Kamen Rider Zeztz Case #1: "Beginnings" Discussion
 

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

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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.:lol

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?:confused::eyebrow 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.:lol 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.:lol 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?:confused::eyebrow Or perhaps it's Nox himself?:confused::eyebrow

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?:confused::eyebrow 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.:lol 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?:confused::eyebrow

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?:confused::eyebrow Instead, why is it Nemu that appear the most?:confused::eyebrow 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?:confused::eyebrow 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?:confused::eyebrow 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.:lol As usual, this is basically Yuuya Takahashi's typical weird, bizarre, faulty reasoning. *facepalm
Zeztz 01 @ 17:18
https://i.imgur.com/TrLy8mX.jpeg

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.:lol 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.:lol 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?:confused::eyebrow Perhaps the robot-bike form is the form he assumes in the real world, while in the dream world he assumes a human form?:confused::eyebrow

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!:lol 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.:lol

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yuuya Takahashi's 4th stage of delusion, I mean, Kamen Rider series.:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol
https://i.imgur.com/7OQTIlm.png

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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?"

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?

I understood that he uses rubber bullets. Blanks just create noise. Although, considering that the action takes place in a dream, it could well be Baku's own idea for super-secret non-killing but disarming bullets.
Crazy theory: if in the future writers plan to send more people with different interests into dreams, Baku's gunfire can wakes them up. This will also make his bullets anti-death and draw an analogy with waking up from a loud noise.

That gunfight scene was epic

Yes. After Baku was hit by the car, if you look closely, you can see that the kidnapper has made a run for it, leaving the girl behind, who was then retrieved by her mother.

I thought Baku's pistol was a Glock, but I am pleasantly surprised to see it was a Walther P38. ALL HAIL MEGATRON! All jokes aside, Episode 1 was amazing. The music during the first fight was so damn good and I also love the visuals on Baku's first transformation with the suit forming onto him through smoke. The touch of the muscles bulging when he does a heavy attack is such a cool touch as well. Solid 10/10

Minor quibble to start with: I kind of assumed that TokuSHOUTsu would have like some kind of "episode starting in X minutes" countdown after the prior episode ended, that way each episode airing would start at every half hour on the dot. But they literally run back to back nonstop, so for someone trying to catch the new episode after the initial airing it's pretty much impossible to get on the stream at the right moment. I'll probably just try to jump on the premier next time, even if it is a little late for me.

Anyways, like a lot of people I had some apprehensions about Yuuya Takahashi, but honestly this premier was a lot of fun! The whole secret agent battle in Baku's dream at the beginning made me smile, it was just pure cheesy spy movie fun. In real life, Baku is an incredibly unlucky jobless adult who lives with his sister, like someone decided Ryotaro Nogami from Den-O should be played for drama. He's pretty instantly lovable between his loserish nature and genuine desire to help people. Certainly a vast improvement over Ace, who banked on nothing but mystique and coolness for almost the entire show. Some interesting elements also get teased, with the cops clearly aware of the existence of supernatural monsters. As some others here have said, the Rider fight was surprisingly low impact though (in spite of using the Physicam Impact form :lol). Still, it was a very fun episode that I don't have any big issues with. We will just have to see if Yuuya can keep up the quality over the long term, which is probably his biggest weakness.

for the love of god please spare us another year of your essays nitpicking literally everything you don't like and just stop watching if you dislike it all so much

Strong first episode.

I wasn't too invested in the pre-release material so I really believed our main protagonist is a kick-ass secret agent dude, which I was a bit undecided about, but the dream setup is super interesting and fun.

The style is very sharp, from the filming locations to the effects, this does feel a bit more "grown-up" as opposed to Gavv, but this is only the first episode and for how colorful and silly Gavv was on the surface, it didn't hold back on dark stories.

Although a bit short, I really do enjoy seeing Zeztz in action, the suit is gorgeous, and the fighting in the dream world was really cool. I quite like seeing the veins pop up on the suit when a punch or kick is happening, together with the very fitting sound effects it really sells the "impact"-theme.

What stood out most to me was how the protagonists lucid dreams, or rather how he handles them, are rightfully criticized but when the MOTW tries to belittle him for it he isn't giving in, but instead stands up for who he is. "I know my own mind better than anyone" is a damn fine quote.

I will say, thinking about it a bit more, I think the reason the choreography isn't super exciting is a direct consequence of one of the major things that IS really cool about the fight -- the decision to film at night and use the cool glow-in-the-dark suit. The guys in those costumes are basically already blind even in broad daylight, so I'd imagine it's considerably more tricky to put together complex stunts with those other problems thrown on top. But it's also clearly the correct decision, because it helps convey that visual identity of a Rider who does his job while you're asleep, so it's sort of hard to be really upset about it.

My Wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the strength of this episode, basically “Kamen Rider Akibaranger” and that’s not a terrible idea, my only complaint is I am not a fan of the GENERIC FLAT LOOKING suit, it feels off, like a bad Cosplay “off” however, my Wife loves it….����

Since we're talking about it, personally this fight didn't knock my hopes for a spectacular fight in a suit. After all, this is just the basic form and there will be others. It will definitely be fun with the diminishing one.
But night filming is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the shots are beautiful, on the other, it's harder for both the audience and the actors to navigate. I think in the future it makes sense to combine scenes in the dark with action in better lighting. The fight is filmed in different locations anyway. Also, if you play around with the spotlights a little, you can get good visibility combined with obvious night. For some reason I remember the ending of the first Blade episode, where everything is lit in the center, and there is darkness at the edges.

Nobody's forcing you to read them (I assume; I don't know your life).

Some of those responses prove that certain users have nothing else to do in life. But I get what you mean

Meztzamero!

I second this. The setting is effectively established and the plot has awesome momentum with the intense thriller horror feeling of the Nightmare scenes.

I actually see more Tendo than Ace in Baku. The dream world very much belongs to Baku when he becomes the invincible agent, while the real world also kind of revolves around him but in the worst way possible. I think Baku is one of the most relatable protagonists from the start, alongside Touma. He dreams of being an agent, basically a superhero, the same way us fans look up to such characters and wish our own lives were more exciting like theirs. I wonder if the grey eyes of DreamBaku are the main visual cue about which world we're watching, as agents will change their clothes depending on the mission.

I imagine there'll be more episodes you'll want to comment on eventually.

I mean, the criminals are totally imaginary, so I won't hold it against Baku if he does necessarily have to kill some imaginary criminals at some point, as agents are expected to do anyway. Of course, the non-lethal approach here shows off Baku's professional conduct and skill as the invincible agent, completing his mission with the least amount of death.

Probably since Zero is based on the in-universe Agent 0, who might be British or something. And since the dialogue occurs in a dream, the language barrier does not exist.

Agreed!

Good question. Nem's bio states that she often appears in people's dreams due to her popularity and Baku specifically being her fan. So either the red dress was something she wore for one of her roles, or Baku just subconsciously thought she'd look good in it.

Totally and I think it could also be a reference to Drive, who is associated with the number 7.

Now that you mention it, yeah, Takahashi's previous protagonists got little focus at the start of their shows. Perhaps this is the advantage of Takahashi writing Zeztz with only the Primary Rider in mind, as he acknowledged in the conference.

I could see that! If a Nightmare becomes too strong, then Zeztz can try this to buy the victim some time until the next sleep.

I mean, the criticism for Takahashi shows usually comes later. The first halves of EX-Aid and Geats and first quarter of Zero One are generally considered high quality, so I'm not surprised at all that I ended up enjoying this premiere. I hope to continue enjoying Zeztz for as long as it can maintain this level of quality.

Considering the Nightmares' power to affect reality, I suspect that Baku isn't actually cosmic-level unlucky at all, but rather the Nightmares fear his lucid dreaming power and are trying to deter him from the path of a hero through negative reinforcement.

I kind of took the non-lethal bullets as a sort of play on how cleanly the violence in the stereotypical glamorous spy movie can be? Like, Baku dreams of being a cool secret agent, and all the cool tropes that come with that, but he absolutely does not dream about watching dudes bleed out from gory wounds or anything gruesome like that.

Obviously on an outside level, it's that way because this is a show for children, but I thought it made logical sense on a character level too, which is nice.

I think it's also worth noting that pretty much every Takahashi show has had the Secondary as the co-protagonist early on and how often they tend to dominate or take over focus on the plot. Like I remember people talking about Fuwa feeling like the real main character during certain points of Zero-One and how Keiwa initially seemed like the main POV or relatable protagonist compared to Ace in Geats.

That doesn't seem to be the case here.
The Nightmare definitely seemed to be going out of its way to kill him specifically and also destroy all his self-confidence.
It doesn't even seem like he's destroying the Nightmares in the traditional sense, just putting them to sleep and purifying them.

It's been a few decades of watching Rider series openers, and there's been some excellent ones, but I've not felt this kind of thrill since watching Agito or Faiz. The cinematography, camera use, all of it felt more visceral. The way the dream world sequence was set, it cooked.

I think I've watched the live/replays way more than any other KR opener just to catch stuff I didn't the first few times. From the use of 7 and a reversed 7 to make the Z for the finisher, to looking at the suit design to see the Z motif, to the little girl getting rescued, the dream butterfly from the destruction of the nightmare, all of it.

The transformation sequence even with it being that first episode stylized was amazing. I love how the suit just gives such Rider 1 vibes, and the use of the dream world to enhance the fight from moving terrain to literally throwing the nightmare through multiple environments because Baku was able to do that with his control of lucid dreaming was just chefs kiss.

I know there's a lot of comparison with Ace, but I don't feel it, primarily because Ace was already months/years ahead in the game and we were seeing an end result of where he was at. He knew he was winning. Baku's difference is that when he was getting thrashed he immediately went to 'wait a sec, this isn't how this is supposed to go' and then 'nah bruh, I'm gonna choose my own path and this is my landscape'.

The detective angles feel so Faiz.

So far the Rider series 'easter eggs' I've found are:
ZZZ motif for finishers - Roidmude finishers - Drive
Cowlick - Sento's cowlick - Build
Finger snap for the henshin - Ace - Geats
Leg muscle power up during the fight - Stronger
Doorway jump to another location - Gaav
Speed up on the finisher - Clock up - Kabuto

I'll be solidly catching this on the live stream each Saturday. I'm that excited.

All I wish to say is that the series has started off strong. Likeable protagonist, relatable younger sister, the cops aren't incompetent (yet), and the suit looks great.

Will it surpass Gavv? Maybe. I hope it will, even though I am a fan of Gavv. For now, I am just enjoying what we have.

I dunno if I'll be keeping up with Zeztz weekly, much less posting regularly in these threads, but given this is a bit of a special event, and that the premise of Zeztz does sound appealing to me, I figured I'd check out the premiere at the very least.

Overall, I think it's alright.

Visually, it's fantastic. Whoever was in charge of cinematography did a great job at using the "dreams" premise to not only direct the story, but make the action on both the human and Rider side of things visually stimulating as well.

Outside of that though? It's all just decent setup. Though I did like the references to Zero-One, Inception, and most surprisingly, Iron Man.

Maybe I'll keep going if I have the time, maybe Zeztz will have to wait for me to binge it in full before I watch it, but hey, if nothing else I didn't find this potential one off episode to be boring, which is alot more than I can say about some of the other seasons that I've recently sat through. Either way, I hope you all have fun with this show over the next year.

I think it's interesting that Baku's belt sits on his chest -- maybe now it serves as a defibrillator/pacemaker of sorts? The effects when he uses Physicam Impact's powers (where it swells up and gets really brolic) brings to mind the idea of blood vessels and veins, same with the lines running across the suit.

Very funny references in his finisher being lucky 7s to contrast Baku's abysmal luck IRL (or maybe it is good luck considering he's survived every time), plus being the 7th Reiwa entry and the obvious 007 Bond shout out.

HUGE fan of the eyes lighting up slowly during his transformation, it really gives the idea of him opening his eyes and waking up! The translation for "metzamero" being "arize" works for me, and I hope Shout's subtitle localization continues to be good as they were for Kuuga and Ryuki.

When Takahashi did more of nice guy MC than someone like Ace (who is a rarity for KR that there's only two other outwardly similar type), in Emu and Aruto. By looks, even Ikki seem to be the cool type in Revice previews.

What about Gaim?

While you have one season of him that is your least favorite of all, dunno if people's hate for him is too strong or irrational and bordering on irrational to not even think that the premier would be good? Also, the credit may go to Kazuya Kamihoriuchi as the main director.

Heisei protagonists that are as relatable as this?

Often the cool and aura farming characters in media (not talking about toku, but talking about other media like anime or such) are those that are portrayed as the ones that would have no qualms to sacrifice some to accomplish missions or pull off intelligent gambits (seems to be partly the reason they're praised for being pragmatic, professional, and not sentimental/soft), but this seems to be important to be taken into account where high level of skill should be utilized for control and accuracy as well, as additional power/capability, to live up to one's moral compass more in minimizing killing (like how if you're super powerful, they can minimize force against like, armed human opponents to not kill them because you're not in danger).

Though not in your case, Ex-Aid is considered high quality all the way around, at worst it'd be occassionally seeing Masamune (main antagonist at that time) as not living up to Kuroto (who almost no one can, I'd think he's the most successful and favorite character in all the KR franchise). Revice also qualifies for first halves being generally considered high quality (even if you disagree, GoldenXtreme is never sold on Geats since start).

Otherwise yeah, my point about explaining something like Zitt's case in Zeztz rumor thread was that the belief that the writer does everything, and every single little grievance or merit the show has is either the merit or the fault of the main writer, is common but not completely right. Zeztz has Kazuya Kamihoriuchi as the main director who is consistent in his work's quality, for the credit in this episode.

Guess if this happens, this'd be another time if the bad luck to the boy scout (that Takahashi is also infamous about) is deliberate, like Kekera also highlighting negative consequences of 'misery builds character' in Keiwa.

I don't know if characters' righteous morality also qualifies for outside level of accomplishing the task of making the show being accessible to children (or for other reason, outside level of keep selling the medias for those with 'no kill rule', either heroes or villains), as some people'd think and dismiss morality as a childish concept, and that this can be more scarce in more 'mature' shows that has no obligation of catering to children. I think many more stuff are logical on character level, where more morally righteous heroes shouldn't be heartless to bad guys too, like only using necessary force.

Interview with Takahashi on the TTFC app, where he discusses his return to writing a Rider series.

"Some people might be thinking, 'He's writing again?' but this is also a first for me. This time, I get the challenge of writing a story with only one main Rider. I hope everyone who watches and has seen my previous work will enjoy it."

But honestly, for Fuwa being the real main character part, people like to dismiss the 'cookie-cutter and generic' boy scout protagonists and view the ones that are undergoing character development as 'the real main character'. It's just about them being biased to their personal favorite (and people also can have a tendency to think characters have to get development or change). This happens too for like Den-O (who has another bad luck MC), thinking that Yuuto is more actual MC, or that Ryuki previously have Ren being the one seen as real MC due to not being sold with Shinji.

I guess if anything I was worried I would be so burned out on Takahashi after all this time that I wouldn't be able to enjoy even the premier. That and the fact the prerelease character descriptions did not interest me. I even liked Geats pretty well early on, so I guess I should have expected the bare minimum of decent start to the show. As you said, perhaps it was the director who made it work by playing up the secret agent style just right!

Good point.

Regrettably, I once also claimed Isamu was more of a protagonist than Aruto, which I've since realized is the kind of poor phrasing that leads to such misunderstandings like confusing the first arc perspective characters of Kabuto and Geats for the actual titular protagonists, who simply needed time for the viewers to warm up to them. Takahashi certainly has a habit to focus on other characters though. Even in EX-Aid where it's the Primary Rider, it's M who shines, not Emu.

Now the Visions lyrics, "Give me the shock to the heart!", makes a lot of sense.

Cool Ikki does show up sometimes with his deductions in Episode 6 and The Mystery, but yeah, the previews made me expect more. There's also Evil Ikki from the OP, who has as much relevance as the cat from Gavv and the horse from Gaim.

Kenzaki, Shounen, Shoutarou and Shinnosuke, I guess? They seem to have similar struggles with their goals in life, that most people can probably relate to.

Exactly. For an agent, having a license to kill doesn't mean the same as having carte blanche to kill, like how a driving license doesn't mean you can drive like crazy. Not even just for moral reasons. An agent who leaves a trail of corpses everywhere they go would be sloppy, compromizing their cover and betraying the integrity and trust of their organization.

I'd still think that even for those fans who don't acknowledge the severe flaws of EX-Aid, they'd at least think the first half was higher quality, due to being the peak of their favorite God's arc.

Like how the infamous Job Competition arc was Ohmori's fault, but I guess some people forget that since they're too focused on hating on Takahashi. In that case, maybe I should rescind my complaint about Jit towards Takahashi, since it's possible that he honestly may have had no idea what to do with a sudden new character in the final arc, but had to make it work somehow.

Yuto as protagonist sounds incredulous, since he doesn't even appear until Episode 19. Shinji and Ren seem like equal protagonists in the story though, at least for the time when the Heisei format was being developed. They both have henshin poses similar to the OG Double Riders and matching Final Forms, suggesting Knight is more like a Primary Rider than his immediate and only predecessor G3.

- I really enjoyed this episode! I don't think it gripped me in quite the same way that Geats or Zero-One did (to compare it to past Takahashi-written series), but it's still really exciting, both on a simple "new Rider season" level, and because the episode itself was just really well written.

- I like Baku as a protagonist. The early trailers had me thinking at first he'd be a suave cool guy hero like Ace or Tendou, and that would've been interesting enough, but I really like this approach where he's just a generally nice and rather dorky guy that really just wants to help people, and becomes a suave secret agent in his dreams. It goes well with the dreams motif of this season, I think, and I'm interested in seeing where he goes from here.

- On the negative side, I'll echo the complaints that the nighttime fight wasn't very exciting, in terms of first-episode Rider fights. Not bad, but it was hard to tell what was happening at times, and the fight choreography wasn't as dynamic as it could be/often is; presumably to keep it from being too hard for the suit actors to tell what's going on. Holding out hope that future fight scenes will be better though; we've already seen a few daytime/indoors fights in the trailers, and I'm hoping that the fight choreography will be better when those come around.

- Yeah... I remember waiting 'til 11:00 PM to put on the stream since I wasn't there in time for the premiere, and ended up jumping in when Baku was in the hospital. Luckily I wised up pretty quickly and just waited fourteen more minutes, but it'd be nice if the episodes were aired at 30-minute intervals, rather than back to back to back like they did for premiere.

So, another thought occurred to me today regarding how this show's premise is the gift that keeps on giving -- Baku's secret agent dreams are probably full of English because he watches lots of foreign spy movies with subtitles.

It's clearly shown from the merch in his bedroom that Seven and Zero are specific characters he's fond of, so on top of that, it's even pretty likely "I'm on it" is a catchphrase he's quoting the same way, for example, an English-speaking Rider fan might say henshin in Japanese when playing with a Driver toy, or on whatever other such occasion.

Again, the English is obviously there on the meta level because it creates a certain atmosphere for the series, but the whole symbiosis of What The Show Needs and What The Protagonist Wants this year is so effortless, it's insane.

I always thought of that as like Sento's dad in Build where they were kind of running out of story to tell but still needed to delay the story until they got to the final episode.

I think you're onto something there

People just make that claim on anyone they feel that stole the show, and they generally think it's measured by how much development they get, where usually the less moral/righteous characters get more development than the do-gooder type of character, or at least they feel like that on the surface due to the change of the former being more drastic (becoming nicer) than the latter (which isn't completely visible to them if they're similarly nice from beginning to end, and people can think being righteous means having no flaws/being a Mary Sue).

May apply here too between Baku (Emu) and DreamBaku (M). And this approach isn't the first thing Takahashi has done, where there's the dorky and suave duality in Emu and Genius Gamer M in Ex-Aid. For me, honestly, based on the Ichigo tribute on Zeztz's look and the cast that seems more reminiscent of Showa and early Heisei seasons (one main Rider, various supporting casts), I expected Baku to be like the Showa main Riders where they're nice and want to help people, but have more 'mature' and 'manly' air rather than the energetic youth type they're going since most of the Heisei Phase 2 MCs.

I felt that dunno if something like 'Kamen Rider Chronicle hell' is really a severe flaw as it can seem subjective depending on the person.

I also mentioned in Gavv final episode discussion as well about how stuff like Lango thing likely felt like that due to the main director leaving the series. This'd be not really blaming anyone, more about how it seems that no one can replicate Sugihara rather than a jab to Morota, but just that things happen. I rather felt that Zitt is only created for Ryuji Sato's screentime Toei demands, otherwise they'd probably use Suel as active central antagonist.

How about Ex-Aid?

Dunno about Zero-One Competition stuff, but for opposite I felt Geats never ran out what stories it needs to tell, where despite its fast pace (albeit Takebe wants Sara's demise to be delayed), usual KR duration (49 episodes) isn't quite enough.

TBH I kinda forgot Takahashi wrote Ex-Aid... anyway; it's been a long long time since I last rewatched Ex-Aid's premiere, but I think I would rate Zeztz's first episode above Ex-Aid. Not that Ex-Aid had a bad start, but Zeztz just left me more excited to see what came next for its cast and setting.

Just caught the replay. Far too early to get a good handle on it, but the premise is very interesting. There's a line to ride with the dream logic. I think if done right, they can get some very unique fights and scenarios out of it. Just hope it doesn't bog down the writing.

Still surreal to have an official release!

I have several new (outlandish) hypotheses:
- The reason why Commander Zero was a recurring character in Baku's crazy dreams (prior to episode 1 @ 10:20) is because Baku was already agent #7 of CODE. He somehow went MIA, or had an accident during his previous mission, or was captured and mindwiped (and then made to live the false life of a failing loser with Guinness-level bad luck via a memory implant) by the mastermind villain of the story that made him forgot his connection to CODE and his mission as a CODE agent #7.
- Baku's case could be similar to what likely happened to Nox, although in Nox's case it's worse because he has likely been trapped in the dream realm ever since his failed mission, while Baku was just having recurring dreams that always feature a secret agent theme with him as CODE agent #7 and Commander Zero as a recurring supporting character. Like I elaborated in my previous post in this thread, this trope about a mindwiped secret agent protagonist having recurring dreams/lingering memories about his previous mission/life is quite similar to what happened in Total Recall (1990) where the protagonist Douglas Quaid who was a mindwiped secret agent (or to be exact, a mindwiped double agent) often had had recurring dreams involving an unknown, mysterious woman (Melina) who had actually been his sidekick when he had defected from Vilos Cohaagen/the mastermind villain's order.
- Nox is a former agent of CODE, likely #6 (or #5), before he was deemed MIA and replaced by Baku (#7). Even worse than what likely happened to Baku, Nox was not only captured and mindwiped/mind-controlled by the mastermind villain, but was also made to work as a Nightmare general/enforcer. This could've likely happened because Nox had already penetrated to a far, far deeper layer of the dream realm than Baku did, so the mastermind villain probably thought, "This guy has already made it this far into my world and has almost lost his mind. I might as well turn him into my enforcer/field general and make him do my bidding." Nox's case could be similar to what happened to Chase/Roidmude 000/KR Proto Drive in KR Drive. In earlier episodes (3-15), he would likely transform into an anti-hero/dark hero form or even a corrupted version of his CODE Rider form, and the reveal of his identity as a former CODE agent would likely be revealed before or at the same time with his transformation into a Rider, which could be the same form he assumed when he was a CODE agent (similar to KR Proto Drive) or an entirely new form (similar to KR Chaser).
- Like I elaborated in my previous post in this thread, the fact that Minami is seemingly planting a mental block inside Baku's mind by scolding him and telling him not to dream in the real world (and that he has a world-level bad luck and he's not blessed by God) makes me wonder if that's her actual job. Her character could be a composite/amalgamation of the characters Lori and Harry in Total Recall. Harry was Douglas' best friend/co-worker who always told him to be satisfied with his (false) life as a lowly construction worker; and Lori was Douglas' wife in his (false) life who had always told him similar things, and later it was revealed that Lori was also a secret agent that was tasked by the mastermind villain (Cohaagen) to keep Douglas at bay. A possibility I can see with her character arc is that she's actually also an agent of CODE (albeit likely illegal/unofficial/unlisted/unnumbered) that's part of a top-secret parallel operation or disinformation campaign by one of CODE's top brass, which means that she could be a secret secret agent, haha.:lol I see quite a high possibility (>50-55%) that she'd likely transform into the 3rd CODE Rider or even a Nightmare Rider in later episodes, likely between 17-20 or after 20.
- This CODE top brass could be Commander Zero or someone else higher in rank than him, and he's been conspiring with the Nightmares for his own gain. Like I hypothesized in my previous posts, this rogue leader who has been conspiring with the enemies (Nightmares) could be the founder of CODE, similar to Alpha/agent A in the Men in Black cartoon (1997) who was was the first agent and the founder of the Men in Black organization. He could be the mastermind villain or a co-conspirator.
- Baku would very likely keep his transformation into KR Zeztz (and the Driver and other gears) secret from Minami. She'd likely think that he's still just living a false life, while he's actually gradually gained his memory of his previous mission.
- I hypothesized in my 5th post here that the plot twist that could later appear is the supposed top-level reality that the protagonists are said to be living in is actually just also another layer of dream, and Nemu has been looking for Baku there, which means that the one who is trapped inside the dream realms is not only Nox, but also Baku. Like I've hypothesized since my previous post in this thread, I see another possibility that the plot twist could be that Baku's entire life has just been a false life, and his entire memory has been a false memory that was implanted by the mastermind vilain (who could also be a CODE top brass). This would likely be revealed almost at the same time with the reveal of Minami's true identity as a secret secret agent between episodes 17-20 or after 20.
- I hypothesized in my previous posts that Nemu is likely of the same species as the Nightmares, but I think there's another possibility. It's quite possible that Nemu is of a species that's the benevolent version of the Nightmares. Perhaps the dream realm is inhabited by both benevolent and malevolent dream-dwelling creatures, and these creatures have the ability to manipulate many aspects of the real world, like what's been demonstrated by the Gun Nightmare and Nox (a human who had penetrated too far into the dream realm and gained minor ability of reality-altering/bending/manipulation power). Perhaps Commander Zero is also of the same species as Nemu, and that's likely why the Zeztz Driver, the Physicam Impact Capsem, and Zeztz Phone materialize in the real word when Baku completes his mission and wakes up from his nightmare at the end of episode 1. Another possibility is that Nemu could've been Baku's partner or rescue target in the previous mission before he went MIA and mindwiped, and that could explain why he always has crazy dreams about being a secret agent that saves her. If she's Baku's former partner, then she's similar to Melina from Total Recall (1990) like I mentioned above.
- So far, the Nightmares have never shown that they're able to assume a human form or mimic one or several humans, although they're able to create projections of humans. Perhaps that's just low-level Nightmares. Elite/high-level Nightmares who possess shapeshifting ability would likely appear later. The CODE top brass (who could be the mastermind villain or a co-conspirator) that I mentioned above could be one of the elite/high-level Nightmares who killed the original person and steal his identity, similar to the Chameleon Deadman who impersonated Commander Wakabayashi of Fenix in KR Revice.
- Like I elaborated at the end of my previous post in this thread, the Nightmares are likely planting negative/destructive ideas into humans' mind in order to manipulate humanity with the endgame of transforming their imaginary existence into the real one (and completely taking over the real world).
- The most outlandish hypothesis I have is similar to my 3rd post here: Baku could be a lucid dreamer God/deity that created everything in this story. Everything, including the real world, the dream world, all the characters, CODE, and even the Nightmares. Now that's peak absurdity, haha.:lol

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

Spare you?:confused::eyebrow You think my weekly posts are directed to you?:confused::eyebrow You think my weekly posts are intended to change your mind?:confused::eyebrow If you think so, then you're 1000000000000000000000% wrong, dude.:lol

Look how cute the Geats/Yuuya cultists when defending their master Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi. They're so adorable!:lol

Yes, you're 1000000000000000000000% right. I totally have nothing else to do in my pathetic life. I have no day job, no side hustles, no social life, no other hobbies, and no other things to do in my life. That's why I usually post only once or twice a week during weekend (or at night during weekdays, to the lesser extent). My life only revolves around posting in this forum and trashing the latest KR series. That's why I'm the only member in this forum who has the highest post count of 382, including this post.https://i.imgur.com/5Q74t02.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/5Q74t02.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/5Q74t02.gif

https://i.imgur.com/b1HTFCV.gif

This.:thumb::thumb::thumb: You hit the nail right on the head. Some people on the internet are just soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thin-skinned that they misconstrue even the most harmless comments/posts as personal attacks.