Kamen Rider Zeztz 25

Watch Analysis

Don’t Make My Dream Come True

I just finished watching Episode 25 of Zeztz, and I can’t believe how good it is.

A lot of people are looking at this episode as a kind of New Game Plus. I get that. But the thing that hit me the hardest was not just the reset. It was Baku’s line at the end:

“I only have one mission now. Don’t make my dream come true.”

That got me.

What has Baku wanted for years? He wanted to be this invincible agent. He wanted to be Code Number Seven. That was his dream. He went through that whole crisis of confidence when he realized he was not really the guy he thought he was, and then he finally did become that guy, only to die anyway.

Now the dream he chased has become a nightmare.

That is what makes the line work so well. Baku is not just trying to stop a bad future. He is trying to stop the fulfillment of the very dream that defined him. That gives Episode 25 a lot more weight than just “the timeline reset episode.”

And the more you think about it, the sadder it gets. If CODE really did implant that dream in him from childhood, then his whole life was shaped by something false. His dream was never fully his. That makes CODE feel even more like a proper Kamen Rider enemy organization. They created the hero, but in doing so they also made the conditions for him to turn against them.

That is classic Rider.

It reminds me of Shocker and Takeshi Hongo. They took a man, tried to turn him into their weapon, and instead created the one who would defy them. If CODE is truly evil, then Baku becoming their traitor is exactly what should happen.

That is a big part of why Episode 25 works so well for me. It takes everything Zeztz already built and gives it new meaning. We have a lot of the same characters, a lot of the same pieces, and a lot of the same story material, but now all of it is being replayed in a new context. That is not easy to do. It takes real storytelling skill.

Yuya Takahashi continues to impress me. One of the things he does so well is build an entertaining story on the surface while hiding a deeper story underneath it. Then, when the time is right, he brings those deeper meanings forward and makes earlier material feel stronger in retrospect. Episode 25 feels like the start of that kind of remix.

And that is what makes this episode so exciting. We are watching the story get started again, but with knowledge, pain, and urgency that were not there before.

That is why Episode 25 is so good.

It is not just clever. It is emotional. It hurts. And it makes me even more confident that Zeztz knows exactly what it is doing.

Let me know your thoughts.

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.

Bonus Reflection

Zeztz Delivers a Classic Action Movie One Liner

I love that Baku gets off this great one liner before he destroys Bomb. It is so fun. It is so good.

One liners are a classic thing in action movies. There are plenty of good ones in Bond films, and of course Austin Powers makes fun of the whole trope. But one of my favorite examples comes from Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In that movie there is a woman he is supposedly married to, but the situation is not what it seems. It is a whole thing. The movie is fantastic. If you have never seen it, you should. It is rated R, but for good reason.

Anyway, at one point she tries to kill him. He shoots her, and then drops the line:

“Consider that a divorce.”

Absolute killer line. Hilarious in context.

Baku’s line in Episode 25 has that same kind of energy to me. It is that classic action movie moment where the hero drops a line right before the explosion.

I love it.

So now I am curious. What is your favorite action movie one liner? And are there other great ones in Kamen Rider?

The only one that immediately comes to mind for me is from Kamen Rider W:

“Now it’s time to count up your sins.”

Which is also pretty great.

Let me know what you think about Baku’s line. Does it qualify as a great action movie style killer line? And what is your favorite?

Is Giving Up Really a Choice?

Is giving up really a choice?

Nem seems like she wants to give up on waking up because she does not even know where her body is. She says she might just keep wandering through people’s dreams and exist there instead.

I am not even sure that reasoning makes sense. If she wakes up, she should just wake up in her body automatically, right? Maybe. Maybe not. I do not actually know how the dream mechanics work in Zeztz. But that is the justification she gives.

And Odaka basically tells her, “If that’s what you want,” and then walks away.

Meanwhile, Baku ends the episode by saying something very different:

“My mission now is to not make my dream come true.”

So now we have three different perspectives on dreams.

Odaka is lost wandering through dreams and wants to wake up.
Baku refuses to let his dream come true.
Nem says she might just stay in the dream world instead.

Those are three very different responses to the same situation.

But when Nem says she might stay in dreams, I am not convinced that it is really a choice. It sounds more like giving up. She cannot see a path back to her body, so she is convincing herself she does not need one.

That raises an interesting question.

Is quitting actually a choice?

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Sometimes quitting is not really a decision at all. Sometimes it is just running away from having to make one.

That is why this moment reminded me of another famous line from Neon Genesis Evangelion: “Shinji must not run away.”

Nem must not run away either. She should not give up on the possibility of waking up and returning to her body.

At least, that is how the scene reads to me.

What do you think?

Do you see this connection between Baku, Odaka, and Nem and how they each deal with dreams? And do you think Nem is actually making a choice, or just convincing herself that giving up is the easier option?

Should Baku Be Destroying the Butterflies?

These butterflies, nightmare butterflies, whatever you want to call them, have been bothering me the whole show.

Some people call them moths, but either way they keep showing up again and again, and I cannot help wondering what Baku is supposed to do about them.

Every time he destroys a nightmare, the butterflies fly away.

And we have seen more and more that they are not just visual flair. The mysterious woman seems able to summon them. They gather into the spheres that create the nightmare doors. They go into people and they come out of people.

So if Baku destroys the nightmare but leaves the butterflies alone, is he actually solving the problem? Or is he just leaving the pieces behind for something else to happen later?

That question keeps coming back to the opening.

In the first opening, Baku actually shoots a butterfly and it explodes. It is a very metal image, and it looks awesome, but it also feels symbolic. Butterflies in this show seem tied to dreams, the psyche, and nightmares themselves.

So what exactly are they?

Are they just symbolism? Or are they the actual mechanism behind the nightmare system?

If they are the mechanism, then it raises an interesting possibility. Maybe Baku should be destroying the butterflies too, not just the nightmares they create.

Because if the butterflies survive, maybe the cycle just keeps going.

So what do you think?

Should Baku be killing these butterflies when he sees them? And what do you think their real function is in the show’s dream mechanics?

Should Nox Be Redeemed?

Do you think Nox should be redeemed or not?

Earlier in the show I was worried they might try to redeem Odaka too quickly, before he had really earned it. When characters get forgiven or turned around before the story has done the work, it can feel cheap.

Then he died.

Now we have this reset, and because of that reset we are seeing things from a different perspective. We are getting insight into him earlier in the timeline, while still carrying everything we already know about him from before.

That makes this scene with Nem really interesting.

Yes, he initially throws her up against the wall and starts interrogating her. That part is threatening. But almost immediately he comes down from that. He is not interested in hurting her. He does not try to capture her. He does not escalate the situation. Instead he walks away.

He even apologizes.

And when she says she might just stay asleep, he basically tells her, if that is what you want, then fine. There is no cruelty there. No manipulation. He just leaves.

You can really feel that his world has been shaken by what he has witnessed. Nothing is going according to plan anymore. The power of Catastrom has changed everything, and the situation around him is unraveling.

It still feels like he is working for the Lady’s plan right now. But it also feels like he is doing that because he is desperate. Desperate to get his life back. Desperate to escape this nightmare situation.

A few episodes ago the Lady asked him something chilling. When she told him to kill Five and Six, she asked him, “Are you ready to throw away your soul?”

And he did not answer.

He just went and did it.

So now I am really curious about where this goes. It feels like he is in a perfect position for a redemption arc. The groundwork is there.

Maybe the story is moving toward him breaking away from both sides. Not siding with the Lady, but not fully aligning with CODE either. Instead realizing that both factions are dangerous and trying to find another path out.

Maybe the real resolution is the two of them eventually standing together against both sides.

But the question remains.

Has Nox done too much to be redeemed? Or do you think the story is setting him up to earn it?

What Is Code Somnia?

This is not a drill. This is a call for theories and speculation.

What in the world is Code Somnia?

Zero brings it up while talking with Three, and the way they talk about it makes it sound incredibly important. They say that Zets is complete now, because of Baku. And because Zets is complete, Baku is now ready for the next step.

And that next step is Code Somnia.

So what does that mean?

The word itself is interesting. We immediately think about insomnia, which means the inability to sleep. If insomnia means you cannot sleep, then somnia might imply the opposite. Something connected to sleep itself.

Maybe even the power to sleep.

Or maybe something even stranger. If insomnia is the inability to sleep, maybe somnia is the inability to stay awake.

Which raises a wild possibility.

What if Code Somnia is some kind of plan to put people to sleep?

But who?

Is the goal to put specific people to sleep? To control certain targets? Or is this something much bigger, like putting everyone to sleep for some greater purpose?

I honestly do not know.

But the way they talk about it makes it feel like a major endgame mechanism. Something tied directly to Baku and the fact that Zets is now “complete.”

So I want to hear your theories.

What do you think Code Somnia actually is? What do you think it does? And why does Zets being complete suddenly make it possible?

Let me know what you think.

Whose Side Is Zero On?

Whose side is Zero actually on?

That question has been bothering me ever since this episode.

When Baku starts freaking out earlier in the episode, Zero chooses to leave him. And I actually thought that was a great moment. Baku tells him he is scared. He is on edge. He might attack him. And instead of escalating the situation, Zero just leaves and gives him space.

It is a really nice bit of suit acting from both of them, actually. The moment feels genuine.

But then the episode gives us another scene that complicates everything.

We see Zero outside the robot body, speaking with Three. And in that conversation he talks about Code Somnia and says that Zets is complete now because of Baku. The plan is moving forward.

Which immediately raises a red flag.

Because if that conversation is sincere, then it sounds like Zero is fully involved in whatever Code is planning. And whatever Code is planning definitely feels shady at this point.

So what is actually going on here?

Is Zero truly on their side?

Is he secretly working against Baku?

Or is the situation more complicated than that?

Maybe he is playing both sides. Maybe he is pretending to cooperate with Three and Code while secretly protecting Baku behind the scenes. Or maybe he is manipulating Baku for a larger plan that we still do not understand.

At this point we simply do not know the full story. The show is clearly holding back some important information about what Code is, what their goals are, and how all of these characters fit into that plan.

But one thing is clear.

Zero is involved in something bigger.

So what do you think? Is Zero a loyal ally? A traitor? Or a double agent working toward a hidden third option?

Fujimi and Nasuka Are Great Support Characters

I really like Fujimi and Nasuka. I think they are just great.

Their dynamic is really fun and very enjoyable to watch. Scenes like this one are basically comedy gold. On the surface it almost feels like you should not be having moments this funny right here in the episode, but that is part of why it works so well.

The humor they bring gets offset later when the story turns more dramatic. What starts as a comedic interaction ends up feeding into a more emotional turn afterward, and I really appreciate that kind of balance.

Because of that, they have quickly become some of my favorite support characters in the show.

I have always had a soft spot for strong support characters in Kamen Rider. One of my favorites is Rinko from Kamen Rider Wizard. I even made a video years ago called “Rinko Is a Gem.” And honestly, I still stand by that. She is a great character.

Fujimi and Nasuka have a little bit of that same energy. Not exactly the same, but similar in the sense that they make the world of the show feel more human and more lived in.

And that matters. Great support characters elevate the whole story.

So now I am curious.

Who are some of your favorite support characters in Kamen Rider? And honestly, we can include Super Sentai too.

Is This the True Evil of Code?

What actually makes Code so evil?

Both the Lady and Nox have talked about the darkness of Code and the horror of what the organization does. But the show has not fully explained what that evil really is yet.

So I keep wondering if we are already seeing it.

In this scene, Agent Five uses his Shcok Capsem to force Kureha, Agent Six, to remember who she is. He literally forces her memories back into place so she remembers that she belongs to Code.

And that raises a really disturbing possibility.

Is the true evil of Code simply their willingness to use people?

They erase people’s memories. They put them back into normal life. Then, when they need them, they pull them back in, reactivate them, and send them into combat. Afterward they erase everything again and return them to their lives as if nothing happened.

They are basically sleeper agents.

Imagine taking someone when they are young, programming them to be a soldier, then letting them live a normal life. When the time comes, you activate them, make them fight, then wipe their memories and put them back on the shelf.

Over and over again.

In that sense, every Code agent is a little bit like the Winter Soldier. Their identity, their memories, and even their lives are constantly being manipulated by someone else.

And that alone would be pretty evil.

But the show keeps hinting that there might be something even worse behind it.

So the real question is this: is the horror of Code simply the fact that they manipulate and exploit people like this?

Or is there an even darker purpose behind everything they are doing?

What do you think?