[Paladin]

Baku's latest dream finds him in high school protecting fellow students from a Nightmare death game.

[Fish Sandwich]

First off, I just gotta say I really appreciate the consistent theming going on to name the episode "Shoot" and make sure it features not only a guest character running around with a gun, but NOX debuting a new gun-themed form, and another appearance from Stream just so ZEZTZ himself can have his gun too. (...even if I'm never sure where that sword comes from when the bike isn't around, but hey, it *is* a dream, I guess)

I'm not too sure what else I even want to say about this episode besides that it was quite strong, yet again, and I enjoyed it without caveats, again? Even though the episode preview gave us enough information to figure out the gist of what the real story was ahead of time, I really thought this one was clever in how it makes that pivot from seemingly being a fairly standard mission for Seven into something much bigger. It goes all in on overarching Plot stuff, but I appreciate that it's still within the usual structure of the two-parters so far.

So yeah, excited to see how this one wraps up, but beyond that, I only really have minor stuff I could comment on right now? I miss hearing Zero's English already? I wonder what NOX has against ZEZTZ having green Capsems? Silly little things, but it's still really nice to have the luxury of worrying about things like that after watching an episode of this show, compared to what would generally be weighing on my mind just a month or two ago.

[DreamSword]

Like half the two-parters in this show, I feel like my overall thoughts are gonna heavily depend on how the second part ends up.

I will say though, very cool premise that this episode has set up, at the very least. And it was cool to see Stream be alot more physical this time around.

[GoldenXtreme]

Solid enough this week I guess. I think what has been sticking out the most to me lately is how far out of his depth Baku is. He keeps getting lead on by CODE (and beaten up by his new boss), and is completely outclassed by NOX's power at this point. Watching the protagonist fail so much reminds me of some other toku, but I can't quite remember which...

[Mesnick]

Well, as I suspected, the destruction of robot Zero is another reason not to reveal CODE secrets to Baku. He need to rebuild his relationship with the new boss (classic!), especially since Agent Three is even tougher than Zero. If the robot kept Baku asleep to complete the mission, then this guy would simply shut him down. Honestly, I wouldn't want such a character living in my closet.
The plot of this dream is reminiscent of Japanese school thrillers, like "The Evil Teacher" or "The Fearsome Will of the Gods." It should be noted that Baku is terrible at protecting students, and if this were my school, he would have failed it already. Luckily, Nasuka has many classmates
Speaking of Nasuka herself, I'm a little disappointed by how much of a background character she is here. Previously, she seemed like Fujimi's ignored voice of reason, and now she plays the same role for Kureha. Although, it's entirely possible I'm just getting ahead of myself, and her moment of glory will come in the next episode.
As for Kureha herself, I'm of two minds about her presentation. On the one hand, I'm glad they didn't drag out the revelation of her secrets until the 40th episode (there are some screenwriters who love that kind of thing). On the other hand, I would have saved them for the beginning of the previous episode, to give free rein to the viewer's imagination. Although, most likely, I'm simply not taking the leaks into account, and instead of theories, we've only received spoilers. For now, I can say that she's interesting to me personally because she hasn't yet chosen a side in the conflict. I wonder if she'll return to CODE or join Lady and NOX (which, judging by his words, is what Shadow Rider is counting on). Or maybe Kurekha will remain neutral? Or maybe she won't survive the next episode at all. Anything is possible, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
To sum it up: overall it's good, but it could be better. I'm looking forward to the second part.
P.S. NOX uses Mashin Chaser-style augmentations instead of full forms. And this portrays him as an evil rider.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

it was cool to see Stream be alot more physical this time around.

I will say, in general, I've come to appreciate the lengths ZEZTZ goes to when it comes to making all its title character's forms feel both really viscerally powerful and also clearly distinct? Like, back when the premiere was all we had, I was pretty skeptical of how well the show could really get across Impact having "hits things" as a special power when that's something all of them are going to be doing, but even here when Stream is doing something in the same wheelhouse, it is still pretty clearly like, the Stream version of that, even if the difference is mostly in the sound design and the special effects.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

Watching the protagonist fail so much reminds me of some other toku, but I can't quite remember which...

Reading this, I so quickly thought specifically of both Emu getting run through the wringer in the post New Year's stretch of Ex-Aid and Aruto miserably flailing around as Thouser blows up HumaGears in the post New Year's stretch of Zero-One that I'm not sure anymore if this bit is entirely sincere, another frustrated expression of how much these Takahashi shows are starting to blur together for you, or a veiled reference to some other show entirely I'm not picking up on. Hopefully I'm not making the second thing worse if it turns out to be the first thing!

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Reading this, I so quickly thought specifically of both Emu getting run through the wringer in the post New Year's stretch of Ex-Aid and Aruto miserably flailing around as Thouser blows up HumaGears in the post New Year's stretch of Zero-One that I'm not sure anymore if this bit is entirely sincere, another frustrated expression of how much these Takahashi shows are starting to blur together for you, or a veiled reference to some other show entirely I'm not picking up on. Hopefully I'm not making the second thing worse if it turns out to be the first thing!

...I meant this as a completely sincere comment that wasn't meant to throw shade on Zeztz or Yuuya Takahashi but it was TOTALLY Zero-One that the situation was vaguely reminding me of now that I think about it. I swear I wasn't doing a bit, I actually couldn't remember at the time.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I will say, in general, I've come to appreciate the lengths ZEZTZ goes to when it comes to making all its title character's forms feel both really viscerally powerful and also clearly distinct?

Agreed. Even if I'm pretty sure we're only going to see certain forms maybe one more time after their debut 2-parter, if that(Wing), they atleast have been able to make a unique and memorable impression all the same.

[Frontier]

Meet the new boss Baku! Who barely has any time or interest to answer your questions and straight up knocks you out to put you to sleep. Agent 03 doesn't mess around.

Teacher Nem with that suit and ponytail...

"Protect the comrade" - It feels kind of weird not hearing Zero there to say it.

So Lady's ultimate endgoal is to mentally break Baku? To turn him to their side or to undermine CODE? Or both.

At the heart of this case is the past friendship between Nasuka and Kureha, high school besties who drifted apart when Kureha gave up on their basketball dreams. Now she's a photographer, but it seems like there's something going on with her.

Should I be concerned that this seemingly separate Nightmare now exists? Or did it become the Game Nightmare?

Nasuka can't get away from death games, huh?

I don't think Fujimi's theories have been right a single time, come to think of it.

Dang, the Game Nightmare is enjoying this wayyyy too much and leaning into being a horror figure. Also...did all those missing alumni straight up die? Or will they reappear when they destroy the Nightmare?

I'm actually kind of amazed Zeztz was able to hold his own against Nox in just a base form, but I guess that just goes to show how good Baku is at using his Capsems now. But Nox has some new toys as well.

Why is Nox always stealing the Espirim Capsems!?

All the mysteries about Kureha add up to revealing that she TOO is an Agent.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frontier

Should I be concerned that this seemingly separate Nightmare now exists? Or did it become the Game Nightmare?

I also think it's Nightmare's child form (or rather, its base form, without the Dreamer's influence). It's funny that while Gozyuger is clearly inspired by Zubat, Zeztz seems to draw inspiration from Nemurin. Toei's long history means that when they lack external sources of inspiration, they can always dig into their own archives.

Quote:

Dang, the Game Nightmare is enjoying this wayyyy too much and leaning into being a horror figure. Also...did all those missing alumni straight up die? Or will they reappear when they destroy the Nightmare?

I think they'll come back, since they just disappeared. On the other hand, then the building explosion from the previous plots would have to be restored, so the show is breaking its own rules here. But it's not the first time in this franchise.

It's also funny that if Nightmare hadn't taken care to remove the victims from the school yearbook, it would have been much more difficult to figure out the connection between the disappearances. Not for Baku, but journalists definitely didn't show up at the school on the first day.

Quote:

All the mysteries about Kureha add up to revealing that she TOO is an Agent.

Considering this fact, as well as the fact that the pink capsem gun does not give NOX new form, is it possible that this capsem is actually intended for Kureha? That is, it is quite possible that firearms are to her what lightning is to Baku and darkness is to NOX. Plus, she is a girl, and Yuzuki Hirakawa has not tried on the pink one yet.