX!?

What does NOX fear? Some kind of shadowy Nightmare that's been dogging him and he can't escape no matter what he does.

So I see Zero's just straight up leaving the entryway open now. Imagine if Fujimi and Nasuka actually came back.

It was nice of Nem to try to comfort child Baku...less nice of Baku to just kind of toss her aside.

Well, if the Capsem's are weaponized Nightmares, then obviously Baku can just weaponize his own to create his first upgrade form. Bro even said "Arize."

It makes sense that Nem's outfit in NOX's dream would be the outfit he has her currently wearing in his NOX lair (I assume). Points for the miniskirt!

NOX thought he was done with one Nightmare but he wasn't prepared for Zeztz. Enter INAZUMA PLASMA! A form with a shocking entrance, superspeed that rivals the Flash, and a Plasma Bow that can do a lot of damage! Finally Zeztz catches up to Nox Knight!

Dang, their fight was showing in the real world!?

Well, he beat NOX but he's clearly not physically used to the form so he de-transforms too. Does that count as a tie?

Honestly Zero holding Baku's ability to wake up on the premise of him killing another person is...pretty dark, even if it's very legitimate spy-level.

What did they erase from Baku's memory? Whatever CODE did to him? Is this why he's an Agent? WHAT DID CODE DO!?

Oh, so they do the pre and post-show teasers now!

[Fish Sandwich]

I'd say I'm still struggling to see the larger purpose of anything going on in Zeztz, but then, I found this episode extremely entertaining anyway, and I suppose that's always the largest purpose of them all.

But yeah, even this week, it's still a little hard for me to read into the material much deeper than the broad strokes? The story is a doing a ton of things I love to see, especially in how it gets more introspective with the hero and continues to challenge the preconceived notion of the current main antagonist actually being a villain, but... usually around this point, I'd be able to talk about how a Kamen Rider show is exploring some theme or portraying character growth or anything else like that which really resonates with me on some personal level, and Zeztz and I still aren't quite there yet. Not unlike Baku sorting out his repressed memories this week, it keeps feeling like I can see this sort of fuzzy mirage of *something*, but even as that something becomes more and more clear, it's not exactly in focus.

That's also sort of a paradox in my experience watching Zeztz that keeps making my opinions on it come out so weird, which this episode exemplifies? The direction, thanks to Kamihoriuchi's usual genius, is *insanely* rich throughout. There's so much evocative imagery and all these touches that make all these events I can't yet fully comprehend on a conscious level feel so grand and meaningful in a sort of primal way. Despite that, though, trying to treat the show as a sort of "feel, don't think!" situation leaves me circling right back to how much less I'm feeling than usual? Part of me definitely wants to see that striking image of Baku making the very lightning at the core of all his bad dreams into his own power and immediately grasp it as a powerful statement the show is making about something, but again, "something" ends up feeling like no matter where I look, it's always in the corner of my eye, and never properly in front of me.

[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I'd say I'm still struggling to see the larger purpose of anything going on in Zeztz, but then, I found this episode extremely entertaining anyway, and I suppose that's always the largest purpose of them all.

But yeah, even this week, it's still a little hard for me to read into the material much deeper than the broad strokes? The story is a doing a ton of things I love to see, especially in how it gets more introspective with the hero and continues to challenge the preconceived notion of the current main antagonist actually being a villain, but... usually around this point, I'd be able to talk about how a Kamen Rider show is exploring some theme or portraying character growth or anything else like that which really resonates with me on some personal level, and Zeztz and I still aren't quite there yet. Not unlike Baku sorting out his repressed memories this week, it keeps feeling like I can see this sort of fuzzy mirage of *something*, but even as that something becomes more and more clear, it's not exactly in focus.

That's also sort of a paradox in my experience watching Zeztz that keeps making my opinions on it come out so weird, which this episode exemplifies? The direction, thanks to Kamihoriuchi's usual genius, is *insanely* rich throughout. There's so much evocative imagery and all these touches that make all these events I can't yet fully comprehend on a conscious level feel so grand and meaningful in a sort of primal way. Despite that, though, trying to treat the show as a sort of "feel, don't think!" situation leaves me circling right back to how much less I'm feeling than usual? Part of me definitely wants to see that striking image of Baku making the very lightning at the core of all his bad dreams into his own power and immediately grasp it as a powerful statement the show is making about something, but again, "something" ends up feeling like no matter where I look, it's always in the corner of my eye, and never properly in front of me.

I think overall the show is exploring dreams, escapism, and how they intersect with reality.

How dreams are worth protecting but they aren't always what we think they are (in Baku's case at least).

How much one can throw themselves into their dream life at expense to their own personal character.

[GoldenXtreme]

I guess we just aren't even pretending CODE is ethical anymore, but I do wish NOX would just spit out what is going on already. I can't decide if he just doesn't trust Baku with the information or if he thinks giving him more info will put Baku in danger. NOX doesn't really seem like he has ill intentions though, it looks more like he was trying to undo something CODE had done to a bunch of children in the past, probably related with the national secret that was touched on before. The way the camera lingered on Nem while in NOX's dream was also pretty striking. I wonder if she was dressed as someone important to NOX? Besides that, I felt like Baku took a rather dark turn this week and I'm not sure how intentional it was? Shoving Nem aside in a bid to save "himself" and then going after NOX with a level of aggression that genuinely felt like he planned to kill him if his transformation hadn't given out. Since it looks like Plasma gets ANOTHER new suit next week, maybe he has to properly sort out his feelings before unlocking its true power. Not bad this week honestly, but I'm still kind of annoyed with the meandering path the show took to finally get to the point where it finally starts answering some questions.

[DreamSword]

I really dug this episode a ton, and it surprisingly managed to hit me on a pretty personal level.

If you don't care to read my personal anecdote, just know that the important part is that this episode really resonated with me in everything it did, and it made me very excited to see where the show's gonna go from here on out.

As for my personal stakes though, I related alot to Baku here. His first, most striking nightmare being that involving him getting struck by lightning is also a big aspect of a reoccurring nightmare I myself have had on and off for years. It's become more sparse over time, but I still do have it occasionally.

And part of the process of me coming to terms with the feelings that bad dream represented was done via me taking inspiration from that dream to make into one of my OCs. In other words, channeling the nightmare into something more positive. And that's exactly what Baku does here. And has been seen with NOX(and apparently, CODE)'s' tendency to "erase" things; If you run from the problem, that typically only holds things off for a little while, if not makes them outright worse.

NOX's' personal fears are what hold him back from being able to return to reality; keeping him in the dramatic irony of the exact thing he accused Baku of. Baku, meanwhile, is facing various truths head on, and chooses to instead try and channel his personal darkness into something better. I think it's rather telling that rather than follow his mission to a T and kill NOX outright, Baku instead disables his target and demands answers out of him. He doesn't want to be in a never ending dream, regardless of how much he embraces the ideal of being a secret agent. He's a dreamer, but he's not delusional.

And I gotta say, big props to whoever handled the directing on this one, as it captured the necessary mood and emotions to carry this sort of story perfectly. I especially loved how the screen filtered between the colors of Zeztz's' various forms as Baku confronts his first nightmare, thus showing that Baku is embracing everything he's experienced up to this point.

Just... man, fantastic episode this week. Easily my favorite so far.

[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

I guess we just aren't even pretending CODE is ethical anymore, but I do wish NOX would just spit out what is going on already. I can't decide if he just doesn't trust Baku with the information or if he thinks giving him more info will put Baku in danger. NOX doesn't really seem like he has ill intentions though, it looks more like he was trying to undo something CODE had done to a bunch of children in the past, probably related with the national secret that was touched on before. The way the camera lingered on Nem while in NOX's dream was also pretty striking. I wonder if she was dressed as someone important to NOX? Besides that, I felt like Baku took a rather dark turn this week and I'm not sure how intentional it was? Shoving Nem aside in a bid to save "himself" and then going after NOX with a level of aggression that genuinely felt like he planned to kill him if his transformation hadn't given out. Since it looks like Plasma gets ANOTHER new suit next week, maybe he has to properly sort out his feelings before unlocking its true power. Not bad this week honestly, but I'm still kind of annoyed with the meandering path the show took to finally get to the point where it finally starts answering some questions.

I'm pretty sure it's the same outfit she's wearing with her comatose body.

[Mesnick]

Well, Zero continues to resemble the show's main villain more and more. He prevents Baku from waking up and gives him another task, this time far less heroic and benevolent than before. Baku immerses himself in a memory, decides he's willing to use nightmares to save people's dreams, and, using his nightmare, gains a lightning-themed power-up. The effects are fantastic, but it's pretty hard to enjoy the fight when NOX is literally trying to wake up. I mean, I'm used to heroes begging for friendship from far more immoral villains, and Baku, ready to kill NOX because he's ordered to, feels really wrong. However, NOX isn't much better. His actions are clearly damaging the real world. Plus, he always presents information with the utmost secrecy and reluctance, but he still wants to be listened to. So, I don't really feel like liking him either.
The idea of ​​preparation agent since childhood has surprised and frightened me . Considering all the conflicting information, I'm now inclined to believe that Odaka, NOX, and Zero are three entities who once shared a single body and are now separated. Or perhaps it's simply a way to further confuse viewers until they find the right actor. We also might have caught a glimpse of child versions of some of the other 5 CODE agents.
I also can't help but note that in this episode, the police and Minami seem incredibly helpless. Fujimi and Nasuki's investigation led nowhere, and Minami is completely incapable of influencing Zero. At least Nem capable of moral support, even if she, too, seems more like a bewildered observer.
Overall, I wonder how this standoff will be resolved, and will Baku fail its mission? Or will NOX pull a trick from "You Only Live Twice"?
P.S. I just thought it would be funny if they added one of the previous CODE agents to Gіrl Remix before she appeared in Zeztz. So, as I understand it, agents don't die, but rather get lost in the dream world, and who knows where they can go from there?