Okay before I read anything that was said here I wanna write my own review of the episode!!! I am a DP stan as y'all know so it's nice to write about it and the reason I'm late was coz I was banned when the episode was airing so oh well
I might end up double posting coz I wanna write my review before reading anyone else's comments but I would wanna probably reply to some comments in this thread!! I hope it's a wholesome one coz I absolutely loved this episode
This episode imo was a perfect setup of the arc and couldn't have been done better! First of all we see Dawn's full team again, thank god (Hope we see Buneary and Pikachu interact that's all I want). I don't care it is unchanged, I prefer it that way, I would have wanted quilava to evolve but knowing the potential hisuian evolution now I'm glad they might be saving it. Buneary should never evolve, period and Dawn doesn't need more additions imo
Ash bringing Dawn a gift and taking care of her again just like the DP days made me smile a lot and I love just how good this episode was in honouring their bond, first with the opening scene and then Goh remarking how much Dawn reminds him of Ash. That's the stellar DP duo that I remember! Really hope we get that high five soon enough!
Speaking of Ash I love how he was handled, him bringing up Ultra wormholes was a surprise but a perfect way to include continuity and portray Ash as a guy with tons of experiences
Goh and Dawn/Ash and Chloe both made for a great pair, weren't forced and were completely organic. Cynthia was short and sweet, crisp as she needed to be, adding to the mythology angle, showing off more of her team to build up to master class and not taking more time away from the episode. Same with how TR was handled. Glad Ash and Goh are using their Pokemon as well!! Never really felt like they wasted time this episode or didn't pace it properly. Similarly to Dawn's first appearance the pacing and the setup were done well. The whole lore of the multiverse and how evil TR is causing chaos was explained and done well. I love Dawn in the AU was a runner up in the league just like how main Dawn is the runner up in grand festival, she's just a prodigy all around!
The music in this episode was GORGEOUS, like absolutely phenomenal and the animation this ep didn't lack either
I really can't find anything negative about this episode except that I hope the next episode manages to be epic and doesn't feel rushed. (Also Infernape is AU's Ash Pokemon properly so eh)
Also I'm SO HAPPY Gengar and dragonite appear next episode as well (bare minimum ik but at this point I'm glad we are getting back to what should have been the way Ash's team was handled)
So glad Yonemura got this arc, hope he gets the next eventual Dawn arc as well when she returns for LA promotion (it's gonna happen y'all, just like how I was sure the darkrai cresslia stuff wasn't dawn's only appearance)
All in all, definitely a 10/10 episode, balancing everything perfectly down to the music, animation, characterisation, exposition, pacing, character interactions and usage, Pokemon usage and setting up + hype. Really hope the next episode delivers as well, Sinnoh forever is <3
(Still mad I got too much college work coz man I wanna play more BDSP, have hardly managed to play it yet)
EDIT:
Okay gone through the thread now, the Iris whataboutism was annoying to read, people are still pressed about her geez. Dawn didn't need to have team changes, and she's still a perfectly fine and well established character, chill down
Also the most ridiculous thing here was the overblown Pikachu OOC moment. Pikachu literally was the FIRST who went up to Dawn to cheer her up after Piplup got kidnapped. God forbid it act as a cute animal in one background frame instead of being a stoic serious character. Claiming it ruins his relationship with Piplup is just....overexaggeration