Kamen Rider Zeztz Case #17- "Pursue"- Discussion
 

Nox appears before Baku and reveals a startling transformation.

I take it Kamen Rider Nox threw all that debris at Zeztz to wake Baku up and end the fight?

So I guess NOX isn't absolutely loyal to Lady, or at least they're kind of using each other to get to CODE.

It's kind of surreal to see Nasuka and Fujimi investigate what happened to the Zeroider not knowing the significance of what this means to Baku beyond a destroyed bike. Guy lost his spy boss and bike pal!

I love how Minami is joining Baku on his investigations.

So Lady was the one who actually kidnapped Nem. And she has some kind of telepathic power? Or a dream power that lets her read minds and charm people?

Ah, so that's why Nem was targeted. It was Haru's subconscious guilt over Nem's physical body disappearance.

What did Lady mean about Nem being done for? Like, she was never going to wake from her coma?

Honestly in Haru's position...even if she'd told people, with no evidence and no person to corroborate or way to find Lady, she would've probably been seen immediately as a suspect in Nem's disappearance. I don't blame her.

Who needs the knowledge of how to actually repair a bike when you have the Recovery Capsem? Too bad it can't bring Zero back.

Zero may be gone but he left Baku the means of still operating his bike and bike metaphors that Baku can remember to inspire him on.

NOX can't quite fathom why Baku is still doing this, and if he keeps getting in their way, NOX will have to stop him. But Baku isn't doing this for CODE, he's doing it for Nem and the Dreamers. And on some level it feels like NOX really doesn't want to fight him, even if he feels like Baku is heading for a tragedy the way he puts others so far above himself.

We were going to get a proper Main vs Secondary fight anyways so may as well get it out of the way. Zeztz Inazuma Plasma vs Nox. Lightning vs Shadow. Speed versus technique. At the end Zeztz tried to beat Nox with a Rider Punch of his own, but ends up de-transforming, though they seemed pretty even for most of the fight. Would Boost have made up the difference?

Dang, Wolf Nightmare ticked Baku off so much he beat him out of suit to make him cough up Nem.

This is Kamen Rider Nox's introductory arc so he has to be the one to finish the Nightmare and unleash his Rider Kick. NOX himself isn't loyal to the Nightmares, they're tools first and foremost, and Nem was never at risk...because NOX and Lady need her and her "bad dream" (?) for their plans.

Nothing suspicious about this attractive psychologist, none whatsoever!

Well, Baku is back in contact with CODE, only it's not Zero....it's Agent 03! Welcome to the new boss.

Next week: Baku goes back to high school!

You know, I ended up being grateful for the week off this year because it gave me valuable time to come around to Kamen Rider NOX's design prior to seeing it in the show? NOX Knight already worked fine as a dark reflection of ZEZTZ (that's also the light reflection), and so soon after that suit was introduced, the new one was a drastic enough departure that it read to me more as a different character than an evolution for an existing one, despite keeping the most important broad strokes in the design.

Hilariously enough, though, while it didn't really scream "NOX" to me right away, I realized pretty soon the belt's overall shape and red(ish)/blue lines reminded me of the Blazar Brace, and a bit later than that, I realized "wait, no, the whole design is actually just Ultraman Blazar." Not sure if anyone else has already made this connection? I can't unsee it at this point. The asymmetry with the blue and red(ish) lines dominating the left side of the body? Heck, the chest belts this year even give a bit of a Color Timer look. Now, Blazar is hands down one of my absolute top toku hero designs in recent memory, so that revelation very much endeared me to NOX's new threads. Aesthetically, honestly, it probably is even more up my alley than NOX Knight was. The thing that really makes me love Blazar is how his appearance also tells you a lot about his story, though, which is the part I feel like I'm still not completely seeing here, even though I vaguely think I understand some of what is likely similarly strong intent. Will probably end up liking Kamen Rider NOX even more if I see some interview or something some day spelling that stuff out.

That being said, one thing I'm already sure about is how well it continues to work as the anti-ZEZTZ. Introducing the stark white to contrast against a hero that's generally much darker and muted; how the Shadow Capsem is the power of the thing that had NOX scared right after Baku gained the power of what scared him, it's great stuff. I'm always down for a cool rivalry, and I think the biggest victory of that year-ending episode pair was how it reoriented the relationship between these two characters. I'm really, really, really into the idea of flipping the more traditional rocky Rider relationship on its head by having two people who staunchly oppose each other on a professional level, but also share this sort of mutual respect (and also pity in NOX's case) on a personal level, as fellow agents.

Seeing some of that vast potential realized is but one small part of why I loved this week's episode.

It's just really, really smart, all around? The plotting is very clever in structural ways, like how Minami gets to fill some of that void left by Nem and Zero's absence by giving Baku someone to bounce off of. That clever structure is in service of a story that has a great thrust to it with Baku being so isolated in his mission since again, it's Zero *and* Nem who are gone, an extra level of pressure which lets it focus in on Baku's heroic determination in a very cool way. That strong story is then further supported by all the little touches, including some more great twists on the existing grammar of the show, such as the voiceless mission briefing at the start. The fight scene is also killer? Fantastically creative use of ZEZTZ and NOX's respective abilities, but in a way that still leaves room for dynamic choreography, rather than just feeling like two guys throwing CG at each other or something.

Once again, supremely satisfied this week. I don't necessarily expect every episode after this is going to make me this happy, but part of that is how I feel like they've sorta upped the standard I want to hold the show to now.

I enjoyed this week too. Folks, we might finally have a show that is working for me. It's amazing how the show feels like it has actual goals now and the cast is actually meshing with just a few changes to the format. Again, it's really nice that Minami is now involved in the main plot and is helping Baku investigate in real life and it was a nice twist to see that the Dreamer had been lying because she was afraid of being implicated in kidnapping Nem. Honestly if I do have ONE complaint right now, it's the fact the Dreamers still often feel like afterthoughts amid all of the other drama, but it's a minor issue. Indeed, I think the bulk of the interest this episode came from all the interesting things we get to see about both CODE and whatever Lady's faction is up to. Baku is left without official orders, but chooses to keep fighting to help Nem and the Dreamer before getting a mysterious new boss at the end of the episode, while also suffering from headaches, perhaps a health complication of using the power of Nightmares. Odaka seems to have some friction with his own boss and also noting that the Nightmares are nothing but tools to him. Baku and Odaka are still diametrically opposed though and end up fighting, though once again showing a certain amount of mutual concern for each other too. Like Fish said, it's a nice spin on the conflict oriented Primary-Secondary dynamics that are often seen in these shows, where their goals don't align but they also have some respect for each other. It's just nice to see the show moving with such purpose finally.

On to next week: Kamen Rider Ryuki? Or perhaps Geats.

So, the main theme of this episode is: do what you can, or half the work is better than nothing. Baku can't save Nem in reality (yet), but he can do it in his dreams. He can't defeat NOX, but he can continue the mission even after defeat (luckily, for NOX, it's enough to hear that Baku is doing it for himself, not CODE).
Baku can't bring Zero back, but Recovery Capsem restores the motorcycle (meaning bike rides will still be in the show). This approach inspires Nurse Haru.
We also learn a lot about Lady in this episode. It turns out she's a telepath. By the way, is that why Zero uses a robotic body? I doubt Lady can read minds and mentally control a machine. And, in the best traditions of espionage, she's approaching Baku under a pseudonym. This will surely have its consequences.
I have nothing to say about Agent 3 yet, except that I don't trust such pale faces. But I'm glad we met another CODE agent. Four left ;).
I'd also like to point out that after Zero's destruction, Zeztz's mission is no longer announced. This is reminiscent of how, in Saber, after Tassel's capture, he stopped greeting the audience at the beginning of the episode.
Speaking of technical aspects, I liked the fight between Zeztz and Nightmare at the beginning. The barrel-smashing added a touch of reality and brutality to the dream world. It's also great that the fight with NOX didn't turn into a Baku-bashing match. Although, the newer gimmick still wins.
And so NOX continues to be a mysterious, yet
quite logical character.
I also want to say that I'm looking forward to next week. Rescuing your comrades should be exciting. I love these kinds of stories.

Honestly, I thought Baku's headache was due to Lady's mental influence. After all, she appeared so opportunely, right as his head was starting to hurt. But time will tell. Plus, both possibilities could be true.

Funnily enough, this episode gave me my own realization when it came to NOX as a character.

I don't know if it was intentional or not, given how every MOTW has been based off of a past Rider so far(like this one being based off Geats), but seeing NOX's' rather familiar looking Henshin pose made me think that aspects of NOX might be a callback to Mutsuki of Blade. Their poses are similar, and aspects of their characters and backstories line up surpirisngly well too, thematically. Again, could be entirely coincidental, but I thought it made for a fun thought process regardless.

This episode was a solid second half to the previous one. No notes.

Yuzuki Hirakawa (best known for her role as Rita Kaniska aka Papillon Ohger) will appear in the next episode as Kureha Miyamoto, Nasuka's friend during her high school days who also seems to know Baku's alias as 7.

Cool! I'd be really happy to see her. And Nasukа really needs a little more backstory and at least something unrelated to Fujimi.

Chikyu's no.1 Moffun fan is back, people. :rock:

And also rumored to be one of the CODE Lords.

I was thinking maybe it's related to him not fully sleeping? I'm not sure, I could be looking at that all wrong. Like, is he fully sleeping?

I really enjoyed this episode, how NOX seems to be working with the Lady to as a means to take down CODE. But finding out she has telepathy is very interesting. I'm excited to see what more they do to showcase her abilities.

And next episode is going to be pretty awesome, having Nasuka getting to see how Baku portrays himself in the dream realm.

Something I just thought about, I feel like the end of this episode sorta re contextualizes the meteor Nightmare scenario from a few episodes ago. I wonder if the plan there wasn't actually to cause humanity's extinction but instead another attempt to lure Zero out into the open by making the situation desperate enough to necessitate him coming out to deal with it himself. Especially since wouldn't that Nightmare actually succeeding completely ruin Nox's chances of personally getting revenge on CODE, and by extension whatever The Lady's plans are? Since presumably they would all be dead if Baku didn't stop that Nightmare and until proven otherwise I don't think The Lady has the ability to survive something like that.

Also by that point Nox could transform so he probably could have destroyed the Meteor Nightmare himself if it came down to it.

This two-parter in particular felt very much in the balance I felt Ex-Aid always had that used to bother me. The guest character gets their scenes in among everything else going on, with the absolute essentials of a clear beginning, middle, and end to their personal story, squeezed in with an almost brutal sort of efficiency that I could argue whispers "...but let's get back to the *real* characters already" the whole time, if I still felt like making that argument. I just sorta don't mind it being like this anymore though? Brutal or not, the time *is* used efficiently, resulting in a plot thread that's still totally complete, and as long that part is true, and you can also clearly see why an episode wanted to focus more on other things (which I think is easy here), I think I could also argue this sort of formula is a happy medium that allows a series to actually still show the hero helping people regularly even when the drama hinges much more on the ongoing conflicts between the main characters.

Personally, if I'm going to question anything about the Dreamer plots, it's how often Baku has turned out to just walk up to people and be like "hey remember me FROM YOUR DREAMS???" and be able to get people to go along with it without too much hassle. I'll stress that I'm not complaining about this at all, because I think it's obvious why the show would want to handle things this way. I mostly just find it interesting because it's another assumption I had about ZEZTZ that's turning out to be ~somewhat~ mistaken? With a central hero who fights mostly in dreams, and the emphasis on Black Cases as these things Fujimi can't prove Nightmares are the cause of, I figured they were going for that vibe a lot of the early Heisei stuff especially had where it's this secret conflict between good and evil happening off in the shadows of a world you can imagine is your own... and it isn't *not* that, but it's also turning out to have the sort of "open secret conflict" style I associate more with the back half of the Heisei shows. I guess I just didn't expect that for some reason?

Eventually I'm going to run out of chances to ask this, so, while I still can -- are we *sure* the reason Zero uses a robotic body isn't because he's a robot? The fact that NOX, the self-proclaimed "one who knows all", buys the remote control explanation puts something of a dent in that idea, but like, that can still be technically true if they end up saying he's like, a program or something?

It's just that there's that one line of dialogue from episode 2 and the handful of lines afterwards validating it, up against a mountain of scenes of stuff like Zero sniffing tea/fuel, brooding all alone in the ZEZTZ Room, reacting in pain when NOX hits him during their fight, not being able to take a phone call after getting blown up... I just, I sorta trust what my eyes can see in this show more than what the dialogue tells me, and they've gone so far out of their way at this point to ingrain in the viewer that the bike functionally IS Zero -- constantly doing the exact opposite of emphasizing the Zeroider's alleged status as a mere drone -- that it seems like one of those absolutes that will never be betrayed no matter how much the status quo shifts.

There's a lot about that they'd need to square away later, but it's really difficult for me to imagine anymore they'll ever just have Some Guy show up and try to tell us it's the "real" Zero. Like, even if this is one of those things I'm completely wrong about and there is in fact Some Guy out there, I don't think we'll get much more of a glimpse of him than we already have?

That's a surprisingly compelling case you've got there (I kinda forgot Mukki had his whole thing about the darkness too), but I will note a crucial difference between the two characters -- NOX actually *is* cool, instead of just desperately trying to be. :p

Off topic as hell, but I wanted to say that I truly appreciate and enjoy everyone's perspective on this show.

I haven't had this much fun since the HenshinJustice days.

You know, I've been wanting to bring this up, but I keep wondering how I would feel about Ex-Aid nowadays. It was the first Kamen Rider show I watched as it aired and back then Yuuya's writing style felt pretty novel to me, but I've soured on him so much over time that I'm almost afraid to see how I would feel on rewatch. As you have illustrated here, I think Zeztz is perhaps closest to Ex-Aid among his works and I've really had my ups and downs with Zeztz so far. I do think that Ex-Aid has the advantage of being far tackier, hammier, and generally tonally all over the place in a way that made it very entertaining to watch week to week. Maybe I'm just deluding myself with faded memories of a decade old show, and honestly I don't think I'll find out any time soon because watching even more Yuuya Takahashi shows is a not a good way to resolve my feelings of burnout on the guy's writing. :lol

Frankly, NOX's inability to answer the question without spawning dozens of new ones makes me think of him more like a farcical parody of cool, mysterious characters. Although I'm not sure that it's intentional.

Well, I was going to save this thought for later, but since we're talking about Ex-Aid, I'll share it now. I think Takahashi likes cool and clumsy protagonists. In his first work, Ex-Aid, he didn't quite understand how to combine these two in one character, which is why we got Emu and M. In Zero One, the shift was toward clumsiness, and in Geats, toward coolness. And now in Zeztz, with more experience, they're once again trying to create a hero who combines these characteristics. While formally, the protagonist is still divided between the clumsy Baku and the cool Seven, but the line is very arbitrary and easily crossed. That's what makes Baku such a likable hero.