[Fish Sandwich]

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

As a two-parter that's mainly been about communicating your thoughts and feelings, I felt these two episodes worked out pretty well for the most part.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Miyuki not knowing how Baku saved her is kind of fitting for the agent theme though.

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Originally Posted by Tokumonkey

I felt like the story lacked stakes.

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Originally Posted by Layton13

I feel that if there was a moment with Baku and her about facing those things that scare us and not letting them stand in the way of what we want, it could have really brought this together, but it just wasn't there.

So, having had some time to think about this a little more, I think I've better narrowed down exactly what makes this story feel off to me. I like what DreamSword says about there being cohesion in how honesty in various forms makes everything work out in the end, but the way I see it, if that's the story they were going for, the failure is in how very little of it is really dramatized at all? Baku's arc is a perfect example. It's not as if he has to wrestle with the decision of how close to let Fujimi and Nasuka get or anything -- in the very same scene that becomes an issue, he's simply told what to do, and then does it, and I'm not sure how that actually gave him the confidence to be a better agent?

The problem that feels bigger to me -- which I want to note also hinges entirely on my own personal preconceptions of what kind of show Zeztz is trying to be -- is that I feel like Miyuki deciding not to get on a plane in the end, like Layton13 is saying, is 100% the wrong choice for a plot in this series. As a lesson in general, I think it's fine to say that sometimes it's okay not to force yourself into situations that make you uncomfortable, and it'd be a killer moral for a Kiramager episode, but for Zeztz?

The thing I hadn't locked in on yet when I made that first post is that the missed potential of the twist here is that it turns out Baku and Miyuki are both afraid of falling. Metaphorically, in Baku's case, but it turns out that both characters have this task they don't feel up to, and I would've liked the story to result in them both realizing they can soar? That's all I mean about there being a connection formed between them. Baku doesn't necessarily need to even meet Miyuki in real life, and I even agree it fits better for Seven's heroism to be mostly in the shadows, but what I wanted was for this adventure to shape both of them in a positive way that's satisfying to see as a viewer. I don't know exactly how you could've done this and still had an exciting climax with a crashing plane, but it feels like this story was crying out to establish ZEZTZ as a hero who exists to turn bad dreams that crush people into good dreams that empower them, and to have Baku realize he's capable of that, after mostly fumbling his way through episodes 2 and 3.