Kamen Rider Zeztz 20

Watch Analysis

Kamen Rider Zeztz Episode 20 is a good escalation episode for the series. Not in a loud way. Not in a fireworks way. But in a necessary, structural way that pushes the trajectory of the story forward.

This is still very much a holding pattern episode when it comes to Baku and Nem. They repeat some things here that they already said last episode, and arguably the episode before that. They are clearly at a new status quo. A plateau. Not emotionally stagnant in a bad way, but settled, at least for now, in how they see themselves, each other, and their role in this dream world.

Nothing revolutionary happens between them in this episode, and that is fine, because this is very clearly the first half of a two part story.

The Real Movement Is in the Background

Where this episode really works is in everything happening around the edges.

We get some genuinely good spycraft with CODE, specifically between Three and Six, or Kureha. She does something early in the episode that does not fully make sense until later, which I really liked. She plants a tracker. I will spoil it. That moment pays off.

Her mission is to locate the enemy base and eventually infiltrate or attack it. What is clever here is that the mission inside the RPG style dream is also literally “capture the enemy base.” There is a nice parallel happening between the dream logic and the real world operations that feels intentional rather than accidental.

Later, Kureha functions as a decoy so that Agent Number Five can ambush Nox from behind. That sequence matters, because it reframes CODE in a way the show has been slowly building toward.

Lord Five Changes the Tone

Agent Number Five captures Nox and imprisons him in what is very explicitly a torture room. And yes, of course CODE has a torture room. That tells you everything you need to know.

This is where the episode drops its biggest piece of information. We learn that the failure back in Episode 3, when Fujimi’s Nightmare was not fully stopped and all those butterflies were released, has been quietly cooking in the background this entire time.

Those butterflies appear to have created a whole cohort of dreamers. A group of children now locked together inside a shared dream. The show is not fully explicit yet, but it strongly implies that these interconnected dreams are converging into something much larger.

I am not totally sure yet why it is video game flavored, Dragon Quest style. I am also not fully sure why kids are the focal point, other than the possibility that this is a dark mirror to how CODE uses people. Maybe this is a counter operation. Maybe The Lady is building nightmare warriors the way CODE builds agents. That is speculation, and I am trying not to lean too hard into that yet.

Still, the implication is strong, and it is effective.

A Steady Episode, Not a Flashy One

Overall, this is a very steady episode. Even keeled. The action is cool, but not the point.

I was a little disappointed that we did not get to see Kureha transform. That said, we did get Agent Number Five, and he is interesting. He is aggressive. He is loyal to CODE in a way that feels absolute. He sounds like he genuinely wants to kill Nox.

I do not want Nox to die. I want him redeemed. I want something more complicated to happen with him. Part of me expected him to try to flip Five, or at least attempt some kind of counter maneuver. That does not happen. Instead, what becomes clear is that Five is a true believer.

That raises some important questions. Where has he been this whole time? Why has Baku been doing so much of the work? Why does Five have a different system entirely? Why the Lord system instead of the Knight system that Nox/Odaka used? And how does all of that relate to Zeztz and his Driver?

I find all of that genuinely compelling.

The Baby Nightmare Problem

We do not get a lot from the kids themselves in this episode, which makes sense structurally, but it is still noticeable.

It was also undeniably weird to watch Baku beat up a Baby Nightmare. The fact that it is explicitly a baby is strange. Uncomfortable. Also kind of funny, if I am being honest.

My assumption is that this Baby Nightmare will grow into the adult form. Especially given the drawing one of the kids made earlier. That feels like a Black Case setup. It would not surprise me at all if the baby form we see here is the early stage of the demon king figure that is clearly being built toward.

Again, that is speculation, and I am trying not to go too far with it. But the imagery feels intentional. The discomfort feels intentional.

Final Thoughts

This is not an amazing episode. But it is doing exactly what it needs to do.

It is a transitional episode. It has to exist. It is laying track, not launching the train. I do wish it was a little stronger on its own, but I still walked away feeling positive about it overall.

The show is choosing not to ratchet up the A plot yet, and that is okay. We will get there.

Even though I have said before that Yuya Takahashi is one of the best writers working in Rider, I am fine saying this episode is passable. Serviceable. Purposeful.

Now the real test is whether Episode 21 pays this off. I hope it does. I expect it to.

What did you think about Episode 20? Where do you think this arc is headed next?

Let me know what you thought about the episode.

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

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Bonus Reflections