Kamen Rider Zeztz Case #2: "EXPLODE" Discussion
 

Baku must stop the Bomb Nightmare before it goes off.

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Original, unedited post:

In the scene @ 01:57, Nemu tells Baku he's working hard as a secret agent even when he's sleeping, which shocks him because she knows that she's inside Baku's crazy dream. In the scene @ 09:27, when Baku tells Tetsuya that he met Nemu in his dream last night, Tetsuya confirms that he also always met her in his dreams. Even Nasuka admits that she often sees her in her dreams as well. Yep, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in these scenes. So far, Nemu has only appeared in Baku's (and other people's) dreams and on TV ads/commercials/billboards/etc., but has never shown her real-life appearance like Minami, Tetsuya, or Nasuka do. That's very likely because Nemu is another dream-dwelling entity who only possesses incorporeal existence with no actual real-life existence, similar to the Nightmares, albeit she could be a benevolent variant of it like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here.

In the scene @ 08:06, Tetsuya tells Nasuka that if Baku has encountered a Nightmare, then there's a risk that he might commit violent crime. In the scene @ 16:44, Zero tells Baku that a victim who experiences the ultimate nightmare that involve a Nightmare is trapped in darkness forever and will never wake up again because the Nightmare takes over his body. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be 100% correct in this scene. Tetsuya is having a firm hypothesis that the Nightmares are planting negative ideas inside their victims' mind with the aim of controlling/manipulating their 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. No wonder Nox/the Nightmares' scheme is considered a national security-level threat by Tetsuya.

In the scenes @ 17:26 and @ 21:54, Baku/KR Zeztz manages to connect the dots and concludes that the Bomb Nightmare's victim is Tetsuya. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in this scene. The Nightmare victim of the week is a police officer, but not Tetsuya's coworker at the Tokyo MPD, but Tetsuya himself, so I was pretty much half-correct, haha.:lol Nox appears out of nowhere @ 21:58 and tells Baku/KR Zeztz that dreams are the the deepest, subconscious part of the dreamer's psyche and are a hideout for wishes that can't be fulfilled in the real world. Tetsuya is very likely having a dream where his co-workers would believe his hypothesis about Nightmares. His could be wishing his co-workers (including Nasuka) to believe his staunch (perhaps even obsessive) belief about the "black cases" involving Nightmares. The Bomb Nightmare hijacks that dream and twists it into a wish to destroy the entire Tokyo MPD building instead, albeit only in his dream, so far. So, if Baku/KR Zeztz doesn't interfere, then Tetsuya would likely succumb to the Nightmare's mind hijinks and fall victim to it, which means that his sane mind is replaced/corrupted by the Nightmare's and he would bomb the Tokyo MPD building in real-life.

Alright, off to church I go.:lol

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

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Elaborated, edited post:

In the opening scene @ 00:01, a Nightmare intrudes a human's mind via the Heart's Door/the Soul's Door/the Mind's Door. I prefer calling it the Mind's Door because the theme of this story is dreams. Contrary to what happened to Baku last week in episode 1 when he was hit by the Nox-controlled SUV (and contrary to my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here about Nox's modus operandi), this time, the Nightmare simply intrudes the victim's mind without being catalyzed by an accident caused by Nox's manipulation. This sneakier, subtler modus operandi may make the Nightmares' intrusion much harder to detect because it can be mistaken as normal dreams/nightmares.

In the scene @ 00:49, Baku is in the dream realm and he's being chased by several police officers, including Tetsuya. His mission from Commander Zero is to "stop the bomber". Who is the bomber?

In the scene @ 01:47, Baku manages to get away from the police officer's chase, and suddenly Nemu appears out of nowhere behind him. In the scene @ 01:57, Nemu tells Baku that he's working hard as a secret agent even when he's sleeping, which shocks him because she knows that she's inside Baku's crazy dream. She also says that she's just playing along to the setting of Baku's crazy dream. A Nightmare named Bomb Nightmare then appears and declares to blow everything up. Bomb Nightmare then attacks Baku and Nemu, but somehow she completely vanishes from the scene like a ghost after @ 03:22. Why is that?:confused::eyebrow Where does she go?:confused::eyebrow Don't know! Baku then transforms into KR Zeztz and fights Bomb Nightmare. Bomb Nightmare manages to get away and causes several police cars to explode. Right after that explosion, 1 of 3 Mind's Doors is opened. Those 3 doors could likely have some kind of symbolic connection with several important things within the victim's mind. If all those connections are destroyed, then the victim's mind would likely be untethered and become prone to manipulation by foreign intruders like the Nightmares (and Baku/KR Zeztz and the other CODE Riders). Perhaps if Bomb Nightmare manages to cause 3 incidents of explosion at 3 specific locations/settings, then all those 3 doors would be opened and the victim would be totally controlled/manipulated by the Nightmare. Just when Baku/KR Zeztz gets out of Bomb Nightmare's spatial manipulation trap, he's found by Tetsuya and the other police officers and is thought to be the one who caused the explosions. And then @ 05:59 Baku wakes up from his dream, and wonders if he can transform in real life as well.

In the scene @ 06:41, Nasuka arrives at Tokyo MPD HQ and encounters a crummy-looking truck that's actually the office of the Mysterious Incidents Division headed by Tetsuya, and thinks that she's being demoted. There she finds Tetsuya is sleeping, and he very likely pulled an all-nighter there, obsessively reviewing his "black cases", especially the most recent one involving Baku. Tetsuya seems like a typical hard-working yet one track-minded detective who is trying too hard to prove his hypothesis about the "black cases" and its connection to the Nightmares.

In the scene @ 08:06, Tetsuya tells Nasuka that if Baku has encountered a Nightmare, then there's a risk that he might commit violent crime, but she dismisses it because there's no scientific evidence for his hypothesis. The fact that Baku managed to recover from his injuries in episode 1 last week (or 2 days ago in the story's timeline) and was released yesterday from the hospital convinced Tetsuya that Baku was involved in a "black case". They follow Baku, and Baku recognizes Tetsuya as one of the police officers that chased him inside his crazy dream several hours ago. When Tetsuya asks Baku what the heck he's been hiding, Baku just casually shows him the Zeztz Driver and tells him how he got it after he woke up from his nightmare in episode 1. In the scene @ 09:27, when Baku tells Tetsuya that he met Nemu in his dream last night, Tetsuya confirms that he also always met her in his dreams. Even Nasuka admits that she often sees her in her dreams as well. Yep, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in these scenes. So far, Nemu has only appeared in Baku's (and other people's) dreams and on TV ads/commercials/billboards/etc., but has never shown her real-life appearance like Minami, Tetsuya, or Nasuka do. That's very likely because Nemu is another dream-dwelling entity who only possesses incorporeal existence with no actual real-life existence, similar to the Nightmares, albeit she could be a benevolent variant of it like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here. I wonder if there's anyone in Baku's real world who has ever met Nemu in real life and do the usual things fans do like shaking hands, taking photos, requesting signature, etc.. There could be none of them.

Baku also tells Tetsuya that he encountered a demon-like creature, which Tetsuya optimistically confirms as a Nightmare. Of course, Tetsuya is hyped up and asks Baku what kind of dream he had last time, and Baku tells him that he was being chased by several police officers and saw several police cars blowing up, which surprises Tetsuya because he had the exact same dream yesterday. Based on Baku's information, Tetsuya quickly connects the dots and optimistically concludes that if two people have then same exact dream, then it's a "black case" and involves Nightmares, much to Nasuka's dismay. Tetsuya tells Baku that Nightmares are mysterious monsters that appear in people's nightmares. Nasuka dismisses it as a mere urban legend or occult stuff, and she thinks that the police's job is to solve real-life crimes, not thought crimes and imaginary villains. Tetsuya isn't faltered by Nasuka's dismissive remarks, and states that his dream is to be a police officer and he wants to believe in his Mysterious Incidents Division. Meanwhile, Baku can say and do nothing when he sees them bickering, haha.:lol There's something really weird in this scene. Baku said @ 05:59 when he woke up from his dream that he wondered if he could transform in real life as well. If so, then why didn't he test it and simply transform inside his room/apartment?:confused::eyebrow Why bother to go outside and bring the Zeztz Driver with him as well?:confused::eyebrow Why should he go out in a public place just to transform?:confused::eyebrow The answer is clear: Because the plot needed him to do so. If he stayed in his room/apartment and test his transformation there, then he wouldn't have met Tetsuya and Nasuka, and he wouldn't have shown them the Zeztz Driver, and he wouldn't have been told the crucial info about the Nightmares by Tetsuya. Yep, plot convenience, as usual. If Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi needed to make Baku meet Tetsuya and Nasuka, then why didn't he simply make Tetsuya and Nasuka visit Baku in his apartment and then invite him into the MID's crummy office-truck later to explain the details?:confused::eyebrow Baku's a jobless loser, so there's a 99% chance that he's always at home, haha.:lol It's not so bad if Baku actually ends up attempting to transform in real life after @ 11:57, but that doesn't even happen at all. Baku ends up not doing it. These scenes @ 08:06-11:57 just scream lazy writing, one of Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi's favorite tactics.
Zeztz 02 @ 06:28
https://i.imgur.com/d5U4Uyc.jpeg

In the scene @ 13:14, it's 3 AM and Baku can't sleep because he keeps thinking of his transformation in episode 1 that happened 2 days ago. He's suddenly contacted by Commander Zero via the Zeztz Phone. He can't speak English in real life, so Commander Zero needs to switch to Japanese. Commander Zero tells Baku to open his wardrobe, and it's now connected to the exact same mysterious place that he saw in his dream in episode 1 2 days ago. Commander Zero says that it's an operation room that he prepared for Baku to carry out his mission as an agent for CODE. Commander Zero then reveals himself as the robot-bike. My hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in this scene. Zero in the real world is a robot-bike that contains the consciousness of Commander Zero, albeit only as a remote control mechanism, not mind transfer. Zero the robot-bike in this story works quite similar to Fuuga Kudou/KR Wind's multiple surrogate bodies in KR Gotchard, which were identical homunculi that were remote-controlled via a telepathic link. Commander Zero could be an incorporeal, dream-dwelling creatures similar to Nemu and the Nightmares like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here, but he could also be real human (like Baku, Minami, Tetsuya, Nasuka, etc.) who have a real body that's kept in a safe location.

Oh, and the fact that Commander Zero has kept pushing Baku to go on missions means that he could very likely have an ulterior motive like I've hypothesized since my 1st post in episode 1 thread here. Commander Zero is instructing Baku to do several missions and yet Baku has done it without questioning why, similar to what Sou Fueki/Carbuncle Phantom/KR Wiseman did to Haruto/KR Wizard, or what Evolt-possessed Soichi Isurugi/KR Evolt did to Sento Kiryu/KR Build. These dumb protagonists (probably including Baku) did what the manipulators told them to do without any questioning simply in order to move the plot, and they were later shocked when the people who told them to do the things they did turned out to be the manipulator of the story. They never asked, "What's the catch?", and were shocked when they discovered that they've been manipulated. Surprise, surprise. I dislike these kinds of idiot plot because they're so predictable. If I'm a writer and I want to write a story that involves an ultimate manipulator, then at least make him obviously suspicious like Shiro Kanzaki from KR Ryuki, who not only was already suspected of being the manipulator by Shinji Kido/KR Ryuki since episode 2 but also offered something uber-grandiose (i.e. the wish from the power of the Mirror World) to those he manipulated, which made his manipulation look even more ridiculously obvious, yet very very very enticing. Or, at least, tie several trustworthy characters to the manipulation as smoke and mirrors to obscure the manipulation like Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi himself did in KR Ex-Aid where he used 2 trustworthy characters (Haima Kagami/head of CR division and Poppy Pipopapo/Asuna Karino) as 2 unknowing pawns in Kuroto Dan/KR Genm's grand scheme of manipulation. Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi did many things right in KR Ex-Aid (although he did many more things wrong), but strangely, instead of getting better, he got worse with each new series/films, with KR (God forbid) Geats as the ultimate peak of his atrocity. So, is Commander Zero the manipulator villain of this story, or even the mastermind villain like I've hypothesized since my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here?:confused::eyebrow Don't know! Only time will tell.

In the scene @ 15:56, Zero opens a door that reveals several Gashapon machines that contain the Capsems (this season's transformation trinket). How do CODE manage to get their hands on these Capsems?:confused::eyebrow How are they created?:confused::eyebrow Were they created from previous missions by the previous agents (#0/Commander Zero-#6), or are they simply manufactured by CODE?:confused::eyebrow I hypothesized in my 4th post here that the method of producing Capsems could be via certain people with their own specific dreams, similar to how the Eyecons in KR Ghosts were produced, but that doesn't seem to be the case, nor are they produced by defeating Nightmares, because in episode 1 last week Baku/KR Zeztz managed to defeat Gun Nightmare, but it only dispersed into particles that form a purple butterfly, likely the same purple butterflies Nox was shown to be spreading in the teaser videos. It'd be so convenient if CODE can simply manufacture the Capsems.

In the scene @ 16:44, Zero tells Baku that a victim who experiences the ultimate nightmare that involve a Nightmare is trapped in darkness forever and will never wake up again because the Nightmare takes over his body. This pretty much confirms Tetsuya's hypothesis @ 08:06 when he tells Nasuka that if Baku has encountered a Nightmare, then there's a risk that he might commit violent crime. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be 100% correct in this scene. Tetsuya is having a firm hypothesis that the Nightmares are planting negative ideas inside their victims' mind with the aim of controlling/manipulating their 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. No wonder Nox/the Nightmares' scheme is considered a national security-level threat by Tetsuya.

I have a new hypothesis based on the new information in this scene. I hypothesized in my 5th post in the general KR Zeztz thread here and in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here that Nox could be a former agent of CODE who either went rogue or was captured by the mastermind villain and then mindwiped/mind-controlled by the mastermind villain, but there's another possibility. Nox that has appeared so far could be just a Nightmare that took over the mind of the real Nox when he was defeated and succumbed to the Nightmare's attacks. Heck, Nox could even be just his pseudonym, or even the Nightmare's name, not his real name. If Nox as a CODE agent/Rider did manage to penetrate into the deepest layer of the dream world, then it's very likely that Nox's real self is still imprisoned behind his Mind's Door and hidden somewhere deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep inside the labirynth of his subconscious mind, similar to how Tetsuya's real self is imprisoned behind the Mind's Door when Bomb Nightmare momentarily takes over his mind and creates ruckus outside in his dream world. The subplot of rescuing Nox's real self from the labirynth-esque prison of his subconscious mind could be similar to the subplot near the end part of Inception (2010) where the protagonists attempted to rescue Saito from the limbo since his part of the mission was sabotaged by Mal's projection that was created by Dom's subconscious mind.

In the scenes @ 17:26 and @ 21:54, Baku/KR Zeztz manages to connect the dots and concludes that the Bomb Nightmare's victim is Tetsuya. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in this scene. The Nightmare's victim of the week is a police officer, but not Tetsuya's coworker at the Tokyo MPD, but Tetsuya himself, so I was pretty much half-correct, haha.:lol Nox appears out of nowhere @ 21:58 and tells Baku/KR Zeztz that dreams are the the deepest, subconscious part of the dreamer's psyche and are a hideout for wishes that can't be fulfilled in the real world. Like Tetsuya said @ 11:28 that his dream is to be a police officer and that he wants to believe in his Mysterious Incidents Division, he very likely has a dream where his co-workers would believe his hypothesis about Nightmares. His could be wishing his co-workers (including Nasuka) to believe his staunch (perhaps even obsessive) belief about the "black cases" involving Nightmares. Bomb Nightmare hijacks that dream and twists it into a wish to destroy the entire Tokyo MPD building instead, albeit only in his dream, so far. So, if Baku/KR Zeztz doesn't interfere, then Tetsuya would likely succumb to the Nightmare's mind hijinks and fall victim to it, which means that his sane mind is replaced/corrupted by the Nightmare's and he would bomb the Tokyo MPD building in real life.

Next week:

Bomb Nightmare is very likely inspired by Tetsuya's frustration that results from the failure of his Mysterious Incidents Division. Tetsuya is frustrated that his career is going nowhere because he's wasted his time and effort chasing the end of the rainbow that is the "black cases". This frustration with his stagnating career could be why Bomb Nightmare aims to blow up the Tokyo MPD building (and very likely Japan's entire police force) in the dream world. Tetsuya's confidence would likely be restored when Baku confides to him that he's KR Zeztz and that he believes everything he's said about Nightmares and the "black cases", making Baku the very 1st person on Earth who genuinely believes his hypothesis. This could also mean that Tetsuya (and Nasuka) could be working as Baku's direct supporters beginning in episode 4. I wonder if Baku tells them about CODE as well.

On the other hand, the preview section shows that Bomb Nightmare could likely manage to break out and take over Tetsuya's mind when he managed to blow up Tokyo MPD HQ. Like I hypothesized in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here, when a Nightmare manages to destroy a victim's dream, that Nightmare could 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. Perhaps it's already too late and the purple butterflies have already spread, but at least Baku/KR Zeztz manages to defeat Bomb Nightmare and prevent him from taking over Tetsuya's mind. Like I hypothesized above about Nox, the subplot of Baku/KR Zeztz rescuing Tetsuya's real self from the prison of his subconscious mind could be similar to the subplot near the end part of Inception (2010) where the protagonists attempted to rescue Saito from the limbo.

Zero tells Baku that if they don't stop the Nightmares, then the world will be destroyed. It's still episode 3, and the story is already talking about the destruction of the world?:confused::eyebrow Why not let the momentum grow naturally?:confused::eyebrow Why not slowly build it up to arouse the viewers' curiosity and keep the viewers interested?:confused::eyebrow It seems like patience is a virtue not possessed by Yuuya "The Indefensible" Takahashi.

Additional hypotheses:
- The surreal-looking red half-moon that appears in the dream world (even during day) could be the Nightmares' HQ. Or at least, it could have a connection to the Nightmares.
- There could've already been several victims of Nightmares that managed to be taken over. These people whose mind have been corrupted/taken over by the Nightmares could've included important figures such as ministers, top politicians, police/military top brass, intelligence officers, etc., and they could be playing a crucial role in covering up the "black cases" from the public's eyes, and even subverting humans' society by conspiring with other field generals like Nox behind the scenes.

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

Look out, it's a Geth from Mass Effect!

Sorry if you were expecting the OP folks, looks like we're back to Yuya Takahashi shows feeling free to skip the OP when necessary.

It's only the 2nd episode and Baku is already a wanted fugitive! In his dreams!

Ah, so Nem is basically just a Dream Actress that commits hard to whatever role she needs to play in the dreams she jumps into, whether it's playing Baku's Bond Girl or a Police Chief for a day who arrests him. You have to admire her dedication! And her cuteness!

The Bomb Nightmare! Complete with explosion fists!

Zeztz transformations have so, so much aura.

It seems like battles in the dream world is a battle between Zeztz and the Nightmare for control over the dream since they can both control and effect it.

So...obviously the police force don't think highly of the Paranormal Affairs division if they're "office" is literally a truck where it seems like the head detective basically lives. Who did Nasuka piss off to get stuck here? Not even she knows.

I do like the dynamic where Fujimi is this passionate, near rabid, cop and Nasuka is there to literally kick some sense into him and be the only one acting like a professional.

Can he transform in the real world? We never got to verify that.

I wonder what Nem does in Fujimi and Nasuka's dreams. Granted, considering Baku and Fujimi shared a dream, was Police Chief Nem Fujimi?

Baku and Fujimi become dream buddies! And Nasuka realizes she's stuck with two idiots and having to literally barrel role into her office.

How nice that not only does Chief Zero speak Japanese when Baku isn't in Dream Mode with inexplicable English speaking skills but that the entrance to Baku's office is conveniently in his closet.

How to get around Japanese Road Laws? Have a transformable bike with a suit! Auto Vajin would be so proud! I do wonder where the Chief really is, because we saw his human body last episode. Is he human or a dream entity?

So we've got the premise for the show: the Nightmares are infecting peoples' dreams and if they open three dream doors (?) they can posses the people whose dreams they're effecting. Which is why only Kamen Rider Zeztz can ride through dreams and stop them.

Ah, on-brand that there's a Capsem Dispenser with all the various Capsem abilities he can use with his forms.

First bike scene of the series! And it was cool watching Zeztz bob through all those obstacles while chasing the truck. And how also convenient that it can launch the sword! Which is kind of also like Faiz/Auto Vajin!

So the Nightmares aren't just causing people to due evil, it's preying on their subconscious desires and making it manifest through their dreams. So Fujimi DOES want to blow up the police force. What's Baku to do?

More pre-ZZZ, post-ZEZTZ quick thoughts from memaybe this is my thing this year i dunno:

I think what most stood out to me with this one was how charming the characters are? Baku and Minami's actors did a darn solid job playing their scene here in a way that makes them feel very naturally like close siblings, I'm happy to see Zero has a sense of humor, Nasuka's genre-blind rationality peppers scenes she's in with amusing little beats, and Fujimi is such an earnestly weird dude, so happy to finally have a good lead on the weird conspiracy he's tracking, that it's easy to root for Baku to go save him. The overall plot right now is still rather vague. While Baku fighting to take control of his own dreams was a story that holds meaning even without understanding the literal mechanics of the narrative, the reasons he needs to fight for others are only sketched out in a very basic way here. That's clearly all according to plan though, and because that's all stuff I'm curious about, I thought the way the cliffhanger seemingly changes the whole nature of the story was a very effective way to promise an even more fleshed-out next installment.

Bike action was also real good! Not just as a thing I want to see in general from Kamen Rider, even, but in how that whole vehicular setpiece feels very much like a sequence from exactly the kind of spy movies this show is pulling influence from. Just having a Rider on their bike is always great, but when you can get your hero hanging dangerously off the side of some bigger moving vehicle, that's even better.

Really loving how we're starting off this season. The first two episodes have been very strong on both the plot and action fronts.

Didn't expect Baku to immediately team up with the cops. I'm all for it, though; a Kamen Rider teaming up with detectives investigating paranormal crimes gives me very strong Kuuga/Agito vibes. I'm especially enjoying Nasuka as the character who doesn't want to be here and resents Baku and Fujimi for insisting on all of this nonsense.

Excellent motorcycle action scene with a surprising amount of what looked like practical effects. I get the sense that Toei is really trying to put a lot of money into the action sequences for the international airing.

I don't trust Nem. I'm convinced that she's not just a figment of Baku's imagination but is actually the same Nem that's doing all of the commercials in the real world.

Though I didn't find episode 2 as outrageously fun as the first episode, this was still pretty good. Also bike action!

I definitely feel like Nem is going to have actual plot relevance later, but for now the whole shtick of cropping up in people's dreams to play whatever part is needed is pretty fun. We also get to have some nice scenes in the real world too, with our normal-cop and weird-cop duo seemingly to hit off pretty well with Baku. I have a feeling the two of them will be cooperating with his Kamen Rider heroics before long. Baku and Minami's little scene was cute too. This episode was overall more focused on establishing the setting than the first one. We learn that Zeztz has to stop Nightmares from making bad dreams come true so they don't hijack their victim's bodies and that the bad dreams seem to be some kind of representation of the victim's subconscious desires. Bad impulses that people don't act on I suppose? The viewers are left with a lot of unanswered questions still though: we still don't know if Baku can transform in the real world or really how or why any of this Kamen Rider stuff is happening among other things.

I did find myself thinking that the dream setting has some disadvantages this episode though. The "anything can happen" nature of these dream fights just takes away from some of the fun physicality of tokusatsu battles for me and also having all the action take place in a dream just feels sort of lonely to me? There aren't really many people around to add spice, you know? Hoping the supporting cast takes a more active role later, or at least that the secondary Rider debut later on will resolve this.

Just a witty joke!

Feels like they could've cut the fight from the end and put it at the start of the next one, or condense the scene with the Yorozu siblings, to make room for the OP. Oh well, we'll just have to be patient.

Agreed!

Nasuka reminds me of Shinnosuke with how she'd rather be doing normal police work until she inevitably learns that Black Cases are actually important. Her role as the straight cop also reminds me of Myojin Tsukasa.

Fujimi is pretty humorous and I love how quickly he becomes best buds with Baku over their mutual love of Nem and passion for Black Cases. On a more serious note, Fujimi's speech about his work seems to stir something in Baku. Even though the police don't take Fujimi seriously, like Minami to Baku's dreams, that doesn't stop him from doing what he cares about. He could be a good role model to Baku and a good influence on Nasuka.

Zero is a fictional character in-universe, so makes sense that a sentient dream manifestation of him would need a remote body to interact with the real world.

Since this episode brings it up, what if Nem is secretly a Nightmare who managed to open 3 doors, but then turned good for some reason? It would be weird if Takahashi suddenly made a heroine that wasn't an artificial lifeform.

I mean, that's pretty formulaic. The first episode needs to be the hook to impress on the viewers and acquaint them with the perspective character, so then the second episode can dispense all the necessary exposition about the world (or worlds) he lives in.

Dreams are a good way of venting sadism in a way that would be unhealthy to do IRL. So this reveal presents an unnerving concept, turning an activity seen as harmless in to a potentially serious problem with real harmful results. And since not everybody can lucid dream, they don't even know they're doing it. Especially for someone like Baku, whose dreams, his missions, always require someone else to be in danger and him lucid dreaming to put them in that danger so he can save them.

Do you have similar complaints about the otherworldly fights in Ryuki, or does the abundance of Riders compensate for the lack of civilian interaction?

I'm glad that SHOUT is doing these subs and not me, because I would've translated "Arize!" as "Live a little!" solely due to how it sounds.

Anyway, my biggest takeaway from the show right now is that I hope its action scenes are handled like how Zero-One's' were: Wherein even if the action gets less fantastical as the show goes on due to budget, they still find ways to surprise us every few episodes. Rather than be like handled like, say, Kabuto, wherein what made the action shine early on almost entirely vanishes by the second half.

Because really, whoever was put in charge of the action directing has been doing a great job throughout both of these episodes. And that's in terms of both the action itself as well as the shot composition.

Was also slightly disappointed that the Zeztz Driver isn't an actual arc reactor ala Iron Man, but eh, that's a minor complaint. It made for a neat visual in the premiere if nothing else. And if my prediction about how next episode will go is somehow correct, the Driver being removable is something I'll root for.

Weird how the MoonScoop logo has been in the background of the Dream World.

The number of Riders balanced it out for me in Ryuki, especially since they were also characters that frequently interacted in the normal world too. But with Zeztz I'm already finding myself feeling antsy for Baku to have someone to bounce off of besides random enemies in the dream. Even Nem just... disappeared almost as soon as the fight started. Like I mentioned, I'm sure this will change over time, but I'm hoping it happens sooner rather than later.

Baku and Fujimi seem hilarious together. :lolol

This show has excellent style in all departments, fun characters and a very cool story concept. It’s really good so far.

I’m interested to see where this journey is headed, because the freshness will wear off eventually, the early run budget for special effects will wither, and I’m curious how this show might cement its narrative in the long run.

If this was a smaller show or a web special in which they could fire on all cylinders every week for 5-6 times and be done this would be a show for the ages, but they will have to keep this up for an entire year.

With a start this strong it’s hard to imagine what the future will hold for Zeztz. I’m enjoying the current state of excellence while wondering just how the status quo will take shape.

I'll be surprised if they can keep up the dream environment manipulation. That might phase out for the form changes/Capsem abilities.

- I'm somewhat disappointed to have no OP still, but it's not that big a deal, really; I imagine it'll probably just be another week before we see the actual OP sequence. And besides, it's hard to think of any scenes I'd cut in this episode to make enough room for it.

- So, we all agree that Nem is definitely gonna turn out to be the main villain, right? /j

- I'm surprised that Baku seems pretty open about his Rider identity with the cops. I'd been kinda expecting that Fujimi's investigation of Baku would be dragged out for a while before they discover his whole dreamwalker thing. Though I guess secret identities aren't really something Takahashi tends to do, huh?

- Between the warehouse battle in the beginning, and the bike chase of the climax, the action of this episode is a big step up from the nighttime fight of Episode 1. It's good to know that wasn't an indicator of what the action of this season is normally like, even if I'm not expecting every fight to be so bombastic as the bike chase.

- Also, obligatory mention that it's really nice whenever we get bike action in Rider. Especially with as many practical effects as this one had!

Is it just me or have the Nightmares' color schemes so far matched other Heisei Riders?
I hope they keep it consistent that he uses the bike to ride into other peoples' dreams.

I really like the set design and ZERO's remarks.

I could tell that Fujimi secretly wished for the Bomber Nightmare. He seems like the guy to have a hero complex and would want to stop a mad bomber in real life. Basically, Nightmares so far seem to be the dark, hidden desires of the victims of the week. Kind of like Shadows from the Persona franchise.

Still missing the Happipare gang but hopefully the new guys will grow on me. ZERO the Bike certainly has.

I have several new hypotheses:
- It's quite likely that Commander Zero would transform into a Rider in mid-season episodes between 25-30. It could be his original CODE Rider #0 form or an entirely new form.
- I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here that it's quite possible that Nemu is of a species that's the benevolent version of the Nightmares. It means that Nemu could also be a shapeshifter, similar to the Nightmares whose appearances are based on dominant objects from their victims' dreams, i.e. a gun/revolver from Baku's crazy secret agent dreams or a bomb from Tetsuya's suppressed destructive inner desire. Her own remark in episode 2 @ @ 01:57 when she said that she was just playing along to the setting of Baku's crazy dream make this hypothesis even more plausible. Perhaps, many people (have) had their dreams visited by Nemu, and she initially became some kind of an urban legend. Several people (who were not necessarily lucid dreamers) could be having similar or even identical dreams where they were/are visited by a girl (Nemu) with the same appearance/attire/message who told/tell them to cHaSe tHeIr dReAmS aNd mAkE iT cOmE tRuE.
- One of those people could be a realist painter/illustrator/photo editor/3D character artist/etc, and he/she created a fan art based on his/her recollection of his/her dreams that featured Nemu. That artist shared his/her rendition of Nemu's appearance on the internet, and from there Nemu has become a national sensation, not a mere urban legend anymore, based on that particular appearance. People think that she's a real-life celebrity/talent, while she could be a completely incorporeal/imaginary entity from the dream realm like I hypothesized in my 1st post in episode 2 thread here. Since that particular appearance went viral on the internet, people think that that's how her actual appearance is and thus in their dreams she appear just like that, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that has snowballed and turned her into a national celebrity, albeit quite possibly imaginary.:lol
- Nemu's likeness is very likely in public domain, since the original realist painter/illustrator/photo editor/3D character artist/etc who made a fan art of her merely created a depiction of her appearance, not an entirely new character, which means that anyone can use her likeness on ads/commercials/PSA/etc without paying royalty, and it's made her became even more popular. For video ads/commercials/PSA/etc, her appearance could be created via AI-generated videos.
- Even her name alone (Nemu) suggests that she's likely an imaginary character, not a real-life, flesh-and-blood human like Baku, Minami, Tetsuya, or Nasuka. I'd be surprised if she has an actual, real-life, flesh-and-blood appearance with a traditional Japanese full name, address, SSN, traceable pedigree/genealogy/family tree, talent agency, etc.

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...