Appmon 46 Reaction

[davetheanalyzer]

This episode was to show Astra’s commitment to his audience while hinting at mysterious finally about to be answered. Granted, “character helps sick person, which reveals how nice they are” is an old and well beaten trope but with Astra, it magnifies how he values his fans and wants to make them happy. We see glimpses of how he needs them to carry on in earlier episodes but this shows in a greater manner how he tries to give back to them. When his Uncle Ryuutaro basically kidnaps him to his temple, he quickly works with his Appli Driver friends to escape. Whatever the escape record of the temple, nothing is going to stand in his way to satisfying his fans.

And speaking of escape, that might have been part of the test this Uncle Ryuutaro laid out for Astra to see if he would be a good successor. That seemed a bit extreme, and something Mr. Asuka didn’t agree with. I wonder why he didn’t call the police on his brother. Maybe Mr. Asuka didn’t want to get law enforcement involved in a dispute between family, maybe Ryuutaro told his brother afterwards what the deal was, maybe Ryuutaro has enough sway as the head of this temple for the police to defer to him. Whatever the case, the whole scheme and operation seemed dodgy and naming the temple after Alcatraz the infamous abusive prison doesn’t make it sound like a good facility for children. From the glimpses we see, it’s certainly strict and dangerous.

Still, I could see conservative families who like that sort of strict control and punishment, who think that a Lifetime movie kind of bad kid turnaround would transpire in those conditions. I wonder when Ryuutaro became a prominent official in this place, those who hired or helped him into that position were aware he and his brother were the ones who escaped as children. If so, maybe it’s like the situation where a corporation and government hires the hackers that attack them to make their servers more protected. With Ryuutaro, they can make the temple even more unescapable. Ryuutaro might have wanted to be in charge because he thought he and his brother were changed positively by the temple and he could mold an environment for a similar outcome.

The escape employed the extra Appmon cleverly, using nonoffensive parts of their ability to trick and hoodwink the temple guards and dogs, from the mic Appmon who used Ryuutaro’s voice to distract to the sleeping Appmon who made two of the pursuers to fall asleep. Sorry, I can’t remember most of their names admittedly but it’s neat. Peroromon eating the bait to distract the dogs did give the amusing insight they resumed chasing the Appli Drivers because they looked tastier. I did like the shot that one of the dogs had clamped onto Dokamon while they all fled. I also enjoyed how Gatchmon and Dokamon complimented Offmon for his abilities a time or two throughout the episode, showing they have grown to be quite close since first meeting each other.

With the Appli Drivers and Appmon sliding down away from the temple, I wonder if Ryuutaro noticed the Appmon from his vantage point. He didn’t have any particular reaction to them, so probably not but he might wonder later what those Appmon figures were. He might also wonder about the strange effects of the extra Appmon, like his voice being heard in places he wasn’t and two of his followers inexplicably falling asleep. What kind of tools/allies did Astra have to help him escape, he might wonder. There didn’t seem to be any security cameras anywhere, since you’d think someone manning those cameras would be telling the search party where to go. I wouldn’t see this becoming a issue unless Appmon become public knowledge, which Ryuutaro might only be surprised and proud.

Astra completes his video as promised to his beloved fan, whose name Hinagiku Asuke might indicate she’s actually a relative? I wonder what that’s supposed to signify, to the viewer and in the story. Is she the child of Ryuutaro or someone else? An important family like the Asuka’s might be pretty extensive for all I know. Anyway, Haru expands upon the point of valuing ordinary things he made two episodes back, his wish after Leviathan is dealt with to go back to normal life. Becoming an Appli Driver has only made him consider normal life even more important and something he wants to defend. I like that point. There are things that should change about the world but there’s value in lining an ordinary life.

As for the major subplot hinting for next episode: Rei warning Haru about Yuujin in the middle of climbing mountains to rescue Astra isn’t admittedly the wisest thing to do, as one reviewer said. He could have pulled Haru aside before they went for a private chat. But I could understand why Rei would want to warn about Yuujin in a perilous journey with lots of climbing where “accidents” can happen. It’s interesting to hear that parts of Yuujin’s background are faked and I look forward to seeing which ones. This throws Haru off kilter for a bit, but Yuujin’s genuine kindness puts that trust back on track. They have been together since elementary school and that experience tells him much of Yuujin’s behavior couldn’t be fake. I do agree with that. Yuujin seems to be honest much of the time, meaning that he’s either brainwashed or a sufficiently advanced program/robot that he actually has life of his own.

It could be either way judging by the last scene as the Appli Drivers dream about the future. Yuujin doesn’t have a dream for what to do after Leviathan’s defeat. That wouldn’t be so out of the pale for even many older than him, but it indicates he might have limits to the /kinds of goals he can think of and determine himself. Hopefully this doesn’t give kids who also don’t what they’ll do any fears or nightmares. The only thing he can come up with is wonder what it means that artificial intelligence is superior to humanity. He seems reassured by Haru’s statement that them befriending Appmon means there’s hope for getting along with A.I. but Offmon was saddened by his immediate lack of agreement. The final shot with the red eyes, whose reappearance in the Appmon data lab was humorous and disturbing, signals were about to finally get some answers.

The next episode preview shows them cooking up a plan to get Bootmon, which seems to indicate capturing him but Eri and Astra seem like they’ll try to talk him into it. Rei apparently warns Haru further about Yuujin and likely gets a hug of thanks for his concern. Judging by the shot of Yuujin going all mind-control eyes, it seems he’s going to be the one to capture Bootmon and help unleash Leviathan’s plans. All of this makes me want to explore that episode 29 AU idea I had where a jealous Gatchmon does go to Yuujin’s house as suggested, goes through the Ipad Yuujin’s “mother(?)” uses, and the heartbreak and drama and wildly differently events that will spiral from there. I wouldn’t write it until the series is over but it’s certainly the most tempting fic idea since The Land Before Time took over my life. Anyway, look forward to the next episode.