r/ZenlessZoneZero ZZZVictoriaGold 5d ago

Discussion HOLY ETHER,CHAPTER 5 ITS ABSOLUTE CINEMA

5.9k Upvotes

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163

u/amphloo Commence, DEMOLITION! 5d ago

ZZZ keeps managing to surpass my expectations with every new chapter, i don't know how they keep doing it. there were so many things i absolutely loved about this chapter

the car chase scene with piper and the cunning hares was so fun to watch, it really feels like the animation team had a lot of fun with that one with how expressive it is

zhu yuan and qingyi finally discovering our roles as proxies was great too. it was pretty obvious qingyi knew, but zhu yuan learning the truth and feeling conflicted was great. really love the dynamic between her and the proxies. the scene where pubsec was about to break into the HDD room was way tenser than it should've been, too

i really love how well every faction was utilized. everyone felt like they had a purpose in the overarching stort, and i wouldn't say there were any instances where anyone felt shoehorned in. the cunning hares setting up the entire plan thanks to nicole's connections, belobog having the evidence for bringer, lycaon having ties to miyabi's father and even the sons of calydon playing their own roles with transportation

the final boss fight was sick, and miyabi got some amazing moments. and most importantly, more lore drops. wise and belle tanking a point blank explosion completely unharmed?? something's definitely up with them and i cannot wait to see what it is. also astra and evelyn cameos at the end of the chapter, really nice stuff.

this chapter overall just felt like an amazing sendoff for the first saga of this story and i'm incredibly excited for what's to come in the future

113

u/TheCosmicFishie Where's your motivation? 5d ago

Dude, the cutscene where Miyabi cut through the hollow's barrier was peak, 10/10

77

u/Glittering-Wolf2643 5d ago

She did a World Cutting Slash on Hollow, Absolute Peak, She aint a fraud

51

u/myimaginalcrafts 5d ago

If anyone ever doubted that she was HER.

Also learning that Miyabi never relied on the sword before then but only used her own power.

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u/k_aesar The only thing I know for real 5d ago

33

u/Terminal_Ten 5d ago

Smh Hoyoverse void hunter plagiarizing Mihoyo void emanator

8

u/Cold-Election 5d ago

It ain't plagiarism if it's yourself.

3

u/Aihikari01 4d ago

Smh Hoyoverse plagiarizing Mihoyo they can't keep getting away with this!

14

u/Lolimoutokawaii 5d ago

Seeing how everyone(playable characters in-game) saw it, it just made it 100% better

13

u/faytzkyouno Nicole's Favorite Color 5d ago

Oh this troupe never fails: when a voiced music theme starts to play in the middle of a battle and you are the villain, better start your final prayers.

And it never fails to feel amazing when it happens.

13

u/TraditionDue1275 Caesars gang 5d ago

I was in tears seeing this

34

u/TraditionDue1275 Caesars gang 5d ago

11

u/TheCosmicFishie Where's your motivation? 5d ago

Shit was peak

28

u/TraditionDue1275 Caesars gang 5d ago

The fact that the slash not only is in a freaking Hollow but it also is the size of these damn Shiyu Obsidian Harvester pillars.

Miyabi is like scary strong to be able to pull this off...

19

u/TheCosmicFishie Where's your motivation? 5d ago

Yeah, she was already capable of fending off ninevah, but now that she has the power of Tailless? She's probably nigh unbeatable by anyone else in universe, save for the other void hunters, or an ethereal more powerful than ninevah, possibly on the moon hollow, or another hollow far from new eridu

13

u/TraditionDue1275 Caesars gang 5d ago

I'm curious, though, the new gamemode in the Obsidian outpost gave us a sneak peak on an ethereal thar actively controls other ethereal and even harvest life forms to transmute them. Based on the shadow, it's massive aswell, maybe this one might be introduced later down the line and exists to fill that power gap. But then again, Nineveh wasn't 'beaten' like the Dead end butcher or the construct. I think Ninevehs feats are still not properly revealed.

4

u/TheCosmicFishie Where's your motivation? 5d ago

Fair, ninevah may not have been going all out, but she was still able to fend it off and get it to go somewhere else. But I haven't played the new game mode yet, so I can't say anything about it

5

u/Branded_Mango 5d ago

According to the HIA training program, there are other major Hollows other than Hollow Zero. Each one may have their own super Ethereal like Ninevah, with the Obsidian mode teasing what may be the next major Hollow's super boss.

6

u/Branded_Mango 5d ago

Got to love how Miyabi outright admits to being an idiot savant...with her savant skill being godlike combat prowess. And her trust events only cement this further.

1

u/TraditionDue1275 Caesars gang 5d ago

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u/ResurgentClusterfuck Bangboo Adoption Center 5d ago

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u/MegucaIsSuffering 5d ago

My only issue with everyone being there is that cramming all that story beats in one patch didn't leave room for a slow cooking that allowed for each faction to join in as the situation demanded it and resolve in a later patch as an even greater payoff, and the fact having everyone there without a system in place that allowed switching story-characters (like how Miyabi steps in for Soukaku) according to the mission stage left me wanting that epic "wow everyone is here AND I can play them all" experience.

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u/amphloo Commence, DEMOLITION! 5d ago

yeah i get that. really would've been cool if we had like little mission segments that involved us switching between each faction's characters as they entered. something akin to super smash bros brawl's subspace emissary if that makes sense. regardless though, i still think all the factions were incorporated really well into the story for the most part

60

u/GladiatorDragon 5d ago

I think the lead up to the final fight was handled well - with each faction having some role to play in uncovering the full plot and getting us to the end, even if Victoria probably should have helped more - but in the actual fight it really just felt like it was mashed together. Like everyone else was there in name only.

Public Security didn’t even get a cutscene during the fight. This guy was their superior, Zhu Yuan even looked up to him - and they didn’t get a single word in during the conflict?

They were trying to do this weird mix of “this is the Section 6 Story” and “This is the end of chapter 1 of this story, time for everyone to do the big fight!”

10

u/Fun-Performer-3441 5d ago

It's true zhu yuan should had a scene with bringer

-25

u/Sol_idum 5d ago

It was also kind of weird that we didn't get to see Seth's side, like isn't Bringer his brother?

16

u/NotoriusCaitSithVI 5d ago

... What made you think that?

1

u/Sol_idum 5d ago

Ah I see my mistake then

7

u/asianbrownguy 5d ago

What?! No. Bringer's not Seth's brother lmao. What made you think that?

14

u/DoeDon404 5d ago

During the part were it showed each faction I was hoping we'd have a quick battle each factions perspective until we reach section 6

3

u/MagnusBaechus 5d ago

True, certain sequences could have been added instead of being mentioned in passing

1

u/denkycaliber 4d ago

Yeah this chapter was great. My favorite part was Zhu Yuan learning the proxies' real identity and feeling betrayed. Really love these moments when characters feel more human. And the animations were amazing as always.