[Paladin]

Baku, having lost his confidence as an agent, is branded unfit by Zero.

[Frontier]

Does that count as a Rider Punch? Oh no, all those Capsems we've gained along the way!!!

It's bad enough that this is probably the biggest failure Baku's dealt with yet since the Bomb Nightmare...but he didn't just fail to stop NOX, he failed to protect Seiya's dream, and he's fighting an opponent he genuinely doesn't think he can beat.

Honestly I did not expect to see Fujimi turn on Baku or Nasuka defending him, or a dissolution of their partnership. Fujimi is just too obsessed/close to the Odakka case. What will happen when he reunites with his old partner as NOX?

Really kicking a guy when he's down, huh Zero?

When Baku is at his most down, he needs a child who can still believe in dreams, even when things get tough, to steer him back.

So I guess Minami is taking the "I'll leave my brother to his new thing because I trust him and just want him to be okay" method. Was really expecting she'd directly confront him about it. Did Zero tell her not to tell him?

Ah, so they extrapolated "I'm going to give up my dream for my parents' sake" into "Let's blow up the entire world in a meteor shower!"

Nothing better than a newfound resolve to help with the gacha re-roll.

I had a feeling the Meteor was the Nightmare. Although it's Nightmare form felt like I walked into an Ultraman show.

Paradigm Gravity! It's not enough to completely overpower Nox Knight, but it can maneuver around him and hold him long enough for Zeztz to finish off the real threat with a Gravity Sphere Rider Kick. Also those gravity gauntlets are pretty handy!

Uh...I don't think Zeztz getting consumed by the black hole left by his own finisher was part of the plan...

NOX was Code 04!? What about 1-3, and 5-6!? And it doesn't seem like Zero cares about the personal health for the Agents so long as they complete their mission. Especially since BAKU WON'T WAKE UP!

A long nightmare? The truth that Zero would have to kill Minami if he told her? Baku going after NOX directly next!?

[Fish Sandwich]

Something I understand after watching this episode of Kamen Rider Zeztz: This show is definitely more willing to mess with the at this point long-established Rider formula than I had previously assumed, which I'm happy about.

Things I don't understand after watching this episode of Kamen Rider Zeztz: Kamen Rider Zeztz.

It kinda feels like the thing that ultimately got extinguished here wasn't humanity, Baku's Capsems, or even his confidence, as much as it was any remaining shred of my ability to properly process anything that's happening in the story with certainty? I barely know what's happening, and know almost nothing about why, in the sense of what the people telling this tale are hoping to convey to an audience.

I'm seriously baffled to find myself in this position, because I pretty much *always* have stuff to say about Kamen Rider? Here though, I think if I actually try to talk about the episode, it'd just be isolated little things? Positive opinions like how impressive the choreography in the NOX Knight/ZEZTZ fight in the climax was, and snide remarks like asking if Zero decided to talk to NOX for any specific reason beyond wanting to let the audience know his official CODE Number at that particular point. Real basic observations, when I strive (as best I can) to come in with more unusual angles, in the hopes of making things more interesting.

"But... there was still someone better."

In that sense, I kind of relate to Baku here, because I feel like I just realized how many steps ahead in the game I'm not, and now I have to struggle to pick up the pieces and, and... and wherever the narrative is going from here, I guess. One common theme I've begun to identify that unifies Zeztz's episodic stories is the danger of making assumptions, and it turns out that might've been true for my own meta viewing experience, too. I've been treating it like just another Kamen Rider show this whole time, and I'm starting to think the preconceptions I've been coming in with are what's been keeping me from actually seeing it?

Like, I assumed this would be the usual part two of two, you know? Baku builds his confidence back up, that pep talk with Seiya comes full circle, he wins his first major victory against the cool rival hero/villain dude, does some speechifying about dreams that clarifies the themes. But it turns out this is still the middle of a larger story, and it certainly looks like it's actively subverting most of those usual tropes to make a point about how in over his head Baku actually is? The resolution with Seiya is especially striking in that regard, because that last scene is played less as a child overcoming bullies through belief in himself, and more like he's become single-mindedly focused on a goal at the expense of actually connecting with the world around him... which isn't too far off from the mindset that led Baku to getting sucked into a black hole for the cliffhanger?

One assumption it IS probably safe to make is that eventually, ZEZTZ still has to be a hero doing good things that viewers will root for and be excited by, but the show has successfully thrown me off the trail in a way that doesn't happen often. Maybe ZEZTZ gets his first big powerup and things immediately settle back into a routine that's different but still broadly the same. But then, maybe even if they do, the show will just find new interesting and unusual angles anyway.

I think a lot of my posts about Zeztz so far have maybe given the wrong impression because I've sort of neglected to outright say that not being able to understand so much of it has also been part of the fun for me this whole time? When I'm leveling criticisms at it, it's coming much more from a place of curiosity than anything else. After this episode, my ability to understand the show may be at an all-time low, but that also means my curiosity is at an all-time high. Which, I guess, like Baku only ~kinda~ saving the day here, is about the most out-of-the-ordinary opinion I can offer at the moment.