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alchemicinkThis week: Zeztz reveals some important information about Zero; the Girl Rules crew films a music video; and Akane gets a temp restaurant job
Title quote comes from Akane-banashi today.
Spoilers, as always, below (but especially for Zeztz this time)
Kamen Rider Zeztz (episode 31)
Secrets continue to be revealed. Big secrets!
Zero informs Baku that CODE is planning to assassinate him and his allies, so he attempts to foil their plan. What happens is that he ends up in Zero's dream and sees a flashback of himself as a kid, admiring the zeroider motorcycle. Along the way, he figures out that all his real life bad luck can be traced back to Nightmares, and that Zero is his father. (I'm still not quite sure how Baku figured that one out 😅)
It's a lot to process. And this new information will probably shake up character dynamics going forward. This show is so good at making me excited for the next episode every week.
Secret agents deal in secret information all the time, and I really like the way this show conveys that. It keeps me invested.
Girl Rules (episode 6)
Now that we're halfway through the series, I think I can admit that the Prim/Bambi couple is just not interesting to me. Their dynamic continues to be confusing. So I'm just not going to talk about them anymore unless something drastic changes.
So Min and Praew spend the episode in some sort of afterschool special. It's not that I mind their storyline giving focus to the challenges women face in society -- dealing with domestic violence and dismissive police officers is awful and needs to change -- but it feels so out of place and clunky in this episode. I just wish it had felt more like a natural part of the overall story instead of a side quest PSA.
Thankfully, Shasha and Gorya are saving this series for me. Shasha attempts to make amends, but Gorya isn't willing to listen. But Shasha's ex meddles a bit to bring them back together, requesting the two play as the couple in her new music video. It's the kind of silly trope I enjoy to watch. Amidst all that, there's conflict with Shasha's manager that brings them together once again. It's fun to see their burgeoning begrudgingly friendship form. I wonder what curveball they'll face next.
Akane-banashi (episode 3)
Akane's training begins. Not in rakugo, but in the art of performing for an audience. I really liked the emphasis that storytelling isn't simply getting on stage and reciting a story. It's about considering the audience you're talking to, and figuring out what they need.
It's a bit of a rocky start for Akane because, as her new mentor points out, she's selfishly only considering herself at first. Which makes sense -- she's an inexperienced teenager right now. I love the idea that she has to go work in a restaurant for a week to start honing this skill. As I've said before, Akane is a delightful protagonist, and I'm really enjoying her determination to learn. She gets discouraged when she stumbles, but it doesn't take long for her to pick up the pieces and try again.
So when she finds a way to communicate via rakugo miming skills with the guy who doesn't speak Japanese at the end of the episode -- meeting him where he's at instead of expecting him to try to speak in Japanese -- the lesson feels satisfying and earned.
Since it's still early, the show still leans a bit heavily on exposition at times, but I'm sure that will lessen as the story progresses. I can't wait to see what happens in the story next week.
Title quote comes from Akane-banashi today.
Spoilers, as always, below (but especially for Zeztz this time)
Kamen Rider Zeztz (episode 31)
Secrets continue to be revealed. Big secrets!
Zero informs Baku that CODE is planning to assassinate him and his allies, so he attempts to foil their plan. What happens is that he ends up in Zero's dream and sees a flashback of himself as a kid, admiring the zeroider motorcycle. Along the way, he figures out that all his real life bad luck can be traced back to Nightmares, and that Zero is his father. (I'm still not quite sure how Baku figured that one out 😅)
It's a lot to process. And this new information will probably shake up character dynamics going forward. This show is so good at making me excited for the next episode every week.
Secret agents deal in secret information all the time, and I really like the way this show conveys that. It keeps me invested.
Girl Rules (episode 6)
Now that we're halfway through the series, I think I can admit that the Prim/Bambi couple is just not interesting to me. Their dynamic continues to be confusing. So I'm just not going to talk about them anymore unless something drastic changes.
So Min and Praew spend the episode in some sort of afterschool special. It's not that I mind their storyline giving focus to the challenges women face in society -- dealing with domestic violence and dismissive police officers is awful and needs to change -- but it feels so out of place and clunky in this episode. I just wish it had felt more like a natural part of the overall story instead of a side quest PSA.
Thankfully, Shasha and Gorya are saving this series for me. Shasha attempts to make amends, but Gorya isn't willing to listen. But Shasha's ex meddles a bit to bring them back together, requesting the two play as the couple in her new music video. It's the kind of silly trope I enjoy to watch. Amidst all that, there's conflict with Shasha's manager that brings them together once again. It's fun to see their burgeoning begrudgingly friendship form. I wonder what curveball they'll face next.
Akane-banashi (episode 3)
Akane's training begins. Not in rakugo, but in the art of performing for an audience. I really liked the emphasis that storytelling isn't simply getting on stage and reciting a story. It's about considering the audience you're talking to, and figuring out what they need.
It's a bit of a rocky start for Akane because, as her new mentor points out, she's selfishly only considering herself at first. Which makes sense -- she's an inexperienced teenager right now. I love the idea that she has to go work in a restaurant for a week to start honing this skill. As I've said before, Akane is a delightful protagonist, and I'm really enjoying her determination to learn. She gets discouraged when she stumbles, but it doesn't take long for her to pick up the pieces and try again.
So when she finds a way to communicate via rakugo miming skills with the guy who doesn't speak Japanese at the end of the episode -- meeting him where he's at instead of expecting him to try to speak in Japanese -- the lesson feels satisfying and earned.
Since it's still early, the show still leans a bit heavily on exposition at times, but I'm sure that will lessen as the story progresses. I can't wait to see what happens in the story next week.
