[Fish Sandwich]

I would've loved to see the version of this series that managed to run with the conceit that ZEZTZ only exists within dreams, but I can appreciate the poetry of the Rider becoming real in the episode where the stakes finally become real for the protagonist. I ended up really loving what it brought to the story to have it be Baku confronting the Nightmare in the end, rather than Seven. The way he's so scared throughout, the way he can't pronounce English as well, there are a lot of nuances to that section of the episode that made it really enjoyable. Credit to the actor for managing all that so early on.

More importantly, I like how this concluding chapter lays out a proper motivation for his heroism in a way that's more about how intensely he feels his mission deep down than how much he understands it rationally. It's really easy to get a sense how much this whole experience with Fujimi has affected Baku by the end. In the premiere, Baku was only stepping up to protect his own good dreams, but I can totally get how this guy would now feel a burning desire to do the same for others after this. Pretty strong conclusion to this opening trilogy; kinda makes me wanna see it as one long director's cut movie, even?