>>57802993The plot and character writing of Reborn most exposes its doujin roots, and this is a double-edged sword. The virtue and the misery of Reborn is that the conflict of craft and inspiration is persistently reengaged throughout the story and leaves no character untroubled. For every Titania, whose raw and unique vitality overcomes the clumsiness of plot beats or the ham-fisted moments in dialogue, there is a Florinia, whose robust conception is not enough to conceal that the writing's reach is sometimes beyond its grasp in handling her. I organised my tierlist to balance my evaluation of these merits with personal preferences, and it pains me to put Florinia so low, but so many characters in popular entertainment tell this story better. The lapses in grammar and redundant or misused words really make her less convincing; she often comes off more like a person trying to sound sophisticated than efficient and unemotional. Luna, particularly in the early game, also has this problem, but she actually wants to sound like she stepped out of Wonderland, so it's less problematic. She is also a more distinctly strange character than Florinia—more characteristically Reborn—which gives her an edge.
Titania is likewise a characteristic figure and the most psychologically real of the cast. Her mix of vulnerability and defensiveness, her shocking emotional coldness (often more plausible than Florinia's), the raw pain expressed in her relationship with Amaria—this is only a summary of what sets Titania apart from not only the other characters but similar characters in art and entertainment generally. My intuition is that Amethyst was able to fully inhabit this character; there are no moments, as with Florinia or Elias, where the writing sometimes becomes shadow puppetry: an imitation of what a robotic or religious person might talk like.
Reborn's best overall writing belongs to the Belrose sisters, which means that this is the end of the spoilerfree section.
2/4
