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What are your pros and cons on the 46th episode?

I was going to ask how did Baku go to the bathroom if he was stuck in the suit for at least 2 days but then I realized he's probably used to holding it in due to how much he sleeps

>>23965388
ABSOLUTE
KINO

Nox and phantom fight should have been longer. Feels like as the series gets closer to the end, theyve run out of budget for effects which really screwed over Midnight Shadow since it hasn't gotten the chance to do anything cool other than turning Three into paper

>>23965408
Zeztz is clearly more than a suit, it's physical transformation.

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>>23965388
The sound mixing was weird this episode, I thought it might have been due to WataJun not being used to sound direction since I remember Sakamoto having a similar issue in early Kyoryuger, but then I remembered Midnight Shadow's debut had a similar issue so I don't know what's up. Otherwise the other issues are the usual stuff such as the cop duo becoming significantly more useless since the 2nd loop and Nem while good as a plot device doesn't have enough time to make use of her powers.
Besides that good episode, Baku's proactiveness as a protagonist continue to impress me, the direction is still on point, despite the awkward cliffhanger the action was better this episode for some reason? I get that this is being directed by the action director but he's still the action director for every episode, so far I've found most of Zeztz's action to be kinda weak but the fight themselves end up being cool anyway because they make up for it with the great direction, but this is the first time I thought the action in the fight was actually good. I feel towards Lady the same as I felt with Beroba, cool villain that was entertaining whenever they were on-screen but never good enough to properly care for. While not the intention Nox's scene with Fujimi and Nasuka made me laugh, just the sheer ridiculousness of a bodyguard going after the kidnapper then returning in a chuuni getup talking about a mastermind and monsters made me kek. And although it came too late and I still don't like Nox as a character I'm glad he at least got a semblance of character development this episode.

Also surprised Lady isn't dead yet since the implication of the movie spoilers seems to be that everyone but Nox will be at least comatose by the end of the show

>>23965489
>Baku's proactiveness as a protagonist continue to impress me
Why? Him having to do pretty much everything is kind a consequence of everyone else not being helpful.

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>>23965388
9/10
Baku filling in the blanks as to how he found Nem was superb and retroactively makes the last episode better. I liked seeing the lite horror from last week brought to light from his point of view. It's interesting how he actually has repercussions from Exdream aiding him like this. Him alone in reality as Zeztz looking for Nem draws attention to how intensely minimalist the endgame has become and it's working. His exchange with The Lady was well acted. Him talking real sense into Nox feels like a payoff because he FINALLY stopped vagueposting. The action was excellent and Phantom's clashes with Baku and Nox were great. Add one act of self-sacrifice from Nox at the very end to top it off, and it's like I'm watching a completely different show. Granted, there are still flaws overall. Why is Nem such a damsel? Why didn't Nox do his job from jump and stop Phantom at any point before this? Why did it take Baku THIS LONG to remember he can use recovery? But I'm giving praise for everyone finally being written to try and do smart things after being pushed to the edge.

>>23965524
It's really more poor writing rather than Baku's proactiveness. Like for example Nem could have still used her powers after second loop to help support Baku for things like the Sieg chase or the robber brothers case yet she didn't, if Nox had actually shown progress throughout the show before this episode then Fujimi would have felt more useful, and had the show not gone through 2 dream worlds in a row the Black Case division would have felt significantly more useful for making people aware of CODE, Minami really is the only cast member that's hard to write around.
So I do like when Baku is proactive because for most of the show including this episode it's actually warranted, and since he's the protagonist it's a good thing that he's the most likeable character in the show since he makes most of the show entertaining as a result. Mind you this isn't an excuse for the rest of the cast since it should have been easy to pace the story better or integrate them more to make them useful in spite of Baku's competency or him being a solo Rider, that alongside naothe issues are why I consider Zeztz to just be slightly better than Geats rather than a really great show.

>>23965561
>and since he's the protagonist it's a good thing that he's the most likeable character in the show
He's the most likeable character in the show because everyone else is unlikeable or really lacking in screentime, which is not a good thing. The only pro here is that the protag is likeable, since he's exceptionally likeable because everyone else is mishandled, not because he's an exceptionally likeable character in a cast full of likeable characters.

I shrimply like him because he as a man of determination

>>23965588
Everyone else being likeable wouldn't have mattered while Baku is the only one that can survive being erased due to Exdream's power. He can stand on his own merit being the only one that could do anything here specifically.

>>23965588
Why did you disregard the rest of my post? Baku is endearing, competent and his conflicts/weaknesses in the show are well implemented, he's well written (mostly, him not calling out Nox being the case of Zero's dead is BS and ExDream's debut was way too much plot armor), not likeable because the underutilization of the rest of the cast, said underutilization also doesn't automatically make him a bad character.
I mean just look at a show like Zyuohger for example, the 4 Zyumans are underutilized and don't get any proper rivalries against the villains which sucks but that doesn't suddenly make Yamato a bad character because he's bithvwell-written and well-acted, which is why he's fondly remembered in spite of how people feel about Zyuohger as a whole. But then you have something like Zyuranger in which similarly everyone else but Red is underutilized but you don't see anyone fondly remembering him because his writing is just very basic.

Wonder if the Dualmare Capsem getting destroyed will be permanent so that they can retool Orderm.
Wonder how they'll handle Zeztz's suits in the future since due to their skintight nature only Orderm and Zero are properly retoolable aside from recolors.

>>23965625
>Everyone else being likeable wouldn't have mattered while Baku is the only one that can survive being erased due to Exdream's power
He survived because they chose to write it that way. They usually write the episodes in such a way that Baku ends up being the only one who can or wants to solve anything.
>He can stand on his own merit being the only one that could do anything here specifically.
We're talking about an issue the show as a whole has, not this episode in particular. Him singlehandedly saving the day in this arc is narratively justified somewhat, but he has done this pretty much the whole show, even at times when someone else could've done something noteworthy instead, so it's not particularly impressive.

>>23965642
>even at times when someone else could've done something noteworthy instead
Aside from the painting, Nem's dad and when Sieg kidnapped Nem I cannot think of any instance where they could have written anyone from the cast to save the day since Baku is the only one that can enter the dream. I get what you mean about the rest of the cast being either unjustifiably shafted or cumbersomely put against each other in an unnatural manner and as you've seen already everyone else also agrees but I don't get why it's hard for you to wrap your head around people enjoying Baku's development or that Baku's writing can stand on his own.

>>23965283
Who was the suit actor that played to cop Phantom was disguising herself as?

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>>23965658
Yuya Nawata

>>23965629
>said underutilization also doesn't automatically make him a bad character.
I never said he was bad, he's good, but I wouldn't call him exceptionally good because many of his relationships with the other characters feel half-baked and a good chunk of his highlights and competent actions depend on everyone else being useless or unwilling to do anything, which makes them feel a little forced. He's kind of a Mary Sue, but one that's not too frustrating to watch because he does have some genuinely likeable aspects. I moreso dislike the ways the show tries to make him stand out (over and over again).

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>>23965662
My bad, I agree. I guess what helps him not feel like a full Mary Sue is due to him actually failing to accomplish his missions multiple times and his competency being believable.
But yeah the writing around him doesn't really help him, the only reason I like him a lot besides his writing is because of his actor doing a good job.

>>23965658
Nawata.

>>23965661
>>23965664
Thanks

>>23965654
The cops could've been way better at their jobs as detectives, it's just that the writer chose to have all the important parts of the investigations to take place in the dreams only Baku can enter, instead of having a good balance between the real world and the dream world scenes or doing the easy fix of giving the cops a way of looking into dreams. Nem could've also developed her powers earlier to be useful in more episodes. Nox could've been written in a way where he wasn't a poorly written edgelord who rarely takes action even when his own plans are at stake.

You're taking the show's writing at face value, justifying it by saying stuff like "welp, what can you do, Baku's the only one who can enter dreams and do shit", without considering that might've been a detrimental writing choice that severely limited its side characters for the worse.

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Reporter girl is a cute

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>>23965685
Surprised they were able to get the same reporter from ep 1 after 45 episodes
Hopefully they are able to get picrel for the finale so that Nem can get an emotional moment

>>23965680
Yes, there are long-standing writing flaws sometimes. I thought there were a lot of good things for the direction it's gone in here. Call it face value but It's so easy to go
>well it could've been written this way
You can do that with any rider.

>>23965283
>>23965388
Probably one of the most boring episodes of the whole show, as most of it is just a slow setup to defeat the Nightmares. But considering the answers to how they solve those things are just Baku being "built different" and fixing everything. You may as well have abridged all that into 3 minutes rather than half the episode. Funny how illusion Nox is more likable than main Nox, and they're already trying to backpedal from his rudeness the past few episodes to try and "redeem" the character, but at this point they've done so much bad with the character I can't even be angry anymore. We're just spinning wheels until the show's over at this point.
>>23965546
The scene of Baku getting some sense into Nox falls flat when they've had this exact conversation like 5 times, and the only reason Nox finally realizes he needs to be better is just because now the plot needs him to be. Had they not spend 10+ episodes with Baku and Fujimi trying to tell him this exact same message, maybe it would have worked.

>>23965798
>well it could've been written this way
I think there's a difference between personal preference and what would make the overall cast be more useful to a show. For this point, it's not about if we think these characters are good or bad, but stating the objective truth that the show is written in a way where they have nothing to do. We are in the endgame now, and I can count on one hand the number of episodes the detectives have been important in. What was even the point of making Six a friend of Nasuka when both of their storylines didn't lead to anything? Why even split and rebuild the black case agency when the two regular detectives can't even solve the cases and need Baku to do everything?
Last year, Gavv had a very small supporting cast, basically just being Sachika and the granute uncle. But one of those characters was removed from the show when they were no longer useful, and the remaining one played a stronger role as emotional support than either of the detectives in Zeztz. To me, this is like if Gavv was written exactly the same as it was, but it had two police characters that were in every episode and had 0 impact on the overall story. Why even have them then?

>>23965691
The way they've just kept ignoring his existence is so weird, him and his arc are the reasons why Baku started his mission to find Nem in the first place, but we've went through two whole recaps and the most they've acknowledged them is showing a clip of his Nightmare for two seconds in the mid-series recap.

>>23965388
Felt it was really padded out and we got half an episode to bridge to the next part of it. How many episodes do we have left? The powerset showcase is usually a final battle thing and it's looking like we're getting it with the oblivion nightmare so unless we're getting a surprise big defeat next ep by it actually managing to eat Nemu there's not much left in the way of obstacles to an ending.

>>23965607
>because he is a man of determination
You just described pretty much every Rider MC.

>>23965662
>>>mary sue
you retards needa relearn what a mary sue actually is. because baku is anything but.

>>23965998
>How many episodes do we have left?
The show is confirmed to end at 50, so 4 episodes left.

>>23966001
Baku's few flaws (like his "bad luck", which isn't even his own fault and which he literally beat to death anyways) are either very superficial or completely justified for the most part, and the plot constantly bends itself over backwards so he can singlehandedly save the day and the show can suck him off for it. He might not be a textbook fanfic-tier Mary Sue (and before you mention it, even some of those suffer through some "tragic" side character deaths they can't prevent for drama's sake), but he's pretty close to one.

>>23966022
so he has some traits but lacking everything that makes a mary sue... means he's not a mary sue.
bro has been put down multiple times before he's resolved himself to save nem and dreamers. the plot literally beat his ass down for all of his premonition and the lead up to exdream. mary sue wouldn't get his ass shit on constantly like that.
y'all be calling anything you don't like "mary sue"

>>23966005
We are gonna get so much padding as there's only 2 villains left and at least one should be able to be killed next episode.

>>23966089
I've seen plenty of characters who get their ass beat be called "mary sue" just because they get power ups out of their ass and easily solve major problems just cuz they are that strong. And Baku fits exactly that characterization.

>>23966097
you've seen plenty of characters mischaracterized? and so you do it too? very nice. are you a zoomie by any chance

>>23966089
Like I said, Mary Sues don't have to literally win every single time, fanfic writers usually have them lose or almost lose a few times to create an artificial sense of drama and stakes. A Mary Sue can "just" be *almost* perfect and have *very few* flaws, instead of being completely perfect and flawless.

The idea that he could successfully raid CODE's fucking HQ on his own twice without even transforming, when even Nox in his Rider form couldn't, sounds ridiculous, but it happened.

>the plot literally beat his ass down for all of his premonition
But the premonition was just that, a dream of his born from his many bullshit powers that helped him prevent most of what went down in it, except for a few deaths of irrelevant side characters he wasn't even close to like Five and Six in order to give the second half a semblance of stakes.

>mary sue wouldn't get his ass shit on constantly like that.
Baku gets his ass beat mostly just so he can look like a badass by turning the tables on whoever bullied him (sometimes by pulling some new bullshit power completely out of his ass) and aurafarm that way.

>>23965283
>>23965388
Even though I'm not exactly wowed by the final arc so far, I think this was a solid episode for the most part.

I'm glad they actually addressed how Baku rescued Nem and explained how the Oblivion/Phantom shenanigans went down instead of leaving it up in the air like many other things in this show. Forgot to mention it last week, but the place Nem went to in her "dreams" (revealed to actually be the real world this week) was the same location of Baku's dream in episode 1 (which I think might also be the school Baku went to as a kid? Idk), which was a nice foreshadowing of what was to come.

They also directly acknowledged that Baku's existence is changing in some way and revealed that his use of Exdream is the cause of it, and although the effects benefitted him this episode, I have a feeling he'll be suffering some kind of negative side effect later down the line. That prospect is the one reason why I'm not so bothered by this particular instance of him singlehandedly saving the day.

I also liked how Phantom used her powers to twist the perception of Baku's rescue of Nem and turn his dream from the first episode against him, although that didn't end up amounting to much this week.

I feel kinda sad for The Lady (her actress is pretty good btw), but I still think her scenes would've hit harder if we had gotten more of her and Nem living a happy life last week. Still, as long as they don't screw her conclusion up, she'll probably end up being the show's best villain, even if I have some gripes with how she was handled such as her dumb end in the first half or how she did nothing noteworthy in the second half until Phantom started appearing.

The cops were useless again, as they're going through another dream-induced mindwipe. That being said, I did find the scene where Odaka enters Baku's room through his window and Fujimi calls it a great idea to be amusing.

(1/2)

>blond guy gone for an episode
>already forgot his name
feels like my memory's being affected too...

>>23966173
If this is supposed to be Nox's big turn into a full-on hero, all I can say is that it fell flat. It wasn't even his own idea to come to the rescue, they just asked him for help once again and he just happened to say "yes" this time around, that's how that whole scene felt like. Even the build-up to this in the last few episodes felt barebones, so this moment doesn't feel very climactic nor earned. But, as much as I don't give a fuck about him nor Fujimi, I gotta admit that I kinda liked their convo after Nox got his memories restored.

I also like that they used Recovery's admittedly broken power in a smart way once again, it's been a while since that happened. And they also remembered that the Phantom Capsem is a thing.

Compared to the last two episodes, WataJun's direction was more "normal" here, but the action was better than usual. I especially liked Baku and Nox's short out of suit back and forth with the guns.

Nem was once again only useful as a plot device instead of being truly proactive, but I kinda give it a pass since it seems like she's finally going to do something important in this arc next week.

(2/2)

>>23966177
He's actually been gone for two episodes now, and it's not like he's been in every episode since he "died" and came back anyways, on top of being introduced very late into the show as is. So I don't blame you, all the transforming characters in this show except for Baku are underused.

lets see....

>started a retarded crusade against the only force in the planet that was against the nightmares just because one guy was being an idiot at the time. neither party tried to talk things out.
>we know from the premonition that he could stoop not only to endanger civilians but also planetary cataclysm to get his revenge.
>despite him being one of the few knowing the danger the Gores could cause, he still was obsessed with taking down CODE. to the point he took the chance with Catastrophe's worldwide rampage to eliminate every single remaining trace of CODE, never minding the fact Zero was already doing what he wanted: disbanding CODE, revealing the truth to the planet and trying to set things right by him.
>what does he do after giving the planet to the gores in a silver platter? WHINE LIKE A BITCH SOME MORE!... but its ok! because he sacrificed himself to contain phantom, leaving Baku alone against oblivion, we dont need to address his sins or anything, because he did that minuscule and insignificant good. the only good thing he did in his emtire fucking life!

its rare for me to be this angry towards a character, but FUX really did it. he has to be takahashis biggest mistake to date as a writer. even dirty dan and azuma were more decent dudes than him, and one of them genocided half a city to get his way!

>>23965983
I hadn't realized he wasn't on either recap. Damn that's so weird considering he's easily the most plot relevant guest character of the show.

>>23966539
I'm surprised that this and the Nem Space Sheriff fights were the only put of suits confrontations considering it was WataJun directing

>>23966539
Man, Equilibrium was a fun movie.

>>23966575
More resident evil vendetta imo.

>>23966185
>used Recovery's admittedly broken power in a smart way once again
I can't even give the plot that because this is the the second time they used Recovery to fix a driver and Nox original came up with it to fix a more damaged driver. It's not even like it was damaged like Zeztz's was

>>23965283
>>23965388
A good ep and great followup to the previous episode, with a notable few issues, though not enough to detract from the ep.
I'm glad that spent so long explaining how Baku found Nem, as well as adding the surprise twist of Nem's dreams in the previous ep actually being IRL. I noticed that shadow following Nem looked like Zeztz, but I figured I was seeing things, so that confirmation is nice. Also like the small detail of Baku using Zero's Zeztz Driver to save himself.
The shots of the empty city as Baku tracked Nem were great, and really rammed home the horror of the situation, as well as the whole "lonely hero" angle the show's built on. Also interesting to see Baku suddenly develop a new power for sending messages into dreams. I can already tell that might come back in a bittersweet way later on. Too bad the font on the poster wasn't Impact though. (ha ha, I'll see myself out.)

The scenes back in the illusion world were fun, and Odaka finally being snapped back to his senses was good to see. The pain on his face after his and Nem's memories return was well acted, and reminds me how much I appreicate the actor despite the character's handling. It was nice seeing the contrast and similarities between what was essentially his past and current selves. Couldn't help but smile along with him when he made the same bet over drinks with Fujimi.

>>23966207
>>started a retarded crusade against the only force in the planet that was against the nightmares just because one guy was being an idiot at the time.
This ignores CODE being portrayed as villains for a third of the show and all the fucked up shit they did. The problem is that Takahashi is fucking retarded and wants to redeem almost everyone in the show, which then makes everyone look retarded because his hack writing has to bend over backwards to make everyone "good"

>>23966713
Watching The Lady's further descent into madness is still entertaining, and I'm constantly impressed at how well her actress can straddle and cross the line between "this bitch crazy" and "she's really trying her best". The short fight between Phantom and Baku was fun, and despite it's knull effect, using Gravity to pull Phantom into the Rider Kick was great.

It was disappointing how Nox's fight with Phantom seemed tacked on after all the build up to it, and as much as Nox's countering her abilities and the subsequent stalemate makes sense, but using it as the cliffhanger highlights it as a blatant excuse to sideline Nox AGAIN and keep Phantom alive a little longer.

Looks like shit's getting real next ep. Glad to see the earlier forms getting to used again, though I hate that it comes at the loss of the Dualmare. Not looking forward to Nem trying to sacrifice herself again, but we'll see how that turns out.

>>23966713
>It was nice seeing the contrast and similarities between what was essentially his past and current selves.
Nox's timeline is so strange, he was apparently brainwashing kids for CODE long before he joined the police, but in the flashbacks to his days as a policeman he acted like he was a normal guy who had no involvement with CODE at all, even telling Fujimi about these strange creatures he saw in his dreams and taking on a bet to prove their existence as if CODE members weren't meant to keep all of that shit a secret

>>23966749
IDK if this deal >>23966600 from the movie was meant to serve as an explanation but even with this his whole grooming children for CODE including Baku who's already the son of a CODE agent doesn't really fit.

nox is still the worst secondary
no amount of redeeming can fix him being this poorly written vague man

>>23965639
>>23966717
Dualmare isn't the only Capsem getting erased in the next episode, Baku will have it back by the time of the summer movie.

Feels like there's barely any build-up to a final boss confrontation. I guess Phantom will be the one left last since Oblivion might be taken out next episode, but neither of them feel very last boss unless they pull some bullshit Primal Nightmare at the last minute.

>>23966713
>The scenes back in the illusion world were fun, and Odaka finally being snapped back to his senses was good to see.
That implies he had senses to begin with

>>23966749
>was apparently brainwashing kids for CODE
I forgot about that because it was brought up twice and never touched on again

>>23967148
Phantom final boss just so Nem can finally put her foot down and tell her mom off.

>>23967331
at least it's not Zero and Baku doing another "I HATE DAD" or is it

>>23967148
>>23967331
When was the last KR has had a female final boss?

>>23966715
its my opinion and probably some think it will be wrong. but the thing is, Zero and Three, while being CODEs top brass, they really do not speak for CODE as a whole.

were the things they did bad? sure. was Zero an asshole for ditching FUX like he did? totally. was Three acting like a power hungry maniac? absolutely!. but if they really represented CODE in their totality then The Lady wouldnt have defected and would be ok with having Nemu being taken away, and 5 and 6 would be irredemable assholes too.

Zero and Three are just a part of CODE, and regardless of their position and views, what they did doesnt justify FUX wanting to eradicate the agency in its totality, much less deleting the core database that could have been useful in rebuilding it in case another threat like the nightmares were to return. he essentially gave the Gores the planet in a silver platter.

>But he said he really wasnt planning on killing anyone, not even zero, he was just after the database.
Well, Catastrophe was already doing a bang up job doing that, as well as killing the entire CODE staff worldwide. and FUX KNEW THAT. it would have been more respectful for him as a character just to step out and let Catty wreck shit up. at least he wouldnt have killed Zero like the bitch he was.

>>23967502
We see a bunch of other evil CODE top brass that ZERO took down after 3 was out too. It was a generalized issue, not just those two. But, yeah, not everyone within CODE was evil. Although generally even the good CODE agents stood by as evil happened since it was so spread.

Even Nox only turned against them due to being personally sent in a suicide mission alone.

>>23965654
>Aside from the painting, Nem's dad and when Sieg kidnapped Nem I cannot think of any instance where they could have written anyone from the cast to save the day
Damn, imagine just outright saying "I have no creativity or imagination" like this.

Is it a hot take to say zeztz ain't that good? Not even my top 10

>>23969019
It was good until the reset. After the reset it's been downhill

>>23969019
I think it's fun enough, but yeah, I wouldn't consider it a top show. It's basically crippling itself by attempting this solo hero gimmick.

>>23969019
plenty of people have been dumping on it all year

>>23969019
It forgot a bunch of the stuff it set up after the halfway point and stalled for time for like four months.

I feel validated for disliking it now thank you anonymous users.

I go to other social media platforms and they say this is the greatest season of all time even saying its Takahashi's best work but I couldn't wrap my head around why.

>>23967491
J.

>>23969459
>I go to other social media platforms and they say this is the greatest season of all time
Do they? I like Zeztz but I can't imagine anyone saying that about Zeztz unironically unless they're really young like the people that said the same thing about Geats

>>23967502
>was Zero an asshole for ditching FUX like he did?
Depends on if it happened before or after the whole deal with the counterfeit paintings, because if it happened after, that means Nox wasn't loyal as he was already planning to betray CODE anyways.

>>23969510
Usually on Twitter and I don't think they're saying it ironically.

They say stuff like "the characters are so deep and the story is engaging" and I have to wonder if we're watching the same thing. They act all high and mighty thinking they're so smart for understanding the show so it just makes me feel dumb so I grew to hate zeztz because of it. Kinda petty I know

>>23969535
I kinda get that, I grew to dislike Kagurabachi for similar reasons, the manga wasn't deep at all and I felt it dropped of quality but everyone dicksucking it hard and getting defensive over every small criticism just sort evaporated my will to continue the manga which made me feel like a sore loser

>>23969535
Zeztz is the kind of show that makes dumb people feel smart, it deliberately tries to make itself look deep, mature and thoughtful. But people that aren't that dumb can analyze the show better and notice that it's not actually as complex as it makes itself out to be, that the writing is actually kinda poor because it has quite a number of plot holes, inconsistencies, dropped plot points, as well as a bunch of wasted and/or pointless characters in its story.

Zeztz just feels like it lost what makes a Kamen Rider show a Kamen Rider show.

Baku's unluckyness being explained via nightmares is stupid. Imagine if Ryotaro got his unluckyness explained by some Reverse Flash nonsense and time travel. Ryotaro grew stronger despite his nature. Baku grew stronger by literally beating the one interesting thing out of him.

Even after all that, I don't think this show is fun for kids either. We had 3 episodes where Baku doesn't transform at all and the action is very short. Most of the show has been talking and not even the good kind that builds character its exposition that doesn't do anything.

Something something Darkness within CODE

>>23969459
Not even close, after the reset it feels like the show is spinning its wheels only to reach the finale. They massively underutilized Sieg, Nox kept being this vagueposting one-note faggot who only wanted to destroy CODE, and when he did he was ready to just give up, and nem's dream powers did fuck all. I'm not going to talk about the side cast because that's not the point, but they might as well not exist after the reset. In a vacuum, Baku is a great MC, but the show as a whole is no better than Zero-juan, to say a middle-of-the-road season, calling it a top season reeks of newfaggotry.

>>23970709
>>23971603
Baku is such a Gary stu, that the great mc in a vacuum thing falls flat.

>>23970709
>I don't think this show is fun for kids either
Apparently, you're right.
https://desuarchive.org/m/thread/23680782/#23682590

>>23971620
>Gary stu
But he failed to save people and to accomplish his mission multiple times?

>>23972013
Some of the earliest Mary Sues in fan fiction literally ended up dying. Being a Mary Sue doesn't mean never losing at anything ever, it's about how them and the story around them is written.

Zero saying ''you're on your own, chump'' really broke NOX down to such an edgy level that he never really recovered, even when trying to convince you he did.
He's never letting anyone get close ever again.

>>23970709
>I don't think this show is fun for kids either
Sales indicate otherwise

>>23972074
I mean, "Mary Sue" was a term used due to a new characters being introduced and stealing away all the focus of the story from the original cast. That's obviously not an issue here since it's an all new cast.

Even beyond that, although Zeztz does focus on Baku tp the point he's the only truly "active" character, Baku is generally portrayed as your average heroic protagonist with plenty of stumbles. He isn't portrayed as a "master of everything" like Tendo, Tsukasa or Ace. His "death" at the end of the premonitory dream was outright humiliating. Then, overreacting to that he kicked out Zero, who turned to not be evil. A Mary Sue wouldn't make a mistake of judgement like that without some evil conspiracy behind it.

>>23974101
>to the point he's the only truly "active" character
The only truly competent character.
>He isn't portrayed as a "master of everything" like Tendo, Tsukasa or Ace.
Tendou and Tsukasa aren't Mary Sues, they have significant personality flaws that make characters who aren't jerkasses or downright evil rightfully dislike them.

Also, Secret Agent skills are the only ones that have really mattered at any point in this show, and as the show says several times, Baku is literally the Ultimate Agent, the best one to ever exist. He's even better at investigating than the professional detectives themselves.
>His "death" at the end of the premonitory dream was outright humiliating
The last few episodes of the first half are the closest he came to having any significant flaws that could make him largely responsible for his own failures, which would have permanent consequences on top of that. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the reset, none of those events actually happened as they were part of a bullshit premonitory power of his that allowed him to prevent said humiliating death by making the Spock of the show warm up to him more.
>Then, overreacting to that he kicked out Zero, who turned to not be evil.
Him kicking Zero out was completely justified because he did let him get executed and got Nem captured in the premonition, and his quick actions blocked all of CODE's Agents from accessing the Zeztz Room, not just Zero. And it's unlikely that Zero would've left CODE to join his side right then and there, he clearly wanted to mediate between both sides so Baku would keep working for them and CODE wouldn't execute him, but that would've never happened because CODE was corrupt and Baku knew it. So all Zero could do in these circumstances was delay Baku's execution and then turn rogue for his sake when he realized he couldn't stop it anymore.

Zero was a morally gray person, he wanted to perform experiments on Nem, it was justified to not trust him from the get go.