WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Kamen Rider Z's episode 26 is the best recap 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:05.900 in the history of Kamen Rider, nay, in the history 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:09.439 of all Henshin Hero tokusatsu shows. I think 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.599 that's true. And the great thing about that is 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:16.500 it adds proof to my assertion that Yuu Takahashi 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:22.539 either is or wants to, or both, be known as the 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:25.260 best writer in the Kamen Rider franchise. Because 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:29.100 he's just fantastic. Anyway, so I love... This 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:32.539 was a recap episode, 26 Zets, and I almost skipped 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:35.420 it. I thought, I really need to watch it. I thought, 00:00:35.539 --> 00:00:38.340 well, but I've seen people online kind of talking 00:00:38.340 --> 00:00:40.399 about it and saying how cool it was and how interesting 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:41.700 it was. So I thought, okay, fine, I'll stick 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:44.679 around. Plus, the show threatened me. It said, 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:47.039 you Zetsers, stick around to the end. So I thought, 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:48.820 oh, better. I don't want to have any bad dreams. 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:52.100 So anyway, I watched till the end, and it was 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:55.119 cool. I noticed, I think, three things that prove 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.799 my point. One is that the dialogue was natural. 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:01.119 And it made sense, the whole conceit of the recap, 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:02.719 it made a lot of sense why they were doing it. 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:09.819 Two, my second proof is that the recap is extremely 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:11.980 efficient. It really does a great job of encapsulating 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:14.319 the 24 episodes in, I think it was 18 minutes 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:17.159 or less. If you count, if you subtract what you 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:19.719 should, the opening, which was, I don't know, 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:21.079 a minute and 30 seconds or something like that. 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:24.980 And then proof number three is that it also moves 00:01:24.980 --> 00:01:26.780 the story forward and it moves the story forward 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.319 in a couple of ways. One, we see Agent 3 giving 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:33.480 orders to 5 and 6. We see 5 and 6 coming to confront 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.340 or capture whatever, Baku. They really want the 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:38.659 driver, but that's not important. They're sent 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:41.719 after Baku. And then number three is that we 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.459 have this new guy show up at the end. Dual wielding 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:47.239 knives, I believe. He's got two knives. And then 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:48.959 knives drop down from the ceiling. It's kind 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:55.099 of fun. Anyway, so that's great. We have the 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:59.030 conceit is that... Baku had all this stuff happen 00:01:59.030 --> 00:02:01.810 to him from the first 24 episodes, 25 really, 00:02:01.909 --> 00:02:07.209 in his dream. And now he, well, he had all this 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:08.789 stuff happen to him in episode 24, or through 00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:11.569 episodes 1 through 24. In episode 25, he wakes 00:02:11.569 --> 00:02:13.990 up for a real reel, and he encounters these people, 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:17.629 his sister and the two agents, Fujimi and Nasuka. 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:20.909 And then he basically tells them that he has... 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:23.240 history and connection with them that goes deeper 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:24.919 and that he's this agent and that there's all 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:26.780 this stuff going on and they don't really believe 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:28.439 him, but they're kind of intrigued and they're 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:29.819 kind of hooked. And then by the end of the episode, 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:34.740 they're all primed to want to learn about what's 00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:36.680 going on because he falls asleep in the Zets 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:38.560 room, which I guess that's all it's called. And 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:41.639 then he appears on the screen with Nem and that 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:44.759 sets us up for this episode where he says, okay, 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:46.400 now that I've got you all hooked, now that I 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.840 have your attention and you believe me, sort 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.750 of, you're open to believing me. Let me explain 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:52.830 to you what happened. And then he goes ahead 00:02:52.830 --> 00:02:55.069 and does that. And all of them, because none 00:02:55.069 --> 00:02:56.669 of them were there in the events of the dream, 00:02:56.870 --> 00:02:59.669 or his premonition really, and I'll clarify why 00:02:59.669 --> 00:03:01.090 I think premonition is more important than dream, 00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:05.430 none of them know what's going on, but they should 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:07.169 want to know. They should be invested in knowing 00:03:07.169 --> 00:03:09.969 what happened, and they are, so they ask questions. 00:03:10.110 --> 00:03:13.550 And Nem, which this part doesn't... Okay, I'll 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:17.349 jump back real quick. I, at one point... in talking 00:03:17.349 --> 00:03:20.289 with people in my comments, and some of you, 00:03:20.389 --> 00:03:23.169 and in seeing people talk about this online and 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:24.669 thinking about it myself, was kind of thinking, 00:03:24.729 --> 00:03:27.069 oh, this is a Wizard of Oz scenario. He goes 00:03:27.069 --> 00:03:32.530 to sleep, and as he's dreaming, people from the 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:35.590 real world get pulled into his dream, into his... 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:37.990 So he's dealing with cognitive versions of them. 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:40.229 They're not really the real people. They're versions 00:03:40.229 --> 00:03:44.490 of the people based on whatever, and that's all 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:48.560 it is. However... I don't think that's true because 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:53.639 I think this was a premonition, a vision of the 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:56.819 future of a potential reality that could have 00:03:56.819 --> 00:03:59.759 happened had things gone a certain way. But now 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.400 that things are changing, that reality will not 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.340 fall out the same way. However, people will still 00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:08.120 be the people who they were. So he was dealing 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:09.800 with like an alternate timeline version of them 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.520 almost. And the people who he got to know, he 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:15.550 really did get to know them. And those connections 00:04:15.550 --> 00:04:18.069 really did happen in a way where they had the 00:04:18.069 --> 00:04:19.970 potential to happen in his waking reality, in 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:21.810 the waking world. But they didn't have the chance 00:04:21.810 --> 00:04:27.509 to because of circumstances. So now that he's 00:04:27.509 --> 00:04:29.509 awake and they're awake and they're drawn into 00:04:29.509 --> 00:04:30.829 his story and they want to know what's going 00:04:30.829 --> 00:04:32.850 on, there's a chance for him to repeat those 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:35.850 same dynamics with them, if not beat for beat 00:04:35.850 --> 00:04:39.610 the same sort of scenarios. Nem is the exception 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:44.240 because... I don't know what happened with Nem, 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:46.639 actually. Was he dealing with the actual Nem, 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:49.079 or was he dealing with a potential version of 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:53.079 Nem throughout the dreams? I don't think he was 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.819 dealing with the real Nem, because she doesn't 00:04:56.819 --> 00:04:59.839 know that the lady's her mother, and she seemed 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:01.540 very much like when she wanted to arrest him 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:04.240 and all that stuff, like she was reset to the 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:06.079 beginning, and Baku's the only one who had those 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.259 sorts of meaningful interactions with everybody, 00:05:08.339 --> 00:05:11.899 including Nem. So Nem was also asking questions, 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:14.439 and it made sense because she's a person, a character, 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:17.279 who did not have the premonition, therefore she 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.160 had things to ask about like the others did, 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.040 which makes a lot of sense. So very natural way, 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:27.379 very clever way to set up the synopsis, the recap 00:05:27.379 --> 00:05:31.279 segments, with having the characters say, well, 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:32.779 what happened about this, or how does this function, 00:05:32.939 --> 00:05:35.800 as opposed to in Gokaiger or whatever. Hey, do 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:37.180 you remember when this happened? Oh yeah, that 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:38.939 was crazy. Let's talk about that now, and then 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:42.610 show the clip. So I really like that. And let 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:46.589 me see my notes. So, I mean, I don't think I 00:05:46.589 --> 00:05:48.029 need to prove that it's extremely efficient because 00:05:48.029 --> 00:05:50.389 I've already basically stated that it is extremely 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:54.089 efficient. No further proof needed. It went by 00:05:54.089 --> 00:05:56.170 like that. You get it. You're caught up. You 00:05:56.170 --> 00:05:58.129 could even say you could jump all the way to 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:00.310 episode 26 and just start from there if you really 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:01.910 didn't want to watch the first 24 episodes. But 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:03.350 I think you should because they're really good. 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:06.670 Good stuff happened. We had Mickey Mold. We had 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:11.480 running around. Ball as a tiny purple guy. It 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:16.439 was incredible. And then my third point, or my 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.339 third proof, is that the episode moved the story 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:23.339 forward. So we're learning a little bit more 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:26.019 about the structure. Agent 3 is offering, is 00:06:26.019 --> 00:06:30.420 giving orders. His orders are absolute. Even 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:33.100 though Agent 5 objects to them, and Agent 5 in 00:06:33.100 --> 00:06:35.819 the dream, in the premonition, he said he doesn't 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:38.110 let go until his target is dead. which is interesting, 00:06:38.269 --> 00:06:40.509 and I always felt kind of funny about him and 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:44.810 funny about that idea, but I think it makes sense, 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:46.990 especially if they're going after bad things. 00:06:47.050 --> 00:06:51.189 Also, yeah, I'll focus on that somewhere else. 00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:54.790 More importantly than that side tangent I was 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.089 going to get distracted by is that we also see 00:06:57.089 --> 00:06:59.350 this new Kamen Rider come along, who I won't 00:06:59.350 --> 00:07:00.829 name if you're not into the spoilers, but I've 00:07:00.829 --> 00:07:04.069 seen spoilers or maybe the name reported on scans 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:07.759 or whatever, but I won't share it here. We have 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.800 this dual knife -wielding guy come in. So, pause. 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:18.199 Baku's catching everybody up. He is actually 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:24.000 showing some cool agent status, some chops, because 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.620 he's going to get surprise attacked by these 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:29.060 people by five and six, but he knows they're 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:32.970 coming, so he's using his Techno -Lom. projection 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:35.790 power from one of his capsums in order to put 00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:37.970 out a decoy that they attack which was super 00:07:37.970 --> 00:07:39.509 dope and a super great moment because it shows 00:07:39.509 --> 00:07:41.149 how much he's grown and how much he's developed 00:07:41.149 --> 00:07:44.410 from the zero he was in episode one to the uh 00:07:44.410 --> 00:07:48.269 you know whatever he is in episode 24 or 26 whatever 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:51.970 so that's really cool and that's part of the 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:54.009 plot progression and then this new guy comes 00:07:54.009 --> 00:07:56.449 in who's this new enemy who he attacks all of 00:07:56.449 --> 00:08:00.160 them and Baku even makes a statement, I think, 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:02.060 in that moment that, oh, our fate is changing 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:05.220 already. So it's cool because you have the recap. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.019 You have everything. The stage is set for things 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:10.459 to continue now, but they're not going to continue 00:08:10.459 --> 00:08:13.319 in the same way. They're going to progress. They're 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:14.639 going to go forward into a different direction 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:16.740 based on everything that's happened. And I find 00:08:16.740 --> 00:08:18.620 that really exciting, really cool. It's a great 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:21.459 recap episode because it catches you up. If you 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:24.680 came from zero and had nothing, I think you could 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:27.180 just jump into the show here. But again. If you 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:29.800 are a full -time watcher of the show, then you 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:31.759 are being rewarded by seeing a cool recap episode 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:33.340 with all these interesting little things happening, 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.379 going on. There's little lore tidbits that are 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.940 dropped throughout. And now we have this big 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:40.100 reveal of this other person who we don't know 00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:41.980 who they are or what they're doing. And they've 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:44.679 got a cool suit and they've got six eyes, which 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:48.820 I think links to Baku's shadow thing, Nightmare. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:50.659 But that's something I'll talk about later as 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:52.620 well. And I find this all really exciting, really 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:54.580 compelling. I think it's great. I think Takahashi 00:08:54.580 --> 00:08:57.909 is the GOAT. Which is funny because goat is in 00:08:57.909 --> 00:09:01.009 the lyrics of the first song at the very end. 00:09:01.769 --> 00:09:05.929 Anyway, please let me know if there's a better 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:09.169 writer recap episode, Sentai recap episode, Ultraman 00:09:09.169 --> 00:09:11.870 recap episode. I'd love to know it because I 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:12.929 don't think it exists. I don't think it's out 00:09:12.929 --> 00:09:15.429 there. I think this is the best. Prove me wrong. 00:09:15.649 --> 00:09:18.610 Anyway, check the pinned comment for more. You 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:21.389 can find playlists. You can find my inspector's 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:23.389 notes where I'll have extra information there. 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:26.379 Good, juicy tidbits that you can... bite into 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:29.600 and enjoy and other good stuff. So until next 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:31.200 time, folks, this is MJ with Henshin Inspection 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:32.679 and Rider Tears signing out.