Appmon Episode 18: Haru and Yujin's Bond. Stop the Rampaging Resshamon!

In this episode, the evil corporation behind Pokémon Go uses the promise of a legendary to lead trainers into a deathtrap. We all knew this would happen eventually, right?


Apparently Mienumon reads these reviews! Last time the criticism was her wasting time with a weak effort to embarrass Eri when she could be doing major damage with her devastating combination of app corruption and corporate influence. Look at what she throws at us this week! She combines both to engineer a situation that endangers the lives of hundreds of people through what would have been ruled a tragic accident. This intensity, when combined with the deeper, genuine look at Haru’s friendship with Yujin and some fun action to boot, shows us everything Appmon is fully capable of.

For the first time since introducing the speakeasy in Ai’s bookstore, everyone’s outside for some recreation that doesn’t involve a concert performance. Quite the contrary, given Eri’s concealment and reluctance to admit she’s hooked on this damn game. Getting out in the open allows Yujin to participate for once, dialing in on how Haru’s Appmon activities don’t exist in a vacuum. His adventures have eaten up precious time with his best friend, and Yujin’s noticed that… plus the newfound friendship with minor child celebrities. Haru’s anxious about telling Yujin about Appmon, violently shoving aside Gatchmon and even tackling Tora when he brings it up. It poses a stark contrast to Takato (the only lead facing a similar dilemma), who hides Guilmon from his friends for practical reasons, only to give in when chances to show off get too tempting to pass up.

As we saw with Ai, Haru doesn’t need to hide Gatchmon, but does so to protect Yujin from both worrying over Haru’s activities and the urge to help out and risk being exposed to more danger. You could imagine that dynamic based on what we’ve already seen from these two, but we’re treated to a deeper look about how this fascinating friendship formed. Turns out the athletic team captain is the anxious worrier and the clumsy bookworm is the cheerful rock. It’s a bit like Taichi and Koushiro, only the level of focus here (and the sinister tones behind Yujin) suggest this relationship will get far more attention, as well as far more trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Mienumon finally decided to create some! Instead of messing around with some minor annoyances, she uses the popularity of L-Corp’s popular AR game that is definitely not Pokémon Go to drop a lure in the seaside park that is definitely not Odaiba. This fills an automated train to capacity, which she can then corrupt into driving off a ramp to send everyone plummeting to their deaths. For science! This is the kind of stuff she should be trying all the time! And rather than mope about those meddling kids foiling her plot, you can see the light bulb going off in her head as she realizes she can do this as often as she wants. Let’s hope she does.

The heightened threat not only forces Haru and Tora to step up their games. Once again, they don’t bother with Super grades, and this time that works. No links, no fusion, just teamwork. They coordinate the Resshamon infiltration carefully and quickly, Tora and Musimon’s synchronized groove helping along the way. Haru opens windows to let out the virus-infected car while Gatchmon takes out the source. And Musimon’s method of waking up Resshamon is a rare chance to make use of his playlist powers. Good action doesn’t have to involve massive attacks and bombastic CGI. And all the while, we still see the significance of Haru and Yujin’s relationship, as Haru sends a reassuring text to Yujin, who uses that to give himself the confidence needed to reassure Eri. Isn’t it amazing what some good old fashioned attempted murder will do for a show?

My Grade: A

Loose Data:

• I suppose it’s redundant since they have an entire AR Field, but wow, it’s amazing there’s a whole episode spoofing Pokémon Go and they didn’t give us an Appmon based on it.
• Amusing but unrelated: Appmon and Pokémon Sun & Moon aired on the same network in Japan.
• How silly is it is that Ai knowing about Appmon comes up when Gatchmon chides Haru for not telling Yujin. Let’s not forget Ai finding out was entirely Gatchmon’s fault.
• Haru and Yujin man… Haru packs a lunch for both of them, they sit right next to each other on the train even with tons of space around them. The “two bros chilling in a hot tub” bit definitely doesn’t apply to these two and it’s wonderful.
• Yujin mentions how much he likes Haru’s mom’s cooking. In episode 2, Gatchmon was thoroughly unimpressed with her breakfast, and it didn’t look all that special. WHAT COULD IT MEAN??
• How much of a friend is Tora? Outright tackled because he almost mentioned Gatchmon, and then he pops right up to cover  for Haru. Then again, he also eats half of Yujin’s lunch…
• Yujin brought a sick bag with him. He offers it to Eri… but one guess whom he actually brought it for. So considerate like that.
• Between his deficiency at soccer and his embarrassing parkour incident, we’re starting to see just how non-athletic Haru is. It’s not a surprise, but a Digimon protagonist who’s just outright bad at any physical activity is so hilariously fresh.

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