Nibi Gym doesn't have a label on the rock in the top left corner which was originally seen in the 5th episode of the original series. This was most likely done so there was no paint edit to be done for alternative languages.
Special First-Airing Segment
Upcoming Episodes Preview
At the end of the 1-hour DP special, a preview for BW23 and 24 The Rocket Gang VS the Plasma Gang! was shown. This clip gives the basic outline for the episodes.
Sakaki lands in the Isshu region. The Rocket Gang's grand plan begins. Preparations have finished and the main part of their mission will now begin.
The age of the ancients is still alive. From within the Ancient Castle, which has been sleeping in the Resort Desert, the Meteonite finally shows itself! It's almost like the sun...
The Rocket Gang has reached the final phase of taking complete control over Isshu. Just then, a mysterious organization attacks them! The Rocket Gang and the Plasma Gang have a fierce fight over the Meteonite! The energy is swelling with increasing speed! All of a sudden, the Meteonite goes wild!
And so, the countdown towards the destruction of Hiun City begins...! Will Satoshi and Pikachu be able to save Hiun City from danger in the end?
Japanese Music:
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Track
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Music Statistics:
Number of Assigned Tracks to the Japanese Original: 0
Number of Assigned Tracks to the English Dub: 0
Title: Re: OVA 18: ニビジム、史上最大の危機!/Nibi Gym, shijō saikai no kiki!
I was really looking forward to watching this episode, since Takeshi is definitely my all-time favorite character, hands down.
And indeed, this was truly a great episode, though I was kind of annoyed at how liberal they've become with the appearance of Legendary Pokémon...
In this episode, you can relly see how much Takeshi has changed over the different seasons... and how poor a trainer he is now (though there's no doubt it was made so on purpose). He's different person alright, but he still acts silly in front of pretty women... guess some things never change, hopefully!
Though, I have to admit I didn't remember much about Takeshi's parents... didn't know his mother was still at home, and I was quite surprised to see how 'weird' his father have become, compared to how he is in the original season.
Anyway, I was really glad to see Takeshi 'back', especially in an episode entirely dedicated to him. As many people have already said, he really didn't get that much love during the DP season. As opposed to Hikari, there's like +0.01% of chance we might see him in another episode, or even in a new season, though I'm really not counting on that.
As for the preview of the upcoming events in the B&W series, I found it really exciting. Looks like there's some real serious stuff coming up, quite "movie-worthy" I might say. Though I always enjoyed to see Rocket Gang flying away in almost every single episode, I'm still glad to see they're going to get some pretty big roles in the upcoming episodes. I just their unavoidable defeat in the end won't be the end for them. I wouldn't quite like to lose my second favorite ''character'', Takeshi was enough.
But I was quite surprise to see such preview footage so early in the series, isn't a bit early? I have not played Black and White yet, so I don't really know when the events seen in this preview are supposed to take place, but I've got the impression they're going much more quickly with the storyline than they had done so with the previous series. I mean, the 3rd gym battle seems to be taking place in episode 25, while in DP for example, the first one only took place in episode 16. Not quite as quick as the very first season, but still...
Well, anyway, I really enjoyed this Takeshi-special episode, and I'm really looking forward to upcoming B&W episodes!