WEBVTT

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This is a teaching that in order to prove that

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you've changed, you need to find yourself in

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the same situation, making the same choice, and

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choose differently. That's not exactly what's

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going on in Zets right now, but the way that

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Baku and Nox, Odaka, whatever, are contrasting

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each other is kind of similar to that, because

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they are both people who have worked for code,

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who work for code. They both have issues with

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code. They both fight and destroy nightmares,

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and they're both... harnessing the power of nightmares

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as well. Both in just, that's the way the rider

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system works in Zezits, that they, you know,

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the capsums are, you know, fueled by nightmares,

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which I love that idea. It takes the idea of

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nightmare fuel and turns it into a literal concept.

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But also, each of them is now in a more powerful

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form, pretty consistently, well, pretty consistently

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for Baku. He's using Inazuma. Plasma, rather.

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And Nox is using his new form that he has because

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he's got the different belt and whatever. I mean,

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he's... I don't know if he's considered Comrader

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Nox at this point or Nox Shadow or what he is

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called. But whatever. They're in these different

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forms. And these are their, like, I don't know,

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mid -peak forms, whatever you could say. I don't

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know if there's going to be something beyond

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either of these forms for them. But that's...

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less important. What's more important is that,

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like, from a story perspective, they're mirrors,

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they're shadows, they're copies of each other,

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they're ideological opposites. They have a weird

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friendship or rivalry where the two of them are

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operating in this world with these rules. And

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each of them has their own mission, but we don't

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really know what Nox's agenda is. What is Odaka

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really after? And it's intriguing because, again,

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another parallel, another mirroring. He's in

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a similar relationship with the superior, being

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the lady that Baku's in. And seeing them so evenly

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matched against each other in fighting, in attitude,

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and in, I don't know, worldview, perspective,

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whatever, is really fascinating to me. Because

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it makes it feel like there's something deeper

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going on here. There's something more mythic.

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And it feels like a really clever way for this

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story to be explored. And honestly, I don't even

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know what the story is. I don't know what the

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topic, the subject matter, the theme really is

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here. But I don't care because the execution

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and the exploration is so fun to watch unfold.

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It's really enjoyable. even just the way they

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fight each other and the kinds of moves that

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they're doing. It's all so dynamic. It's so interesting.

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And it has such great visual flourish that even

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not really fully understanding what's going on,

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it's really enjoyable to watch. And the important

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thing is that it works on a thematic level with

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the invisible theme. I don't need to know what

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the theme is necessarily to get that they're

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coming at each other. coming at these things

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from different sides. And somehow it all blends

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together and works well. And I find that really

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impressive. In fact, the sleight of hand is so

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effective that I barely noticed that the whole

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Little Red Riding Hood thing didn't really make

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that much sense or matter that much. All that

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mattered was that Nim was a victim, that she

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was taken away. I think the idea is, based on

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what Nox said to the lady, is that she... put

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the she planted the dream of nem being eaten

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by the big bad wolf whatever destroyed killed

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in the mind of the nurse so that zero could be

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drawn out and killed or eliminated captured whatever

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she i think she wanted him captured but he went

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a step further whatever um and like that didn't

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really get wrapped up and we have this weird

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thing where the lady appears to baku at the end

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of the episode and then She also has Nem in her

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possession, which I don't know if that's a new

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set. Obviously, like, realistically, in the real

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world, they had to get the actress in there in

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that bed and whatever. But I don't remember if,

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like, the way that things have been blocked or

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filmed in that set, if they had to rearrange

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things to make that happen or if she's always

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been there or, you know, could have always been

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there and they accommodated for her. But, like,

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the whole thing about her telling Nem that she'll

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make her bad dream come true as well. like what

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is all that about does is nem some sort of weird

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dream figure does she have a bad dream that is

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that the lady is like trying to pursue i mean

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obviously that's what it sounds like she's saying

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but that's also just what they say in general

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uh to the night to the nightmare victims uh to

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the dreamers whatever so i don't know and that

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also opens back up questions of nox or odaka

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saying that he's like nem because he couldn't

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wake up for a time in that way He's like her

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because she also can't wake up for a time. How

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long? We don't know. But it's funny because like

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those things, these like giant open loops, open

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circles, open threads almost didn't even occur

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to me because I'm just enjoying what they're

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doing. And it's funny. I, you know, I called

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it a sleight of hand. It's like, yeah, I'm going

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to distract you with all this cool action, all

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this cool thematic stuff going on. That's like

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really intriguing you and drawing you in and,

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you know, capturing you. And it's making a mystery

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for you to enjoy. And meanwhile, you're totally

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ignoring the fact that I'm not addressing all

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these other issues, which is interesting. And

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my big takeaway, my big, I guess, praise for

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the show is that it feels like it's perfectly

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balanced because we have a lot of moving parts.

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We have a lot of factors going on that aren't

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100 % clear to us. And yet, it's all humming

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along like a well -oiled machine. And nothing

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seems to be out of place. And nothing seems to

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be really causing any issues because it's just

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working. And I find that impressive. I guess

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this is my praise of you, Takahashi, for doing

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such a good job with this. And, of course, the

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rest of the team who's making it come to life.

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They're making his dream a reality. And I want

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to know if you feel similar or if you feel different.

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Do you think it's perfectly balanced or are there

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things that are off that you... or bothered by

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or notice or waiting to be fully explained or

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made better, made to make more sense of the show.

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Anyway, that's it. That's all I have for you.

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This is MJ with Writer Tears signing out.