[henshinzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

I definitely hope that Zeztz doesn't go the route of adding extra attachments that make the driver heavier. Otherwise, the actor will get scoliosis within a year.

Alright then. Just the chest belt it is. One belt at a time.

[Excellionus99]

I'm gonna guess that the weapon cheats with the scale, just like the Jikokuken Kaiji.

[Skyrogue19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by henshinzero

Who hopes that Zeztz super/final form will come from a waist belt and not a body belt?

I theorize that the reception after the first quarter or whatever may dictate if the Super or Final form has the driver used in the usual fashion.

[FairyKing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by henshinzero

Who hopes that Zeztz super/final form will come from a waist belt and not a body belt?

I hope not, the chest belt is something new and creative so it would be disappointing to back out of that so quickly. Let riders keep what makes them unique. The next one can go back to a normal belt

[Frontier]

I'm digging the look of the weapons.

[Zolda]

I have several new speculations/hypotheses:
- The protagonist is an eager, optimistic novice/junior agent with a big dream who is working for a secret agency/organization similar to Men in Black, National Devil Extermination Public Safety Commission (in Chainsaw Man), ZECT (in KR Kabuto), or Sword of Logos (in KR Saber) that's said to be created for the sake of mankind.
- The organization could have a specific method for erasing their tracks, like the Men in Black and the Alchemy Union (in KR Gotchard) did. Perhaps they also use a mind-wipe method similar to the one used by the AU.
- Later he finds out that the organization he's working for is corrupt, or at least the top leaders are (like Sword of Logos or Fenix). Surprise surprise.
- The 2nd or 3rd Rider is likely his rival or senior from the organization. Or perhaps almost all the other Riders are, since this the organization employs several agents as Riders, similar to Sword of Logos.
- There's a rogue agent who is conspiring with the enemies (like KR Calibur who worked with the Megiddos), or at least defected from the organization to pursue his own interest, and even goes to the extreme and modifies his own body with kaijin body parts, like Alpha/agent A did in the Men in Black cartoon (1997). I'd love to see that.
- The heroine is likely a non-human, very likely the same species as the enemies, and she's some kind of a liaison between the protagonist and the organization. Her name could be something that has to do with dream or wish, such as Yume, Yumena, Yumiko, Yumena, Yuna, Miyu, Nozomi, etc.
- There could be another Driver where the Capsems can't only be spinned, but also be opened (or rather: be force opened), exposing the inner parts, perhaps by using a lever, similar to the Metsubou Jinrai Force Riser that force opened Progrise Keys without authorization. This could be a more "dangerous" prototype or experimental variant of the standard Zeztz Driver, perhaps used by the enemy or the rogue faction within the organization. The Capsems for this Driver could be of a new, different type compared to the standard ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

My theory on the term Capsem (the collectible items for this show) for now is that it's a wordplay on "capsule" and the onyomi for dream (夢) which is pronounced "mu" (ム).

カプセル + ム(夢) = カプセム

If this turns out to be correct, maybe the Capsems are some sort of condensed tangible form of the dreams of individuals that Zeztz is trying to rescue, etc. something along those lines.

In various Eastern cultures and philosophies such as Buddhism and Taoism, the concept of nothing/nothingness is written with the kanji 無, which is spelled as... Yep, you guessed it: Mu. Dreams are basically nothings, an image of a future that hasn't happened yet and may or may not even happen, and the Capsems being physical manifestation of dreams could mean that the theme of the show could be something in the vein of "creating something out of nothing". This idea of "creating something out of nothing" is the reason why I hypothesized in my 1st post here that dreams/imaginations could be seen as a portal to potential worlds or even alternate worlds, and in my 3rd post here that the Capsems contain dreams which could be their own universes.

With dreams being mostly subconscious imagination of human minds, there could be episodes where the protagonists would enter surreal worlds that were created by people with bizarre imaginations where normal laws of physics and logic didn't apply. In several fan forums there have been rumor/speculation about KR Zeztz using the same CG background approach that Toei used in King-Ohger, and after it was revealed several days ago that the theme of the show is indeed dreams, I can see that that rumor/speculation could be more than 50% true, perhaps even 70-80%.

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, for example:
- an aspiring martial artist who is dreaming of becoming the strongest one could be the one who would produce the power-focused Capsem/form (Physicam Impact?),
- an aspiring physicist who is dreaming of becoming the next Einstein could be the one who would produce the technique-focused Capsem/form (Technolom Stream?),
- an aspiring magician who is dreaming of becoming the next Houdini could be the one who would produce the magic/illusion-focused Capsem/form (Esprim Recovery?),
- an aspiring philosopher who is dreaming of becoming the next Nietzsche could be the one who would produce the mind-focused Capsem/form (Paradigm Wonder?),
- etc,
- while the basic Capsem that the protagonist uses for his base form could be produced from his own dream, which could be simply to be able to dream bigger, similar to how the Ore Ghost Eyecon (that was used by Takeru Tenkuuji to transform into KR Ghost Ore Damashii, his base form) contained his own soul. Or, based on the fact that the base form (Physicam Impact) has similar color schemes to KR Nigo, perhaps the protagonist's dream is being a Kamen Rider, haha. Or perhaps he uses that Capsem simply because that's what his employer gave him, haha.

The naming convention for the Rider forms I've found so far is:
Noun/adjective (in English/French) - the last syllable (in Romaji) + mu + Capsem name
For example:
- Physicam Impact = physical - l + mu + Impact
- Technolom Stream = technology - gy + mu + Stream
- Esprim Recovery = esprit(?) - t + mu + Recovery
- Paradigm Wonder = paradigm - m + mu + Wonder
Paradigm Wonder sounds cool because it's the same whether in English or in Romaji.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Hmm, I wonder Physicam Stream and Technolom Stream are supposed to be a partial tribute to Nigo and Ichigo, respectively. Because the terms Chikara no Nigo(力の２号) and Waza no Ichigo(技の１号) come to mind seeing how Technolom doesn't have any weapons as well.

That could be the case, since Chikara no Nigo and Waza no Ichigo were KR Nigo's and Ichigo's catchphrases. The color schemes of Technolom Stream form (green-red) corresponds to KR Nigo's first color schemes, while the color schemes of Physicam Impact form corresponds to KR Ichigo's first color scheme (blue-light blue).

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

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, for example:
- an aspiring martial artist who is dreaming of becoming the strongest one could be the one who would produce the power-focused Capsem/form (Physicam Impact?),
- an aspiring physicist who is dreaming of becoming the next Einstein could be the one who would produce the technique-focused Capsem/form (Technolom Stream?),
- an aspiring magician who is dreaming of becoming the next Houdini could be the one who would produce the magic/illusion-focused Capsem/form (Esprim Recovery?),
- an aspiring philosopher who is dreaming of becoming the next Nietzsche could be the one who would produce the mind-focused Capsem/form (Paradigm Wonder?)

I guess we should expect some villainous Capsems from nightmares then.

[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

How can you be sure that this isn't just a photo collage, passed through several filters to avoid copyright and look more aesthetically pleasing? I don't see much difference between them and the green screen of Saber, the LED panels of King Ohger or this trailer of Bunboomger:

Bro, I get it, you're excited for Zeztz. I am too. Very excited.

But you're 100% gaslighting yourself if you think those backgrounds aren't AI-gnereated. Toei is literally on record saying they plan to use AI for storyboards, backgrounds, in-between frame correction on their animated projects. There is absolutely no reason they'd draw some sort of ethical line at Kamen Rider.

These are not even particularly good AI images. The current GhatGPT 4o spits out less obviously-AI-looking images than what was used in the teaser. They each have weird, swirling, plastic-y details, bits where objects blend together in totally nonsensical ways, oddly non-converging horizon lines, etc. These aren't issues of layered filters -- these are structural issues with the fundamental composition of the images which are characteristic of AI-generated graphics. It's frustrating that some fans are seeing AI where there isn't any. The suit, motorcycle, etc... are clearly real. But that doesn't mean AI isn't being used at all.

The BoonBoomger trailer you linked to has dodgy looking CGI, but it is still clearly human-made. There's a human understanding of shape, form, and space. There's s unique flare and design to everything. The difference between that and AI is very clear. AI would in many ways look higher quality than the CGI in that trailer -- until you start seeing all of the strange ways certain elements in the shots have no understanding of how 3-dimensional objects work in the real world.

For the record, I don't think using AI art for a few half-second shots in a promo is a cancellable offense. My guess is that this will be limited to promos, as AI video isn't nearly good enough at this point to be used in a professional production. But denying the reality that AI is being used, or will be used in the future, given everything we've heard about Toei's plans, is a bit silly.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

But you're 100% gaslighting yourself if you think those backgrounds aren't AI-gnereated. Toei is literally on record saying they plan to use AI for storyboards, backgrounds, in-between frame correction on their animated projects. There is absolutely no reason they'd draw some sort of ethical line at Kamen Rider.

It's not that I don't want to believe in the use of AI or not. It's about the presumption of innocence. That is, it is common knowledge that Hollywood is a gathering of crooks, drug addicts and perverts. But publicly stating this about a specific actor without evidence is fraught with serious consequences.
So, given all the problematic nature of the AI topic, I just want a more careful approach to it. Especially considering that, as you said:

Quote:

It's frustrating that some fans are seeing AI where there isn't any. The suit, motorcycle, etc... are clearly real.

Yes, and maybe it's silly, but for me one link to AI, which shows a similar picture with a frame from the trailer for the query "Japanese temple in winter", is more convincing than hundreds of arguments about human vision.

[Sunred]

Here's a thought. What if Zeztz gets a Yurusen-like mascot but it's a foul-mouthed tapir that floats around like a drone.