[Paladin]

Baku must stop the Bomb Nightmare before it goes off.

[Zolda]

In the scene @ 01:57, Nemu tells Baku he's working hard as a secret agent even when he's sleeping, which shocks him because she knows that she's inside Baku's crazy dream. In the scene @ 09:27, when Baku tells Tetsuya that he met Nemu in his dream last night, Tetsuya confirms that he also always met her in his dreams. Even Nasuka admits that she often sees her in her dreams as well. Yep, my hypothesis in my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in these scenes. So far, Nemu has only appeared in Baku's (and other people's) dreams and on TV ads/commercials/billboards/etc., but has never shown her real-life appearance like Minami, Tetsuya, or Nasuka do. That's very likely because Nemu is another dream-dwelling entity who only possesses incorporeal existence with no actual real-life existence, similar to the Nightmares, albeit she could be a benevolent variant of it like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 1 thread here.

In the scene @ 08:06, Tetsuya tells Nasuka that if Baku has encountered a Nightmare, then there's a risk that he might commit violent crime. In the scene @ 16:44, Zero tells Baku that a victim who experiences the ultimate nightmare that involve a Nightmare is trapped in darkness forever and will never wake up again because the Nightmare takes over his body. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be 100% correct in this scene. Tetsuya is having a firm hypothesis that the Nightmares are planting negative ideas inside their victims' mind with the aim of controlling/manipulating their behavior, similar to the internal logic in Inception (2010) when the protagonist Dom Cobb planted a negative idea into his wife's mind (Mal) about the real world being just another layer of dream which ultimately drove her to suicide, or when Dom, Saito, and the other protagonists tried to plant a positive idea into Robert Fischer's mind (about chasing his own dreams without living as his dead father's shadow) with the aim of making him break down his own corporation. No wonder Nox/the Nightmares' scheme is considered a national security-level threat by Tetsuya.

In the scenes @ 17:26 and @ 21:54, Baku/KR Zeztz manages to connect the dots and concludes that the Bomb Nightmare's victim is Tetsuya. Yep, my hypothesis at the end of my 1st post in episode 1 thread here is proven to be quite correct in this scene. The Nightmare victim of the week is a police officer, but not Tetsuya's coworker at the Tokyo MPD, but Tetsuya himself, so I was pretty much half-correct, haha. Nox appears out of nowhere @ 21:58 and tells Baku/KR Zeztz that dreams are the the deepest, subconscious part of the dreamer's psyche and are a hideout for wishes that can't be fulfilled in the real world. Tetsuya is very likely having a dream where his co-workers would believe his hypothesis about Nightmares. His could be wishing his co-workers (including Nasuka) to believe his staunch (perhaps even obsessive) belief about the "black cases" involving Nightmares. The Bomb Nightmare hijacks that dream and twists it into a wish to destroy the entire Tokyo MPD building instead, albeit only in his dream, so far. So, if Baku/KR Zeztz doesn't interfere, then Tetsuya would likely succumb to the Nightmare's mind hijinks and fall victim to it, which means that his sane mind is replaced/corrupted by the Nightmare's and he would bomb the Tokyo MPD building in real-life.

Alright, off to church I go.

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

[Frontier]

Look out, it's a Geth from Mass Effect!

Sorry if you were expecting the OP folks, looks like we're back to Yuya Takahashi shows feeling free to skip the OP when necessary.

It's only the 2nd episode and Baku is already a wanted fugitive! In his dreams!

Ah, so Nem is basically just a Dream Actress that commits hard to whatever role she needs to play in the dreams she jumps into, whether it's playing Baku's Bond Girl or a Police Chief for a day who arrests him. You have to admire her dedication! And her cuteness!

The Bomb Nightmare! Complete with explosion fists!

Zeztz transformations have so, so much aura.

It seems like battles in the dream world is a battle between Zeztz and the Nightmare for control over the dream since they can both control and effect it.

So...obviously the police force don't think highly of the Paranormal Affairs division if they're "office" is literally a truck where it seems like the head detective basically lives. Who did Nasuka piss off to get stuck here? Not even she knows.

I do like the dynamic where Fujimi is this passionate, near rabid, cop and Nasuka is there to literally kick some sense into him and be the only one acting like a professional.

Can he transform in the real world? We never got to verify that.

I wonder what Nem does in Fujimi and Nasuka's dreams. Granted, considering Baku and Fujimi shared a dream, was Police Chief Nem Fujimi?

Baku and Fujimi become dream buddies! And Nasuka realizes she's stuck with two idiots and having to literally barrel role into her office.

How nice that not only does Chief Zero speak Japanese when Baku isn't in Dream Mode with inexplicable English speaking skills but that the entrance to Baku's office is conveniently in his closet.

How to get around Japanese Road Laws? Have a transformable bike with a suit! Auto Vajin would be so proud! I do wonder where the Chief really is, because we saw his human body last episode. Is he human or a dream entity?

So we've got the premise for the show: the Nightmares are infecting peoples' dreams and if they open three dream doors (?) they can posses the people whose dreams they're effecting. Which is why only Kamen Rider Zeztz can ride through dreams and stop them.

Ah, on-brand that there's a Capsem Dispenser with all the various Capsem abilities he can use with his forms.

First bike scene of the series! And it was cool watching Zeztz bob through all those obstacles while chasing the truck. And how also convenient that it can launch the sword! Which is kind of also like Faiz/Auto Vajin!

So the Nightmares aren't just causing people to due evil, it's preying on their subconscious desires and making it manifest through their dreams. So Fujimi DOES want to blow up the police force. What's Baku to do?

[Fish Sandwich]

More pre-ZZZ, post-ZEZTZ quick thoughts from memaybe this is my thing this year i dunno:

I think what most stood out to me with this one was how charming the characters are? Baku and Minami's actors did a darn solid job playing their scene here in a way that makes them feel very naturally like close siblings, I'm happy to see Zero has a sense of humor, Nasuka's genre-blind rationality peppers scenes she's in with amusing little beats, and Fujimi is such an earnestly weird dude, so happy to finally have a good lead on the weird conspiracy he's tracking, that it's easy to root for Baku to go save him. The overall plot right now is still rather vague. While Baku fighting to take control of his own dreams was a story that holds meaning even without understanding the literal mechanics of the narrative, the reasons he needs to fight for others are only sketched out in a very basic way here. That's clearly all according to plan though, and because that's all stuff I'm curious about, I thought the way the cliffhanger seemingly changes the whole nature of the story was a very effective way to promise an even more fleshed-out next installment.

Bike action was also real good! Not just as a thing I want to see in general from Kamen Rider, even, but in how that whole vehicular setpiece feels very much like a sequence from exactly the kind of spy movies this show is pulling influence from. Just having a Rider on their bike is always great, but when you can get your hero hanging dangerously off the side of some bigger moving vehicle, that's even better.

[Switchblade]

Really loving how we're starting off this season. The first two episodes have been very strong on both the plot and action fronts.

Didn't expect Baku to immediately team up with the cops. I'm all for it, though; a Kamen Rider teaming up with detectives investigating paranormal crimes gives me very strong Kuuga/Agito vibes. I'm especially enjoying Nasuka as the character who doesn't want to be here and resents Baku and Fujimi for insisting on all of this nonsense.

Excellent motorcycle action scene with a surprising amount of what looked like practical effects. I get the sense that Toei is really trying to put a lot of money into the action sequences for the international airing.

I don't trust Nem. I'm convinced that she's not just a figment of Baku's imagination but is actually the same Nem that's doing all of the commercials in the real world.