Kamen Rider Zeztz 12

This suit is so good lookin!

VIDEO REVIEW

BLOG REVIEW

The Nox Knight Rises

The big draw this week is Nox Knight, and the suit is fantastic. Dynamic. Slick. Shiny. Immediately iconic. You can feel the production team leaning into the role this suit will play for the rest of the arc.

Everyone online is calling him “Shiny Zeztz,” which is exactly what he looks like. It works.

I even found myself wondering:
Would this design be as effective if it had been the original Zets suit?
And if the current darker suit belonged to Nox instead?

It’s a fun thought experiment. Let me know how you feel about it.

Regardless, the reveal is handled well, and the way the suit fights sells the power, the danger, and the history behind it. That history becomes important later.

Zeztz 12 and the Art of the Mid-Season Shift

We’re in early December. Episode 13–14 is usually where Kamen Rider shows roll out a big shift or upgrade to drive the next toy wave.

Zeztz 12 does the groundwork for that.

It sells:

the new suit
the new lore twist
the new stakes
and the evolving emotional depth of the story

Even as someone who doesn’t collect Rider toys, I can feel the “I want that” impulse waking up. Nox Knight’s sword looks great. His belt looks cool. The capsems look better than ever. And watching the face actor use capsems in real-world sequences actually helps sell them as meaningful items, not plastic noise.

This is something Zeztz is doing better than Double did with the memory gadgets. Zeztz makes its toys feel alive. Useful. Integrated. That matters.

Capsems, CODE, and a Huge Lore Shift

The biggest shocker of the episode comes from Nox’s explanation:
The capsems are what make nightmares become real.

That flips the entire premise.

I assumed dreams had natural power, and Baku simply learned to weaponize that dream-power to fight the nightmares. A classic Kamen Rider inversion of evil power turned heroic.

But if the capsems enable the nightmares in the first place…
If CODE created a system that birthed nightmare manifestations…
If Code is an older group than we believed…
If Zero knows more than he lets on…
Then the whole show becomes a mystery of origins rather than a simple monster-of-the-week setup.

This twist hooked me harder than I expected.

Real-World Powers and Expanding Rules

Baku blocking a car in the real world with capsem power might be the most important moment of the episode. It is the clearest sign that the “cost” Nox talked about earlier is escalating and that the rules of the dream-world powers are evolving.

Zeztz is doing a great job tying present events to past arc hints. It feels consistent and intentional.

Character Stakes That Finally Hit

The episode deepens:

Nox’s history
Nem’s importance
Baku’s resolve
Manami’s involvement
Fujimi’s past
and the detectives’ perspective

For the first time, I care about whether Nox can be saved. That usually doesn’t happen for me with Rider villains. The show is earning it.

The glimpses of Odaka’s past, the strain of dealing with nightmares, and his desire to shield his superior from the horror all feel grounded and meaningful.

The Knight System and Future Questions

When Nox transforms, the system announces:
Knight System Invoke.

Not initiate.
Invoke.

That phrasing implies ritual, legacy, and maybe something ancient.
Who built the Knight System.
How old is CODE.
Why can Nox access these powers without losing himself.
Can Baku dream new capsems into existence or retrieve lost ones.

These questions all open up fascinating directions for the next arc.

This Might Actually Be the Best Episode So Far

Zeztz 12 blends:

Great suit action
Strong character beats
Lore that matters
Stakes that escalate
Narrative callbacks
And smart toy integration

Everything lines up. Everything feels cohesive. It’s the show at its strongest.

My hats off to Takahashi. Between Ex-Aid, Zero One, and now Zeztz, he may be my favorite Rider writer working today.

Blog-Exclusive Bonus Insight

Capsems, Classic Rider DNA and the Nightmare Twist

(Adapted from my reaction short. This extended version appears only here.)

Nox’s claim that capsems make nightmares possible hit me hard. It immediately reminded me of the original Kamen Rider concept: the hero who takes evil power and refuses to be corrupted by it.

I thought Zeztz was channeling that spirit through dreams, with Baku using the positive side of imagination to fight nightmare monsters.

But Nox reframed everything.
It is not that capsems stop nightmares.
It may be that capsems enable them.

That means CODE may have:

experimented on dream energy
opened the door for nightmares to manifest
created a system that spiraled out of control

Suddenly, “dream power” is not the source.
The capsem system itself might be the original sin.

And Zero holding that hidden, special capsem makes even more sense now. If CODE broke the dream world, Zero may be deciding when Baku is ready to confront the consequences.

I didn’t expect Zeztz to pull me into its lore this deeply. But it did. And I’m excited for where the show goes from here.

Drop a comment below or tag me @MJ_Scribe on Twitter. Let’s have some fun talking about this.

If you enjoy thoughtful stories for kids and families, check out my book Mockwing Mayhem. It is a heartfelt adventure about magical bugs battling monsters and protecting children.

You can find more of my reviews, reflections, and stories with spine at mjmunoz.com, and join the mailing list there for behind the scenes updates and new releases.

Kamen Rider Zeztz 12