Review S18 EP36: Mending a Broken Spirit!

[PokémonGamer]

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Discuss the dub here. Future events go in spoiler tags.

 

[Sakuraa]

I thought this was a pretty good episode.

Man, that’s the most epic stick breaking I’ve ever seen. I was glad to see that Pancham felt bad about his mistake and went to find Braxien a new stick. I lol'd during the stick searching scene when Bonnie and Dedenne brought back puny little sticks. I thought it was sweet how Braxien was so upset about her stick because it symbolized her goal of winning Kalos Queen with Serena. I was wondering was she was so picky about it. And how is Woodward just going to diss Serena and Braxien like that and say the stick fixing worked with Sawsbuck because he was so determined to get his horn fixed, but might not work with her branch. Lol. Idk why, but I thought it was really weird that Ash asked Pikachu if he wanted to go see the branch doctor, as if he'd say no or have a choice regardless.

Ok did Ash and co. really miss James jump in the air and backflip out of that disguise. Are they seriously blind? Surely Clemont, Bonnie, and Woodward who were way behind him should have seen that.

So Braxien can still use attacks with the broken stick? Well that's surprising. I had the same thoughts as Bonnie during the battle since I remembered that Braxien used Flamethrower from her mouth once before. But I guess if fire attacks are difficult to use in general due to the broken stick it wouldn’t even matter. I like how Braxien and Pancham attacked TR with their Showcase performance combo. I still thought Braxien learning Fire Blast on the spot like that was odd, even with Woodward’s explanation about her feelings and everything. And no one even seemed that surprised by it.

OMG, how the hell did that big ass stick fit in Pancham's fur pouch (or whatever it is)? Lol. Anyway, I am glad that Braxien accepted that stick and that it's based her desires with both Serena and Pancham. I also love Serena's added bow. But I face palmed when she said she was going to use the ribbon as a new symbol of their Kalos Queen goal. Hope nothing happens to that ribbon, lol.

Overall a really good episode for Serena and her Pokemon. 8/10.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Seems like Ash forgot it wasn't his turn to read the title card. And James, "Jeeves" isn't exactly a good track-covering name. There was an I.V. connected to one of Woodward's plants?! Or, was that a catheter? I still think Braixen's new Fire Blast should blasted Team Rocket off, instead of Pikachu getting to do that once again.

All in all, good dub. Although I hoped for a rewrite of that part where they wondered where Jeeves went. They could've made Ash and friends smarter. Oh well; a small slip-up.

 

[Muur]

If the twig breaks that easily then it should need a new one every 20 minutes.

It was alright and decent enough in the end, reminds me of Oshawott.

If Braxien can't use fire moves without its branch though, it seems like an unideal Pokemon to use for anything.

Swear James has used that disguise many times before and how did they not see him jumping in to join TR?

I liked the bottle cap continuity. How many caps has he lost in his day!? I would've liked to see Growlie show for a few seconds.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I'm not quite sure what to think of this episode to be honest.
One the one hand, Woodward's line at the end pretty much summed up the whole episode. He said that if you get overly attached to something, it could result in you getting stuck in the past. And what he basically wanted to say is that Braixen's reaction was really exaggerated. And during most of the episode this was my opinion as well because I couldn't quite understand why Braixen was makling such an unnecessary fuss over that brocken branch.
But luckily, it was Woodward once again who saved the day. The message he wanted to convey was pretty good and I loved how he was trying to teach Serena and Braixen that it's their feelings and their will and not material things that matter in the end. I really liked that message!

I'd say it was a standard episode with a great message at the end, though.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

One the one hand, Woodward's line at the end pretty much summed up the whole episode. He said that if you get overly attached to something, it could result in you getting stuck in the past.

That's a lesson more people (especially people in fandoms of any kind) need to learn.

 

[DS0308]

It did feel a little odd every time they called it a branch, could've at least said it was a stick. :/

In the episode Ash says it might be difficult for Braixen to use Fire-type moves without it, but at the same time we saw her use Flamethrower in XY070 with some semblance of accuracy despite the absence of it. But I guess there's not much room for complaint there because they specified it might be difficult (or at least I thought they said it like that).

Episode has a good message and was rather nice to watch in general.

 

[PiccoloX]

Panchams Master Plan

Step 1: Put a big stick in fur pouch thingy.

Step 2: Impress the ladies!

Step 3: Not needed!