WEBVTT 00:00:00.590 --> 00:00:06.490 Baku is finally showing that he's the kind of 00:00:06.490 --> 00:00:11.529 writer protagonist I want him to be. I've waffled 00:00:11.529 --> 00:00:13.570 on him a little bit. He seemed very goofy and 00:00:13.570 --> 00:00:15.650 too much like a loser for me to enjoy him at 00:00:15.650 --> 00:00:17.089 first. Then I thought he was getting a job with 00:00:17.089 --> 00:00:19.010 the police, but then he didn't, which kind of 00:00:19.010 --> 00:00:21.280 hampered things for me. But then again... he 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:23.920 even without having a full -time gig right now 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.379 i don't know if he's doing any gig work at all 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:28.059 or full -time job i mean he is taking on his 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:31.440 mission as zero as this agent for code very seriously 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:35.880 and as part of that mission uh for code he has 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:38.079 been doing all these common writer things but 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:42.859 he's been listening to zero and kind of has no 00:00:42.859 --> 00:00:45.119 choice zero is his superior zero says mentor 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.840 zero is i believe the fictional character who 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:50.939 he's idolized for all these years. So we don't 00:00:50.939 --> 00:00:54.219 know if Zero is just an avatar that has appeared 00:00:54.219 --> 00:00:57.500 to him. Because code is supposedly a creation 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:01.359 of his own dreams. It's what Baku has dreamed 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.719 that he belonged to. That he is this Agent 7 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:10.939 of code. And then he found out that it was a 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:15.140 reality. He was this invincible agent. Even though 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:18.430 he was kind of killed. He was this invincible 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:20.189 agent. He is this invincible agent. He's becoming 00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:23.489 this invincible agent. And then we found out 00:01:23.489 --> 00:01:26.010 that that was something that was possibly done 00:01:26.010 --> 00:01:27.569 to him. That maybe code is this organization 00:01:27.569 --> 00:01:29.489 that did something to him and these other kids 00:01:29.489 --> 00:01:30.750 at this cram school. At least that's what it 00:01:30.750 --> 00:01:34.109 looks like. And it looks like Adaka was involved 00:01:34.109 --> 00:01:37.370 with doing that. And by the end of the episode, 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:40.109 we have the two of them leaving on equal terms 00:01:40.109 --> 00:01:44.609 and having reached an impasse or rather an agreement 00:01:44.609 --> 00:01:46.890 with each other where they both saved each other. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:48.579 And they both helped each other in this serious 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:50.599 way. And now they're going to part ways. And 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:53.400 I think it's important to point out too, that 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.340 Baku was locked in this dream and Odaka was locked 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:58.659 in a dream, unable to wake up. And the same thing 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:01.239 was happening to Baku. And then by the end of 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.120 it, Baku is able to wake up because he defeats 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.500 the darkness nightmare that is stopping Odaka 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:08.300 from waking up. And then Odaka is able to wake 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:11.560 up, but it's unclear whether that's a good thing 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:12.719 or a bad thing by the end of the episode, but 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.080 we're not going to talk about that now. I'm going 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:19.189 to go back and focus on this. The most interesting 00:02:19.189 --> 00:02:21.789 thing to me in the episode, which is that Baku 00:02:21.789 --> 00:02:25.270 is getting the resolve that he needs to be the 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:26.849 man he needs to be, the hero he needs to be, 00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:30.569 and to do what has to be done. It really seemed 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:31.909 like there was a very sharp contrast between 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:35.310 him and Odaka from last episode, because Nox 00:02:35.310 --> 00:02:38.069 refused to face the darkness. He kept running 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:41.849 away from the darkness. And Baku chose to face 00:02:41.849 --> 00:02:44.969 the darkness nightmare head on, and he was able 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:50.729 to destroy it. in part because he seized his 00:02:50.729 --> 00:02:52.610 own darkness his own nightmare and drew power 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:55.210 from it in the last episode which he used again 00:02:55.210 --> 00:02:59.870 here which was plasma and it failed last time 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:01.930 or there was a break in the story breaking the 00:03:01.930 --> 00:03:05.430 episode last time because he was unable to handle 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:08.050 the darkness the corruption of the nightmare 00:03:08.050 --> 00:03:11.150 i guess you could say we don't know why the yellow 00:03:11.150 --> 00:03:14.849 capsum is a new thing it seems to be outside 00:03:14.849 --> 00:03:19.009 of the red green blue purple paradigm that we 00:03:19.009 --> 00:03:21.169 have that nox seems to know about has a book 00:03:21.169 --> 00:03:25.449 about which i was beginning to think where did 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:26.729 this book come from it doesn't really make any 00:03:26.729 --> 00:03:28.009 sense that it was there and we're kind of losing 00:03:28.009 --> 00:03:29.830 that aspect of his character but by the end of 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:31.150 the episode we see something that could make 00:03:31.150 --> 00:03:34.270 it seem or that seems like it connects to where 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:36.050 that book came from which i find interesting 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:40.409 but again focusing back on baku and his resolve 00:03:40.409 --> 00:03:44.590 his will his rebellion you could say or his his 00:03:45.269 --> 00:03:47.349 desire to do what he wants to and make his dream 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:50.830 come true at any cost or at great personal risk 00:03:50.830 --> 00:03:54.250 to himself, he has effectively now, like Knox, 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:59.669 supposedly, betrayed code because he left his 00:03:59.669 --> 00:04:02.449 phone behind when he went to go face Knox. And 00:04:02.449 --> 00:04:05.210 when he did, well, when he went to go defeat 00:04:05.210 --> 00:04:08.930 the enemy or eliminate the enemy, and he basically 00:04:08.930 --> 00:04:11.289 decided for himself that it wasn't Knox that 00:04:11.289 --> 00:04:12.409 was the enemy, it was the nightmare that was 00:04:12.409 --> 00:04:15.159 the enemy. Even though... Nox has been helping 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:24.000 the Nightmares. And I feel like he left his phone 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.279 behind so that Zero could not spy on him, so 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:27.579 that Zero could not hear what he was saying, 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:33.839 and that Zero would be in the dark. And I think 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:37.720 it's really interesting because that whole scene 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:42.060 where he goes back to the Dream office, the HQ, 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:46.720 happens after he and Nox withdraw from each other. 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:48.699 Nox is warning him, and he's trying to get more 00:04:48.699 --> 00:04:50.160 answers from him, and he tells him to protect 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:55.379 himself. And Baku never leaves the dream. He 00:04:55.379 --> 00:04:57.139 temporarily leaves, or he never leaves the dream 00:04:57.139 --> 00:05:00.560 world, let's call it. He does leave Nox's dream 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:01.819 in particular, or Daku's dream in particular, 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.439 and then he goes to HQ, and he is able to get 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:09.689 all the capsules that he once had. Zero says 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:11.009 something really interesting to me. He says that 00:05:11.009 --> 00:05:13.350 it seems that we're of one mind or something 00:05:13.350 --> 00:05:15.149 like that. Basically, their minds are in sync 00:05:15.149 --> 00:05:18.269 because he was able to then access the power. 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:20.750 Previously, he had tried to get more power after 00:05:20.750 --> 00:05:23.870 Nox had destroyed or whatever. One of his capsums, 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:26.389 Recovery, which was gone, and he has now. No, 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:28.810 no, he used Barrier. Barrier was destroyed, though. 00:05:28.910 --> 00:05:30.930 It turned into a monster, and then it got destroyed, 00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:34.870 and he has that back now. I think we're seeing 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:38.339 a shift in Baku. where last episode he questioned, 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:40.180 oh, you want me to just destroy this enemy without 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:45.019 asking questions? And he assumed that that was 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:49.899 Nox, and maybe it was Nox. I kind of think explicitly, 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.100 but Zero did say for him to destroy Nox. And 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:55.939 then he chose not to. He decided to instead destroy 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:59.000 the nightmare. But my point is that he had this 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.839 mental resolve and this mental fortitude and 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:03.139 this strength to get back all his capsums and 00:06:03.139 --> 00:06:08.680 to activate this new boost capsum. And I feel 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:12.079 like it's because he's stepping out of Zero's 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:14.699 shadow. He's stepping into his own. And he's 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:17.120 taking ownership of who he is and the power that 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.000 he has. And he's deciding what he's going to 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:23.040 do with it without limits. He's already broken 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.300 the limits a little bit and gotten this thunder 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:29.980 or plasma capsum that he created somehow by capturing 00:06:29.980 --> 00:06:32.959 his own nightmare of getting stricken by lightning. 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.680 Now he's broken from the mission protocol. He 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.240 didn't eliminate Knox. He instead chose to eliminate 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:43.319 his nightmare, which it's interesting because 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:44.879 we think that's a really good, noble, heroic 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.000 thing. But it seems like by the end of the episode, 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:50.180 we're seeing that it's not a good thing necessarily. 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:51.800 Maybe there's a negative consequence to it that 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:54.259 we'll talk about later. My point is, I really 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:56.959 appreciate the growth that Baku is showing and 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:02.079 that he's choosing to rebel against the system, 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:04.279 the individual that gave him power. to do what 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.800 he feels is right. And I really appreciate that 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:09.639 because it's very much in the spirit of the original 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.920 Kamen Rider. Also, the plasma form with its yellow 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:19.060 next to the green on his face reminds me of the 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:21.579 Shocker Rider number one, which had a yellow 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:24.180 scarf and yellow gloves and yellow boots, I think. 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:28.500 And Shocker Rider, if you can't guess, is a Kamen 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:30.220 Rider created by Shocker in order to destroy 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:33.639 the Double Riders, Hango and Ichimonji. And they 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:35.660 were created because they figured, hey, these 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:37.060 writers, I don't know if they're from Shocker 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:38.560 or Jail Shocker, probably Shocker on its last 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.620 legs. Anyway, they decided to create other grasshopper 00:07:41.620 --> 00:07:43.879 kaijin, grasshopper cyborgs, because, hey, these 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:46.480 grasshopper cyborgs are killing all our kaisening, 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:50.100 and we need to stop them. So it makes sense to 00:07:50.100 --> 00:07:52.459 replicate the power, you know, use the same battle 00:07:52.459 --> 00:07:54.860 platform, you could say, and take them out with 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.240 that. And, you know, I haven't seen the show, 00:07:57.300 --> 00:07:59.560 so I don't know how it worked out. Just the look 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:01.459 of that reminds me of, and it was also in Shin 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:04.160 Kamen Rider, right? Anyway, but the look of Plasma 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:05.779 kind of makes me think about a Shocker Rider. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:11.000 So I was thinking, is Baku becoming evil? Baku's 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.779 breaking the system he's breaking and he's going 00:08:12.779 --> 00:08:16.360 against, he's rebelling. As much as Kamen Rider 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:18.319 is like a victim who doesn't want to let other 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.079 people become victims of the same victimizer, 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:22.800 the same perpetrator, and then he fights against 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:24.379 them and he uses their evil power against them, 00:08:24.459 --> 00:08:27.800 he's also in a way a rebel or a betrayer. Because 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:32.879 he was a Shocker member, or was supposed to have 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.480 been a Shocker member, but instead of becoming 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:37.960 a Shocker member, being brainwashed by them, 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:40.600 being taken in by them, and submitting to their 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:43.240 will alone, his mind was left free and he chose 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:45.940 to work against them. Baku's mind has not been 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:48.740 altered beyond him forgetting things or having 00:08:48.740 --> 00:08:50.100 stuff wiped from his mind in that cram school, 00:08:50.139 --> 00:08:54.720 possibly. But he's choosing to actively go against 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.279 the one who gave him power. which would be zero 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.620 in this case. And he's violating orders on purpose. 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.799 And he's not doing his will, zero's will, or 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:04.600 code's will. He's doing his own will. He's doing 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:06.200 what he thinks is just, what he thinks is right. 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:10.220 And I find that to be very interesting. And I 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:15.559 don't know if that's the point of Zets. I don't 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:21.000 know if that's just a little thing that... Takahashi 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:22.899 is playing with or what? But I think it's very 00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:24.440 powerful. And I think it's interesting that if 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:25.720 we're going to get reinterpretations of Kamen 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:27.100 Rider, I would love to just see more like a sequel 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:31.899 to Kamen Rider with Fujioka's son, who would 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:34.720 also be a Fujioka, I guess, cast as him and like 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:36.120 playing out another season or whatever with him 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:37.659 being eternally young, you know, forever young 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:40.059 Kamen Rider. Like I'd be okay with seeing more 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:41.480 stories of him throughout the world doing different 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.360 stuff or even old, you know, harsh Fujioka if 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.519 he could do it, which I fully believe in him. 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:49.860 Like, I'd be interested in that. But if we're 00:09:49.860 --> 00:09:50.620 not going to get that, if we're not going to 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:52.259 get sequels and continuations of the story, which 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:54.500 I know people say sequels are weird, but again, 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:56.059 that's a topic we can talk about another time 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:57.399 because I think I have a strong justification 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:01.340 for sequels. Sequels on sequels on sequels. But 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:02.240 if we're not going to see that, if we're going 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.399 to get reinterpretations of Kamen Rider, of this 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.840 original story or this idea, then the elements 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:11.299 that make it up should be taken and played with 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:13.179 in interesting ways and examined from different 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:17.019 angles. I think that's what Takashi's doing here. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:21.299 And I think the rebellion of Baku and the way 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:24.539 that he's straying, choosing to stray from zero 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:29.879 and code is giving us those vibes. It's giving 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:32.419 us that dimension, that aspect of Kamen Rider 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:34.580 in an important way. And I don't know what it 00:10:34.580 --> 00:10:36.240 means. I don't know what it's saying. I don't 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:38.340 know if it's good or not, but I think it's interesting. 00:10:39.539 --> 00:10:41.480 And I'll be curious to see how the arc evolves 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:46.419 throughout the rest of the show. I thought Boosh 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:49.500 was dumb. Didn't like the look of it. I could 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:51.360 say other things about the show. I could talk 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:52.759 about the thing that happened with Odaka at the 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:54.360 end, but I'm not going to for now. I'm going 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:55.700 to leave it here because I really wanted to talk 00:10:55.700 --> 00:11:01.919 about this idea of rebellion or betrayal or going 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:09.000 against and being of your own mind. That seems 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.700 to me to be a very important thing for Kamen 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:14.710 Rider. That's pretty much all I wanted to say 00:11:14.710 --> 00:11:16.750 about it. Anyway, you can check out my full Zets 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:19.730 playlist. It'll be in the pinned comment. And 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:21.889 you can tell me what you thought about this episode. 00:11:22.169 --> 00:11:23.610 Do you think I'm crazy for bringing up what I'm 00:11:23.610 --> 00:11:25.049 bringing up? Or does it make sense to you? Did 00:11:25.049 --> 00:11:26.409 you sense kind of the same things? Are there 00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:28.210 other things that you hated about the episode, 00:11:28.289 --> 00:11:29.649 liked about the episode, wanted to talk about 00:11:29.649 --> 00:11:31.750 the episode that I didn't cover that we can discuss 00:11:31.750 --> 00:11:34.049 in the comments? I'm open to it. Let me know. 00:11:34.850 --> 00:11:36.850 Like, subscribe, share. Do all that good stuff 00:11:36.850 --> 00:11:38.409 to help me grow the channel. And again, check 00:11:38.409 --> 00:11:40.049 the pinned comment if you want to go deeper into 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:43.409 more of my Zets analysis as well as... other 00:11:43.409 --> 00:11:46.929 things. Until next time, this is MJ with Rider 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:48.990 -Tiers and Engine Inspection signing out.