WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.069 I'll admit, Kamen Rider Zeztz Episode 1 started 00:00:03.069 --> 00:00:05.169 off kind of weak for me, or it didn't start off 00:00:05.169 --> 00:00:07.089 weak, it started off strong. By the end of it, 00:00:07.089 --> 00:00:09.609 it felt a little bit weak, but I'm changing my 00:00:09.609 --> 00:00:11.630 tune based on what we've seen out of Episode 00:00:11.630 --> 00:00:15.769 2 and the series so far. This is MJ, I'm an author, 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:17.210 I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find 00:00:17.210 --> 00:00:20.109 all my work at mjmunis .com. Welcome to Writer 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:26.690 Tears. So, here we go. Towards the end of the 00:00:26.690 --> 00:00:28.629 episode... Well, at the very end of the episode, 00:00:28.769 --> 00:00:31.510 there's this interesting concept of victim or 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:34.350 culprit that's brought up. And that's because 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:40.329 Mr. Detective Guy. Shijima? Kijima? I can't remember 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:44.109 his name right now. Anyway, he... Anyway, later. 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:48.590 He seems to be the one who's behind his nightmare. 00:00:48.710 --> 00:00:50.990 Or rather, it seems like the nightmare that he's 00:00:50.990 --> 00:00:53.509 having of the bomber generated with him. And 00:00:53.509 --> 00:00:55.909 that's cause for concern because if he's the 00:00:55.909 --> 00:00:58.670 one who... created the bomber, and that's where 00:00:58.670 --> 00:01:01.109 the nightmare came from, then I guess he's the 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:03.369 culprit, isn't he? Or is he actually the victim? 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:06.170 Because we see different things happening to 00:01:06.170 --> 00:01:10.530 Baku in his dreams that he can't quite control, 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:13.609 and he's not to blame for those. So where does 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:16.890 that put our victim of the week here? I don't 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:19.150 quite know. And they're not answering yet. They're 00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:20.530 going to let us know in the next episode. So 00:01:20.530 --> 00:01:22.909 we'll get to that a little bit later. So this 00:01:22.909 --> 00:01:25.519 episode is called Explode. Case number two, explode. 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:30.959 And we have him, and by him I mean Baku, as Code 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:36.319 7, the agent, working with Nem again, sort of. 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.379 He thinks he's here to rescue Nem, but Nem is 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.900 actually here to arrest him. She says something 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:43.099 interesting, which is that she commits to whatever 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:48.140 role she's playing, and it would appear to me 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:50.900 that she's playing the role of a police officer. 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:53.680 She says she's like... police chief for the day 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.459 or something like that and She says that that's 00:01:56.459 --> 00:01:57.659 the role that she's playing that she commits 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:02.579 that role with not Mulder and not Scully We see 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:05.859 or hear that each of them has dreams about NEM 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:07.599 or has NEM in their dreams as well And they say 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.860 well everybody does don't they and that makes 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:12.580 me wonder those two bits of evidence make me 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:15.330 wonder who she is, what she is, what she has 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:17.610 to do with this larger story of the nightmares 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:20.810 going on. I just noticed right now that Nem, 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:24.310 or Nemu, is kind of a contraction of nightmare 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:27.389 if you take the N and the M. Because of spoilers 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:28.949 and looking on the writer wiki, I know that the 00:02:28.949 --> 00:02:32.210 nightmare captain guy in the suit who appears 00:02:32.210 --> 00:02:33.610 in the white suit and talks about nightmares 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:36.090 and such, his name is Nox, which is another word 00:02:36.090 --> 00:02:40.490 for night. Probably from Latin, but I don't quite 00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:45.360 remember. If he's Nox and she's Nem and the enemies 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.099 here are Nightmares, then what does that mean 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:49.860 for everything else? I don't quite know, but 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:51.900 I'm just putting together a speculation based 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:53.580 on the evidence that we have in the show so far. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.719 So anyway, we have this little thing happen with 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:00.180 Nem and she gets taken away very quickly because 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.479 the bomb or bomber Nightmare ends up showing 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:09.159 up and inceptioning slash doctor estranging her 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:12.139 out of the way because she's got... Baku handcuffed 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:14.219 and he can't transform. It's really funny because 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:18.740 he slips into his... Not Wataru. Wataru's the 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:22.620 good one. He slips into his Hidari... What's 00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:24.900 his other name? Shotaro. He slips into his Shotaro 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:26.740 persona, kind of, and he's about to transform. 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:29.439 He's being all cool and everything, and he wants 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:31.759 to... I thought he usually uses his left hand. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.060 Anyway, to strike the ball. Anyway, but then 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:35.539 he tries to use his right hand for part of his 00:03:35.539 --> 00:03:37.379 transformation, and he can't do it because Nem 00:03:37.379 --> 00:03:42.009 has him handcuffed, and then the nightmare slaps 00:03:42.009 --> 00:03:44.409 the ground and little red lines go out and then 00:03:44.409 --> 00:03:48.370 the transformation is allowed to happen because 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:53.750 at that point the Nem disappears and she's no 00:03:53.750 --> 00:03:57.310 longer able to affect or negatively affect she's 00:03:57.310 --> 00:03:59.349 no longer able to stymie the transformation and 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:01.789 he's able to do that and there's some maybe over 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:05.650 the top maybe frivolous CGI going on and he ends 00:04:05.650 --> 00:04:07.729 up hopping into a good position where he's able 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:11.860 to attack the nightmare, and that's good, I guess. 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:16.319 And then he proceeds to, by he I mean Zetz, proceeds 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:20.199 to slap the ground as well and send out some 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:23.600 red lines that affect the dream world that they're 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.980 in. And I can't tell if they're in his dream 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.120 or someone else's dream at this time because 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.459 I think there's insufficient evidence to say 00:04:32.459 --> 00:04:35.259 whose dream they're in, although... I have seen 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:38.680 some speculation that he was already in Mr. Fujimi's 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:41.920 dream, Detective Fujimi's dream, and that's why 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.699 he had less power and less control in his dream, 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:49.300 especially because both he, Baku, and Fujimi, 00:04:49.459 --> 00:04:52.100 I believe that's his name, did dream about Nem 00:04:52.100 --> 00:04:53.980 being in their dream. But there's no evidence 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:56.420 that goes to support that Nem would be police 00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:59.899 chief for the day in Mr. Fujimi's dream as well. 00:05:00.019 --> 00:05:02.319 So that's neither here nor there. So I'm going 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.850 to move on from that. I really like the action 00:05:04.850 --> 00:05:06.970 in this episode. There was one bit that was really 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:09.389 nice. I have it freeze -framed here. So it was 00:05:09.389 --> 00:05:12.410 like four or five minutes into the episode. By 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:14.410 the time I started watching, it was, well, whatever. 00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:18.509 It was where it was. And he actually jumps on 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:22.430 the air. Zets, that is. He jumps on the air. 00:05:22.509 --> 00:05:23.829 Instead of there being boxes there or whatever 00:05:23.829 --> 00:05:25.889 for him to climb up. And he jumps over this. 00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:27.689 Oh, I can zoom in now. I love that I can do this 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:31.610 now. You can, no. Maybe you can faintly see this 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:35.279 line of light down here. um this line of math 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:36.800 maybe you can see this line of light getting 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:37.819 here at the bottom of the screen it's kind of 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:40.759 covered up by icons uh from youtube uh that he 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.259 would have jumped off of and then he jumps onto 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.060 this girder he like flips over it and then he 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:51.939 swings down to kick the the bomb guy and it that 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:55.040 move was the bomb and i i don't know how we got 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.279 that i was really impressed by the um action 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.339 choreography early on in gov i dropped gov around 00:05:59.339 --> 00:06:01.480 episode 10 or 11 because life got in the way 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.660 and uh also toby wasn't letting me watch it legally 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.180 so you know there was a kind of a good reason 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:09.920 i was waiting for them to uh i can't say that 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:11.519 i can't say that but i don't want to i was waiting 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:15.949 for them to um make their decision about what 00:06:15.949 --> 00:06:17.410 they were going to do with stuff as far as it 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:19.629 being legally available. And once they did this, 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:21.410 I've decided I'm pretty much all in on Zetsun 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:23.629 once it blows majorly, which I don't anticipate. 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:28.709 So anyway, Gov had a really great action choreography 00:06:28.709 --> 00:06:30.750 for the first 10 or 11 episodes that I watched. 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:33.990 And it was spectacular. And this has very similar 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:35.870 energy. So I really like this move. And it was 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:37.089 crazy to see. And it's something I could see 00:06:37.089 --> 00:06:40.509 happening in Gov. I don't know what the credits 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:41.870 are for this director. I didn't capture all of 00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:43.230 them because he's been working on Combinator 00:06:43.230 --> 00:06:46.459 for a lot of years. So I won't be able to talk 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.279 about all of that. But moving on from here, I 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:52.639 like how much Fujimi and Baku were vibing and 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:56.420 how much they seem to be of a same mind. I believe 00:06:56.420 --> 00:07:00.350 the lady detective one. saying is not Scully 00:07:00.350 --> 00:07:03.750 for now. It was Nasco, or Nasco, Nasco, Nasco 00:07:03.750 --> 00:07:06.490 is her first name. And she tells him, I only 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:08.430 let my parents call me that. And she has this 00:07:08.430 --> 00:07:10.209 shtick. They're like very silly characters for 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:12.230 now. They're caricatures, sort of. She has this 00:07:12.230 --> 00:07:14.209 shtick about, oh, I'm too young to be demoted. 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:16.569 I'm being demoted, aren't I? And he's all about 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:18.569 freaking out and being overly excited about the 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:22.550 nightmares. And they're, like, very touchy -feely, 00:07:22.629 --> 00:07:24.930 but, like, in an aggressive way. Like, he doesn't 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:26.629 hit her, but, like, she kicked him in the back 00:07:26.629 --> 00:07:29.449 of the head during this scene, I believe. She 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:30.790 was going to slap him or hit him, and he caught 00:07:30.790 --> 00:07:33.730 her arm, and he, like, nudged her, like, tapped 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:35.610 her on her shoulder, like, sit down! When she 00:07:35.610 --> 00:07:37.790 rolled into his van, which kind of like the X... 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:39.490 I made the X -Files comparison because in the 00:07:39.490 --> 00:07:41.829 X -Files, starring David Duchovny and Gillian 00:07:41.829 --> 00:07:46.569 Anderson... Whatever. He has, like, a basement 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:49.110 office in the FBI building in Washington, D .C., 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:51.160 wherever that... particular building. It's on 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:54.079 another street or anything like that. And it's 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.199 like a really crappy office that he's in, and 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:00.300 she joins him there. Scully joins Mulder in there 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:04.180 for his, whatever, to be his partner, for his, 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:07.399 you know, exploration of these black cases, they 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:11.000 call them. And, you know, she doesn't like it, 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:12.120 and there's problems there, whatever, and there's 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:13.720 a tension between them, because he's a believer, 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:15.139 and she's not a believer, and she wants to figure 00:08:15.139 --> 00:08:17.439 out a, you know, rational, logical explanation 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.180 for things, and he's saying, no, this is true, 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:22.079 I believe it. And even they have him saying things 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.920 in here, Fujimi saying things like, I believe 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.459 this, or I want to believe, which is a poster 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:30.680 on Mulder's, in his office, which is funny that 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:32.120 they kind of referenced that. I think that was 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:37.419 intentional. But what else? Oh, she's like just 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:39.720 very disappointed. Oh, he's in like his office. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.019 His office, the department office is in this 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:44.200 old van. It looks like it's from World War II, 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:49.870 which is hilarious. odd and it seems like they 00:08:49.870 --> 00:08:52.250 have to like crawl into it or roll in it to roll 00:08:52.250 --> 00:08:54.230 into there's definitely a shtick because she 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:56.269 enters it at first and then all three of them 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:57.789 enter it later and it definitely looks like they're 00:08:57.789 --> 00:08:59.950 all like jumping into this van and rolling into 00:08:59.950 --> 00:09:02.330 it and it's it's very odd it's very funny how 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:06.570 this show has And I was disappointed by the tonal 00:09:06.570 --> 00:09:08.649 whiplash in it last episode, but I'm rolling 00:09:08.649 --> 00:09:09.870 with it now because I'm used to Kamen Rider, 00:09:10.009 --> 00:09:11.350 but I still don't think this is the best showing 00:09:11.350 --> 00:09:14.750 for a Western -facing show. And I will argue 00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:16.850 this is a Western -facing Kamen Rider show because 00:09:16.850 --> 00:09:18.769 it's the first one that they're simulcasting, 00:09:18.830 --> 00:09:20.629 and they're doing that on purpose. They know 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:22.389 that they're doing that, and their development 00:09:22.389 --> 00:09:24.570 had to have that in mind, especially when you 00:09:24.570 --> 00:09:26.049 look at the trivia and stuff for the way the 00:09:26.049 --> 00:09:28.230 suit is designed. It is designed to be a Western 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:32.740 -style superhero costume, and... That's I mean 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:34.820 to me that's enough signal that it's you know 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:37.820 Western facing and Yet they went ahead and gave 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:39.740 it this weird quirky humor and total whiplashes 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:42.600 and stuff that I don't think American fans are 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:44.659 going to appreciate so much But we'll see we'll 00:09:44.659 --> 00:09:45.899 see what they think of it overall. We'll see 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:50.019 what everybody thinks about it. But uh Anyway, 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:54.000 um Yeah, we have this like weird tonal whiplash. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.639 We have this dramatic juxtapositions. Oh yeah, 00:09:57.659 --> 00:09:59.840 here we go. She says at one point to him, what 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:02.019 you're describing is the purview of urban legends 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:03.960 and occult magazines. I love Mulder in Skully. 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:04.980 I love the X -Files. I was watching it with my 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:07.200 sister growing up, so it feels very nostalgic 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:12.740 and very good to me. Anyway, so all of Skully's 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:14.759 skepticism is so fun, especially in those early 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:16.279 seasons where you just don't really know what's 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:20.429 going on in the show. But yeah, I'm a little 00:10:20.429 --> 00:10:22.009 off track, a little off base, but that's okay. 00:10:22.429 --> 00:10:25.070 We're rolling with it. We're doing a live, fun, 00:10:25.289 --> 00:10:28.629 fresh review. But overall, I really did like 00:10:28.629 --> 00:10:30.149 this episode. I thought it had a lot of things 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:32.029 in it that were working. The action was good. 00:10:32.049 --> 00:10:33.450 I wouldn't say it was better than the last episode, 00:10:33.529 --> 00:10:36.210 but I know what's going on, and the beats were 00:10:36.210 --> 00:10:38.929 more formulaic, but they were more familiar. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.039 And a lot more of what was going on made more 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.159 sense. So that was good. And just the spirit 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:47.620 of it all just felt a lot better. And it felt 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:49.460 like a more cohesive episode. So what was good 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:52.100 last time was good this time. But it was better 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:53.940 just because it felt like it all belonged and 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:56.200 it all went. And I feel like I'm understanding 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:57.759 what the show is about and what it's trying to 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:00.200 say and what it's doing. And I feel like I understand 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:02.779 its tone now. So now that I'm not hurt by the 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:05.559 tonal whiplash, I can find things cute and fun 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.100 and funny and not be bothered by them. It's not 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:10.889 going to be this. steady, serious show. Like 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:13.590 Kiva, one of my favorites, one of the greats 00:11:13.590 --> 00:11:16.649 of Kamen Rider, has a lot of silly things in 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:18.549 it, but it's also pretty serious and it takes 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:21.830 itself very earnestly versus, and there are slapstick 00:11:21.830 --> 00:11:24.269 moments in it, I guess. I can't think of any 00:11:24.269 --> 00:11:26.490 offhand right now. Yelling about buttons is not 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:28.649 slapstick, by the way. So don't count that against 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:33.370 me or against Kiva. But here, I don't know. I 00:11:33.370 --> 00:11:35.470 don't know if the slapstick is like not taking 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:37.409 itself seriously or what. I don't know how I'd 00:11:37.409 --> 00:11:42.409 count that. I don't feel like Bulk and Skull 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:44.409 were taken seriously in MMPR until like season 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:46.370 three or so when they got a little more serious 00:11:46.370 --> 00:11:48.350 as characters and took on a different role. But 00:11:48.350 --> 00:11:50.590 like early on, they definitely, I don't feel 00:11:50.590 --> 00:11:51.970 like it was earnest. I feel like it was like 00:11:51.970 --> 00:11:56.090 an aside for the kids, which it was always for 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:57.990 kids, but more of an aside for the kids versus 00:11:57.990 --> 00:12:00.409 like the slapstick moments here. I don't really 00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:02.669 know. I don't know. It might just be a difference 00:12:02.669 --> 00:12:04.370 in the humor between an American and Japanese 00:12:04.370 --> 00:12:06.950 audience, especially American adult and Japanese 00:12:06.950 --> 00:12:11.990 children. So anyway, I like seeing more of Minami, 00:12:12.129 --> 00:12:15.429 Baku's sister, them interacting. It was fun. 00:12:18.110 --> 00:12:20.169 I like that they brought up the concept of have 00:12:20.169 --> 00:12:21.669 you ever had the same dream as someone else? 00:12:21.690 --> 00:12:23.330 And that feels like it's going to be important. 00:12:23.389 --> 00:12:26.889 I feel now like I can say confidently that Baku 00:12:26.889 --> 00:12:30.320 was in Mr. Fujimi's dream. and that's interesting 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.220 that he can do that i really like that concept 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.340 as a character kind of reminds me of wizard um 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:36.480 kind of reminds me of the phantom thieves from 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.019 persona 5 uh reminds me of a couple other things 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:41.240 i guess like dream drop distance king of hearts 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:47.240 type stuff but less explicit um i love the headquarters 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.519 in his mind in his dream that baku gets to go 00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:52.600 in like the set design here is lovely i'm pretty 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:57.299 sure this is um like the zero one set redesigned 00:12:57.299 --> 00:13:00.820 the like ai president's office bay type thing. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:04.220 I think it's that redesigned. And I almost feel 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:05.879 like it could be even the double garage, but 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:07.299 I don't really think it is the double garage. 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:09.000 The double garage actually feels more like it's 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:12.379 what they're using in Omega right now. That set 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:15.750 could be the same one redressed or remade. This 00:13:15.750 --> 00:13:18.789 one could even feel kind of like Ghost's basement 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:22.730 area where Takaru lived and hung out. And I really 00:13:22.730 --> 00:13:26.649 like, I guess this is Agent Zero. He's a bike 00:13:26.649 --> 00:13:28.870 robot guy or he's controlling the bike robot. 00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:31.570 Also, I love that Agent Zero speaks English. 00:13:31.649 --> 00:13:33.590 And when he calls Baku on the phone in the middle 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:36.669 of the night, like 2, 3 a .m., Baku's like, I'm 00:13:36.669 --> 00:13:39.330 sorry, I do not understand English. He's like, 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:42.289 my dream self does, but my awake self doesn't. 00:13:42.289 --> 00:13:44.340 So then he switches and he's like. you know, 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.480 let me switch to subtitles. And then he does 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.500 that. It's great. It was a lot of fun for me. 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.320 It was like a cool joke. And like, that's something 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.779 I feel like is a good humor and it's funny and 00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:54.659 it's clever. And it's something that acknowledges 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:57.159 that there's a Western or American audience watching. 00:13:57.220 --> 00:13:58.620 I'm just going to say American because that's 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:01.419 what I am. That's what I care about. America 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:03.600 first, baby. America first. That's right. You 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:09.080 heard it right here. Anyway. And then, so like 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:10.480 there was a tension from the first episode where 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:12.340 I don't feel like Baku or I don't know that Baku 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.710 is pursuing his dreams. He did on his bookshelf, 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:16.690 which I neglected to mention last time, he had 00:14:16.690 --> 00:14:19.090 all these books about how to cook and how to 00:14:19.090 --> 00:14:21.970 get a job and preparing your CV and how to ride 00:14:21.970 --> 00:14:23.330 a motorcycle and get your motorcycle license 00:14:23.330 --> 00:14:25.289 and things like that. So he's skilled and he 00:14:25.289 --> 00:14:27.590 has certain things he can do, but I just don't 00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:29.470 know how hard he's been pursuing his dreams. 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:34.629 And it's unclear. But this thing about with enough 00:14:34.629 --> 00:14:36.730 belief, your dreams can come true. Well, belief 00:14:36.730 --> 00:14:41.309 requires action, I believe. And I hope they show 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:42.970 that through the show. We'll see how that goes. 00:14:44.989 --> 00:14:46.730 But yeah, anyway, we get the mission statement. 00:14:46.789 --> 00:14:48.169 He's supposed to infiltrate the dreams of others 00:14:48.169 --> 00:14:51.389 and he's supposed to go and stop their nightmares 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:53.750 because this is really cool. A cool mechanic. 00:14:53.950 --> 00:14:56.710 When a nightmare kills somebody or destroys their 00:14:56.710 --> 00:14:58.149 self or whatever inside, this is why it reminds 00:14:58.149 --> 00:15:00.049 me of Persona 5 a little bit. The nightmare takes 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:01.909 over that person and causes them to do some heinous 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:04.110 act. A bombing maybe in this case with Fujimi? 00:15:04.190 --> 00:15:07.070 I don't know. Let's see. The dreamer becomes 00:15:07.070 --> 00:15:08.590 locked away in darkness. Okay, never to awaken 00:15:08.590 --> 00:15:11.179 again. and because the nightmare will have taken 00:15:11.179 --> 00:15:12.500 over their body okay so it's all explaining it 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:14.240 but like look at this cool set this set is so 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.600 freaking cool and i like that uh down at the 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.940 bottom of the stairs um the bike slash uh agent 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:24.919 zero twists this he twists this clock back here 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:27.259 that i'm zooming in on he twists it and then 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:28.700 those stairs come out of the wall and he walks 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:30.879 up them as he's talking all fancy which is really 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.919 cool and he i don't know what he does with the 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:35.080 typewriter but he does something and uh oh the 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:37.250 screen change it had all these i didn't had different 00:15:37.250 --> 00:15:39.090 sayings in different languages. And then it switches 00:15:39.090 --> 00:15:41.190 to this like shared screen type of deal. Super 00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:43.350 cool design choices. Like this is just like a 00:15:43.350 --> 00:15:46.490 fun, cool, neat, interesting design or set of 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:48.429 designs that's going on here. And I really like 00:15:48.429 --> 00:15:51.210 it. By the way, going back to Ishinomori, this 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:52.950 reminds me of Eagle a little bit, their logo, 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:57.309 sort of. It reminds me of probably like maybe 00:15:57.309 --> 00:16:00.309 some shocker imagery as well from the manga. 00:16:00.669 --> 00:16:02.730 And that's always cool to go back to the roots. 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:06.629 This bike looks very much like the Hongo's Typhoon. 00:16:07.070 --> 00:16:11.269 which, no, Cyclone, yeah, Cyclone, the Typhoon 00:16:11.269 --> 00:16:13.529 is his belt, looks very much like his Typhoon, 00:16:13.590 --> 00:16:16.049 looks like shots from Shin Kamen Rider a little 00:16:16.049 --> 00:16:17.970 bit, looks like shots from the original Kamen 00:16:17.970 --> 00:16:19.250 Rider, obviously, because Shin Kamen Rider was 00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:21.029 made to look so much like the original Kamen 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:23.529 Rider, shot for shot takes, in fact, in fact, 00:16:23.529 --> 00:16:26.269 this is almost as dark as, this isn't even as 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:28.549 dark as the Shin Kamen Rider showing was when 00:16:28.549 --> 00:16:30.789 they were in that tunnel, it was an awful scene, 00:16:30.909 --> 00:16:32.669 I know the lighting was so bad there, anyway. 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:37.840 He looks cool on the bike, and I like showing 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.139 this. This was kind of a funny thing that he 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:42.639 complimented the bad guy for somehow punching 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.500 through a wall and blowing. It's weird because 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:46.440 it's dream logic, so there's random things going 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:47.860 on. He comes out of this tunnel, and then somehow 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:49.259 the bad guy punches through a wall, even though 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:50.460 he's ahead of him and not touching the wall at 00:16:50.460 --> 00:16:52.240 all, and then it puts his rubble in there, and 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.399 then he has to go around it or whatever. And 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.039 he says, not bad. He compliments him, and then 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.139 he goes on, which is his cool, smooth agent persona, 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:02.480 which is fun to see. And then we get to see he 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:05.819 uses a new ball, a capsum. I don't like the naming 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:07.980 convention for these capsules, the capsums, the 00:17:07.980 --> 00:17:09.779 different forms. It's very clunky. It's very 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:12.700 inorganic. It's very weird. So I'm just going 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:15.680 to call them balls. Nightmares are going around 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.539 the world, ruining people's lives, killing them, 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:19.799 and turning them into people who hurt other people. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.839 And there's only one man who has the balls to 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.880 stop them. Kamen Rider Zets! Anyway, his name 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:29.299 is Baku. Whatever his last name is. Anyway, so 00:17:29.299 --> 00:17:31.680 this cool uses the transform ball, transform 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:36.740 capsule, transform capsule to transform his leg 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:38.200 into having spikes on it. And then he goes and 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:40.079 pops the tires on this thing and it blows up. 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:41.700 And then he rides his bike over it because he's 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.940 a Kamen Rider. And then this is weird. This guy's 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:46.099 saying when the mind's knock says when the mind's 00:17:46.099 --> 00:17:49.859 door is opened, the nightmare will begin. So 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:52.750 I guess the nightmare. begins i don't know if 00:17:52.750 --> 00:17:54.609 that's like that means the inception or like 00:17:54.609 --> 00:17:58.170 the birth of the nightmare comes from the dreamer 00:17:58.170 --> 00:17:59.710 dreaming something and wishing for something 00:17:59.710 --> 00:18:04.329 or what but then um i guess he says it loudly 00:18:04.329 --> 00:18:06.849 enough that baku hears him and he's asking you 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:10.630 mr fujimi why yeah fujimi um like the dreamer 00:18:10.630 --> 00:18:12.769 himself mr fujimi is causing this to happen why 00:18:12.769 --> 00:18:14.970 and that's really interesting it's a really interesting 00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:18.130 concept um like you know why does he says that 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.410 the dream his dream was to become a police officer 00:18:21.780 --> 00:18:23.480 And he's doing these black cases and everything. 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:25.039 So you think things would be great. Obviously 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.099 he's not like in a real office and he doesn't 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:29.380 have a real, you know, like respected position. 00:18:29.460 --> 00:18:30.940 So maybe that's why he's resentful and wants 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:33.000 to destroy. Some part of him wants to destroy 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:37.259 the police department or the police. I'm not 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:40.250 sure. So I didn't see ACAB written anywhere, 00:18:40.349 --> 00:18:42.349 so I don't know what's up with that. But it's 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:44.410 interesting, interesting concept, interesting 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:47.730 conflict. He's about to destroy the bomb, Nightmare, 00:18:47.789 --> 00:18:50.069 but then he stomps because, well, maybe Mr. Fujimi's 00:18:50.069 --> 00:18:51.470 the one that needs to be destroyed or dealt with 00:18:51.470 --> 00:18:54.349 instead. So I find that interesting. We get an 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:56.890 intense, we get an increase on the mechanic that 00:18:56.890 --> 00:19:00.470 needs to be dealt with here. It's not only about 00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:02.009 destroying the monsters, it's about fixing the 00:19:02.009 --> 00:19:03.549 problem, kind of like in Kamen Rider Forze, which 00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:07.920 I think is really good. Okay, jumping back real 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.160 quick, the credits. The writer on first episode 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:14.299 one and two was Yu Takahashi, and the director 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:18.240 on both episodes was Kazuya Kamino -Horuchi, 00:19:18.420 --> 00:19:23.079 who has done a lot of Kamen Rider. Oh, I noticed 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:25.059 that the suit actor was a new suit actor, Kenta 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:27.519 Nita. He has done a bunch of other stuff. He 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.480 was a masquerade dopant, which is just the guy 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.000 in a black mask that gets beat up by the writers. 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:34.839 And he was an O's as a police officer. So he's 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:37.940 appeared on screen as well as, I mean, he's appeared 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:41.299 as a face actor and as a suit actor as well in 00:19:41.299 --> 00:19:42.940 several other Kamen Rider shows. But this is 00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:44.740 his first one. And I was thinking about that 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.000 big girder jump thing that he did. Maybe that's 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:48.180 why they picked him for this, because that's 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:51.599 some impressive athleticism. And I think they 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.839 just got... Seiji Takawa retired from the role 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:56.579 of Mr. Kamen Rider, you know, playing all the 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:59.630 main suit. pretty much all the main suits, uh, 00:19:59.730 --> 00:20:01.650 commentators for years and years and years. Um, 00:20:01.809 --> 00:20:05.670 I want to say at the end, like before Zero One 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:07.670 started and Zero One started with a new guy, 00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:10.109 um, and then I don't know how many main writers 00:20:10.109 --> 00:20:12.450 there, main suit actors there have been since 00:20:12.450 --> 00:20:15.430 then, but this guy, he's new to the role of primary, 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:17.829 um, writer for the series. So it'll be interesting 00:20:17.829 --> 00:20:20.009 to see what he does. He's bringing, he's bringing 00:20:20.009 --> 00:20:21.809 a good physicality to it. I like the things that 00:20:21.809 --> 00:20:26.460 I see, uh, Zets doing so far. So anyway. That's 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:27.900 my review. I wonder what you think about the 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:29.759 episode. What do you think about this victim 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.819 or culprit mentality or this idea that maybe 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:34.519 Mr. Fujimi is the problem? Maybe the nightmares 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:36.940 are seeded from within a person and like that's 00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:39.940 the real issue and that needs to be solved. Also, 00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:45.140 that kind of parallels how when he first entered 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:48.359 the dream, it looked like Baku was being blamed 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:52.049 as the bomber and having caused the issues. I 00:20:52.049 --> 00:20:54.390 don't think he is, but is he causing some issues 00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:57.349 in the mind, in the brain, in the dream? Is he 00:20:57.349 --> 00:21:00.210 kind of like in Persona 5 where the Phantom Thieves 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:02.730 were seen as threats to the psyche and maybe 00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:05.589 Fujimi's psyche is turning against him and maybe 00:21:05.589 --> 00:21:06.890 it'll kind of be like the Matrix where agents 00:21:06.890 --> 00:21:10.450 appear from within the system to stop the good 00:21:10.450 --> 00:21:14.190 guys who are trying to stop them or stop the 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:16.569 bad guys from doing stuff or what? It's kind 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:17.950 of a mess, but I think you know what I'm saying. 00:21:18.369 --> 00:21:20.769 But overall, what are your thoughts on Zets episode 00:21:20.769 --> 00:21:23.230 two? Were you like me? Were you disliked the 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:25.470 first episode and liked the second episode? Or 00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:27.509 were you unlike me where you liked the first 00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:31.289 episode and disliked the second episode? Or disliked 00:21:31.289 --> 00:21:32.710 the first episode and liked the second episode? 00:21:33.589 --> 00:21:36.130 Or I guess it'd be flipped and reversed. Or are 00:21:36.130 --> 00:21:37.509 you not liking any of it? Let me know your thoughts 00:21:37.509 --> 00:21:40.390 in general. And yeah, we can have a good conversation 00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:41.789 about this because I think there's a lot to talk 00:21:41.789 --> 00:21:43.170 about. There's some juicy stuff going on here. 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:46.589 We talked about the localization. issues, strengths, 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:48.670 weaknesses, and we can talk about the strengths 00:21:48.670 --> 00:21:50.430 and weaknesses of the show overall and what you 00:21:50.430 --> 00:21:51.970 think is coming, what I think is coming. And 00:21:51.970 --> 00:21:55.470 yeah, we can have a good time. And also check 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:57.069 out the trailer for my book, which is coming 00:21:57.069 --> 00:21:59.150 up right over here. It's about magical bugs battling 00:21:59.150 --> 00:22:02.450 monsters. It's pretty cool. It's vaguely tokusatsu 00:22:02.450 --> 00:22:04.509 inspired. It used to be more tokusatsu inspired 00:22:04.509 --> 00:22:06.769 than I realized in order to write it as a better 00:22:06.769 --> 00:22:08.519 book, I had to... take some of that stuff out, 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:10.839 kill my darling, so to speak. And now it is what 00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:12.480 it is, which I think is a pretty cool story. 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:16.319 So anyway, until next time, folks, until next 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:21.099 time, folks, take care and be well. Magical bugs 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:23.359 battle monsters in this exciting fantasy adventure. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:26.779 Gremlins prey upon children. Grow bugs protect 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:29.200 them. When a gremlin finds a hidden grow bug 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:31.660 fort, the whole flock makes a surprise attack. 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:35.440 How will the grow bugs survive? Find out in Mockwing 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:39.279 Mayhem. Learn more at growbugs .com where you 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:41.039 can find out more about our mailing list, receive 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.599 behind the scenes information and get all the 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:45.299 latest news on the grow bugs.