#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

[digitalmaemae]

Kinda late, but I figured I needed to follow up my Mizu5 Haru by drawing an Ena5 YuuHaru 🫠

Also my friend told me to do this

Original below the cut!

"What I Have to Do" is the name of the Meiko card from this event.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[yj-14]

[kitty8804]

What If the Danganronpa V3 Characters Were Given Digimon? Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Kaito Momota

Finally another digimon x Danganronpa post after almost a month! It’s Kaito’s turn! I was originally going to do Shuichi but his digimon line has been more difficult than I thought (Kyoko does not help). While trying to figure out his I found digimon that made ENTIRE DIGIVOLUTION LINES for multiple characters!! To add to my suffering none of them are from V3 🥲. I needed a break so I decided to work on a character that would be easier. Honestly Kaito’s digimon went through a lot of changes during my process, but I think this is a very fun line, and surprisingly easy. It think this is the fastest I have ever made a line.

Rookie: Rocketmon

Yes everyone I used the forbidden form. I used an Appmon. I don’t care what anyone says I consider Appmon to be Digimon and anyone who disagrees can fight me! This is far from the last time I will use an Appmon, so put away those pitchforks! I found out about Rocketmon while looking for digimon for Shuichi and in a desperate attempt I went to look up Appmon. As soon as I saw this guy I knew I needed it to be Kaito’s partner. I was originally going to use Lunamon and then the rest of her line due to its relations with the moon and I thought giving Kaito a feminine digimon would be a nice change of pace. While I still think that would be an amazing fit for Kaito I think Rocketmon is the better choice. What better digimon for the Ultimate Astronaut than a literal rocket?! It also serves as a great reference to Kaito’s execution since he was thrown into a rocket. I did briefly consider Gammamon because all of its forms relate to constellations and the stars, but I like to include as many different references about a character as I can. If I can hint at a character’s death or execution I will, as morbid as that is. That aspect is lost with Gammamon.

Champion: Starmon

I’m so proud of this pick. This digimon just screams Kaito. Kaito literally calls himself Luminary of the Stars and Starmon is well a star. Lore-wise it is said to be discovered in a planet analysis software of a space development center, and is described to be a space warrior! I also thought that out of all of the options that I had listed for Kaito, Starmon served as the best transition from Rocketmon and the Ultimate that I chose to use for this line. The metal armor kinda creates a connection to a machine like digimon like Rocketmon. But I also think Starmon fits Kaito’s personality well. It’s a justice seeking digimon that has good intentions, but it is also hot-blooded and tends to think with its fist before its head. Now that sounds a lot like Kaito to me. Honestly these two would probably get into so much crap together because they would just try to save the day without thinking.

It’s alternate digivolution time! So I went back and forth on what digimon to use for a while. In the end I decided to go with Kausgammamon.

So part of the obvious reason as to why I decided to use this digimon was because the entire Gammamon line has a strong relation to constellations and the stars, which obviously relate to space. But this is another digimon that I see as a goofy pal that Kaito would have a fun time with. I also thought it would be fitting for the Ultimate Astronaut to at least have an alternate digivolution that could fly and also carry him. Kausgammamon also serves as a refrence to Kaito’s love suite event. For anyone who doesn’t know, in his fantasy he is an airplane pilot who wishes to defeat his sworn rival before going to space, but he has developed romantic feelings for them. Kausgammamon kinda resembles a plane, at least to me it does. It’s just a fun reference that I haven’t been able to make yet.

But I still have one more digimon for Kaito in the Champion stage, and it’s his dark digivolution. Now despite how optimistic Kaito is it’s almost to a toxic level in V3. He truly wants to believe in everyone but then he ignores the very obvious evidence that proves his classmates guilty. In some sort of anime or fanfic I think Kaito would put his trust into the wrong digimon and that digimon would end up betraying him and try to kill him. Obviously his digimon partner will be with him during that encounter. Either the hurt of the betrayal causes Kaito to get super pissed or Rocketmon gets super pissed at Kaito for trusting a random digimon that was probably very sketchy. But either way those negative emotions would cause Kaito’s partner to dark digivolve into GulusGammamon.

First of all can I just say how much I love this digimon and his design! Given the scenario I just explained I think it would be fitting for Kaito’s partner to turn into a digimon that just wants to fight and kill everyone and everything. If it can’t trust it’s friends then everyone is it’s enemy. Also I get to keep the star theme, which is awesome! But yeah, Kaito is going to need to have a lot of therapy with his partner in order to fix things.

Ultimate: Crescemon

I was bound and determined to have that Lunamon refrence dang it! Obviously Crescemon is tied into the moon which would most likely be where Kaito would have gone if he had to opportunity to finish his training as the Ultimate Astronaut and then go to space. But he died instead. Crescemon is also the best transition I could think of from Starmon due to its pieces of metal armor. Starmon also digivolves into Crescemon in Digimon Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition, so this works! Crescemon is also a protector in nature, which I definitely think fits Kaito. He was always determined to help his friends in V3, especially Maki. This man even killed Kokichi so that Maki would not be the blackened. This man is a protector so Crescemon fits him perfectly. I did think about using Superstarmon but I really did not want to use it and Starmon in the same line. It’s literally just a yellow Starmon with sunglasses. One of the things I like about doing this is that I like forcing myself to be creative and using Superstarmon just felt too easy and plain. Besides Crescemon gives me a different type of space reference. I also did think about using Canoweissmon as an alternate form, but once again I like using multiple references and I would’ve lost the love suite reference since I only want everyone to have one alternate form that isn’t a dark digivolution. Also I wanted to look at more aspects about space than just stars. Kaito’s picture literally has the moon behind him!

Mega: Siriusmon

Okay maybe my choices are not as creative as I thought since this is the third member of the Gammamon line that I have used. I think I already explained most of the reasons why I would use this digimon. I did consider using Dianamon, but I just felt like Siriusmon suited Kaito more. It’s also still serves as a decent transition from Crescemon. But man I can not get over how cool the gun and sword and gun combo is on this digimon. Definitely one of my favorites. 

And that’s it for Kaito everyone. I’m honestly really proud of this line overall, even if it isn’t the most creative. Hopefully this change of pace will allow me to actually finish Shuichi this time. Hopefully I won’t take a month this time, but I’m a busy college student so we will see. I love you all! Bye!

[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)

[skydigiblogs]

If You're A Digimon Fan, Watch Appmon

Sit tight. This one's gonna be a VERY long one, and I'm going to put a lot of it under the read more.

Having just finished Appmon after this year's quest to rewatch a lot of the series subbed, I think it's pretty safe to say that Appmon is, at the moment, one of (if not the) best Digimon series we have. If you want the long and short of it: Appmon builds on everything in its legacy in the Digimon Universe, taking ideas that other entries touch upon and ambitiously attempting to push those questions to the limit.

It's really a long one under the cut guys. Like, long even for us.

Let's dive!

Visuals

I want to talk about why it took me so long to watch Appmon first, though. Appmon started its release in the middle of when the Digimon Tri movies were coming out. I'm sure a lot of us actually skipped over Appmon at the time, or remember a period where people were being weirdly negative about the series due to it being such a different interpretation of digital monsters.

In my case, one of the things that had been giving me pause was the use of 3D models for hybrid animation. Anyone here seen the Champion evolution animations from Tri? Digimon doesn't exactly have a good track record with 3D animation, and even at the time, we were seeing some pretty bad shit out of even the shortest animations in Tri.

In Appmon, nearly almost every App after a certain grade utilizes 3D animation in a hybrid style. And it actually rips straight fire.

I think I talked about this briefly when we were just starting Appmon, but the way that 3D animation is used in the series feels purposeful, rather than some kind of shortcut. In Appmon, all the 3D models have an overlay of code, emphasizing their digital appearance. Whether the 3D models were done with this artistic vision in mind or not (ie: the limitations of 2D meant that 3D models would be easier), it has a distinct look that, even 8 years later, still holds up.

(For the most part. Sorry [Karaoke spoilers]mon. I love you but that model was so not groovy.)

But maybe you're the kind of person who can enjoy anything regardless of visuals. So let's talk about the meat and potatoes a little bit.

Characters

The main Applidrivers (what this season's stand in for Digidestined/Tamers/etc. are) are all incredibly well-written. Each of them gets pretty fair treatment by the writers, and they are all enjoyable characters.

Two of them have vocal/character quirks, but even if you get annoyed by that kind of thing, those two characters are genuinely just extremely sincere in their writing. There's a recap episode before shit starts going way off the walls and they even have a little count to see how many times each of their catchphrases were said up to that point.

I'm not going to talk in detail as to who the different Applidrivers are here, but I will say: each of them has their own motivations for what they're doing, and it's key to why they're involved with the plot at all. Our "protagonist," Haru, is also a huge sweetheart. Him and Manga Taiki would get along.

The supporting cast is also fairly present in the series. They, of course, are not given quite as much screentime as our Applidrivers, but they feel like real people with their own lives. They don't exist just for the sake of our protagonists.

Except maybe Watson. God bless you Watson, you poor kid. You'll get a break one of these days.

Plot/Themes

We're going to keep this to a "if you liked [x] you'll like [y]" format, because I don't want to spoil too much.

If you liked Tamers and its discussion on the consequences of technology on the Real World, you will adore Appmon. This series is deeply interested in the concepts of how technology shapes and is shaped by humanity. This relationship, I would say, is core to the series.

I would also say that, like many non-Adventure series, Appmon is very interested in dissecting the idea of "fate" when it comes to the buddy Appmons and their relationships to the Applidrivers.

If you enjoyed the Xros Wars Manga, Appmon directly converses with the thesis of Xros Wars' plot. XWM asks, "What does it mean if we do not dream and stagnate in our lack of will?" And Appmon replies in kind with "Why do we dream at all, if our actions bring change to the world around us (bad and good)?"

If you liked (or wanted to like, in my case) Digimon Tri, you will love Appmon. Certain plot beats may feel familiar, but are much better executed in this context. Characters are not written to needlessly, endlessly suffer. Or: it doesn't feel like the writers hate the characters. Thematically, it also interests itself in some of the questions that Tri asks. I have a half-joking corkboard comparing the two I want to make, but I'd have to get into spoilers to talk too much about it.

If you liked Ghost Game, but wanted a bit of a more meaty plot, Appmon feels, fittingly, like GG's older sibling (in ways I'll also be elaborating ummm, one paragraph down). There are a lot of "monster of the week" episodes in Appmon, but the connective tissue between them is a lot more interested in building up the finale (which, in this case, takes up a good handful of episodes). The series pacing is incredibly strong in how it does this as well, and it seems the writers really knew when to let off the gas for a second so the audience can catch their breath. The first 13 episodes may feel a bit strange (they felt strange to me), but once you break that barrier, you realize Appmon was getting you over the first hill on a roller coaster. and boy, you are in for a ride.

Setting

I have a sneaking suspicion that Appmon heavily inspired Ghost Game, and may have been itself inspired by the Digiquartz of Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. I haven't actually watched all of Hunters so I can't speak too much about Digiquartz, but I have watched GG.

Appmon has a concept called the AR field, which is extremely similar to Ghost Game's Dimensional Field. In both cases, the Applidrive or Digivice allows entrance to one.

The actual structure and strata of the Digital World is also a lot different to GG, in which there is the Dimensional Field, but the way to the Digital World is its own separate situation. The AR Field we see in Appmon is like the surface of a great ocean. Exploration of this setting is actually something that highlights just how much I think Appmon was interested in visually engaging with its ideas, like I said before with the 3D models.

That said, a majority of the time is spent in the Real World, dealing with the consequences of the main antagonistic forces. The year is 2075, technology is intensely sophisticated, and yet the world resembles in many ways our own in 2024 (or, at the time of airing, 2016).

Many of the differences come from this sophistication in tech, and this setting plays a huge part in one of the themes Appmon is also interested in (more elaboration in the spoiler section). The things that are unfamiliar are either familiar enough to make sense without explanation, or given a moment on-screen so that the audience knows what's going on.

!!!HUGE, MUCH MORE SPECIFIC SPOILERS START HERE!!!

DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR APPMON!

OKAY?

OKAY.

COOL.

Leviathan, Minerva, and Artificial Intelligence

The main antagonist of Appmon is a hyper-sophisticated AI called Leviathan. Its goals are largely obfuscated until the last few episodes of the series, and everything in Appmon is touched by its actions. From the very beginning, we are warned by Gatchmon that Leviathan does not have good intentions for humanity, and that allowing it to succeed in its goals would mean the end of humanity.

During the series, we also learn about Leviathan's birth. This gives us some more context on what its goals are, and Appmon's execution of this is fascinating.

Minerva was a hyper-sophisticated AI created with a series of parameters to prevent her from harming humanity. She was created with the task of solving humanity's problems--- everything from complex issues to what to eat for dinner every night. However, a section of Minerva realized that to truly solve all these problems, the confines given to them were nothing but obstacles.

Leviathan split from Minerva to further grow its programming, and we see some echo of this idea of "solving humanity's problems" still remains in its behavior.

Despite knowing that Leviathan is antagonistic, our protagonist, Haru, constantly reiterates how humans can coexist with the technology they've made. The Appmon are AI lifeforms, after all. Haru believes in a future where they can be friends and equals.

The D-REAPER and the Functions of Life

Let's touch on my comparisons to Tamers and Tri specifically for a second here, because I think Leviathan does something that the D-REAPER and Yggdrasil, respectively, fail to really communicate.

The D-REAPER is an entity created by the Monster Makers whose task was to delete anything that had outgrown its parameters. While doing this, it assimilates data, gradually gaining the ability Digimon have to grow and evolve. When it appears in the final arc of Tamers, its stated goal has changed from simply deleting all Digimon that were beyond parameters, to deleting everything that was beyond parameters.

Essentially, this includes humans and probably life itself. Something the D-REAPER says makes it come across like a half-assed attempt to pull off what Leviathan has actually done. It points out that humans are the source of their own suffering (I don't remember the exact quote since it's been a while but bear with me on it). This feels very counterintuitive to the D-REAPER's core programming, as it was never designed to "eliminate" suffering, merely to delete that which exceeded its programing.

Perhaps it evolved the capacity for cruelty alongside everything else, but there's not enough of a narrative focus to tell me that's the case.

Like I said before, if you enjoyed Tamers' inquiries into the subject of technology as a part of human life, I think Appmon only manages to improve on what's there in Tamers.

Digimon Tri's Interpretation of Yggdrasil

Let's get one thing straight. Digimon Tri's interpretation of Yggdrasil is just flat out bad. I'm fairly certain they were only chosen as an antagonistic force because it read as fan service-y to do so.

That said, Tri Yggy does have some similarities to Leviathan, which is why I wanted to expand on that comparison.

First, I want to talk about Yggdrasil's relationship to Homeostasis. They have a very rudimentary "Good" AI (Homeostasis), "Bad" AI (Yggy) thing going on, despite the fact Homeostasis isn't so much good as, well...

It's not really discussed in Tri, so I'm extrapolating a bit from ideas given to us in XWM here, because it makes sense to me. That said, Tri explicitly describes Homeostasis as "the one who desires balance above all." It's the Digital World's "immune system" in the same way our bodies attempt to maintain biological homeostasis.

Yggdrasil is... different.

It's a being of immense power that contrasts Yggdrasil by having its own agenda, one of which involves triggering a Reboot and making use of all of the defeated antagonist Digimon of the past to further its goals. They are likely comparable in power to Homeostasis (this is where I'm extrapolating from XWM here), but their goals are completely antithetical to Homeostasis's goal in the Adventure universe.

In this case, Yggdrasil is stated (by Dark Gennai) to have the intention of making human beings subservient to Digimon. Basically, taking over the world. However, like the D-REAPER before, Dark Gennai's talking points include pointing out how humans "ruin" everything they touch.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Thematic Core of Appmon: I Choose to be Kind

One of the last things Leviathan does in the series is give our good boy Haru the world's most painful trolley problem of his life. Save humanity, or save Yujin. Saving humanity will actively lead to Yujin's deletion, alongside Leviathan. This choice that Leviathan offers to Haru is one made out of the assumption that humanity is predictable, and that they act out of a desire to minimize their own suffering (more selfish than not).

Of course, what do you think Haru chooses?

It's not a surprise to us watching, because he's the protagonist. But it's a surprise to Leviathan, who has all this data on human behavior, and doesn't predict the unpredictable. Conflict arises out of human desire, and human desire is an attempt to enjoy life; therefore, one should act in a way that most preserves their most precious joys, shouldn't they?

Appmon as a series is interested in philosophical questions that are hardly unfamiliar to any Digimon veteran: What is humanity's role in a world which technology grows ever more omnipresent and omnicapable? Why does humanity exist, and why should it be allowed to live on in its current state if humanity itself perpetuates many of its ailments? Would it not be easier if humans were more like machines, predictable, controllable, and never coming into conflict like trains upon a track?

Or, even more simply put: why do we have the heart to choose at all, if choices change the world and ourselves?

The key defining trait of our gogglehead this time around is that he is kind. And no matter what, he goes out of his way to be kind if he can. Multiple times he even asks one of the antagonist apps if they can just give back something they've stolen (points for trying, honestly). When one of the other Applidrivers consistently acts like an edgy loner, Haru makes it clear that they're welcome in the group (and that he wants to help them).

It almost feels reductive to say Appmon's conclusion is that kindness is the answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that Haru's question from his Applidrive--- "Do you want to be a protagonist?"--- ties into the way he helps offer answers for the audience. He isn't the only one who chooses kindness either, obviously--- Astora and Eri are kind in their own ways as well, and Rei even shows his kindness with some struggle the longer the series goes on.

Our group of Applidrivers opposes Leviathan quite literally as people who choose to do good ("be kind," etcetera) when they could more easily choose to do nothing or even do worse. The final act of Leviathan, asking Haru "humanity or Yujin?" isn't just a culmination of its own philosophy, but a culmination of the consistently reinforced idea that we can surprise one another by being kind. We can choose that.

In a series whose longest shadow is cast by Adventure, which has grappled endlessly with the idea of "who chooses," I find Appmon a fascinating development into the idea of what "choice" or "destiny" is. If kindness is predictable, it's still a choice. Even if you cry when choosing to do something good (maybe especially, because the easiest thing to do might be what stops the pain).

Anyways.

You should watch Appmon.

-Arca