#appmon spoilers

[yj-14]

[morgannox]

I'm reminded why I don't do mecha adjacent designs lol

[mintaffy]

haha what ominous bells… looks around

[harushinkai-daily]

~Four years + 100 followers~

(Image Description in the Alt ID)

Today (April 27th) marks this blog’s anniversary, and I always like to draw some episode-relevant fanart to celebrate. Amazingly enough, we also hit exactly 100 followers near the beginning of Episode 52. I swear I don’t plan these things, but it amazes me how often those sorts of coincidences work out. No art giveaway this year, but I am planning something special for the end of the episodes/Haru’s birthday that will involve audience participation, so please look forward to that!

As for this blog, it’s been quite a journey. Enjoy the end of the series, everyone.

Your HaruShinkai-Daily mod,

@citrus-cactus

[lemon-pear]

Thinking about Haru and Yuujin led me to dust off this old fanart (which is, coincidentally, almost exactly four years old!) and make some minor tweaks to it. I removed the text and desaturated the background just a touch. There's still something a bit wonky about it that I just can't put my finger on (I think it has to do with the shadows on Haru's face), but it's also one of my personal favorite finished pieces, just because of how much fun I had with it, shading-wise (yes, Yuujin is supposed to look really serious and cool, that’s why Haru’s staring ;D)

Still holding out hope for an Appmon movie, C'MON TOEI!

[randomidiocyncrazies]

thinking about Appmon’s finale again... tbh i always thought there’d be a small but vocal group of people who are extremely anti-tech in the wake of the (failed) Human Application Project?

Leviathan’s takeover was horrifying on an existential level, and even if people don’t remember being controlled and trapped in Leviathan’s monochrome world, the lead up to the datafication is out of a horror movie—i really think there are groups of people who’d go entirely off the grid and advocate for shunning AIs & technology due to the experience (and we just don’t see them appear on screen because it doesn’t fit Appmon’s theme of co-existence with technology).

which is to say... i think there’s a very high chance of Yuujin’s other friends and classmates, like Watson and co., thinking that Yuujin had been kidnapped by his mom to go live in one of those anti-tech communes in the aftermath of Leviathan’s attack—he and his mom just disappeared immediately afterwards, no one can get in touch with him, but Haru and Ai seem very sure they’d see him again some day... from an outside perspective, Yuujin being whisked off to an anti-tech life is probably the most convincing explanation for all of the above.

tbh, a part of me thinks Haru and Ai’s casual unwavering certainty of seeing Yuujin again freaks the other kids out a bit; they probably don’t think Yuujin is dead or anything—unless there are cases of people dying from the event, which i don’t think happened (Leviathan’s goal is to prevent death and fear of death)—but they do think Haru and Ai are coping really badly and maybe borderline delusional?

(on that note, i absolutely think Yuujin’s “mom” ran after the Project failed—it’s possible that she stayed to help rebuild or whatever, but given her involvement with L-Corp, she’d be in a lot of legal hot water. and if she stayed in the community, she’d have to come up with a reason for why her “son” isn’t around anymore... unless of course she goes public with Yuujin’s real identity, but there’s nothing that really suggests that the public knows about androids collecting human data in their midst in the epilogue? and a reveal like that would heighten anti-tech sentiment)

all of this is a very, very long-winded way to say i kinda love the idea of Watson running into a resurrected Yuujin years down the line when waiting for the subway or whatever, and trying to figure out the mystery of what happened to Yuujin back then. I don’t think he succeeds in getting the real story, but Watson is at heart a nosy busybody (affectionate).

((and then Yuujin derails the investigation by casually mentioning that he’s married/engaged to Haru now

watson: huh????? Wait that makes sense actually, now that i think about it... congrats!))

[citrus-cactus]

For the character ask game - Haru (appmon) 1, 2, 11, 12, 23!

HAAAAAAAARU! THANK YOUUUUU~! <3

The character ask game is here!

1. My first impression of them

Honestly my first impression (from seeing promo images and such posted on this very website!) was something like “Whoa. Clashing colors much?!” So I guess you could say it was not the best 😂

Obviously I got over that, but I did learn recently that trying to apply his color scheme to any other character is still quite a shock! ROTFL Click for proof if you dare!

The rest is cut! For! Spoilers!!!

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

The first time I watched Appmon, I felt like basically the whole first half of the series was a bit of a crapshoot, quality-wise (not in terms of the animation or anything, but how I felt about it). Like, if you tried to graph my enjoyment of each episode right after I watched it, it would look like a jagged mountain range. The first episode was ok, the second episode was “eh,” the third and fourth episodes was pretty good, the fifth was back to “eh,” etc. I don’t know, pacing and tone and kind of unsympathetic character introductions and it just being “different” were all things that were working against it at that point in my mind, and made me wonder what the writers were really trying to do (honestly, what REALLY sold me on watching Appmon at all was @firstagent’s pitch at a con, which explicitly plugged Offmon and Yuujin’s dynamic!).

(I should say here that despite those rough beginnings, Appmon is probably my favorite Digimon series now, so yeah I take time to warm up to things sometimes but the right combination of factors makes me fall and fall HARD)

All that said, I know exactly when I really start to like Haru, and it was during the third episode (the dungeon one with Roleplaymon). He’s just so excited and happy throughout, while also being a complete nerd, and instead of a big Appmon fight at the end (well, being unable to have one due to an evolution whoopsie), he just talks to Roleplaymon… and it works. That felt kind of revolutionary, and it was the episode that I started to not only understand his character, but (maybe) gain a bigger picture view of the series and what the show was going for. This episode just crystallized a lot of things for me.

Me after episode 3: Haru is kind. Oh, and also he’s my son now, I want to see him grow up strong, I WILL keep watching FOR HIM actually (best decision ever!!) 💖

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

Joke answer: “Do I need to be working on the blog queue right now, or can I procrastinate a few more days?” 🤔

Real answer: No thoughts anymore, just feelings (rotfl). After watching every episode in order to look at every single shot of Haru and find the very best frames, I can still say definitively that he’s so cute and I love him and all Harus are good Harus 🥺🥺🥺

12. Sexuality hc!

Bisexual! And uh… one specific android-sexual? You cannot deny his crush on Ai, and Haru/Yuujin is so good. They’re one of my OTPs, they’re soulmates (by some definition of the word “soul”), they were made for (and made by) each other, they’re actually making eyes at each other from across the room in my head right now 🤫

23. Future headcanon

Oh, he’s definitely going to be an AI researcher, that much I believe! One who is very literature- and ethics-minded, and thinks a lot about what what “existence” means, and is hyper-aware of beings’ rights and the need to advocate for both humans AND AI, in a world where both appmon and general artificial intelligences actually exist. These beliefs are the cornerstone of his work, regardless of what he actually does with AI. Would he follow in his Grandpa’s footsteps in being an academic designing his own? Maybe borrow a page from Koushiro Izumi’s book and start a company? Or go the Susan Calvin route and become an AI psychologist? Any! All! Idk 🤣

Honestly, so much else about specific future headcanons depends on how you interpret the very last moments of the series (literal or symbolic), and for me it could go either way. I really like interpreting it as literal, if only because it’s such a great hook into the nebulous Appmon Season 2 that exists in my head. Yuujin’s back, but how? Cue mystery and more Appmon shenanigans.

Regardless, I’m most interested in the future where Yuujin comes back in some form at some point during Haru’s lifetime, and no matter how, when, or why that happens it’s going to be a joyous occasion, but also a bit of a rough transition. Yuujin may have changed. Haru may have changed. There would be a LOT anxiety about “is this ok?” and “how do you feel?” and “what does it MEAN that this is how you feel?” and “what does ANY of this mean for us as individuals, and us together?” because it’s all very complicated when you bring the android that was programmed to be your best friend and your ideal version of a person back to life. Is there even a happy ending out there for them? Again, for me it could go either way.

So yeah, a bit rambly, because to me there is no one answer I could ever 100% decide on. They’re all possible. And that’s kind of the great thing about the vagueness of the ending! I will say I like drawing them in happy-ending mode best though, even though I would probably write their future in a way that involves more drama, because it’s way more interesting, and nothing in life is ever that easy (I’m rooting for them though!).

Again, thanks so much for the ask!!

[nami-moittli]

Appmon final scene interpretation?

Ooo, the final scene.

From the way the art style changes slightly, like the colors become more pastel and stuff (I’d need to rewatch the scene to be sure) I imagine it as a dream.

But imo, it makes the ending all the more tragic if Haru misses Yuujin so much that he starts dreaming of him. Plus, in context of the scene, it implies that Haru was studying so hard and so long that he ended up passing out because of it.

Sure, Haru looks happy, but remember that it’s Haru himself narrating the ending. An unreliable narrator is a thing after all.

I could delve into my headcanons about where the Yuujin plot line could go in my hypothetical sequel, but I’ll keep it to just this. Anyway, tl;dr, Haru misses Yuujin very much and it’s bad on his mental health.

[tenzeniths]

Finished Appmon!

The “Are you a protagonist?” at the end made me emotional.

It’s such a shame that so many people skip Appmon, it was a lot of fun.

Also, “no” guy saying “yes” at the end, lol. Growth.

[aph-japan]

@alpaca-clouds @alpaca-clouds @alpaca-clouds I asked you once and you blatantly ignored me, so I'm taking it to main because you clearly don't give a care to acknowledge I commented to you directly about this. This post will remain on my blog until you delete the gif.

REMOVE MY MEIKO GIF FROM YOUR ANTI POST. THANKS

My personal Digimon season ranking

Given August is Digimon month, I cannot help but do one of these. Because, oh boy. I have not made one of those in a long, long while.

Now, let me tell you one thing clear: I have been in the Digimon fandom since Adventure started airing 2000 in Germany. I still vividly remember getting into the show and what the first episodes I watched were. I have obsessed about this show for so long...

But I also have unpopular opinions when it comes to the seasons. So let me get to those.

And please note: I will not list Digimon Adventure: (2020), as I only watched the first 22 episodes and then just dropped it. But I will list Digimon Adventure tri., though it is not quite a season.

#1 Digimon Tamers

My number one Digimon season is and will probably always be Digimon Tamers. This show really has no right to be as good as it is. Like, holy shit. This show went so hard in so many regards.

It really is the only season of Digimon that has something like a proper pacing. With only a couple of episodes being actual filler, while most do progress either story or character arcs. And those character arcs are so fucking good.

When I was a kid, I got so hooked on Ruki, because she was just such a good female character. But by now I do appreciate them all. (Well, Ryou maybe less, but that is a story for another day. Because he is one of those examples where I also grew up on those games and I love game!Ryou...)

Also, the amount of amazing background characters is kinda hilarious. Like, background figures like Janyuu, Yamaki or Shibumi are so well written.

Not to mention: For a 2001 merchandise TV show with 51 episodes, the animation has no business being as good as it is. How is it, that this series still has better animation than some of the later series?!

So, yeah, all around great show. Love it. Will rewatch most certainly a couple more times.

#2 Digimon Universe Applimonsters

And while a lot of people will absolutely understand, why I put Tamers in first place, pretty much most people will not get, why I would put Appmon in second place. Because other than Tamers this has a ton of filler episodes.

But to me none of that really matters, based on the fact that I just love the freaking character writing in this show, all the references to computer history and also... The fact that this show is gay as fuck. I mean, holy fuck, the entire Haru/Yuujin thing? Yeah, it warms my little queer heart so much!

But other than that it is another series where I really just love all the characters a ton. Haru is probably the goggle boy I relate to most out of all of Digimon. But I also really loved the other characters in this series, including the Digimon partners and what not.

So, yeah, to me this is my second favorite Digimon show.

#3 Digimon Savers

Masaru in a way is the polar opposite character to Haru, isn't he? While Haru is this soft spoken, introverted guy, Masaru is just this pure hardcore masculinity! GAAAAR! So, while I do like him less as a character than I like Takato or Haru, I did enjoy the writing in this show quite a lot. There were a ton of personal stakes to the story, that the others seasons did not bring in as much as this show did. And that was something I really enjoyed.

And while it got ridiculous at times, I also liked how Masaru was a bit more involved in the battles by punching stuff. Though I kinda am sad that they did not go with that original concept where all the characters would've been able to punch stuff.

I also enjoyed that the characters were a bit older in this, though ironically my favorite characters from the season are Chika and Ikuto.

#4 Digimon Ghost Game

There might be some bias here based on the fact alone that it is the most recent season of the franchise. But even though it was basically 100% episodic, I did enjoy almost every one of those episodes. Basically the show is 100% vibes for me, but oh boy, do I love those vibes.

I find this season kinda weird in terms of how it kinda pushed for two Digimon/human ships, with Ruli/Angoramon clearly being coded into the text, while it is also fairly clear that Jellymon is romantically interested in Kiyo. I mean, there always were seasons where you could definitely go for Digimon/human ships....... but it was never like this. But then again: All power to the monster fuckers, right? xD

And yeah... Being a fan of the horror genre, I absolutely adored how many episodes were based around classical horror stories from all around the world. That was so freaking fun! :D

#5 Digimon Adventure 02

Okay, let me make one thing clear: Digimon Adventure 02 is not a good series. It is not. Knowing what I know about how chaotic it was behind the scenes, aka how chaotic and cursed this production was, this is also not a big surprise. I disliked the show for this for quite long. I mean, there is tons of filler and the animation is soooooo bad in soooo many episodes. I mean, there is a ton of fan animation that is better than this series. But...

It also is kinda charming.

See, the thing about this show is, that I kinda still do like how the characters develop over the show and how... positive a lot of it is. The characters are sweet with each other and even with their enemies. And a huge chunk of the show is also dedicated to the characters outright trying to rebuild the digital world.

Also, this show has Ken, who to this day is one of my favorite Digimon characters. So, fuck it. I actually still kinda like it.

#6 Digimon Frontier

Fun Fact: I grew up with the Japanese dub of Digimon, but Digimon Frontier is the one season, where I actually kinda liked the US Dub, just based on the US soundtrack for this show. I really kinda liked the vibe it had.

In a way I do feel that this show had in fact the strongest character designs out of all of Digimon. The characters just have the right level of detail. They do not look overdesigned, but also not too simple. I really digged that. And yes, as a kid I cosplayed Takuya a lot.

To me the series just mostly suffers when it comes to the pacing. Not because of the fillers really (I am fine with fillers, as long as the fillers are fun), but rather in terms of the Cherubimon-arc being sooooo long and everything happening after it feeling kind of like an afterthought.

But I still very much like the characters. I just wished they did not make Junpei a glutton. One fat character who isn't a glutton. Is that so much to ask?

#7 Digimon Xros Hunters

For anyone now going like: "But this is not even a series on its own!" I will kindly ask you: "Shut up, this is my list." Because those couple of episodes from Xros Wars that were clearly just meant to fill the timeslot for a couple more weeks, do have a very different vibes from the rest of the show.

Now, this also is basically just filler + then the crossover event. But... At times this was kinda sweet. I liked the vibes this show had at times and some of the characters were kinda likeable.

And I really liked the opening.

It was not good. Definitely wasn't. But there was stuff about it I liked.

#8 Digimon Adventure

Yeah, let's get to my most controversial Digimon opinion: I do not like Digimon Adventure a lot. I really don't. Some of the characters are fine, yes, but... I do not like a lot more of this show. Mostly because I fucking hate the crest system and how morally simplistic the show is, with the bad guys just all being bad guys with not much depth. Meanwhile most of the characters are horribly underwritten and have their entire character arcs rushed through within like two episodes.

And I just hate Yamato and how the show just tries to excuse all of his bullshit. There. I said it. I think he is a horrible character. A horrible brother. And a horrible friend. So, yeah, fuck him.

And Nishizono, the showrunner, had no plan where he was going when he started writing. Not entirely his fault, given that he inherited a production that two other writing teams already had abandoned. But maaaaaan, it shows.

#9 Digimon Xros Wars

What is there to say?

Digimon Xros Wars sucked. It sucked. And to this day I wonder what the drama behind the scenes was. We know there was drama (given the showrunner abandoned the production half-way through!) but details are sparse even ten years later.

But, yeah. Taiki is a fucking Gary Stu and the plot just shifts around him. The story is a whole mess. The female characters get sexualized to no end. Everyone who is not Taiki gets sidelined constantly. The animation is inconsistent. And what not.

And the really sad fact: The manga is so fucking good.

I am fairly certain that most issues are because of production drama. And one day I am gonna find out what that drama was.

#10 Digimon Adventure tri.

Digimon Adventure tri. is one of the things that by themselves are not good, but get really bad once you consider the universe it is set in. It is one of those things put into an existing canon without honoring the existing canon at all.

It just ignores basically everything happening in 02. The character developments from anything that has happened before. The 02 characters are just not there. The "original chosen children" exist and yet the OVA does not give them the attention they deserve. And Meiko is just... Oh boy. Meiko is just a horrible character for so many reasons.

It is just fucking sad that this exists. So fucking sad. Just why?!

Also, for OVAs the animation is so bad. Soooooo bad.

[yj-14]

[shopvidramon]

doing an international trade with another artist on instagram! this one's getting picked up today, and i'm excited for it to make its way to its destination!

[mintaffy]

I recently finished rewatching appmon and I’m on such an appmon/harujin kick it’s actually crazy. Beware. More things are coming. Lord.

[harushinkai-daily]

It’s been a long road, but we’re here, gang! Appmon Endgame. The Last Six Episodes. I’ve been marking spoilers for the entire latter half of the series, but now I really mean it.

This is the point of no return.

If you have not watched Appmon all the way through and have just discovered this blog, I highly encourage you to read this post in its entirety before you start scrolling.

Ahem.

IF YOU DO NOT WANT MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE APPMON ANIME, PLEASE DO NOT BROWSE RECENT POSTS OR FOLLOW THIS BLOG.

If you still want to take a look around, it is recommended that you mute the tag “appli spoilers” in your Tumblr settings before proceeding. And maybe take a peek at the index first! It's still under construction, but it's a fine place to start.

For these final episodes (47-52), we will continue our normal format of screenshots + captions + tags, with a "breather day" in between episodes.

We will apply the “appli spoilers” tag to every post that contains content or references to these episodes.

Cheers,

Your HaruShinkai-Daily mod (@citrus-cactus)

[citruscactus-art]

Knight Unryuuji, the teenage prodigy(/future villainous CEO) of Appmon, with my headcanon for who his Appmon Buddy would be if he’d been given an AppliDrive: his own Messemon variant, based on the messaging app he developed in college!

This drawing has been a long time in coming; Knight is SUCH an interesting character who deserves more love and more closure than he was given in the show. And just to be clear, I’m still not over the fact that he’s named after the chess piece that moves like an “L.” Please appreciate this information, and appreciate HIM!!

More info and a couple of cropped close-ups under the cut!

Those eyes, how DARE they be so colorful? Ehehe <3

Messemon is chess-themed! I kind of forgot that Puzzlemon was a thing while designing this guy, but even though you might THINK the two of them are brothers separated at birth, it’s just a coincidental resemblance ^_^

If you want more info on this AU/headcanon/theoretical season 2 plot fodder, here’s some older art of Messemon’s alternate form, which I intended to be their default look after a certain event occurs.

[randomidiocyncrazies]

The thing is. i go bananas over Oozora Yuujin in part because he's allowed to exercise his will and autonomy in his last moments, but only because Leviathan let him. like, sure, it'd have been cool to see Yuujin overcome Leviathan's control (love it when a brainwashed/controlled character overthrows their abuser), but as epic as that would've been i don't think it would've fit Yuujin's function in the show. like... from beginning to the end, Yuujin had very little real agency—he was presented as a character with autonomy, but once you peel his layers back, the situation becomes really ambiguous. I mean, he was literally calibrated to appeal to Haru. and while Yuujin's bond with Haru was genuine enough that he peeked out from behind YJ-14's control, he was never able to actually fully slip Leviathan's leash when the big L wanted to keep him under control.

So. Yuujin can save Haru only because Leviathan let him go, and Leviathan only did that bc Haru made a choice as per their agreement (and Haru's choice involves sacrificing Yuujin for the liberty of humanity). Yuujin is in control during his final moments, but that control was a gift based on someone else's actions that he had no control over; he was grated that control not because of anything he did, but because Haru (the protagonist) fulfilled Leviathan's bargain.

And yet. Yuujin's final act to save Haru from having to execute that choice is no less meaningful; i think it's meaningful because of how limiting his agency actually is. in that final moment Yuujin finally has the freedom to make a choice—the first and last choice where he wasn't a puppet dancing to someone else's tune—and he chooses to execute his termination with his own hands, so that someone who loves and cares for him wouldn't have to. Haru might be the one who chose humanity over Yuujin, but it's Yuujin who pushes the button of his own free will in the end.

(i've said this before, but i find Yuujin fascinating as a character in a similar way that Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena is interesting, but they're kind of opposites. Yuujin is introduced as a 'protagonist' that our protagonist looks up to, and presented as someone with autonomy, but we spend the show realizing how little of that he actually had; Anthy is presented as a helpless damsel without agency, but throughout the show we slowly realize how powerful she actually is.)