Episode 18 Story Praise and Thoughts

[KnightlyNobody]

Despite me not being at the new content for Episode 18(Currently Training Loads of Mons,and I am about to battle Blake for the first time) I really like the new Story Additions in Episode 18. I rewatched the cutscenes and I still love the improvement from Episode 17. What bogs down the story section from 17 for me is that I would rather have nothing to do with Amaria and Titania Relationship Drama. If you managed to get the Reshiram path,Taka was a really nice addition as he offered a lot of cool world and lore building which prevented me from hating the story of 17.

 

Here is the part were I talk about what I liked so if you havent finished 18 and dont like Spoilers,Consider this your warning(SPOILER WARNING)

 

It was really nice to see more of Hardy again. Out of all the Young Adults Gym Leaders from the School,I find him to be the most likeable. He is a really chill and nice dude compared to his Sister,and he calls out Fern on his Bullshit and Insecurities. All the Other Gym Leaders from the School(with the Exception of Julia) have a lot of personal issues they have to work through

 

Anna,Randomus,and Luna were very nice to see. I love how quirky and weird Anna can be,and the writers do utilize her weirdness to point out things about other characters like Serra being a fractured person or Charlotte being mentally scarred from the Belrose Mansion Fire despite Sirius committing the crime. Luna is just a fun character to watch as she always seems to be a step ahead of everyone for the weirdest reasons,and of course Randoms is by far my favorite character with his funny hat gimmick and his surprisingly deep mind games.

 

Bennett got more characterization which I think he desperately needed. Previously,he had come off as a naive,but good person who was a bit of a pervert and had "Nice guy syndrome". Really liked the direction they are going with his character. Bennett teaming up with Laura of all people was really nice,and a cool bit of mechanical storytelling. Laura so far appears to be a Grass Type Specialist and that is a far less dangerous type than Dragon or Fire. It makes sense for Laura to be far more forgiving than her sisters. She also needed some more screentime imo.

 

Shelly so far still remains the most devloped character in Reborn,and she is getting more of it which I love. I never thought that the writers would use Titania of all people to devlop Shelly as they are very different,and if you got the other path than Serra nice as well

 

As for the Villains:Solaris continues to be the most interesting antagonist for me,and I loved what happened to him in either path as it showcase both sides of his personality. In the Zekrom Route,his dialogue still shows that he does not trust his son and sees him as naive or ignorant. In the Reshiram Route:it shows that despite having issues with Taka he genuinely loves him. Taka quitting in the Zekrom Route was also very satisfying to see.