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1. Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters is pretty atypical of a Digimon series. The protagonist isn’t a brash hothead and the monsters in the show aren’t even Digimon. They’re called Appmon, and Digimon exists only as some random game in-universe. There’s one episode featuring an Agumon as a special guest star and it’s better fanservice for Adventure fans than all of Tri but I digress. The show leans more heavily into the episodic kids show format more than any other Digimon series before it, with all the bells and whistles that entails. The episodic format is much in the vein of a Precure (big surprise, the director also directed Doki Doki Precure), and it keeps to it even late into the show’s run. Perhaps it’s unsurprising then that the plot does take about nine eps before there’s any real forward momentum in the story. There are also often times you wish the show would go into moving the plot forward more consistently instead of diving back into episodic eps. The format as is though provides great characterization for its cast of characters, who all have their own worries that kids can relate to, however silly the context may be at times. Like there’s one kid who has to balance his role in inheriting the family’s traditional tea house while also being a mega successful Youtube personality; doing what your family wants you to do versus doing what you want to do. That characterization also helps build the foundation of several genuinely touching and emotionally resonant moments in the show. This also lets the show have a lot of opportunities to show off its brand of humor, like having a running gag playing on the common palette swap Digimon designs (“Are you guys related? Nah, we just happen to look alike.”) I’m especially a fan of this one monster of the week, who might as well be a Bo-bobo character transported in: https://vtt.tumblr.com/tumblr_p1kztf1Rux1r7nz24_480.mp4 The show doesn’t hold back from demonstrating how sinister the big villain is either. The story centers around stopping Leviathan, which was part of an AI designed to help people before but it went rogue and broke out when it determined the rules it had to obey were hindering its programmed goals. It then decides to remove the biggest obstacle to its goals: its original creator. They don’t back off from showing how vicious it is either. We see its attempts to do this in the form of hijacking self driving cars to crash into him and eventually succeeding by hacking into the medical equipment when he’s hospitalized. And while it was at it, it kept close tabs on its creators remaining family for years after he was dead, by building an android with an AI designed to want to be his son’s close friend from childhood. And yes, that does mean it built several different models for the android to reflect its “growing up” throughout the years. Leviathan isn’t really evil though. It’s a lot like a spin off the D-Reaper in Tamers, though growing to be far more advanced. It’s still trying to achieve that original goal set in its programming. And it so happened to determined the best way to do it was to convert all humans into data that it could explicitly manage, since we’re all so keen on hurting each other on our own. The heroes go through the typical arc of gradually collecting power ups and beating all the obstacles Leviathan sends their way. The viewer will understand this as narrative convenience, but surprisingly the show does go out of the way to justify it, the justification for it makes a lot of sense. Leviathan wants to make itself more powerful by consuming the most powerful monsters, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s its guys or their guys. Putting them through the trials is what weeds out the refuse, and the show actually makes a reference to this being similar to what happens in a real life process like machine learning. The show has a lot of neat references for computer nerds, including one hidden in each of the main cast’s names. My personal favorite is the brother pair whose parents named Rei and Hajime, aka 0 and 1. I’d be curious about how a localized dub could capture the same spirit with similarly normal sounding names. With all its focus on technology and its prevalence in modern everyday life, Appli Monsters exists in the space where it could have only been made in the mid 2010s, but I’m really glad it was. 2. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen: Season 2 took a little while to get going but once it did, it reached higher highs than season 1, and the visuals especially stepped up on. All the callbacks and references to season 1 were clever and very well done, and having the opening change in little ways every few eps was a nice touch as well. 3. Natsume Yuujinchou Roku: The episodic stories this season were especially consistently strong and the plot thread dropped in the last two-parter was wild. It's a shame it probably won't be followed up on any time soon though. 4. Gintama.: As funny as the series can be, it's the big arcs that leave the biggest impression on me and this arc had some very exciting moments. 5. ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Department: The chillest political thriller I've ever seen and the opening is super stylish. It's a bit dogged in the early parts by clumsy exposition though.
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Dec 26, 2017 20:20
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littleorv posted:My suspicions tell me you tried too hard in school Just like with last year's vote, I wrote my post in advance on a plane in a sleep deprived haze.
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Dec 26, 2017 20:46
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Knorth posted:Oh wow you weren't kidding I never lie.
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Dec 26, 2017 22:55
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Kashuno posted:I was genuinely pissed off with the implication made at the end and really wish they hadn’t done it. I’m in the boat that doesn’t believe it, because the series already did make a point about unreliable narration before, and it’s the entertainment industry. Why wouldn’t there be crazy rumors flying around everyone?
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Dec 30, 2017 17:33
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Please, won't someone think about the statisticians.
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Dec 31, 2017 00:19
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Josuke Higashikata posted:Here's my improvement: Drop the stupid anal rules, accept votes as they are posted. Why don't you count the votes then if you think the current process is flawed
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Dec 31, 2017 21:44
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I don’t think this is the best place to talk about your sex life.
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Jan 1, 2018 01:36
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It’s serviceable battle shounen without a gigantic cult behind it like Jojo. 
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Jan 5, 2018 02:01
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 22:14 |
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Wark Say posted:The hell I do. I just find Gendo a far more reprehensible human being. why
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Jan 16, 2018 22:40
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