#appli mon

[randomidiocyncrazies]

having a blast with the (explicit) demands that Appmon makes of its protagonists

the questions posed by the kids’ AppDrives and how they connect with the narrative is genuinely exciting to me—it’s strongly implied that a specific entity is responsible for giving the kids their AppDrives (and we may discover their identity later in the show), which means this individual is the one asking the questions and looking for specific types of people worthy of getting a buddy appmon. Throughout the show we see that the narrative demands these kids to prove that they can live up to their answers, and i trust it’ll continue asking these questions.

(i kidna wish there were more serious consequences for choosing the ‘wrong’ answer initially, like Rei did, but ultimately it makes sense that the the entity responsible for distributing the Drives allow the chosen bearers to contemplate what’s being demanded of them, and get a second chance to commit even if they failed to do so the first time—people can always choose to develop in new directions at any time, and different people are ready for that growth at different rates.)

[randomidiocyncrazies]

welcome to appmon ep 27, aka “the single gayest episode of digimon so far”

for one, we get gay people existing in the background:

(i believe the caption mentions a partner, which the English sub omitted for the sake for brevity? something like “a long-awaited offline meeting❤️ with my partner❤️❤️❤️” while in the next pic she complains about her partner being late)

and then we get a romantically-coded outing between Haru and Yuujin, with Gatchmon literally lampshading it:

when Haru inevitably has to go deal with the monster of the week, the trope of the protagonist having to keep secrets from loved ones comes up, with Haru ultimately deciding—like he did in episode 18—to not tell Yuujin about appmons, lest Yuujin be dragged into danger:

i think it’s worth noting that this type of narrative tension never happened with Ai, the girl Haru supposedly has a crush on—but it’s the second time that it had came up in the relationship between Haru and Yuujin. the pacing of the scene—the beat of Haru looking pensive under the sakura trees as the camera zooms out—adds weight to the moment.

Also, while the cherry blossoms serve as an indication for when this episode takes place, it’s could also be seen as romantically-coded (esp. pink blossoms). While romance is far from the only thing that sakura blossoms symbolize, I think it’s fair to say that the creators are conscious of the romantic symbolism.

(i’ll get to Yuujin’s declaration of protection in another post, as i think that ties back into appmon’s thesis of “what makes a great protagonist” and the Haru-Yuujin dynamic regarding that question.

also, for reactions that are more off-the-cuff, feel free to check out my appmon livetweets here)

[randomidiocyncrazies]

Appmon 35-36: Idol Elections

Eri’s tendency to overwork herself to potentially dangerous levels in pursuit of her goal to bring smiles to people’s faces—y’know, what Minerva asks of her—takes the center stage in ep 35. like with Minerva’s encouragement/enabling of Yuujin’s self-sacrificial tendencies, I feel like the narrative similarly encourages/enables Eri to work herself to the bone, even if it might not be the healthiest for her.

The Coachmon thing (ep 21) is resolved by the antagonist being moved by her willingness to endure unreasonable and harmful training—the only reason why Eri wasn’t hurt too badly was because Coachmon had a change of heart. This narrative reinforces the idea that hard work will be rewarded, and that you just have to ‘tough out’ unreasonable requests—if you keep your nose to the grindstone, enduring all sorts of harassment and work yourself to the bone, your efforts will be recognized by others (who are in a position over you—your instructor/teacher/boss etc). In ep 35, although the people around Eri express concern that she’s running herself ragged, her willingness to work without pause is framed as an admirable trait, and her behavior is ultimately rewarded by the narrative—like attaining 10th place in the elections.

Since it’s made clear that Minerva is choosing people with specific traits to become AppDrivers, and that she has specific demands of them / their character development based on the different questions and answers (which the AppDrivers must then uphold/affirm), I wonder if Minerva cares that the positive qualities that allow them to become worthy AppDrivers could be detrimental to their personal development? In other words: fulfilling Minerva’s demands makes them “good protagonists/characters in a story”, but is it really the healthiest for them as people?

(tbf to Minerva, so far I think the only traits that she/the narrative encourages that could be harmful are Yuujin’s self-sacrificial tendencies, and Eri’s need to run herself ragged for her goals; asking Rei to accept working with other people, asking Haru to take agency in his own life, and asking Astra to be true to himself doesn’t really carry double-edged implications so far)