[Paladin]

Baku finds himself within the "inescapable prison of death."

[Switchblade]

Hey, I recognize this industrial facility! I always think of it as more of a Garo location than a Kamen Rider one.

I don't think there was ever going to be a way where an old man being entranced by a little girl wasn't going to come off as creepy, but this definitely did not come close to it.

[Frontier]

Sci-Fi prison break episode!!!

I love how even when forced into wearing a prison uniform, Nem still looks cute and chic.

What a time to meet your dream partners' parents! Or parents within the dream world!

I love how Baku's surprise shows in his reactions in the real world. Dude even runs in his sleep!

It's really handy to be able to use your forms' powers in the dreams without even needing to transform.

Is that the first time Nox has actually referred to Zeztz by name?

The police really do just keep breaking into Baku's house just so they can enter into the office which they practically seem to live in at this point.

So the police can interview people Baku can't and also make him aware of the real world effects of Nightmares.

It's nice that the Capsem details also indicate which form goes with which Capsem ability.

It's nice to see Minami's job finally being plot relevant even if it seems like she really has to work with very...creative talent.

It's nice to see President Bajirogi used to donate to orphanages, though I feel like it gets a little less sweet when he sees child Nemu and then immediately sees dollar signs and her as a meal ticket. With her effortless charm and star power she more than delivers on.

Ah, so the wife in the dream is his IRL EX-wife.

So...I'm getting the vibe that Fujimi has had some relationship problems in the past that he projects on situations of people involved in the case...

Even Nem has problems she hides behind her cheerful facade and the persona she plays in dreams. Also Baku maybe you shouldn't have jumped to yelling so quickly.

"We finally meet at last" - Didn't you kind of meet before? Even if it felt like you were kind of talking around Zeztz? Well, at least this feels like more of a proper protagonist/antagonist confrontation.

The Saw Nightmare (kind of)! Watch out for its saw and claw arms! Luckily Zeztz has a claw of his own!

Technolom Streams' Robot arms! perfect for ripping out another robot arm and then crushing it!

I guess it was inevitable we'd get the big CGI Kaijin but I wasn't expecting the real Nightmare to be the prison itself...and that it can walk and move around like some weird lizard prison thing. And it has an army of robot guards to attack escaping prisoners.

Dang, President Bajirogi just tosses his dream wife aside to run off with Nem. It seems like what caused the divorce was his creepy obsession with Nem? What "accident?" Is that why Nem is in a hospital in the next episode preview?

[Fish Sandwich]

Gonna go ahead and keep my streak of complaining about Zeztz going by ranting a little about the Capsems, because this episode demonstrates both of the things that are bugging me about their role in the show.

First is that -- at the risk of rehashing debates Power Rangers fans were having 20 years ago -- I don't think I actually like how Baku uses them when not transformed? On one hand, it's nice that they're committing to that gimmick, and it's always great to give the collection items all the utility they can. On the other hand, though, it sort of seems like it's an excuse to have him doing superhero things in the scenes where he should probably be doing cool spy things instead?

The other thing that bugs me way more is the whole Gashapon machine setup, and, more broadly, how it currently feels like Capsems are a total afterthought narratively, which will actually be a serious issue if that stays true in the long run. I don't know why Baku hasn't just already sat at one of those things to pop out all his powerups ahead of time? There aren't any defined rules to how and why Capsems exist that affect the stories in any meaningful way. It's not something that makes the episodes less interesting, but if they're making a huge international push to get new people interested in this franchise, it's nothing short of a massive missed opportunity if they don't demonstrate how the merchandise-driven nature of these shows can actually result in their drama being more interesting because of how the creators can choose to work with that instead of against it.

So that's another few things off my chest! But none of that is specific to this episode, which I actually did enjoy quite a bit, even though my thoughts refuse to reflect that again. My favorite scene was probably Baku and Nem having that whole heated conversation. I like him getting so fired up because it suggests how much that third episode weighs on him, and I like her questioning the whole ethics of his heroic adventures, because that whole fine line seems like a fun thing for the series to hopefully explore throughout its run.

[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Gonna go ahead and keep my streak of complaining about Zeztz going by ranting a little about the Capsems, because this episode demonstrates both of the things that are bugging me about their role in the show.

First is that -- at the risk of rehashing debates Power Rangers fans were having 20 years ago -- I don't think I actually like how Baku uses them when not transformed? On one hand, it's nice that they're committing to that gimmick, and it's always great to give the collection items all the utility they can. On the other hand, though, it sort of seems like it's an excuse to have him doing superhero things in the scenes where he should probably be doing cool spy things instead?

The other thing that bugs me way more is the whole Gashapon machine setup, and, more broadly, how it currently feels like Capsems are a total afterthought narratively, which will actually be a serious issue if that stays true in the long run. I don't know why Baku hasn't just already sat at one of those things to pop out all his powerups ahead of time? There aren't any defined rules to how and why Capsems exist that affect the stories in any meaningful way. It's not something that makes the episodes less interesting, but if they're making a huge international push to get new people interested in this franchise, it's nothing short of a massive missed opportunity if they don't demonstrate how the merchandise-driven nature of these shows can actually result in their drama being more interesting because of how the creators can choose to work with that instead of against it.

So that's another few things off my chest! But none of that is specific to this episode, which I actually did enjoy quite a bit, even though my thoughts refuse to reflect that again. My favorite scene was probably Baku and Nem having that whole heated conversation. I like him getting so fired up because it suggests how much that third episode weighs on him, and I like her questioning the whole ethics of his heroic adventures, because that whole fine line seems like a fun thing for the series to hopefully explore throughout its run.

If you think about it as the Capsems serve a similar role to spy gadgets (even if they're fantastical in nature) and the gacha rolls as basically Baku's equivalent of Bond getting new gadgets at the start of every movie, I think it works.

[DreamSword]

First off, it was cool seeing Mr. Yakuza from Tokusatsu GaGaGa show up in this!

Next, atleast so far, Zeztz has been keeping things rather interesting on the visual front. That sequence of the entire prison coming to life was neat!

I've been enjoying the visual flair that comes with the Capsems too. Not just in terms of the Kamen Rider himself(the claw sword was a fun idea), but how Baku has been using them out of suit no different to how a super spy would use, say, a lazer pen to bypass a steel door or something. It also goes along nicely with the sort of reality bending he'd get into with the premiere.

As for the plot, it was clear that something was up once the manager gave Child Nem that totally psychotic look, and I'm glad that the show isn't showing his obsession in a positive light(and hopefully it won't next episode either).

Given the location used for filming though, I think it'd be cool for next episode to end similar to how the Clocktower episode of GARO did, even if I highly doubt that'd happen. It does raise the question of how exactly Baku is supposed to fight that giant, though.

Looking forward to whatever they cook up for next episode.