I had that thought while watching as well.

Everyone got infected, so he would end up eventually jumping into someone's dream that would include him as well.

Probably his sister, because she is so concern about his bad luck anytime he tries to help someone.

And then there is Nem. I can understand her being so popular that she ends up in everyone's dream, but I suspect that there's more to it. Like, she was aware of Baku, as if she was a completely separate entity. At first, I was wondering if his lucid dreaming had anything to do with that, but wasn't too sure. I feel Baku doesn't give himself enough time between missions to question that and other things.

He's living his dream, so why question it?

I think Nem and Nox are the same, whatever they are, that's why they're paralleled in the OP.

Yeah, I had only really listened to a partial clip of the opening theme before and definitely wasn't paying attention to the lyrics at the time either. I'm not complaining about "be the GOAT" though, it's just very funny to get hit by that when you aren't expecting it.

Oh yeah, I imagine we're totally jumping in to Minami's dream at some point! For comedic effect, the Baku of her dream could be a kid, since that's how Minami sees their hierarchy.

Especially since Baku is also a Nem fan, so he's just as excited as Miyuki to have her around, even though he knows (or rather believes) she's not real.

Anything goes in a dream! Maybe the reason why we only see Nox in dreams is due to him being "Nem" in the real world, while the Nem we see in dreams is the real Nem trapped in subconscious.

Oh, it certainly does make sense for Baku's character. I was just caught off guard by the song using modern English slang like that.

For me, the show feels... medium. I don't hate it. I think I only barely like it, though. I'm starting to suspect that "dreams," as a theme, was a questionable creative choice. Among other things, the experience of dreaming is intensely personal, it's based in how our minds work, and our minds can work entirely differently. The show just can't capture that effectively.

I dunno how I feel about the leaning heavily into English. (I did love "I only speak English in my dreams," though.) I appreciate that they're trying, but it keeps hitting off notes for me around pronunciation and inflection. And I hate that I'm picky about that because I *know* that good foreign-language line reads are murderously difficult to get right in a way that doesn't come off as mildly cringe for different-language audiences.

I'll keep watching, though. Like I said, I don't hate it, but I suspect this isn't going to hit in the Gaim/Geats/Zero-One/Gavv sweet spot for me as a viewer.

I feel like they're mostly just leaning in on dreams as projections of the subconscious and peoples' desires which I think works in the context of telling a Kamen Rider story.
Maybe it's just that I'm used to Engrish so it doesn't really bother me so much (in fact I just find it fun to listen to) but they've at least justified it from a character/thematic perspective.

Similar to yin and yang?


I can see that, but also because can see that episode explaining more of their background from his sister's perspective. I don't recall if they mentioned their parents yet, so that may play a key role.

If the parents are gone, Minami will probably view Baku (being her only relative) as somebody she wants to absolutely protect, even being overprotective. You usually get an overprotective sibling trope from the older one, not the younger one.

Nem could be some kind of guide or similar. Not sure yet. But I just learned that Baku was named after the nightmare-eating yokai of lore. And I found this part interesting:

"Legends say that the baku will come into the child's room and devour the bad dream, allowing the child to go back to sleep peacefully. However, calling to the baku must be done sparingly, because if he remains hungry after eating one's nightmare, he may also devour their hopes and desires as well, leaving them to live an empty life."

Considering one of the staples of the Kamen Rider franchise is that their powers are derived from the very monsters they defeat, I'm waiting for that shoe to drop.

If that makes sense.

There is that visual of Zeztz fighting himself in the Op...

And also how creepy Zeztz sometimes looks, like with the dark shadows enveloping Baku as he transforms, which could just be for the night/dream aesthetic but IMO it looks kinda sinister.

There's also a lot Zero hasn't explained, like where Capsems actually come from, or why CODE has the same name as the agency Baku dreamed about before joining...