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Honestly a good episode, sans the fight between Nox and Zeztz. It seems like a fake out but it kinda makes sense. Baku assuming that Odaka wanted to kill Zero since he kinda did in his premonition. But now that I think of it, did Odaka ever say he wanted to kill Zero outside the premonition? Or anyone in CODE for that matter?
Premonition Odaka killed Five and Six though. So that's probably why Baku got it in his head that Odaka was going to kill Zero. Like Odaka's tone this episode was like "Where on earth did you get the idea that I wanted to kill---oh...yeah I guess I can see why you'd think that."
Boring, boring, boring. Boring fight, Lady fusing with a nightmare because reasens is boring, the death of Zero was the least emotional thing imaginable (and I cried for a lady saying that she was wrong in not caring of her pocket monsters in episode 251 of the 1998 Pokemon anime after I watched this episode, it isn't that difficult to make me cry), Dawn/Sieg doing nothing except laughing is cringey and pathetic (what an incredible threat the guy was! wow. yaaawhn. Worst Dark Rider of all times period with no questions of sorts), I can't wait for this show to finally end. I'm sticking only because of the money I've spent on the show on its early stages, but I'm well beyond the caring part. thank you so much Yuya Takahashi for Ex-Aid and Geats (I still have not seen Zero-One), but this show gets a mediocre 6 by me who purchased its henshin belt at the start to support it (sigh), not more.
They didn't gifted me the henshin belt I bought nor the Zeztz winged action figure I bought together with the henshin belt. I paid money, and I risked having a debt collection agency on my ass because of the three-installments app I used at the time (I had economical problems and I couldn't pay them back). Who you think got the money, exactly?
Does that line from the Lady mean that Phantom was planning on fusing with her since before Punish and Sieg fused? Pixiv appears to interpret it as the Lady saying that Phantom was interested in her future.
What does devouring a dream mean? If the dream was a world without CODE, then they simply made it come true.
Catastrophe has the ability to turn himself into a bomb and survive. There was an shot of him in-frame with North American CODE personnel in the promotional material, but it was left unused.
I like that CODE India has a sign on the wall that says “CODE India” in English, right under an Indian flag.
The boundary between reality and dreams has disappeared, just like the Lady said it would in her first appearance back during Baku’s prophetic dream.
Paranormal Affairs has a bigger office! Although it’s just a repurposed supply room.
Those documents must be Three. We finally get to see Nasuka’s reaction to Kureha’s death!
Oblivion does nothing but giggle maniacally… it’s definitely going to be the most dangerous
This scene is great. Fujimi’s heavy breathing into Odaka’s phone, Odaka’s facepalm, Fujimi’s Gentoku-style T-shirt, Odaka casting shade at Paranormal Affairs, and a cool unsuited fight scene.
And Odaka leaves Fujimi unconscious in a CODE base that will imminently be destroyed…
Sieg seems to lean on the fourth wall at times. First he quoted Baku’s opening narration, now he’s reacting to a line he shouldn’t be able to hear.
I’m sure that Catastrophe must have taken his time with CODE Japan just to cause our heroes more pain.
Odaka vagueposted his way into an unnecessary fight by refusing to spend twenty seconds explaining himself. And he stole Baku’s catchphrase!
I think this is only the second time Baku has said “I’m on it” while awake.
Zeztz Exdream uses the power of another Capsem for the first time, but it’s not clear if he was holding the Gravity Capsem with the camera position.
Nox’s new shadow-transformation abilities make him a very inconvenient opponent, especially since Catastrom doesn’t have much to offer but pure destructive force. Zeztz decides to chuck rocks at him instead of summoning the Triple Zeztzer.
He doesn’t care about Zero, a high-ranking CODE member and its current acting head, because he just wants to destroy CODE’s tech? Odd.
It’s cool seeing Baku get detransformed from Catastrom just like he was in episode 24.
As soon as Zeztz gets distracted, Nox makes a break for it.
Can anyone tell what gun Zero uses?
Zero’s last words are good, but his facial expression is goofy. On my first watch, I thought he was the one who was laughing when Catastrophe killed him.
There are no new stats for me to translate this week.
In episode 33, he mockingly refers to Baku as “a pretty regular guy.” In this episode, he says “Didn’t I tell you?” when Zero tells Baku over the phone that the Gore Nightmares’ newfound freedom is CODE’s fault.
There are CODE agents all over the world, but the only named ones are in Japan. At least so far, it appears dream learning was only implemented in Japan, so it’s the only branch with anyone who can be useful.
Ah i see. I always interpreted the "didnt i tell you" part as sieg just telling that to himself since he can clearly see what is going on right now, hence the reaction
I think it’s more that he’s referring to the conversation he had with Zero in episode 32 commenting how they intended to change the status quo with nightmares as smth stupid and now the whole thing backfires proved that he’s right
So not only is Nox IRL out of touch with common social queues but also he just has bad timing with his vagueposting. After all this time NOW you decide to be vague?!
All I can say about the episode is....I believe in our dream. Jay Kabira has been actually a fantastic actor, he somehow gives alot of depth to Zero when he's just using his face to show off emotions.
Not much to say about the Nox and Zeztz fight that nobody else has said.
In spite of all the shit Zero did, the episode still makes me feel kinda bad for him.
I gotta wonder what the plan is with Nasuka learning about Kureha’s death. That was six episodes ago, and this one has the death of Zero which will no doubt be given greater weight by the narrative. You could say it’s to bring an end to that particular subplot, but they only interacted once in the “real” timeline, and it was in a dream, so it’s not on the same level as Fujimi and Nox. Their story never even started.
I know people are arguing about Baku vs Nox being a Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter levels of fighting over misunderstandings, but the thing that really caught my eye was the very end of the episode the way Catastrophe was sitting. It makes me feel like he's not actually enjoying this or that he actually wants to do it but as the Nightmare of Ruin it's his job.
Yeah, I caught that at the end as well. His posture is different to how he we saw him seated in episode 40. On top of that, Catastrophe genuinely seems concerned or hesitant. I agree with your speculation that Catastrophe doesn’t really enjoy it and I posit he’s been so heavily influenced by Baku that he doesn’t want to truly destroy anymore without purpose.
Nox saw Zero in person again and immediately reverted back to vagueposting version of him. Only for Catastrom Baku to wake him up using the trauma of the premonition.
Just kidding!
I mean looking at past Takahashi's shows, most of the permanently dying characters are just background characters and the big bads.
Ex-Aid revealed that people who died to Bugster viruses aren't actually dying, and they finally found the cure in the Genm vs Lazer. Both Kuroto and Masamune were revived later.
Zero-One has almost no one dying since most of the deceased are Humagear and can be restored again. Izu was completely revived by RealxTime. Well the Vcinext is another thing to talk about...
Geats was all about recreating world so there was next to no stake. Even villains like Nadge-Sparrow or Beroba/Kekera walk off scott-free.
So yeah, with the way people are dying in Zeztz, it's very likely Takahashi is going to pull a world restoration again, considering how much power Baku has over the dreamscape, and how dream can affect reality. Also that door scene in the OP too.
funny you accuse the writer of this show of doing THE SAME EXACT THING of all the other Kamen Riders since the 1971 one. No, wait, ALL THE HENSHIN HEROES, not just the Kamen Rider. Fucking Ryukendo didn't kill off Jack Moon, they made it so that the version they killed off was a copy and then they resurrected him and gave him a pass for everything he made before despite being a, de facto, mass murderer. And he wasn't even an human. The no stakes thing the same, exploding monsters in general don't put particular stakes to begin with to characters that rely on the coolness of their moves, not on the stakes of my ass (using a non-henshin hero example, the main lady in Aikatsu! planet had no real stakes to speak of, but it didn't really matter at the end of the day). But having this crappy social network an hate bias towards Yuya because of the typical reddit stupidity, nothing out of the ordinary. Provided I don't like Zeztz as of now, I truly can't fathom what the guy has done to you that he gets so much nonsensical flak on this moronic social media/subreddit. Did he rape someone of your family?
last few episode feel so weird. with have all these CODE: Somnia thing which is said been created to solve the Nightmare issue by controlling the dream world by connecting all Dream as one. It is like saying, hey our local prison have problem with the convict, lets pool together all the convict in the world. not sure how they are thinking, they seem to be very knowledgable on how the dream world works but failed to see the flaw (and a big one that is) on Nightmare no longer need the dreamer subconscious will to act.
They even said it way before that the "bigger" the dream, the more powerful the Nightmare. Now, they created the largest dream in history.
Well, anyway, at least we got things going now with Zeztz vs the Nightmare bosses.
Ahh yes another snowflake USA/VN (both countries have low rating on internet behavior) larper who say "quit watching" as skip despite the fact that people can still read the plots through the summary online.
I love how most downvote increases are from USA alone aswell, any posts that isn't fruitful to the conversation i'll ignore.
Especially these are clones account, a clear observation that they are ban evasive, otherwise no way these accounts are way too recently made and in private.
Reading a summary of the plot is not the same as keeping up. There is, in fact, a difference. Do not try to argue that there isn’t. You’ll just make yourself look worse.
If you actually took the time to watch the episodes you missed instead of jumping straight to the current episode, people wouldn’t be responding to you so negatively. I understand that may be difficult as some people find Zeztz to be hard on their palate, but is it fair to criticize a show at episode 41 when you have only seen 20? That would be like if I watched your favorite season, stopped midway and called it absolute trash after skipping to the start of the final arc.
Also until you can significantly make something about the franchise, instead of buying their toys and doesn't even share any image about it (yes i check your reddit) and contribute something significantly to the community, then don't even talk to me in huge paragraph about "forcing to watch to understand plot-points.
However, i made Kamen Rider mods and import it to games so people can enjoy, while also can understand the frustrationg of people tiring with Zeztz unrelentless plot-holes and crappy story development. Only thing i see you do is posting and complaining on crappy mobile games.
So with that said, I don't see your points as argumentative, nor responsive, so I think you can stop now instead of being control freaks.
Yes because 1 you are literally backseating people to do something to enjoy the series you are desperately trying to defend.
And 2, newcomers doesn't want to read or watch confusing mess, if you force them to watch, instead explain aspect like the comment i literally gave you above on WHY THOSE 20 EPISODE I SKIP ARE IMPORTANT.
A good fan will literally go in basic details and highlights points of the series, gives valid criticism instead blind-eye argumentative. A larper will force people to do something, just like what you are doing in the first comment.
Now with that said, good day and good night. ONORE DECADE!!
Another one, jesus why no wonder why i quit watching Kamen Rider to watch House of Dragon instead. This is why i hate larpers who FORCES people to watch boring un-developed crap, hell I don't even remember what is Nox signifcant development other than being Big Show and betray Baku 24/7.
Tell me, what is SIGNIFICANTLY happened to Zeztz within the last 20 episodes that can cause my Tiktok to blew up like Gavv back then, because i swear nobody even on my social media whom I am in many Kamen Rider even talk about Zeztz significant moment unlike Zero's secrecy back in early episodes.
I am not forcing you to watch Zeztz. If you don’t want to watch it, that’s fine. You can sit there and throw insults all you like. I genuinely don’t care. However, if I started watching whatever show you now enjoy over Kamen Rider for 20 episodes, dropped it and popped in around 20 episodes later asking why everything is terrible when I have zero understanding, wouldn’t you also have a negative response?
I’m also not going to indulge you because you can’t seem to respond without having so much vitriol.
Ok. So the fact you call "larpers" as insults is a direct insult to those who enjoy the series in more casual but direct way. This is the same shit with Jill fan larpers who didn't even play RE3 Remake / RE3 OG versus the people who played RE3 OG once / RE3R and criticize the remake. Everyone have their own opinion, hell i never play RE3 OG directly and enjoy it in other format yet i can criticize Re3 remake because it cuts alot of thing the original delivers, even if i enjoy it in other format just because i don't like the tank control of the original.
Now with that said, do i hate or leave negative responses to those skip the episodes by 20 EP ? No, In fact, I will ask them why in the first place, what aspect they don't like and more importantly, why is the trends of people commenting down below agreed with them yet the person himself get downvoted to hell (This is a common Redditor behavior).
I criticize the same thing on Kamen Rider forums and Facebook Group, guess what ? I don't get downvote or get the same toxicity like on this post alone. In fact, the fans on those comments does say the same thing about why Nox turning hell like WWE Big Show lol.
Hell i have seen even in House of Dragon, people skips nearly 2/3 of Season 2 at the start because it's that boring, yet they do read the wiki and the overall plot that the community gave to keep up with the plot of the franchise. So your point of "negative reception" is more like childlish larper behavior instead of proper fans understand both positive and negative of a franchise.
Now i don't have to comment you more about this, based on the fact you think simple terminology as insults already gave me huge reception that you don't know what's the most important thing about Kamen Rider in general, nor understand why Gavv has alot of viewerships but Zeztz viewerships dropped hard after few early episode and even till now it hasn't recovered well like Gavv. (You can check TV ratings, i let you do a bit of research).
I am deeply disgusted at these individuals as a Vietnamese aswell. Sorry boys TwT These dudes are so easily to riot and toxic that even a single of criticism they will comment before properly thinking what they are typing.
To back it up, the statistics show carefully that all of the downvotes are from, you guess it: US.
So before you jumping in here and response like a keyboard hero, do know that i can read statistics and i have seen before seeing the downvotes and the naming responses that the region was not from US and it's from SG, PH as the top.
Ngl i dislike how Nox and Baku's fight was handled. Not is vague posting again but like to an extent where its even more unreasonable. If you're not there to kill Zero... then WHY REVEAL YOURSELF? Literally just say "Im here to destroy CODES tech" and carry your ass onward! Why bother with the reveal if youre not gonna try and kill Zero?
Imo the episode would've been more interesting if Nox did want to kill Zero. It'd make their alliance next episode shakers and also you could have Nox get in his feelings about how his goal has effectively been achieved but not by his own hand.
he was going to kill zero fr. throughout the show he never made peace w anyone aside from baku. the fight w baku made him change his mind, saying he is going after the code's tech instead
I mean he already banished the nightmare responsible for that black case, so he's been fine for a while. Plus we've had plenty of moments in the real world where he was doing what could be perceived as helping or saving someone and nothing outlandish happened to him
Everyone here has kinda said everything already so I'll just add, I think Nox didn't have intent of going through CODE to kill Zero or anyone however when he came by him, he had clear bloodlust and would have. Once Baku came on the scene, he adapted his more cavalier approach. I think people take Nox's statement as him saying he's only there for the technology as too literal. I saw it in line with his actions that that is his main goal as in he won't take it out on the people who work for CODE who's been wrangled in because he takes pity and sees them like him. At the same time he is not against killing and doing what needs to be done. The question is, does he see Zero as that or a perpetrator and imo I think he sees Zero as a perpetrator. So reframing the scene and giving benefit of the doubt so they no one is more dumber than they are this is my take:
Nox enters CODE HQ, sneaking around as a soldier intending to look for where they keep their technology and tools, he is not actively looking to kill anyone but will do whatever it takes for his goals. He stumbles across a Zero who's down on the ground, injured. He has a personal confrontation and is thinking about it, he doesn't raise up the gun but he is thinking about it. Zero takes responsibility but has a duty that must be done first and this is the first thing said that must have gotten through to Nox. The final straw is Baku who shows up and reads the situation as hostile. Nox repeats his mission, to crush CODE without elaborating. Nox defends himself not through words but actions because at that very moment he still hasn't fully relinquished the thought of revenge and perhaps saw this as a justified fight. "He wants to defend Zero because I wanted to crush CODE this is fair. I'll respond" as the fight drags on, maybe in the deepest recesses of his mind, he's thinking and hoping Zero gets his comeuppance and caught in the destruction the longer the battle happens without Baku there. It's not an active thought, it's like an intrusive passive thought that he has so it keeps him subconsciously fighting. Nox only stops the fight once he comes to his senses that at that moment he wasn't even accomplishing his goal and only then does he clarify to Baku. Ending the fight.
The main issues people have with whether the fight happened is whose fault, and it only becomes silly when you interpret Nox as for no reason trying to instigate a fight when he didn't even mean to harm Zero but I do think it gets a bit more nuanced if you take it as Nox's revenge getting so far ahead of him that when faced with it he can't vocally say that because deep down he does want to hurt the higher ups who run CODE—Zero. It is very possible with his statement of reasoning of how he wants to destroy CODE he wouldn't consider Zero as part of that. If we talk hate the sin not the sinner, Nox might view Zero for his direct and long tenure as the sin not the sinner. I do not think Nox will show regret in next episode finding out Zero died and there will be slight friction as a result. I believe that's how we'll confirm Nox's intent.
Ah... I don't like this episode.
The misunderstanding between Baku and Nox is very annoying.
In beginning, Nox should say he just wanted to destroy CODE's technology, so this could avoid the misunderstanding with Baku.
If this episode without conflict between Baku and Nox, Baku probably could have a chance to save Zero.
So far, this is my least favorite episode in the Zeztz series.
Damn, this episode was pretty intense. For the first time in forever, CODE actually felt like a huge international organization, and the montage of Catastrophe destroying the headquarters of each region made the stakes feel really high.
Jay Kabira did such a good job as Zero, and his reaction to Baku recognizing his "dream" was heartrending. A sad ending for a great character. I'll miss his mission briefings.
The cinematography and visual effects also seemed better than usual today. The episode looked absolutely stunning, further cementing Kamihoriuchi as one of the best directors working in tokusatsu.
I have to agree with everyone that the fight between Nox and Zeztz felt super pointless and shoehorned in. It all could have been avoided if Nox had just explained his motivations right away instead of waiting until Zeztz was subdued. Also, I get the significance of using Catastrom here, and it was really nice to see it again after a 10-episode absence, but switching to it from Exdream made absolutely no sense. At least the fight looked really cool, I guess.
Other notes: Fujimi kind of held his own against Nox, which was fun. Nasuka learns the truth about Kureha, but I have no clue what this will lead to. Hopefully it'll result in a good character moment - she desperately needs one. The Gore Nightmares are pretty neat villains, but I hope Oblivion will do more than just laugh annoyingly in the coming episodes.
Pretty neat little montage of all the characters "suffering" at the end there. It really made the episode feel like the setup for the final arc. Though I have to admit, I found it funny that Fujimi's shot was just him passed out on the floor lol. It seems pretty fitting for him.
Tbh, Zeztz probably wanted to end the fight sooner, and Catastrom still had way more power and durability compared to Exdream, since we've seen the multiple predictions of Exdream dying, Exdream just undoes those and leaves the ones where Zeztz does win, it's entirely possible that Baku thought staying in Exdream and dragging the fight wouldn't allow him to rescue Zero, and since he knows that Catastrom is still stronger than Exdream, he underestimated Midnight Shadow and tried to finish the fight quickly through Brute Force.
it's not a low IQ move, it's a tactical choice that Baku miscalculated on.
and also, tf you expect Zero to do? he's in a dream he can't run, he doesn't have a Lord Invoker so he can't fight, and even if he did a Lord would get fucking folded by Catty in an instant anyways.
Also low IQ for Zero to try shooting at the Catastrom Nightmare using just a pistol, but then again what else could he do?
...yeah, what was he supposed to do? Pull a Lord Invoker out of his ass? He only had one weapon so might as well do something that wouldn't be seen as cowering in fear
Because he wants to see the worst nightmare happening, but so far he's been the ones CAUSING said nightmares, i wonder if he'll be singing a different tune once the worst nightmare is happening to HIM ala Parado style from Ex-Aid.
I don't exactly love this Nox and Baku fight, if anything because I feel it's written with a Nox of... 20 episodes ago?
Like, current Nox showed up to support Baku in the fight with Punish, and hasn't been vagueposting since the premonition. When Baku showed up, he should've just said "idk man, do what you want with Zero I am here to make sure what I want destroyed is actually gone instead of used by the Nightmares". If we really wanted to have a Catastrom rematch, just have the Catastrophe Nightmare do some nightmare bullshit and make Baku think Nox is actually trying to kill Zero. Fight still happens like it did, and this all leads to Zero's ruin anyway.
Besides this """""small""""" thing, I enjoyed the episode. It was a tight story about CODE and well, its darkness.
tbh Nox could absolutely be caught stuttering at that moment, cause he was still all "Rahhh! destroy CODE! Raahhh!" at that moment and seeing Zero in the flesh, probably made him reconsider wether he actually wanted to kill Zero or not, cause he clearly still hasn't gotten over being abandoned.
Nox couldn't make up his Mind, Baku's already defensive, and the two got in a fight.
it could've been delivered better, but I don't think it's entirely nonsensical, it's a viable read to consider that Baku was probably already down to throw hands anyway the moment Nox reaffirmed his stance before being able to elaborate, which was why he pulled out his Driver, seeing Baku was already getting ready to throw hands too.
It's not nonsensical - and the guilt of the fight falls on them both because Nox didn't communicate and Baku started was on the defensive from the start (and he went from heavy hitters from the start).
But I wish we went about it a different way still.
Ngl those shots of the Nightmares hang out place look even better than ones in the previous episode omggg
A dude speaking in Hindi lowkey jumpscared me
BRO WHAT DO YOU MEAN NIGHTMARES SMOKED DINOSAURS TOO???
Baku first showing up at like 10th minute was crazy
Nox wanted to beat Fujimi to punch to make his stream lol
And then, he decided to do the ultimate vagueposting by fighting Baku and very much maybe executing the pettiest revenge in history (lowkey non-bothered king behaviour)
Ohhhh, Baku returned to Catastrom, he was mad mad...
I'M SORRY BUT WTF WAS ZERO DOING BEFORE GETTING SMOKEDDDD (rip though, imagine us feeling down about it 10 episodes ago lol)
The ending for the episode is so dramatic and we STILL have 10 episodes... We have to see the next episode then)
CODE have to come out with something to "sell" right? if not how to justify the need for Dream Learning, creating zeztz driver and most of all CODE: Somnia.
If you notice, most of the Nightmare issue were caused by CODE. Seig dream learning contributed to his merger with Punish Gore. The Lady with Phantom also the same case. a standalone nightmare can do what? from what we see, mostly small scale accident we saw happen to Baku, which is explain they need to rely on their host dreamer subconcious to achieve.
Looking back at the scene I don't believe NOX intended on killing Zero at all. Sure he did abandoned him, but Zero as way to make amends did take part in helping NOX when he was brainwashed by Three so maybe he was thankful of that.
I mean yeah that was the point of the whole thing. Nox disguised as a CODE agent to go and find the technology they used and destroy it, he stumbled upon Zero and gloated a bit because hey, the commander that left him without backup was left without backup, but he literally says "I don't care if Zero lives or dies".
Baku thinks he's about to kill Zero, so they fight each other, but Nox did not even attempt to stop Zero from passing past him - Baku simply misread the situation BECAUSE of Premonition Nox's actions and went to stop him, wasting time that could've been used to save Zero instead.
I think its even worse on Nox because Zero did have someone come to back him up. That one soldier. But I also want to say its Nox's fault based on information he provided for Baku to come to that conclusion. Nox could've helped out by stating what his intentions were instead of just letting things go.
You're right about that. Nox didn't even raise is gun at Zero either. Neither of them knew that the Nightmare was going out to kill Zero as he was mostly targeting all of CODEs bases so they thought he would get out safely. There were even times when NOX tried to leave the fight, but Baku kept preventing him. But yes, Baku's misunderstanding of the situation and fighting NOX unintentionally lead to Zero's death.
Yeah I think both of the Riders have to accept their fault in leading to Zero's death. Baku misread and went into Exdream, then Catastrom (two heavy hitter forms, because he wanted to stop Nox at all costs). Nox could've tried to explain himself before throwing Baku down the stairs, but also both characters were operating on a limited amount of knowledge.
Maybe NOX wanted to explain the situation, but Baku fighting him prevented him from doing it. Although maybe still could've said something during it. I honestly though he NOX wanted to kill Zero, but looking he wasn't.
Nox at the very least was thinking about killing Zero though, imo. He's the head of CODE: Japan and is the one who headed the dream projects, as well as appointing Nox as a dream learning teacher. He did say he hates the knowledge and technology, and Zero has all that stuff in his head since he can just make a new ZEZTZ Driver in Baki's subconscious with whatever materials are there.
Gonna be honest, I don't think Nox is gonna care. Zero is basically the knowledge part of the "knowledge and technology" that he was going to destroy. He might've even been thinking (only thinking though) of killing Zero just so his revenge is carried out more perfectly and was only pausing because Zero does genuinely want to protect the world despite how all of his methods completely backfired on him
I almost feel like the stuff with Nox was meant to happen a bit earlier in the plot. Because I think Nox not stating his intentions to Baku and Zero was perfectly in-character even just a few episodes ago. He doesn't really give a shit about any of CODE's personnel and at that point, had no insight into Zero's goals. And hell, letting Catastrophe wreak havoc on all of CODE's bases actually helps him.
But by this point they're allies. Why are you ragebaiting Baku?
I believe that Nox was planning on hurting/killing Zero (since he has done that with Five and Six in the premonition) until Nox changed his mind upon fighting Zeztz.
I wonder which Nightmare killed the Dinosaurs, was it Catastrophe Gore Nightmare or Meteor Nightmare or a different nightmare?
Zero and his death feels likes a modernization of the death of Kamen Rider X's father who laughed/grinned as his body was destroyed.
I give this episode a 7. It was decent but in certain parts felt kinda off.
Zero was the star this episode. The way Jay expressed Zero’s emotions was just top notch and seemingly ragebaiting Catastrophe at the end was nice.
Nox…where do I even begin? It genuinely felt like he was going to gun Zero down right then and there but changed his mind when Baku showed. Of course, if he had just spoken up instead of wanting the smoke, Zero probably would have lived. I get you have a grudge against the guy and the organization, Nox, but you genuinely chose the worst possible time to let your twisted justice boner do the thinking for you.
Baku finally started to connect with his dad even a little bit and now…it’s just suffering. He lost two sets of parents.
I’m intrigued by how Catastrophe was sitting at the end of the episode. His normal posture when sitting is like tyrant king-esque, sorta like Gilgamesh from Fate. Catastrophe genuinely seemed…concerned is the best way to describe it.
You know what? Fuck you Odaka, you could have just talked to your allies and stop being an angsty edgelord but no, you punched your friend in the guts and forced Baku to use Catastrom instead
Sorry man this is a shit episode, and a major crack in the writing of the series so far.
Nox seems to have only 1-2 tokens on his dialogue track, motherfucker can only pose around and talk vague shit and not explain himself.
Nem laying on the floor clutching her chest for a few minutes and then got up as if nothing happened. Like what for? What is it connected to?
Dawn just laughing because he's nuts, at least that's clear.
Nox is against the organization and not the people, despite the fact that we have 40 episodes of context that he fights the people working in the organization itself.
I think the Catastrom backlash is a fucking useful weakness if you can bamboozle Baku enough for him to stop his rampage somehow. I was hoping Nox is like "SIKE!" and run off after Baku grunts like a bad case of post-nut clarity when Catastrom deuces.
This episode broke the streak. I suspect the whole 8 episodes left to final episode and wrap writing will continue be the start of the story going down the toilet.
Nox used to be one of my favourite secondary but rn he's been downgraded A LOT to the point that he's no longer top 10.
Wtf is that!? Zeztz is a fantastic show with severe flaw and Nox is one of the glaring flaw. This whole thing can be avoided if he STOP VAGUEPOSTING!
WHY can't he focus on the big picture!? We have The Gore Nightmares about to destroy the world and he is still hung up on destroying CODE! Like, there is much MUCH bigger thing to focus on.
On a side note, Catastrom finally got his L.
Also Zero: "I BELIEVE IN MY DREAM!" is funny af. I don't expect that from him.
I'm excited to see Natsumi actually being on screen again and her learning of Kureha death is just what I've been waiting for.
Baku can't catch a break😭
All in all, a solid 8/10 episode. Definitely not perfect nor peak but I like it
The fuck was up with all the Nox's part of this episode? Like, the key part of this episode, Baku vs Nox, happened just because Nox can't use his mouth for shit? And why the fuck was Nox still wanting to destroy Code when the big 4 Nightmares are out and about, and one of them is actively killing people? Timing, dude, timing!
So, how the fuck is there 30 people and counting who think this shit deserves a 10/10?
This is a very interesting episode, because there's one glaring flaw in it that sort of breaks the plot, that being the fight scene is completely unnecessary.
The episode is great conceptually, Gore Nightmares are free because of Somnia, the target of Nox's revenge being CODE itself and not Zero, Baku accepting Zero's will to protect the world, and Zero getting killed by Catastrophe. The elements are all very good, but that fight scene between Nox and Zeztz just kind of made it feel like it was Nox that caused Zero's death indirectly.
If you removed the fight scene, you'd have a emotional and tight story, it felt like the fight scene in this ep was mandated by the higher-ups or something, it should've just been an argument.
Despite the problem, the plot threads this episode left us with are honestly pretty great. The final chapter is going to be intense.
So Zero fused / was forced to fuse with catastrophe?
Kureha? Died in a dream being a paintsplatter - turned to goop.
three? Died in a dream turning to paper - turned into paper
Zero? Died in a dream being atomized by catastrophe - Stays the same in real life - not buying it
For everyone wondering why Baku switched to Catastrom, ya'll gotta remember they're not in a dream, nor is he fighting a nightmare he can affect through a dream. ExDream's biggest advantage is complete dream control, which Baku can't use against another rider in the real world, so he had to switch to Catastrom since its raw destruction affects the real world as much as the dream world.
Sure you could make the argument ExDream would still be stronger than Catastrom in raw power, since it has all capsem powers combined, but I think even then Catastrom is specialized for that, so still the best option. Baku didnt need a swiss army knife, he needed a hammer.
THIS! Even in the dream, in terms of pure firepower and probably ending the fight fast, Catastrom would win out, Exdream is invincible but only by virtue of its dream manipulation powers that he can completely avoid a bad fate.
Catastrom is still shown to be both way stronger, way more destructive, and way more durable in its scenes than Exdream were, so if he wanted to say, end the fight quick he'd still probably choose Catastrom in that moment, what happened is as always, Baku underestimated Nox, and Nox outskilled Zeztz in a fight.
i think it shows an added rashness to Baku's actions this episode, as it'd be the perfect framing for why Baku jumped into a fight with Nox before Nox had a chance to explain himself (which Nox probably saw coming as he preemptively pulls out his Driver)
People also miss that Baku ALREADY HAD THE EXDREAM DRIVER ON and was ready to fight Nox. Sure, he didn't help with his refusal to just talk, but also if I were Nox and saw Baku, the dude I know KILLED ME in a premonition for going too far, angry at me and thinking I was going too far again, but with an EVEN STRONGER FORM already in place to fight me, I'd henshin first before anything else too, lmao.
ohhh i forgot he just went in there WITH the driver on, you're right, no Nox putting on his Driver was entirely justified cause Baku came in there and was already just ready to throw down, dude probably noticed that Baku was done talking before he could elaborate and decided to stay safe instead of getting crumpled by Exdream, lmao.
so they just fucking said that the nightmares were responsible for the extinction of the Dinosaurs and the collapse of multiple major civilizations in history. talk about a rabbithole.
first off, for the nightmares to have somehow been born since dinosaurs first evolved, they would have to have waited until the first major invertebrates on earth developed REM patterns and central nervous cognition. without these, most life before then would be completely unable to "Dream".
according to what i found on google, while the first life on earth emerged during Archean Eon 3.7 to 4.28 billion years ago, they were completely rudimentary and did not rely on full cognition to function.
only 300+ MYA lead to the first case of evolved organisms developing sleep cycles. furthermore, True REM sleeping is said to be a major trait to both birds and mammals. going off of this, the nightmares would have likely first emerged between the end of the Permian era and the late Triassic (225 million years ago), as the first true mammals evolved from cynodonts at that point. birds followed sometime after, with the purported Archeopteryx and other ancient birds like Confuciusornis.
i heard someone point out how it makes sense the nightmares canonically caused the end of the dinosaurs, because that would extremely imply the origin of meteor nightmare.
i think at that point, the primitive nightmares were very rudimentary because humans had not even evolved yet. only once humans evolved did the nightmares evolve with them, becoming more sapient. at least going off the Pleistocene era, to at least 10,000 years ago.
Sieg did say Punish Gore Nightmare lived for a very long time before meeting and fusing with him. I think Gore Nightmares are just the first set of Nightmares that spawned with the first living things that can dream and just keep existing like how other Nightmares already existed and not necessarily created from the dreamer.
A bit frustrated with Nox' action, he could at least speak it out clearly DX
"I don't object you killing me but let me go through first" - Zero
"I don't care about you I just want to destroy the technology" - Nox
Which is understandable considering this is the result of uniting everyone's dream but man, make your point clear instead of just cutting your talk DX
I like how Catastrom's Capsem weakness stays consistent though (wavering in conviction), and the way Zero faces his death.
On that note though, couldn't all this wait until at least the Nightmare were all got rid off? At least Catastrom, I'm sure Zero will agree to help after that.
tbf, Nox probably DID thought about "holy shit, Zero's alone, i could absolutely take my revenge on him right now, but should i? hmmmmm..." before Baku came in and immediately went on the defense, just ready to throw hands.
...man this episode is bad. The main problem is Nox and Baku's conflict which could literally be solved if Nox just fucking opened his mouth and talked. There's no reason to fight other than filler. Actually Nox this entire episode is so weird. Code is already being absolutely destroyed and he's like "I gotta destroy code as well" which is so weird?? Like i know its his goal but isn't there a more important elephant you need to address, you know, the 4 massive twats who will threaten to obliterate the world by dreams? Destroying Code also doesn't help at all considering they're some of the most experienced personal for dealing with Nightmares, so wtf is Nox doing??
This episode presented Zero to be pretty good tho, and the camera work is amazing for the episode. Still bad and possibly one of Zeztz's worst episodes yet, if not the worst
Ok i understand my complaints have massive flaws behind them and I'm probably shitting on this episode way more than it actually is, but 10/10? Nah this episode just ain't it honestly. I'm happy for those individuals for enjoying it, but for me this is still a bad episode just from the weird ass forced fight made only for conflict alongside literally zero development from Nox
I'm pretty sure Nox haven't known about the 4 Nightmares or their plan yet, the most he has known so far is the Phantom. Not to say it's not his fault, but wanting to end CODE himself is very much his purpose from the start.
Ok that's honestly a fair point, props to you. I guess I'm just annoyed at Nox for this episode considering the fight can literally be avoided if Nox just said "nah I'm not attacking Zero" instead of vagueposting again despite starting to be on good terms with Baku last episode.
so i'm guessing the five unknown shadows/Nightmares in the OP that are still there are just a fakeout then? Taking another look at them, there's no similarities between them and the Gore Nightmares.
Also, seems like part of Exdream's kit is to use all the other Capsems. Gravity finally made another appearance after, what, 25 episodes or something? Also interesting to see that it isn't necessarily stronger than some of the other forms, changing into Catastrom shows that Exdream's ability pool is vast but it seems like it doesn't have raw power - I imagine that for super speed Plasma (the form) will be used and to help repair the dream world, Orderm will be used.
This is why is debatable exdream raw power if you care with rider stat that we deemed irrelevant their kick and punch ton point is just differ a little number below it. Exdream punch ton power is just lower a number or some number ton power than catastrom, which how vast ability exdream had he choose catastrom.
Exdream's whole premonition/fakeout thing is big though, being able to dodge attacks by effectively turning back the clock in real-time so that he always comes out on top. Seems like being able to just pop another Capsem is more of a small perk, though I imagine the budget is the real enemy of ZeZtZ. Can you imagine the shit he could do if he could combine Gravity with Projection or Barrier and Stream (basically a localized tornado in a small area), or Wonder and Transform?
CODE headquarters worldwide was attacked and THEY RELEASED THE CODE FILES. It was pretty shocking to see CODE fall in just 1 episode, but it was done so well. I like that this also highlights how destructive Catastrophe, and by extension Zeztz, can be if Baku stop holding back.
The OP replaced CODE scene with scenes of the Gore Nightmares. Goodbye Threaky, we'll miss you buddy.
Nasuka learning about Kureha's death was a surprise. They're actually going address this now, that's nice. I know everyone wasn't a big fan of that arc, but it's nice that the fallout of Three's actions are constantly affecting the last arc of the show.
Nox's goal of destroying CODE this time was... not as unreasonable as i thought it would be. By all accounts CODE did commit multiple human rights violations in order to create their tech and weapons, destroying those would guarantee CODE's downfall for good. But c'mon man, there's bigger problems right now. Also in this scene, there's a moment where Zero was looking at Baku with such an emotional and proud stare, that was fantastic acting from Zero's actor.
Nox's fight with Zeztz was alright, it was cool to see how well Nox's faring against Catastrom now that he has an upgrade. And they confirmed that ExDream can use other Capsem's powers??? But Baku just barely use that.
Zero's end was done perfectly. In his dying moment, he entrusts the remains of his dream to Baku, and Jay Kabira's performance during the scene was top notch. His portrayal of Zero as "a man who had good intentions but has commit so many wrongs" was fantastic. He has my applause.
Now how the fuck is he and the other agents alive in the movie???
To all thinking Nox was partially responsible, you're missing the fact that Catastrophe, after having obliterated everything at other Code HQ's, dodged outta there immediately after offing Zero without wrecking the rest of the place. Catastrophe was after Zero regardless of other circumstance.
Yes, and Zeztz could have had a shot at protecting Zero if not for Nox wasting his time with a fight that possibly wouldn't have happened if he had only been more clear on what he was there to do a lot quicker. And yes, destroying CODE's Nightmare research IS a good thing in that now that CODE's out in the open, you don't want what they learned falling into worse hands but that could have been handled LATER.
Why would Nox literally care about Zero didn't he abandon him on a mission that got his ass stuck in the dream world in the first place sorry but Nox just does not care.
So let me get this straight, The Nightmares COULD be the cause behind the dissapearance of atlantis, pompeii the black death, the french revolution and 911?
Since it seems both Phantom and Oblivion are recent addition, makes you wonder if there were Plague Nightmare and Conflict Nightmare or something, and what happened to them?
Oh actually this makes sense, since the first sense was Body, and primitive animals would be entirely dependant on Survival, Catastrophe might've been the first Gore nightmare to have been born, probably at less evolved form than he is currently, just pure destruction that any living being bent on Survival would fear.
Punish came later as the dawn of Civilization, created laws and punishment, which became a fear amongst the guilty and gave birth to Punish Gore, that razed civilizations and tortured cultures, perhaps with diseases or plagues and such.
Phantom came fairly recently, probably at the advent of Dream Learning, seeing as her first major appearance seems to be when she attacked Two (an agent that underwent Dream Learning) and created Nem.
Oblivion, if he is tied to Reality, probably came about at the end as CODEs folly fused all the world's dreams, creating a new reality where the boundaries of the dream world and the real world are blurring, seeing as Oblivion evolved when he consumed the CODE: Somnia capsem.
If we associate each nightmare with the advance of human:
Catastrophe = the most basic, destruction is always feared ever since human learns of something.
Punish = born as a form of twisted "reward and punishment" in society, as in, law and order, now that you said that it's related to razed civilization, Black Plague could be seen as "punishment for killing black cat indiscriminately".
Phantom is born as human tries to learn and control dream, a shadow of danger that lurks in every moment of it?
Oblivion = The end of it all? As opposed to Catastrophe who seemingly only destroy (and basically a cycle), Oblivion seems to be the end of all.
yee, this theory popped into my head since you mentioned how Phantom and Oblivion were recent additions, and i think it lines up perfectly with what we know of Nightmares tbh.
(also i specifically linked Punish with razing civilizations because Zero mentioned directly that Nightmares were the cause of some ancient civilizations falling, which makes me feel it's possibly the work of Punish, or Punish and Catastrophe. Since Punish's whole gimmick was that he brings his victims the ability to do evil, then subsequently punishes them for doing evil. it definitely makes sense for him to be born through the advent of Civilization and technology, perhaps specifically warfare technology.)
Since it seems Daydream Gore Nightmare is laying low or something till the movie, there might even be more Gore Nightmares out there. Just hiding or something
Rest in peace Zero, our favorite motorcycle father
Zero's actor did such a good job this episode at conveying emotion and regret with not just words but facial expressions. Like it just feels so raw when he is holding back his emotions when Baku stands up for him.
The fact Zero's last thoughts were I believe in our dream, entrusting the dream of a better world to Baku? Those dang onion cutting ninjas made it hard to focus I tell you what.
The fight between Baku and Nox was amazing, none of their fights have been boring and I like that Nox was able to hold his own and used his powers wisely.
My only real gripe is that the fight between the two was just there to pad out the time. There was no reason Nox couldn't have said real reason he was there, same goes for the hand to hand fight with Fujimi though to be fair. I don't think Nox was thinking straight after seeing that shirt.
Also, Catastrophe Nightmare is just pure evil when you really think about what he's doing, destroying entire buildings that are full? Some one get James from Dead Meat to do a count.
Also saying it now, Sieg's actor would be amazing as Ryuk
I know many would blame Nox for his vagueposting which led to Zero's death
It may not be the best way to resolve everything, but I think we are overly criticising Nox because we are expecting Nox to have the omniscient POV just like us, the audience.
I can guarantee that Nox probably didn't expect this, and I mean, Catastrophe went to meet Zero personally with strong grudges, and Catastrophe could have done it anytime he wanted. Basically, Zero's death is definitely inevitable unless Baku guards him 24/7
Anyways, RIP Zero, I almost jumped off my chair while I saw the "I believe in my dreams!", me too, Zero, let's believe in OUR DREAMS
What frustrated me was Nox can just state it clearly and helped Zero first. I'm sure Zero himself wouldn't mind to close a book of CODE once all of this is over.
We know that the Zeztz base is seemingly untouchable. Zero could have been pretty safe as Mission Control from the Zeztz base and while deploying the bike as a proxy.
Certainly, if Nox had just not fought and clarified things right away, Baku could have accompanied Zero and fought the Catastrophe Nightmare.
While Baku was wearing his Driver, Nox was the one who actually activated his Capsem first, and Baku transforms in response.
The reason why Zero was in CODE based instead of Zeztz room was because he was addressing the darkness within CODE and releasing the CODE files to all headquarters. Zero chose to take up the responsibility and settle this whole issue himself since it all started with him.
Catastrophe's invasion of CODE bases could have happened much more quickly than we expected. Basically, things got out of control so quickly that Zero couldn't react in time too.
Regarding the fight between Nox and Zeztz, yeah I can't say much, it's an unfortunate situation mainly caused by Nox's vagueposting.
Right, but you were saying that Zero would inevitably die since Baku can't guard him 24/7 - that isn't true.
If Nox hadn't fought Baku for literally no reason, then Baku escorts Zero until Zero finishes whatever he needs to do at CODE. With Baku protecting him, Zero can then leave for the safety of the Zeztz base, where his knowledge and experience will absolutely be useful.
Protecting Zero indefinitely isn't practical. Protecting Zero for a single mission and escorting him to safety? Easily doable, especially with Exdream available to retcon any bad outcomes.
Baku did react in time, he made it to Zero's side. The reason Baku wasn't there and Catastrophe could kill Zero is just because Nox is legitimately braindead.
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u/SynnBlaize 20d ago
Honestly a good episode, sans the fight between Nox and Zeztz. It seems like a fake out but it kinda makes sense. Baku assuming that Odaka wanted to kill Zero since he kinda did in his premonition. But now that I think of it, did Odaka ever say he wanted to kill Zero outside the premonition? Or anyone in CODE for that matter?