>>23723578
He looks odd without facial hair

https://mega.nz/folder/2QFTFKxJ#1qRPjOjMZjIrEAKt8NR2ig

>>23723578
Who this?

Baku's questioning who he even is, if his love of spy media was implanted into him by CODE and how much of his life has been consumed by the organization, but still decides to protect the dreamers even when said sense of duty is due to his programming. Baku is becoming Ashley Riot and I love it.

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>>23723569
>CODE is evil because they brainwash their soldiers into doing what they want
>so I'm gonna team up with a woman who brainwashes people to get what she wants and enjoys making people suffer
Nox continues to be a worthless buffoon and a pathetic excuse for a secondary.
Outside of that, decent episode.

>>23723634
It’s like Hongo getting turned into the Hopper Kaijin. But instead of getting the cybernetic augments and skipping the brainwashing, Baku got all the brainwashing and none of the enchantments.

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What are your pros and cons on the episode?

Is 6 the secondary?

>>23723664
Nox is the Secondary and the Tertiary is some other dude we haven't seen. Lord Six isn't even the "main" Lord.

Based on preview, Shock..... makes you punch stronger.

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Having girl troubles? Don't worry, fujimi will be there to pat you on the shoulder, whether you're his partner or a stranger that doesn't know who he is.

>>23723569
>>23723652
Okay episode, could've been pretty good but I was left disappointed by some things. For starters, I like how quickly Baku deduced that he had been groomed to like spy stuff since he was a child, him being brainwashed in his special classes was an obvious realization that he took his sweet time coming to though. I think it would've been a good twist if it had been revealed that his good heroic nature was the product of CODE's brainwashing, it could've led to some interesting dilemmas and developments, but it seems like they're going with the angle that he's just a naturally good person, which is kinda boring. Also, it seems like they're hinting that The Lady (who once again doesn't make any effort to hide that she's evil) will be making Nightmares out of his bad dreams sometime in the future, maybe it'll lead to Dark Zeztz.

(1/3)

>>23723806
Also, thanks to another random infodump from Nox, it's been revealed that The Lady's garden is actually Nem's subconscious, which does kinda imply that the line between the real world and the dream one is already somewhat blurred if Nox's scenes with his black outfit are supposed to take place in the former. This episode also made me realize that it's kind of weird that none of the heroes have ever questioned what the weird butterflies that come out of Nightmares even are. I did like the heart to heart Nem had with Baku over her conflicted feelings upon this reveal and I wish we get to see her like this more often instead of just having her be a pretty face who does basically nothing, though I think the pep talk Baku gave her would've hit harder if it had taken place during a Case in which the victim of the week was an actual of hers so she could cheer them up at the end instead of someone like Kureha who didn't acknowledge her much throughout this whole 2-parter. Until this episode I theorized that Nem being everywhere and thus being able to appear in everyone's dreams was some kind of psyop conducted by one of the show's shady organizations, but at this point I think that her becoming an idol and her powers intersecting with that profession is just a mere coincidence, though her origins still remains a mystery.

Between Baku cockblocking Nem's attempt to fix her own mess and the Kureha-Nasuka duo being unable to do anything against the Nightmare despite their dramatic team-up scene, Zeztz proves that women are useless like a proper Rider show. Speaking of the Nightmare, I'm disappointed that Kureha being allowed to confront him didn't really lead to anything (like it maybe being the key to beat him or something) and that he didn't really end up killing anyone despite how threatening he was made up to be, though that also makes Nox look a little less bad.

(2/3)

>>23723811
Speaking of Nox, I'm really starting to think that he's just plain retarded. First of all, turns out that the purpose of this whole shitshow with the Nightmare was just to murder Kureha, who had her memories wiped and wasn't even part of CODE anymore. Nox blames CODE for all the suffering she's enduring at the moment, but it's his group that's the one forcing her to relive her traumatic memories as an Agent by throwing a Nightmare at her and they're also trying to get her offed on top of that, and it was him who brainwashed her to become a CODE soldier in the first place. His conversation with The Lady also proves he truly intended to get her killed and only changed his mind when Baku intervened and made his heroic speech. And in the end this whole thing was just a net negative for them since it just encouraged Kureha to rejoin CODE and become an actual obstacle in their mission. This whole shitshow also makes me question if he really cared about Baku's wellbeing at all because, despite constantly telling him to leave CODE for his own good, this shows he was willing to murder former CODE Agents just because they were part of CODE. So if Baku had actually listened to him much earlier on, would've he also gotten assassinated like Kureha? Like I said, Nox made it sound like he only changed his mind about the plan to kill Kureha at the last second, because of Baku's persistence.

Nox is also fully aware that The Lady has mental suggestion powers, so if it turns out he's been mentally influenced all along to commit evil acts like these when he otherwise wouldn't, and he knows that she could very well be using them on him, that still makes him extremely stupid.

Between his retarded hypocrisy and his nonexistent charisma, Nox is easily the worst character in the show at the moment. They're gonna need to write a really damn good justification to turn my opinion on him around.

(3/4)

>>23723827
Agent Three once again barely showed up this week so I can't comment much on him, though it did surprise me a bit that he didn't actually force Kureha to rejoin CODE and she did it all out of her own volition. His lack of charisma and interactions with Baku so far make him kind of a downgrade from Zero character-wise.

I don't have a very strong opinion on Kureha yet either, she has the potential to be a very good foil to Baku but her personality isn't exactly endearing nor entertaining. The reveal that she's been investigating Black Cases on her own and the fact that she retired as a journalist so quickly really make me wish she had been introduced earlier in the series, before this whole 2-parter revealed she was an Agent. Now that she's back with CODE, I hope she's smart and uses it as an opportunity to undermine whatever evil shit they're doing from the inside instead of just blindly following their orders like a drone, I don't really want a repeat of Yua from Zero-One.

Minami appeared very little this week, but she was a solid emotional support like always and I hope they don't sideline her in the future since I still think she's a better Heroine than Nem. Fujimi was kind of an asshole again this week, but I like seeing Nasuka showing a more vulnerable side. The kicking gag kind of ruined the mood at the end of the episode though.

I thought Agent Five would get his own 2-parter as a victim of the week, I think this whole arc would've been a neat way to introduce the Lords' users before they transformed, but it seems like he's just gonna be a CODE grunt debuting in a random victim's Case. I can easily see him being the least important Lord since Three is the leader and Six is the sympathetic one that will probably get redeemed.

(4/4)

>>23723652
Interesting, really intriguing ep.
We got a further glimpse into CODE's seediness with the way they mold their agents from a young age, and how much this rocked Baku's entire sense of self. Great acting there from Imai, and I really appreciate that it wasn't overplayed. I also liked Baku resisting The Lady's manipulation, subtly showing how strong his will power is deep down.
The exchange between Baku and Nemu complimented furthered this. For the first time, you really get the impression this isn't just Baku's ideal self, but who he really is deep down with the right prompting. Or maybe it's all part of the plan to groom the perfect agent. And the Lady seemingly wants to make him a Nightmare incubator. Poor guy can't catch a break.

I liked Kureha letting dream Nasuka fight along side her. It may not have amounted to much, but it was nice setup for her leaving her camera with Nasuka. Nice to see Nemu attempt to fight the Nightmare as well, even if it didn't amount to much either.

Great action sequences. Really loved the transitions and usage of the dream scenery in the last fight. Nice to see the much hyped Greatsword Mode too, even if the finisher was a little simplistic.

Not a fan of how Nox was handled this ep. Or rather, I'm not a fan of how it was presented. The dichotomy between his behavior around others and his actions has been a fine line so far, but it was a little disappointing to see he didn't seem to have a backup plan for Death Game killing Kureha. Perhaps he was going to attack him from behind before Baku showed up. Call it cope if you want, but his past actions usually had more plausible deniability to them than presented here. Hope there's some further fleshing out on that point next episode.

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>>23723811
So, Nemu will be used to unleash the Unmoored World around Q4?

>>23723869
>For the first time, you really get the impression this isn't just Baku's ideal self, but who he really is deep down with the right prompting
That's been obvious since the Bomb Nightmare arc, where he acted heroic even without being his dream self. It's been made pretty clear that he's a nice guy even when he isn't roleplaying as an Agent.
>The dichotomy between his behavior around others and his actions has been a fine line so far, but it was a little disappointing to see he didn't seem to have a backup plan for Death Game killing Kureha. Perhaps he was going to attack him from behind before Baku showed up.
The fact that he told The Lady straight up that he dropped the plan to kill Kureha because of Baku's resolve, and that right before that he was giving Kureha a speech about how he would finally free her from her suffering, makes it obvious that he actually intended to kill her as a twisted form of mercy until Baku saved her and made him change his mind. Which doesn't make him look good because it was his and The Lady's fault that she regained all her traumatic memories in the first place and there really was no justifiable reason to kill her because she wasn't even a member of CODE anymore.

So at best, he was just following The Lady's orders to kill her for no reason other than their grudge against anything related to CODE, and he (poorly) justified it to himself as a mercy kill.

>>23723652
Nox is really dumb/incompetent or just going in an extreme "triple agent" way of doing things.
I liked the reveal and how Baku handled. Even if he was brainwashed. He still has his sister, Fujimi and Nasuka to help him. And he still needs CODE powers to turn into Zeztz to save Nem.
Kureha going back to CODE after questioning Baku about everything was retarded. She didn't even try to talk back to Nasuka. Poor girl.

>Nox is also fully aware that The Lady has mental suggestion powers, so if it turns out he's been mentally influenced all along to commit evil acts like these when he otherwise wouldn't, and he knows that she could very well be using them on him, that still makes him extremely stupid.
Honestly, they can come around that The Lady's powers makes him blind to the obvious. But I agree that Nox is still retarded and Minami is the best female character of this show. I like the siblings dynamic.

>>23723641
At this point I am waiting for a "wait, you mean the evil brainwashing woman was brainwashing me????" twist with him like CODE still fucked him and while weak she twisted things a little to make him retarded.

>>23723996
that's even more retarded

>>23724056
He's not proposing it as a better alternative, that's what he's expecting to happen with how stupid Nox's writing is. The other alternative is that Nox is just naturally flat out retarded, no psychic manipulation needed.

>>23723892
>That's been obvious since the Bomb Nightmare arc, where he acted heroic even without being his dream self.
I suppose it would've been better to say it's nice to see some of Baku's usual earnestness come through his agent persona. The point is, it's a nice, notable moment.

>The fact that he told The Lady straight up that he dropped the plan to kill Kureha because of Baku's resolve

I alluded to it when I mentioned his behavior around others, but I don't believe he was being honest about that given who he was talking to. Given his distrust for all sides involved, we're never going to get close to the truth unless he's talking to himself.

>>23723641
>Seven, you see
>After you rescued me from my nightmare...I woke up.
>Therefore now I am woke so I am forced to work for woman...that's just how it is now.

>>23723641
He's clearly infiltrating the enemy organization.
He's after something she has before he reveals he's still working for CODE. However I expect her to be aware of this and has mind wiped him a few time times to keep him working for her longer.

Wouldn't it be quite the twist if CODE as Nox knew it was already gone and that Zero has been putting up a front for that the whole time to make sure no tried to take advantage of that void?

>>23724184
too good to be true

>>23723569
WHY IS ZEZTZ SO DEPRESSIVE AND GLOOMY RECENTLY
WHERE'S THE FUN AHHH
WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED

>>23723827
>Murder kureha
Nox just want her to remember her time being CODE agent and extract her knowledge of CODE HQ location.
He's retarded but not outright evil, call him reiwa baron but an extreme case.

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So the reason Ben's subconscious can create the Nightmares is because the orphanage groomed her to be as famous as possible to be present in the subconscious of everyone?

>>23724295
Do you have a condition that makes you incapable of watching the preview?

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Why hasn't he used this form ever again?

>>23724549
thank god he hasn't

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Why is the official site claiming that Nox lost Erase?

>>23723630
The red agent we see in the preview

>>23724546
So Lord 5 definitely has Valen's suit actor right? He has that madlad fighting style, shame the actor broke his skull but I assume that will only affect Zeztz's final arc

>>23724549
How is the suit this beaten up already

>>23724562
>So Lord 5 definitely has Valen's suit actor right?
Wasn't he hospitalized?

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So she definitely left Nasuka some evidence/hints of CODE inside the camera right?

>>23724569
Yeah but there's a big gap between filming and airing, for example last week's episode was filmed at the start of June. So by the time he broke his skull they probably had already filmed about 32 episodes, he already played the Barrier Nightmare from Nox debut for example and that episode aired after the announcement that he had broken his skull.

>>23724164
>I alluded to it when I mentioned his behavior around others, but I don't believe he was being honest about that given who he was talking to
When he's talking to Kureha he tells her that CODE is at fault for her nightmares and that she would soon "rest in peace forever, free of her bad dreams", which is why I'm telling you he probably viewed this as some kind of mercy kill. She would've nearly died if it wasn't for Baku saving her at the last second. They didn't seem like they would've gained anything out of this plan other than Kureha's death. And Nox isn't even trying to pretend he's completely loyal to The Lady in front of her, between telling her off in previous episodes and admitting he spared Kureha when the mission was to kill her because Baku reminded him that he should hate the organization, not its Agents.

>>23724426
>Nox just want her to remember her time being CODE agent and extract her knowledge of CODE HQ location.
No, that's a theory I made last week but nothing in this episode suggests that was the case, so don't headcanon it as a cope. Between them not making any mention of going through her memories to find the CODE HQ, Nox literally telling Kureha that she would "rest in peace forever" right before the Nightmare almost kills her and The Lady asking Nox why he didn't finish her off, it's clear that the purpose of the mission was to assassinate her.
>He's retarded but not outright evil
There isn't much of a difference if you're good but still retarded enough to help outright evil people. Just look at Michinaga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIw1LswekWE
The full episode.

>>23724563
It has to be intentional, the suit is just extra stuff on top of Plasma. But the regular Plasma suit doesn't look as fucked up.

>>23724691
>It has to be intentional
Cope.

>>23723681
Five and Six are going to die and Three will be the final boss and a Kamen Rider.

>>23724743
Why else would they make a different undersuit instead of just swapping out the parts?

>>23724549
Symbolically, because Plasma is Baku overcoming his own fears and insecurities, which is particularly meaningful in this arc where he's grappling with the question of just how much he's even really himself or something that CODE made, while Booster is just another toy that CODE gave him, at a time when he's growing increasingly distrustful of CODE and its so-called gifts.

Writing-wise, because Takahashi wants to subvert expectations, so instead of the two-stage upgrade getting the second stage that fixes the problems and then never using the first stage again, he's having Baku train the first stage until he masters it and doesn't need the crutch anymore.

Toyline-wise, because Plasma's the one that requires buying the expensive roleplay toy.

>>23724923
>Symbolically, listen to my headcanon
Ftfy.
>Writing-wise, because Takahashi doesn't care about it and needs Baku to lose to Nox at this point in the show
Ftfy again, it's not that deep.
>Toyline-wise, because Plasma's the one that requires buying the expensive roleplay toy
Booster is a promo toy that you get for buying the Inazuma Blaster, dumbass.

>>23724877
It's not a different undersuit, it's probably Plasma's stunt suit. Plasma also looks fucked in some shots. You're thinking too hard about this.

>>23724549
Isn't the toy from a promotion?

>>23724947
>>23724950
Why even bother posting if you're not even going to try to engage with the show?

>>23724972
Your delusional headcanons are not the show.

didn't he lose plasma last episode or am I misremembering things?

>>23725097
See>>23724562
It was barrier.

>>23724549
Because they're shilling Kamen Rider Nox now.

>>23724923
It's obviously none of those 3 reasons but rather that the suit somehow got damaged before its debut, just look at how worn down it looks on its first fight which was also really short
It's basically a speedrun of Cross-Z's suit being set on fire resulting in him only being allowed to use Cross-Z Charge until they were finally able to fix the suit

>>23724947
You're another retard

Starting to feel the western girlboss influences now~

>>23724877
>>23724950
>Plasma also looks fucked in some shots
Yeah but not to that extent. And there's also the question as to why they'd use the stunt suit for promotional stuff when you can just wear the stuff on top of a promotional suit.

>>23725166
Where? Lord 6 hasn't even fought yet and she jobbed here since she didn't transform, also she's not a rider so she'll probably job even more

Nox a shit, just kill him off and have Kureha become the secondary Rider. At least she's really cute.

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>>23725217
>>23723641
>>23723996
>>23724068
Is Nox, dare I say, the worst secondary thus far?

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>>23725162
>but rather that the suit somehow got damaged before its debut, just look at how worn down it looks on its first fight which was also really short
Booster uses the same suit as Inazuma, this is confirmed in its Detail of Heroes section, they only switch out the gloves, boots and neck piece and velcro the mouthpiece into the base Inazuma helmet. Booster's undersuit isn't different from Inazuma's nor is it supposed to look different, just look at any high quality promo image for the suit.

It probably looks fucked up in those photos they took on set because of the lighting and/or they were using Inazuma's stunt suit.

>It's basically a speedrun of Cross-Z's suit being set on fire resulting in him only being allowed to use Cross-Z Charge until they were finally able to fix the suit
What the fuck are you talking about? Base Cross-Z's last regular appearance was in the same episode where Cross-Z Charge debuts, and there were no pyrotechnics involved. If base Cross-Z stopped appearing, it's because they wanted to shill Charge which was a newer form with newer toys.

If Booster doesn't appear it's because they probably don't feel like using it, it happens sometimes. It's basically just an add-on form for Inazuma anyways, like Zeztz's other add-on forms.

>You're another retard
No, you are.

>>23725188
>And there's also the question as to why they'd use the stunt suit for promotional stuff when you can just wear the stuff on top of a promotional suit
For the TV Asahi stat pages they sometimes use pngs of stunt suits edited from preview photos they take during filming, just look at how Blades' combo form's stat page picture shows it with its stunt shoes and loincloth. The stat page image of Plasma is taken from one of those on- set preview photos, where the suit actor is standing at the dark tunnel where they filmed Booster's only fight so far.

Booster uses the close-up suit on more formal promos that weren't taken during filming, like its DoH photo session.

>>23725219
Characters this bad are, more often than not, self-inserts for writers

>>23725219
One of the worst for sure, but Daiji and Keiwa are some tough competition.

>>23725219
>>23725289
Is it really that hard to wait for the series to end before starting the hyperbole?

>>23725371
Shitposters are impatient "people"

>>23725371
Anon, we're almost at the halfway point. In the best case scenario, Nox would've been a terrible Secondary for half the fucking show.
>>23725379
You don't need to be a shitposter nor watch to the whole show to know that, 19 episodes in, Nox is still a charisma vacuum whose interactions with the MC mostly boil down to him telling him some cryptic bullshit that he expects him to understand while constantly refusing to elaborate further.

>>23725407
It's still a remarkably shortsighted view of things when we're barely halfway through the show. And I say this as someone who wanted to claw his own face off at this point in Geats. But ultimately they're different shows with different issues, and it's silly to compare a secondary in a show that's still airing with one that's finished years ago.

Personally, I'm holding Takahashi to his statement that Nox's behavior would make sense later on. I don't actually have high hopes of that happening, but I'm willing to give it time. And if things don't work out, I'll be the first one complaining. But that's a judgement call that can only be made in hindsight.

As for Nox being a charisma vacuum, at the risk of splitting hairs, he's not really supposed to be. But I find the actor himself is charismatic during smaller moments when he doesn't have to be cryptic and aloof to make up for it. It's just a shame that the plot doesn't allow that perspective more often.

>>23725486
>It's still a remarkably shortsighted view of things
Unless he pulls a god-tier 180 in the second half, it's not going to redeem how utterly vapid he was in the first. Most Secondaries are pretty good characters so him being like this for half the show already makes him one of the worse ones out there. Mind you, I'm not saying he's the absolute worst one (yet).

>As for Nox being a charisma vacuum, at the risk of splitting hairs, he's not really supposed to be
Yeah, he's not charismatic, but the bigger problem is that he's not entertaining to watch either.

And with how detached he's been kept from Baku, I can't see them having a very solid Primary-Secondary relationship in the future. And this is not because he's an antagonist, since Kouta-Kaito and Takumi-Kusaka had pretty engaging relationships from the get go.

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Rider rarely does retrospective payoffs well, but I do prefer that they try and fail miserably rather than not try at all.
Drive's "slow beginning" is pretty fun on a rewatch knowing everything you know at the end of the series, and I'm hoping that Zeztz can pull off something a bit similar.

>>23723569
Great episode.

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>>23724562
>Why is the official site claiming that Nox lost Erase?
Nox lost Erase and the Invoker in the fight against Zero.
In the following episode they showed that the burned Invoker was among Zero's rubble in the real world, but not the whereabouts of Erase.

>>23726521
The Erase capsem was in the Nox driver when he destroyed Zero as far as the show has portrayed things he should still have it

>>23726085
I'm surprised by how much the structure of Zeztz reminds me of Drive considering Zeztz's producer was never involved in it but rather Ex-Aid and Build

Why do BR dub Nasuka and Kureha sound the same?

>>23727055
They really don't.

>>23726623
You're right. I forgot about that part.
I'm dumb. Sorry.

>>23727106
u gotta believe in ur dreams

>>23727055
I wasn't aware Zeztz had a Portuguese dub

>>23725371
>>23725486
how much rider have you watch?
we are 19 episodes in
nox is complete dogshit and whatever redemption he gets won't be earned or deserved because he is poorly written like a retard speaking in tongues expecting the MC to already know what he is talking about
this is a fucking takahackshi show for christ's sake
>And if things don't work out, I'll be the first one complaining.
no you fucking won't
you'll be the last because everyone already can see if from miles away while you're being one of the "Cautiously optimistic" faggots

Anyone else not a fan of the weird pseudo-rider thing they're doing? They did it with Nox and it looks like they're going to do it with Kureha too.

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>>23729180
Pseudo-Riders are fine, they've been a longstanding staple.
Personally I prefer it that way, since it makes the classification of someone as a Rider more special instead of it being something anyone with a henshin device gets labeled.
Now, Zeztz is doing it in a dumb way where Nox and the Lords just have point for point Rider henshins but Nox only gets classed as a Rider when he gets a second one. It's not even seeming like there's any difference between Drivers (like how in Build there's a clear distinction between characters who don't use a Rider System).

>>23727781
>how much rider have you watch?
Enough to know that you can't tell a show's quality just from the halfway point. There are shows that have weaker beginnings but great endings like Blade, Drive and Saber. Or great starts and go downhill like Hibiki, Kiva or Revice. Shows that are mostly consistently good but have a weaker ending like Agito, Faiz and Build. Even shows that are completely schizophrenic but a fun ride like Black, Kabuto and Decade. Things tend to change over the course of a series, and especially between series written by the same writer. Quality gets reevaluated constantly, but nothing sticks until after the series is over, sometimes not even then.

Sorry not being vitriolically deadset against the show upsets you so much.

>>23730690
If you don't enjoy it by the halfway point why keep watching?