[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

Mulled this over for a while before posting, I hope it makes some amount of sense.

That was actually very succinct and well-reasoned, I think!

I'd probably agree with the broader point of mystery and intrigue being the focus. Even though I opened up the argument in the first place, we just had the very decidedly character-focused drama of Gavv last year, where the plot was generally kept very straightforward and clear specifically to allow space to portray the cast as intimately as possible, so just by looking at that show, you can tell this one is going for something very different.

Though I'm not sure how I'd rate Zeztz as a mystery story. This goes back to what I've said about stuff like the need to "flag" bits as important, but I often get the feeling it keeps its mysteries intact not by obscuring them, but by outright refusing to give the viewer any information at all, which I find makes it less fun to engage with? With the former, the viewer is challenged to pick through various clues and facts and foreshadowing to identify through deductive reasoning what bits are misdirection and what truth the other bits are pointing to. With the latter, the speculation can very quickly become aimless because there's not much to base it around beyond "wouldn't it be neat if ____".

But then, the latter being so much less concrete also makes it a better fit if you're actively trying to create some sort of disorienting dream story, so it's another thing with Zeztz where I have this instinctive objection to it, and yet I can also see this side to it where it needs to be how it is to properly be Zeztz.

And as far as properly flagging moments as important goes, I do want to push back on the idea of it being arbitrary that characters aren't asking more questions, at least in the specific case of Baku. This episode has that bit at the start where right after he brushes off the revelation about Capsems to focus on his mission, NOX accuses him of sleepwalking through life. So while I suggested this baselessly last week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Maybe Baku going along with so much weirdness without questioning most of it is some galaxy-brain thematic thing where it's like someone in a dream doing much the same, for example.

...all of sudden, there's a firm case for that reading, and it makes me no longer question that part of the plot as much. Like I said, there are several reasons here I don't think Baku bothers following up on anything NOX said, but personally, I feel the biggest one -- and the one that's been true the whole time -- is that he just can't help but surrender to the fantasy? Whether it turns out he's literally asleep the whole time or some grand twist like that, I think at the very least he sorta subconsciously knows he might not like the answers he gets.