WASTED POTENTIAL!
I’m gonna be honest, I’ve given Yuya Takahashi way more chances than he deserved, but surprisingly, he still can’t seem to get any better. In fact, it keeps getting worse.
Zeztz is definitely a style over substance series. The technical aspects really did a lot of heavy lifting to cover for the writer’s weaknesses. A lot of the pros come from the designs, score and soundtrack, and especially the direction in some episodes, like those directed by Sugihara and Kamihoriuchi.
This series fumbled hard after the first arc, and in my personal opinion, it has some of the laziest and cheapest writing I’ve seen. Even the big twist itself wasn’t executed well.
Most of the actors did a good job, but the main heroine, Nemu, played by Horiguchi, could sometimes be pretty bland in her acting. The side characters and villains were also a major letdown. And then I see some fans saying Zeztz needed more episodes. Like...what do you mean, more episodes?!! lol
It needed less and a much faster pace. The first arc dragged on for way too long, and it took almost half the season to execute that whole “thing.” The finale also felt really forced, as if we were expected to watch other supplementary content just to fully understand the epilogue. That’s just bad writing overall.
In conclusion, this series could’ve been an all-timer if it had been written by someone who actually understood how to execute a sci-fi, high-concept storyline. Toei relies way too much on Takahashi when, frankly, he just doesn’t seem capable of handling this particular concept.
I really don’t want Takahashi to touch another Rider series anymore. I also think Zeztz is by far one of the most divisive series he’s ever written, and honestly, I hope Toei takes the reception to this series as a serious wake-up call.
Zeztz is definitely a style over substance series. The technical aspects really did a lot of heavy lifting to cover for the writer’s weaknesses. A lot of the pros come from the designs, score and soundtrack, and especially the direction in some episodes, like those directed by Sugihara and Kamihoriuchi.
This series fumbled hard after the first arc, and in my personal opinion, it has some of the laziest and cheapest writing I’ve seen. Even the big twist itself wasn’t executed well.
Most of the actors did a good job, but the main heroine, Nemu, played by Horiguchi, could sometimes be pretty bland in her acting. The side characters and villains were also a major letdown. And then I see some fans saying Zeztz needed more episodes. Like...what do you mean, more episodes?!! lol
It needed less and a much faster pace. The first arc dragged on for way too long, and it took almost half the season to execute that whole “thing.” The finale also felt really forced, as if we were expected to watch other supplementary content just to fully understand the epilogue. That’s just bad writing overall.
In conclusion, this series could’ve been an all-timer if it had been written by someone who actually understood how to execute a sci-fi, high-concept storyline. Toei relies way too much on Takahashi when, frankly, he just doesn’t seem capable of handling this particular concept.
I really don’t want Takahashi to touch another Rider series anymore. I also think Zeztz is by far one of the most divisive series he’s ever written, and honestly, I hope Toei takes the reception to this series as a serious wake-up call.
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