Kamen Rider Zeztz Case #27- "PLAY" Discussion
 

Under a fierce assault from a mysterious Rider who appeared out of nowhere, Baku is jolted awake from his dream. Who is this person capable of changing the future?

Kamen Rider Dawn sure knows how to make an entrance by manhandling and cutting through EVERYONE in his path while laughing like a psycho. He even beats Baku out of his dream! Also poor Kureha, she just has terrible luck no matter the reality, huh?

Nasuka calling out why Baku's missions needing to be in English...Nasuka and Minami with the proper English grammar...Fujimi just vibing and trying to make it out like he knew proper English himself...

5 cares about his fellow agents, he takes 6's injuries pretty hard, and he doesn't seem quite satisfied with how secretive CODE is being. Especially when Sieg, Kamen Rider Dawn, is known to CODE and is linked to CODE: Somnia. And he could even be a threat to Nem?

It was nice to see brother and sister bumping up the security around the apartment. Baku's not going to be getting rid of Minami any time soon, she's not abandoning her big brother. She's even willing to take off work for however long he needs her.

So Sieg...AKA PAJAMA TACHIBANA-SAN, lives in some Nightmare world where he's got all the Nightmares Zeztz has defeated locked up and is rocking PJ chic...though only he has enough awareness of Baku's dream to know Zeztz defeated them, since they're all oblivious since they haven't fought him yet this time. And not only does he make them participate in a Nightmare Fight Club to decide who gets released, he can also upgrade them into even more dangerous Nightmares. I almost felt bad for the Wolf Nightmare!

I swear, more people have said the word "Zeztz" in this one episode than they have (outside the Driver noises) in 26 episodes. And Sieg is being sprung into action entirely because of Zeztz and how he relates to Baku...somehow.

Is that dragon Dawn's Nightmare?

Don't you just hate it when you're trying to roll a super rare form and what you get instead is the usual base forms? Good thing Baku discovered that he can actually double up his base forms' powers by combining two together! Would've been nice to know the first go-around, Zero!

Nasuka is more willing to believe in and work with Fujimi, even when Fujimi isn't officially employed, knowing that Kureha is involved in everything.

Zero tries to bring Baku back into the fold because of their mutual enemy, but Baku isn't going to be trusting CODE any time soon since they ended up treating him like they treated Odaka...and Zero was not expecting Baku to know about that. But if Baku needs help, maybe it's time he turned his Nemesis into a proper Secondary?

Odaka/Nox isn't about to take Baku's charity willingly, so as a favor Baku will vanquish the Shadow Nightmare for him again! Should be easy with Plasma right? Well until Dawn interferes and makes it clear he's planning to make sure NOTHING goes like how they did in the premonitory dream.

(I really like how Nox moved to protect Nem immediately when Sieg showed up).

Face Your Sin! Nightmare is Here! Punish! Kamen Rider Dawn!

Did Dawn just grab an Inazuma Plasma lightning bolt and chuck it!?

Even when Baku tries to recreate the Nox arc with Plasma Booster, Dawn just uses his blades as a lightning rod...and then finishes the Shadow Nightmare himself with a Finisher that's like if Ryuki's Final Vent summoned a guillotine. Yikes.

Did you really think they were done? We don't need dreamers anymore, Sieg can throw people into a bad dream with a Mad Max style Wolf Nightmare all on his own!

Next week: Baku/Nem/Nox try to survive a Nightmare! Catastrom vs Dawn! And build up to Ordem?

I generally try to stick to focusing on a few broader points in these posts to try and keep things contained, but that's tricky this week, because the big overall thing that jumps out at me is how much I enjoy so many of the smaller moments in this episode simply on their own, rather than because of how they speak to a larger unified goal. Or, heck, I guess if the goal is still just to establish the foundation for a brand new ZEZTZ, maybe this does all connect? A lot of the reason I'm happy watching so many of those scenes was because of what they suggest the show wants to emphasize going forward.

I'm always worried after the halfway point in Rider shows nowadays about old toys being forgotten about. Sure, that new opening still makes sure to emphasize that ZEZTZ is supposed to have four variously colored main forms, but like, what are the odds at this point that Wonder actually gets a second appearance in *any* capacity, let alone another major spotlight? So it's really reassuring to see the show go out of its way to introduce a new facet of how Capsems work seemingly for the sole purpose of justifying the continued use of the basic forms even as the show also wants to present newer threats as being more powerful.

I also loved that scene because it's really lighthearted and fun -- Baku being the viewer at home once again, relatable as ever in his frustration at getting the same old thing out of a gashapon machine when he's trying to grow his collection. Much like the even more humorous scene at the start where he insists upon keeping up the English mission objectives even without the help of Zero or his own subconscious knowledge of the language, I thought that was a great return to something about the overall tone of ZEZTZ that (understandably and appropriately) went away as we approached the end of that bad dream. Despite what the emphasis on agent coolness and the darkness of night and all that might make you think for a second, this show generally had a pretty upbeat vibe, so it was also nice to see that reemphasized here too.

But then, just asserting all over again what we've seen so far wouldn't make this second half a very new experience, so of course, there's the actual big new element here, in the character of Sieg, who makes a stellar first impression. There's a ton of visual power to the way he changes the show at the start and the end of the episode especially -- in both his weird oppressive Nightmare hell prison, and in how he tears down a familiar classic ZEZTZ climax to replace it with something far more chaotic and unfamiliar. 15 is a particularly special episode for me, so as much as I really get Baku's desire to speedrun through it in this new playthrough to do the story path that unlocks NOX as a party member, I also like that the episode stresses so firmly that it isn't going to be that simple for the characters, because it shouldn't be that simple for the show.

And I guess those are about the broad strokes after all! As always, lots of little things I could talk about, like how neat it is to have that little flashback where Seven remembers how the previous fight with the Shadow Nightmare went and uses it to his advantage. Also lots of longform speculation things where I generally prefer to just wait for clearer answers, like how it definitely seems like the show wants to imply Nem (and NOX?) also experienced Baku's premonition on some level? Overall though, I'm still really having a good time with this new chapter of the show so far. I'm feeling very optimistic about it, even though it's based on an idea I completely wrote off as a bad one early on, and I think that means they're doing something right.

Enjoyed Zeztz this week, so far this second playthrough is looking more and more promising. Dawn looks to be bring an interesting new dynamic to the show as this wild card that has every faction concerned (Zeztz/CODE/Lady) and I'm curious to find out what his deal is in more detail. His debut fight was also sick, and using his own blade as a lightning rod to deflect Zeztz's finisher was very clever.

As for what's to come, I do wonder what Baku and Nox's dynamic will be as proper allies in the near future, looking forward to seeing that. Also Zeztz Catasrom vs Dawn next week should be an interesting fight especially since according to their official Rider stats (which I know are dubious at best sometimes) Dawn does outclass Catastrom in pretty much every category, even if only by a little.

Also some interesting lore regarding Sieg's transformation weapon the Breakam Dawn was also posted. Turns it's something that Sieg created himself, not only with stolen CODE tech but also through the use of his extremely powerful lucid dreaming abilities in order to complete the weapon. Sieg also gave each blade a name, "Guilty" and "Penalty" respectively.

So, I was surprised that Baku assigns himself intermediate missions. It's strange, considering how much he tries to distance himself from CODE and act according to its algorithms. I also wonder if a mission is considered completed if the enemy reveals itself?
Another important detail is that in this episode, Baku is given the opportunity to choose between CODE and NOX. And he chooses the latter. And even though NOX isn't exactly friendly, he has every chance of becoming a more classic secondary rider. By the way, I wonder if this was the most unconventional approach? Put the secondary's dark arc at the beginning of the show.
I also liked the conversation with Minami.
Baku tries to keep his sister safe, but she reminds him that she's accustomed to all sorts of unusual dangers, and he needs protection while he sleeps. And while Minami can't do much, she'll try her best. The show also once again focused on her pendant. Why would that be?
Now let's talk about the show's main focus, Kamen Rider Dawn. His name is Sieg, and it's clearly not the best name choice:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1e/08/37/1...65f3dc9fe5.jpg
But if you put aside the memories of 2008, Dawn is a nightmare rider born from CODE's experiments. Unlike Lady, who uses Nightmares to achieve her goals, Sieg simply has fun with them. He's also aware of Baku's prophecy and really doesn't want a boring repetition. So he reworks bad dreams, making them even worse and more complex.
Well, as a concept, it's interesting and thematically appropriate, but there's a catch. Now the show has as many as four sides to the conflict, with an unreliable cast of participants. This could be interesting, or it could just drag out the running time. I don't know, I think I'd prefer Dawn to be CODE's secret weapon, deployed out of fear of Seven's new capabilities. Also, along with Lady and Tree, there is already a third (a pun intended) psychopath in this show, which negates the charisma of such characters and begins to become tiresome.
I'd also like to take a step back and note that the rumored Kamen Rider Yezz didn't happen. It's quite possible that such a name was planned but abandoned. I speculate that it's because, given the nature of Zezzz's jingles, shouting "Yezz! Yez! Yes" would have sounded too ambiguous. Or perhaps the name leaked from the next show. That happens.
I'd also like to note that Kureha ended up in the hospital. And Five is very unhappy, which he expresses to his superiors. It seems his loyalty to CODE is undergoing serious testing.
Overall, very interesting. The next episode promises to be action-oriented and very large-scale. I'm eagerly awaiting it.

I think this means that Zeztz will lose the battle, but will be able to escape the nightmare with his allies.

Feels like the Dawn of Dawn will represent a genre shift for the show during his appearances, from agent sci-fi to nightmare horror. Or rather, he's a reminder that we're watching a show about nightmares, which agents have gotten involved in. His intervention is the escalation of that premise, a force of chaos defying prophecy and putting all factions on alert. He's dark and edgy and certainly has the skill and power to back it up!

Is this how we're finally going to get to see Zeztz perform the Over Banish we've all been waiting for?!

Oh that's cool. Who needs engineering experience when you have lucid dreaming?

Even a rogue agent needs missions! Anyway, it's surprising how even in the real world, the off-brand Ethan Hunt otaku's allies speak better English than him. Keep up the practice, Baku. I also liked the cut to who I presume is Seven inside Baku's subconscious, taking the role of Zero wishing him Good Luck before the OP, which reminds me that Visions also had a scene like that with Seven in Zero's chair posing commander-ly.

I guess it works. I mean, people (myself included) still make fun of Nox for his vague evilness, but at least he was never a better character so now he can only improve. In addition to being a meme, this means he likely won't get hated like Live.

Some people are speculating that Minami is CODE No. One, based on how CODE's mascot is a black cat, which would mean they don't need to send anybody else to watch Baku. I also looked up the word, "furlough", as it sounded like something that might be related to espionage, but turns out it's just a fancy word for taking leave from work.

Yezz was rumored to be the Secondary Rider and the Secondary Rider was rumored to be Nox. Like I said at the time, why Yezz when Nox is already a good Rider name? At this point, I think Yezz turned out to be false.

Odds are high that Baku is going to need Ordem to beat Dawn or at least close up the power gap.
He's acting like he's Nightmare Dante from Devil May Cry!
I love how Nox is so thrown off by Baku basically playing the same role he did in the premonitory dream.