Appmon 45 review

[davetheanalyzer]

This was a nostalgia episode. That meant not much plot progression yet at least the issue of finding Bootmon isn’t ignored. In fact, it’s tied into the episode, having Leviathan get the game characters to shout for Bootmon so he could be lured into a trap. I was amused that Rei didn’t seem to care about the game characters going wild when it appeared to having nothing to do with Leviathan. He really didn’t want them to get sidetracked and have their resources stretched investigating every little problem. Yet, Hajime shows his brilliance to Musimon’s approval in connecting the situation to the series Big Bad. Rei is being shown up a bit. I hope he doesn’t become superfluous and can show his skills again or work together with Hajime. I do wonder what Rei is doing while held up with his brother at the book store, since this is the extant to his appearance in the episode.

The other Appli Drivers join the search of the trap area Hajime pinpoints but Eri and Astra get side tracked by experiencing the rare series phenomena of being recognized in public and Yuujin gets buried in the fannish humanity and can’t proceed onward. I guess the lack of recognition shouldn’t be too much of a phenomenon since people really can be thrown by paper thin disguises like glasses or, if there are no disguises, dismiss that a famous person would actually be in their locale. It would make sense for Astra, since even if he’s Apptube famous, there are many people who don’t know or are only vaguely aware of who he is. Also reasonable he attracts a younger and smaller crowd. It’s nice to see them treat their fans well later on, with Eri orderly thanking her fans to make them smile and Astra having fun with his fans by posing for a group photo using his catchphrase.

Which leaves Haru and Gatchmon to investigate the game world trap for Bootmon alone. One of the game worlds is Digimon Universe, which has apparently existed for around a decade. I haven’t played any Digimon games, so I don’t get the references except from second hand but I do appreciate the call backs with the designs and music and such. This Agumon is very similar in personality to the Adventure one, boyishly sweet, determined to help his friends, and a bit of a ditz. Contrary to the episode title, there’s not much fighting between Agumon and Gatchmon. The misunderstandings get cleared up pretty quickly and they bonded sweetly over Gatchmon’s favorite food. Glad they didn’t go the jealously route with Gatchmon again. Agumon’s bond with Haru is also precious. He remembers the boy as the one who lost a lot but also as someone who made sure to take care of his needs.

It’s interesting with how Agumon speaks, it seems that most of the game world characters are alive. This isn’t commented upon but this indicates programming has become so advanced or is able to operate on its own enough to create digital life that isn’t Digimon or Appmon. The game world characters seem aware they’re in a game and playing a role. Even the bosses seem more like punch-clock actors ala Wreck-it Ralph. That makes me wonder if there are living duplicates for each game character like Agumon in every game copy or if there’s only one base living game characters that’s the source of all other game copies. And also like Wreck It Ralph, the game characters could interact and know each other, as seen with Agumon referring to them as “nakama” or friends. Do they hang out while not being played? It would be interesting to see any of these existential and world building questions explored more but with the episodes left and this being a nostalgia episode, it likely won’t happen. Oh well, there is fanfic.

I thought the being that brainwashed the game characters was Leviathan itself and it’d have been weird that he physically debuts in a crossover episode. But not, it’s some brainwashed/corrupted Appmon called Uratechmon who seems to be about hacking games. He doesn’t have much to him except maybe hacking games ruins fun, but he is an antagonists that causes Haru, Gatchmon, and Agumon to team up.

WarGreymon also gets the full CG treatment and, if nothing else, that leads to some excellent and fluid fight scenes. Him and Globemon interact well with the 2d animated brainwashed game bosses and Brave Heart really adds to the action. Uratechmon also benefited from the CG treatment in his brief appearances. Haru and Agumon’s promise to see each other again seems like it’d be not that challenging to accomplish, judging from how Agumon peaks out and waves from the Digimon icon. We probably won’t see him again in the remaining episodes but it’s a nice scenario. If there’s a crossover with Adventure, meeting that version of Agumon would be awkward for Haru’s group, with the personality similarity I mentioned and Digimon being just a game in their world while Appmon is the thing. Appmon Agumon and Adventure Agumon would be interesting. If nothing else, this episode proves Appmon’s part of the Digimon canon.

Next time, Astra has an uncle who isn’t so open-minded about how he bends tradition and kidnaps him to a place that’s hard to escape, complete with aggressive dogs the Appli Drivers must contend with. And him entertaining a bedridden girl via a video? Ah, we’ll see how this might complicate or contribute to his growth and arc.