If it's gonna be dream/nightmare-themed, what'll be the motifs?

And can you imagine the season to have vibes of Kabuto with a touch of Faiz & OOO?

Stellar helmet design, if accurate!

So, ASMR videos by the cast are probably inevitable, right? If they really are going with the sleep theme.

I mean we didn't get Mukbang/Snack from other countries vids from Gavv right ? xD

I think we should expect ASMR from the driver and jingles with lullaby motifs. Just in case, I'll remember that I assumed a whispering rider back in the days of Revice, albeit for a ninja rider.

I can't confirm that this sketch came from them, but it's supposed to be from Color809, who has shown sketches of Riders before they are properly announced and loads of other details, googling them showed leaks for Geats episodes and even a link to this very forum back which included a load of design details of Gotchard. The Gavv Rumour thread also has drawings of Gavv's final form from the same person

I am very curious who will become the main writer for this Kamen Rider Zeztz series.

The next season better be good and not flop!

Maybe Takano or Muto could do it!

The most popular speculation I’ve seen is that it’ll be Takahashi.
When Zeztz begins airing, it’ll have been three years since Geats, six since Zero-One, and nine since Ex-Aid

Number theory is back in the most unexpected forms! ;)
But while Geats was a marathon swim in a pool of broken glass to me, I have no problem with Takahashi. He has his strengths and he knows how to hold the audience's attention. Plus, I think it's wrong to blame one person for the entire show.

I hope not. Dude has been consistently diminishing returns.

While I don't mind Takahashi too much, and enjoy the show he's done to varying degrees, I wouldn't want him for Zeztz.

I feel like he's shown us all he could since Ex-Aid and his shows (specials and movies included) kind of run into similar territories when you examine them closer. Unless he's got new material then it's going to feel kind of the same, which is something I really don't want.

Let someone else from the roster of Toei's Rider series return, or hell bring in someone from Sentai who has yet to work on Rider or even someone new.

Yeah, I don't dislike Takahashi but having the same guy write every third show has worn very thin for me. Hoping for someone new or someone who hasn't written for the series in a while!

I seem to recall seeing ZZZ used as shorthand for sleeping/snoozing in Japanese media, so yeah, sleep seems likely, particularly the way it's laid out on that hopefully-accurate sketch. (Although also re: the sketch: I am now LONGING for a Rider who doesn't have multiple alternate forms, destined to be forgotten after the first quarter, right out the gate.)

I love Ex-Aid, Zero-One, and Geats, but count me in the camp that thinks we need some new blood or anyone that's not Takahashi.

Plus I feel like even he's probably feeling burnt out after writing all of Geats.

Yea, like everyone said, based on the name, this series likely has a sleep/dream/day-dream/imagination theme. Perhaps the internal logic works like a combination of KR Zi-O, the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the Gridman/SSSS.Gridman/SSSS.Dynazenon series, Donnie Darko (2001), Inception (2010)/Paprika (2006)/The Cell (2000), and Dreamscape (1984). The main protagonist could be an eager guy who had a big, exciting dream (hence the name Zeztz that was likely inspired by the the word zest) and possessed a latent/hidden ability, some kind of combination of reality-altering/bending/manipulation power (like Sougo Tokiwa did in KR Zi-O and Haruhi Suzumiya did) and dream infiltration/manipulation abilities similar to what the Gridman hosts and the characters in Inception/Paprika/The Cell did. At some point in the story there could happen a connection between dream and reality in the form of a reality-altering dream like shown in Donnie Darko and Rider Time: KR Zi-O vs KR Decade.

The ability to enter a human's subconscious realm was also shown in KR Wizard when KR Wizard or KR Beast entered a Gate's Underworld to prevent the Phantoms from wreaking havoc there, although it didn't cause a change in the real world, only creating new Phantoms. In KR Den-O, Imagins were also able to enter a human's subconscious realm (i.e. their contract holder's memory), traveled to the past and wreaked havoc there, and caused drastic changes in the future world. In KR Zeztz, the villains could be actual otherworldly beings that invaded the human world (and materialized) through people's nightmares, a combination of the premises of Dreamscape and Gridman/SSSS.Gridman/SSSS.Dynazenon. Dreams/imaginations could be seen as a portal to potential worlds or even alternate worlds, and the villains (and the Riders) could likely harness the energy from humans' dreams to manifest themselves and make themselves stronger. Many surreal, bizarre dream sequence scenes and confusing (or even convoluted!) internal logic similar to Inception could likely appear in the story.

The pointy corners of the logo have that jagged, slightly cartoonish look that are often used in old cartoons to depict a hole in the wall, which could be a visual clue that the villains likely came from a "dream realm" and broke free to the human world through people's nightmares. At least it looks more neutral/ambiguous and non-descript compared to KR Gavv's logo.

Mmmmmaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeeee...

Perhaps the overall theme is chasing your dreams to an extreme where you ignore everything else.

Yes, that could be the case. The MC could be an overly optimistic dreamer with a severe tunnel vision who's chasing the end of the rainbow while ignoring everything in front of him, so he's basically the opposite of Eiji Hino/KR OOO, haha.

Or the main character is a perpetually sleepy guy. Then if Den-O is added to Zeztz's extra content, for once we can focus not on Momotaros, but on Kintaros.

All of these sound interesting entering a dream realm. They better give out vibes of NiGHTs as well! The Cell has a nice touch too along with Nightmare on Elm Street.

I worry about the rider's motif. Like what would work?

I love how everyone seems to already be completely convinced this will be dream and sleep themed when it could just as easily be something like, I dunno, anthropomorphic letters. Did anyone think Saber would have a book motif based solely on its name?

Well, at the very least, the name Saber spoiled the importance of swords in the show, which is already part of the motive. But I think it makes sense to assume that the dream is can be not the motive of the whole show, but something like the creed of the main character, as in the case of Gotthard. Plus, it's too early to dismiss the topic of buzzing insects too.

Maybe it'll be about teaching kids the alphabet XD
And if that happens, a certain user will start demanding Sesame Street references... Jokes aside, a letter motif actually doesn't sound too far-fetched, given that Kamen Rider already did that once with W.

And if the helmet sketch is accurate, it looks way more bright and energetic than I'd expect for a dream-themed rider. It doesn't really look insect-like either. I like the idea of a dream rider but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Personally, I think the rumor that it's pronounced "zetsu" is the most likely to be true since that's an actual Japanese word (IIRC it can mean "end" "cut" or "best"), and the previous three riders have also all had names derived from Japanese words (Gavv = gabu, Gotchard = gacha/gashapon, Geats = kitsune)

If we start from the idea with letters, then I have an association with Faiz, only with English letters instead of Greek ones.


The design can be a hint of bright dreams in which there are no restrictions.

"The Best" is actually very fitting for the show, which is in Stronger's 50th anniversary and Kabuto's 20th anniversary. Plus, I thought the writers could combine the ideas of "Zetsu being the best" and "Z is the last letter of the alphabet" by making the main character a cool underdog. I mean, we already have that type as the Red Ranger in Gozyuger, so why not try him in Riders?

That part isn't even a rumor, the "zettsu" pronunciation is already 100% confirmed by the logo.

At least we don't have to worry about Ohmori's nonsense anymore now that he's quit Toei, since the infamous Job Competition arc was confirmed to be all his fault. I think it's fair that Takahashi got his chance to write a full-length 48+ episode show, but why would he need to keep coming back often at this point, especially if it's yet another case where he's the only one writing and inevitably fumbles towards the end? Not saying that he can't come back ever, but I think Takahashi every 3 years isn't a pattern that should continue.

The power of lucid dreams where you can make anything happen only limited by imagination, kind of like Genm Level 1000000000. Maybe the MOTWs will function similar to Another Riders or the Knightmares from Dino Fury, where the only way to defeat them for good is to confront the source of the host's trauma.

To have a cool underdog like Hoeru for Gozyuger, we'd also need competition. Could this be a season with an abundance of Riders?

Agreed. In fact, in tokusatsu quite often many authors left a bad name behind them simply because they wrote too much and too often. So yeah, let Takahashi wait at least two more years. Or, for the sake of variety, try himself in a full-fledged Sentai.
A bit off-topic now, but I recently got acquainted with the concept that restrictions can actually have a positive effect on creativity, making the creator, well... more creative. And considering that Sentai is stricter in this regard than riders (at least because of the mandatory team and mech), I think as a development, rider writers should work there at least as additional writers.

Well, if we take the concept that riders are based on English letters, then there are still 22 possible characters. Plus guest cameos from W, X and G.

If they go with the dream theme like a number of us are assuming, including myself, I can see it being a bit Gridman-ish show but swap cyberspace with dreams.

That also explains what similarity it can have with Wizard lol

Takahashi should not come back. Not out of malice but because it'd only worsen one's reputation. Don't really care/hope him returning too, not out of bashing to his shows but by above; I mean this is similar to Kobayashi also never returning to KR so far.

Gavv's final form Gochizo leaked:

Wrong thread. But a quick "nice" for it, I hope we'll get pictures of the suit soon so I can make a final judgement on how i feel about it.

Ah shucks, that's what you get for posting immediately after waking up...

Tieba's Color809 has provided infos regarding Zeztz's henshin item.

Apparently the driver is strapped across the body like a fanny pack (just like the pic shown below) instead of the waist. The main henshin trinkets are bead shaped.

Who has ever worn a fanny pack that way? Fanny packs always are on the waist otherwise they're not held up by your fanny and the name loses its meaning.

Funnily enough in one of the more recent chapters of Sentai Red Isekai, the Kamen Rider expy Amen had a few extra pieces of equipment revealed. Which also included a fanny pack styled extra transformation device in addition to the Amen Bagckle that's already used. It is also just worn across the body similar to the image we see.

Though I've also heard the term sling bag circulating which probably is more accurate though.

If you Google Image Searched fanny pack, this is one of the first images to appear.

I highly doubt you will find any photos from the 90's with someone wearing it like that. Seems like a generational error.

Yeah that's a sling bag.

Word choice aside, a driver worn across the shoulder is a cool idea! I like belts as the tradition but I love seeing more variety in henshin devices too. And if they're emphasizing the letter Z motif, I bet the diagonal strap will be part of that

Makes me think of Drive's tire to be honest.