I didnt write this out yesterday but Huh what huh what huh what huh what
It doesnt have to same effect after i slept on it, shame. Here are my thoughts about this bombshell of a halfway point so spoilers for episode 24
Ok so since this is apparently the last episode with the VISIONS op i want to point out a cute detail that the wonder form changes size each episode, going from being so huge he cant get through the door to being a little guy, i like it.
Anyways apparently Nem is either a nightmare or a result of a nightmare reality warping affecting the real world something that we have seen sometimes before with the paintings and the students (looking back on it, i wonder if the lightning strikes were a symptom of Baku getting closer to becoming a nightmare like Nox said in his final words). Speaking of Nox, this kind of answers why Nox said that she was an exception to the things of the world breaking down because she is not a natural part of the world, but now i do wonder if the us Nox used was just referring to him and Nem or if there are more people that exist outside this natural law.
Nem being The lady daughter made all my theories about 2 using her as a power source wrong, but it also raises the question of why the fuck would she allow her daughter to be targeted by the Wolf Nightmare, like what the fuck. Was there no other way to bait robot Zero?
And last main Nem speculation, why does CODE call her a replica? Not subject or anomaly, but replica. I highly doubt they mean that as a replica of another specific person and i dont think they mean it in the way of being a replica of the baby from lady dream, so what does this mean. Im betting there was another nightmare baby before but i dont have a lot to support this.
Now going to Baku and i did not expect him to become a rogue agent from the get go, i assumed that with him abandoning his Baku personality to only be Seven meant that he would be a loyal CODE agent so seeing him turn down his orders to do his own thing was a surprise. I mean he still went to HQ but i guess he was only there to figure out where the nightmares came from since that could be a lead to Nem location. But now that i think about it i dont think the Seven persona Baku used this episode is the same persona he had for most of the show, the Seven we loved was still a confident spy who took orders into his own hands but he was also kind and would go out of his way to save the people in need. But now he is a selfish person that only cares for his goal, like when he saw that couple he could have helped them in an instant with recovery but he just walked away to continue wandering aimlessly until he found Nem and the Lady. And before i forget i have to apologize to all the youtubers who said the kids taken by the Disaster nightmare were dead (and the people near the explosion) because i didnt think the show would paint Baku as a heartless man who would leave people to die but not only did this episode showed Baku doing exactly that but it also retroactively made that moment even worse because Baku could have dealt with the nightmare with a rider kick but he instead chose to use the most destructive and unnecessary attack possible.
Speaking of Catastrom, the show kind of proved my theory about it right! I wont have to keep thinking about its accuracy late at night like i do with my Booster theory! Turns out that Catastrophe really can choose to not help Baku if he stops acting in the way Catastrophe wants, and i think what they want is to have Baku "break" everything which explains the collateral damage that this form causes. With this in mind i wonder if Baku would have deflated had he helped that couple, because not only would he stop his in his path (which could be interpreted as hesitation) but he would use Recovery, something that is the exact opposite of what Catastrophe wants. The rider kick also had him turn into lightning which ties into Catastrophe being the progenitor of at least some of Baku's capsems* (i have some theories but they have toy spoilers so im putting them in the bottom of the post, like i know most people probably know but i don't want to spoil people who avoid these like i used to do with my earlier posts). And to round this out i do think that Catastrom is a different take on a berserk/hazard form because instead of making Baku go berserk it only works when Baku is in a berserker state because Catastrophe wants wanton destruction and i think Baku would only act on these desires when he is blinded by rage, maybe he can use Catastrom when he isnt angry if he is in a situation where massive destruction is needed like with the moon thing but being berserk is the state least likely for him to hesitate and break the fusion.
And a small detail i haven't seem anyone talk about, when Baku defeated the nightmares there were no butterflies they just turned into black smoke the same way Barrier did when Nox erased them. I wonder if its because the Lady wouldn't need them anymore so she turned off the butterflies causing the nightmares to just die, i dont think its because Baku overkilled them because of toy stuff.
Speaking of nightmares the Lady used a variation of the Nox driver to summon them, there wasnt a lot of details on it so i have to speculate. First she was using a new capsem, or if i understood it correctly, multiple capsems of the same type, one that serves only as temporary housing to nightmares until she releases them and most likely to control them. My reasoning is that every time one of the nightmares was defeated she seemed to pull out a new one but instead of summoning them all at once she only had one at a time, that could mean that she can only control one at a time, maybe.
And last one before the big reveal, Lord three has two to three capsems and i have no idea about what they are. He transforms using extra and thats all we know about it, like what the fuck is extra. we also see him using an invisibility power (that has the same effect as the Nox knight transformation) and later he uses a capsem that separates the driver from Baku, i dont know if these are the same capsem but they are interesting. Well this was something i guess.
And now for the big twist, Baku got a bad end and reset to his last check point like he has return by death. This along with red moon showing up makes a really strong case to the dream layers theory but i feel like i should put another theory out even if its kind of weak. My theory is that CODE is behind the world reset, my reasoning comes from the fact that Nox and the Lady kept saying that CODE controlled the world and things like it and CODE being able to reset the world to avoid things they didnt want is a pretty good way to do that, and with the preview showing Zero talk about CODE:SOMNIA that could be the name to the thing that allows them to do that (if anyone reading this knows lobcorp you know why im thinking of this). The main problem with this theory is that there is no reason for CODE to reset the world, they got exactly what they wanted and its not like they care about all the people who died to reset the world to bring them back. This specific theory probably wrong but i do think that some of its ideas could be true, like im pretty sure CODE had something to do with the reset due to the way Three and human Zero acted in the preview, to tie this to dream layer theory maybe CODE is the reason why the world is in a dream.
And now the previews, im not making a full breakdown because Mariinetact made an incredible analysis with details i didnt even notice so go check their work. So im only making theories based on the preview here.
First off: KUREHA IS BACK, along Five and Nox! Many celebrations are to be held but before that i do think its worth noting some oddities: first we see Nox confronting Nem directly which is something he didnt do in the original timeline, secondly we see Five and Kureha together and Kureha is using the photographer outfit and her Six ring. I have a theory but before that im going to try to make explanations for these things without it. For Nox the change in his actions could be because of a ripple effect caused by Baku acting differently (he seems to remember last timeline and he still has his capsems), and for Kureha it could indicate that her being pursued by the rival org (probably the Lady) and having her memory erased was something extremely recent that happened after the show started. Now for my theory, i think the other agents also kept their memory, explaining why Nox was acting that way when he originally kept his distance and why Kureha is with Five and the ring while using her reporter clothes. Again this doesnt have a lot of evidence and there is the possibility that this is only partially correct, maybe only Nox and Baku remember because they are the only ones who fuse with their nightmares while the others have vague recollections because they use the invoker system, this is all speculation.
To take a break before making another big theory, the reset kind of shows that the capsems bond with their user soul/mind since we see that Baku capsems also came back in time. I already suspected this since we see Baku and the others get their capsems from out of nowhere even in the real world (unlike their drivers which they have to bring with them in the real world) but its nice to see concrete evidence for this. And if my theory above is correct it could give a way for Nox to go back to his full rider form faster since he wont have to defeat his nightmare again but this does raise two questions but one is toy related so ill put it on the bottom, the non spoiler one is that i dont know how will he get his driver back because like i said before they cant be summoned so unless the Lady had it ready and was just waiting for Nox to deal with his nnightmare?
And the last non toy thing is a Zero theory, i think that robot Zero and human Zero are separate entities. The reason i believe this is because not only do both have different behaviors, with bike Zero, while being pragmatic and kind of cold, he also had more empathy and care as he acted like a mentor to Baku and he even forgave Baku after he went against his orders and even agreed to tell the truth about CODE before he died while human Zero only showed his coldness, not even trying to get Baku back in line before Three went to kill him. The second thing is that the crystal Zero had wasnt a control module or something like it, it was a memory core, why would a "drone" have a memory core especially one with classified information that could be targeted by enemies? And my smoking gun: Bike Zero met Nem, he met her back during the poison arc and he made no move to capture her for CODE, meanwhile Human Zero was smiling like a maniac the moment he saw Nem. So i think that those two are two different people that while sharing some memories are completely different, this also explains the "my one and only agent" line! Sure, Human Zero has Three and Five but Bike Zero can only count on Baku, the agent he commands far from CODE. This raises a lot of questions like why does Bike Zero exist and why did he keep away from the rest of CODE but i think overall this holds up, and it also makes a cool contrast by having the robot copy be more human than the original human (and it also allows for the robot to be on Baku side and i really want that robot to be around).
These were all the episode stuff, next is my toy theories so if you dont want to get spoiled dont read whats bellow. And if you are leaving thank you for reading all this, i hope this was fun.
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Ok so first off we see that the bomb nightmare came back and that includes wolf because he is going to be the next capsem, but what happened to the Shadow and Gun nightmare? Ok Gun is less paradoxical since the reset happens after he is defeated but what about Shadow? Are they free again to cause havoc on Nox mind or are they stuck on the shadow capsem? Hell maybe there are two Shadow nightmares like a certain sword from legacy of kaine.
The other thing i want to talk about is the Ordem form of the Dualmare capsem, i expect and hope that its a side grade to Catastrom instead of an upgrade because not only would a second nightmare inside Baku explain where capsems like barrier and machinery came from but it could also be a "wizard" form that has Baku use powers and abilities instead of raw strength and durability, maybe this is the reality bender form that Baku imposes his "order" on reality? But assuming that the Ordem nightmare has a similar deal as Catastrom i do wonder what it wants from Baku in exchange for their power, control maybe? But i dont think thats the type of thing you get to represent in a form the same way you can do with destruction, if anyone has a theory i would be happy to read them because i dont think ill be able to make a solid guess before their debut. Last thing but i hope this Nightmare talks to contrast Catastrom.
What a season, huh? Thanks for reading all my late night ramblings, again. Hope this was fun.
I have been watching Kuuga and i noticed some similarities with Zeztz power up progressions
The color scheme of the power up progression is the same with the power up form being yellow related to lightning, there is the obvious difference that Kuuga upgrade all his forms while Zeztz is only plasma with maybe booster being the general upgrade but we have only seen it once so far so i cant really tell and i just saw Godai unlock stronger purple [forgot name] so i also cant say what will happen with Kuuga.
Also unrelated to Zeztz but its interesting that aperently the upgrades will come in reverse order from when they got unlocked with Titan (remembered it!) being first and Mighty being last (why does red break the naming scheme?), i find it nice to see the other forms getting more of thekuuga sp spotlight that Mighty is hogging for itself. Its soething that i think Zeztz handles a little bit better since the ability to use the capsems powers without having to transform into them means that they can show up more while the new toy gets to be the transformation.
Edit; i watched some more and i think i know where green getting fucked over came from. Also i havent watched 26 yet but it be funny if when Godai returns the gun it comes back as a weird eletric rifle from the upgrade
Ok so i have calmed down a bit and i want to write a quick capsem thing and about Baku curse
My mind has cleared and i regained my composure after watching Yuki Furukawa youtube channel again. And i want to thank the callsign henshin channel cause what he said after the episode inspired and im going to repeat what he said so im giving credits to him.
So, Baku new capsem is the second capsem Baku created by i believe that this nightmare is the original nightmare haunting Baku since he was a baby if the dreamscape is indeed a memory like the episode said. My reason is this, Baku entire life has been marked by catastrophe, starting as baby with something we dont know yet and while it took a break when he was a kid it came back with a vengeance after he got indoctrinated by CODE and he got hit by lightning, with a "bad luck" that punished all of his actions and attempts to do good in the waking world, from getting attacked by a shark, hit by a meteor, ran over by car and many other catastrophes.
While the show starts when he finally gets the power and oportunity to do what he always wanted to do without the fear of twisted karmic punishments he is a man who is rightfully traumatized of a world that seems to hate him for some unknown reason, so while the lightning strike was his "first" nightmare lightning isnt the core aspect of what Baku fears, it was the first time in his fully formed memories that the thing that haunts his entire life showed itself, catastrophe.
So after a period of time acting as Seven and avoiding misfortune for his deeds since he did them in the dream world Baku is forced once again to be a agent in the real world, but this time he is being sent to kill a person he himself saved from a nightmare but Baku refuses to do so, he makes the right thing, but this time its different, because this time he isnt a good thing by taking an action, no he is doing something good by refusing to act. So because of this tiny difference and maybe its because the force that hates him is using this opportunity to punish his actions in the dream world, but no matter the reason a catastrophe happens, but it isnt Baku that suffers directly no its the other agents, his coworker in the case with five but with Kureha? She was a classmate, someone who he confided his anxieties about CODE in someone who is very clearly dear and near to one of his friends, and now their dead because Baku wanted to take a moral high ground. Catastrophe again, but it took away the lives of others.
And so Baku who had just before gotten in contact with a memory he shouldnt have after questioning what the capsems, the source of his powers, came from and made contact with a being that has lurked inside him and powered his nightmare abilities even without him knowing of its existence. And after being forced into the worse situation he ever lived through so far he understood what it was and he asked for their help to get stronger, and, to make others suffer what he has suffered for so long. He called for his very own nightmare, one with a very fitting name, Catastrophe Gore.
So this was the end of my dramatic interpretation of this nightmare, i will now write more directly. First off i think the reason why Catastrophe Edgier Last Lame here has a suit is connected to how it was able to make a full blow capsem by itself and why Baku needed the gacha machine and a void capsems for his other nightmares and possibly the role for the Lady flower garden, Catastrophe is so strong he can manifest itself without outside help meanwhile Baku other nightmares need the assistance of CODE tech to be granted a form, even plasma that is stronger than the rest is still not enough to manifest since the lightning didnt leave a huge impact in Baku body to make him think about it everyday like the concept of catastrophe, so when he finally confronts it again it takes the shape of the memory of the event not an actual monster. I used to believe the capsems changed the form of Baku nightmare to take on the zeztz form but now i think that the capsems take these abstract fears, anxieties and traumas and condenses them and shape them into an actual entity that is also able to manifest supernatural powers, if this line of thought is correct than its extremely fucked up of CODE to grab someone negative thoughts and give them form and power.
But going on this train of though i think Nem serves a similar role to the Lady because i dont buy the idea that she is solely responsible for the nightmares, my theory is that Nem subconscious mind serves as literal garden for the nightmares, so the Lady spreads nightmare seeds with her butterflies and then these seeds are shaped by the psychological shadow of the host similar to Baku nightmares, but unlike them these nascent nightmares are brought into Nem mind where the nightmares feed and grow from Nem dream powers until they fully form (and in some part of this process the Lady will probably do something to keep them under control for reasons i will explain later), at that point the nightmare will return to their original host mind to take full control of them by opening the mind doors and if they succeed they will be able to manifest in the real world where they wreak havoc and infect more people.
So the reason i talked about the Lady doing something to take control of the nightmares is because a detail i noticed is that Catastrophe belt is completely different from the other nightmares, it has a different design from the others and i interpret this as meaning not that Catastrophe is not affiliated with the Lady and they were home grow inside Baku mind with any of those "pesty Nem'icides" that are poisoning our negative thoughts. So Baku new hazard form isnt going to be excused as something made by lady to corrupt Baku so he will have to deal with the fact that he created this beast of a beast.
Finally some small tid bits, i love how the henshin has all four colors for the categories possibly connecting how Catastrophe is the source of all the capsems originating from Baku. Second i think Catastrophe is meant to be both Phisicam and Esprim because of the color scheme so thats neat. Third i was jumping out of my seat when i saw Baku break Nox gunsword. Fourth i love how this is the nightmare that is the source of zeztz, Kureha had kind of implied Baku was special last episode and this one and i think the reason he can use the Zeztz driver is because he has such a powerful nightmare inside them while the other agents probably dont have a nightmare at this scale so they use the pseudo riders systems (until nox cheated by using nightmares grow by the Lady). Fifth having Baku shout that out that if capsems have the power to make bad dreams come true then he make Nox fears a reality is so fucking cool. Sixth Baku confronting and getting the help of his nightmares is something i have been waiting for and i hope we get more stuff like this even after he stops using a berserk form. Seventh i hope that after this arc is done someone finally answers Baku and my questions about the capsems please.
I said this was quick in the title but that was a lie i have spent two hours writing this and i havent slept since the episode aired i am programing this tom post in a few hours
Oh man this episode was really fun and it had so many things from numbah three showing up and being a dick, to more lore about code and a new agent (and new rider)? The fight scenes were great. We had all the lovely ryuki references (god if Kureha is a rider let her go full ryuki).
The nightmare could speak and he is a standout like the gun nightmare and shadow. also now that im writing this i noticed all the nightmares related to agents can speak, like gun, shadow and now games? Maybe its because people with more advanced dream powers have more powerful nightmares?
Stream is back. Yuri has arrived and i will ship the basketball players. There is only one problem
GOD FUCKING DAMMIT WHAT DID BARRIER DO, HE DOESNT DESERVE GETTING FUCKED OVER LIKE COME ON LET MY NIGHTMARE DO SHIT WITHOUT GETTING KIDNAPPED OR KILLED BY NOX. Is this punishment for being the clutch power that saves people, or is it like JOJO or Gojo where barrier is to strong and the writter have to go out of the way to constrain them so the plot can happen and the villains arent instantly defeated by their overwelming power.
