Ranking Animorphs 12: The Reaction

[@ani_anonymuncle]

You deserve one HUNDRED thousand subscribers

[@marcellom]

I truly appreciate that, thank you :)

[@matthewterlaga3022]

Loved the alliteration in the thumbnail, and while this wasn’t my favorite book either, I still to this day am fascinated by the idea of being allergic to morphs and expelling the DNA, and loved the potential ideas you pitched.

[@KateIvyFriesen]

Perfect thing to me to watch during surgery recovery 🙏

[@marcellom]

Happy to provide it, and I wish you a speedy and comfortable recovery.

[@chaseredmoon407]

The megamorphs books and chronicles are all beasts that should be done as specials. Maybe get some special guests to discuss them! This was my very first Animorphs book ever! I have a deep nostalgia for it and while some find it to be filler, I think it's important in re-establishing that they are indeed still children. Even with everything they have gone through. That fanfiction idea is amazing and I love it. Imagine being able to have them focus completely on the war while copies of them are able to stay home. After rereading the series again, I gotta say that Rachel does get some of the worse books overall, especially in ghostwriter territory. I love her character but most of my fav Rachel moments are in other people's books and not her own. I still love this book deeply and feel like it's still very much a kids series at this early stage. I can't wait to see your next video (but will definitely do so as the wait is always worth it)!

[@marcellom]

Wow, your first huh? I understand the nostalgia. I think a big part of like, OG Animorphs fandom is having piecemeal books and reading them out of order, with the books we had as kids ultimately having special places in our respective hearts. That's the case for me, at least. You are not the only person to say that Rachel has a lot of good character moments outside of books that she narrates. I think this definitely holds up. We know Rachel, her character is vivid and well-defined, but often the books she narrates fall short, so it stands to reason that the appreciation must come from somewhere. I think I like her in Marco books best, those two are great foils for one another.

[@chaseredmoon407]

I prefer her in Tobias books, but I know that's because they are my OTP.

[@krscartwright4951]

As always a notification from you makes my day and I sink into my bed ready to listen to more andalite bandit adventures

[@brandonjamal]

Freaking loved this review and I love this book. I think the show was Home Improvement since that was the show JTT was on at the time, and the book calls it Power House. Also I lol'd at 23:02 "the book says there weren't" with the image of the book saying there were no security cameras that saw anything stop asking question😅

[@marcellom]

Ohh that's is a good catch. I did not know JTT was even on Home Improvement I somehow went my whole childhood without ever seeing an epsidode of that show

[@kellywilliam3708]

Rachel is simultaneously one of my favourite characters, but also my least favourite narrators. I wonder if Scholastic had a hand in keeping her books lighter

[@shingshongshamalama]

As a child I had absolutely no idea who JTT was and had never heard of him. As an adult I had still never heard of him and still had no idea who this "Jeremy Jason" was referencing until you just pointed it out. Turns out he's Simba and he was on Home Improvement and I guess he was well known in America in the 90s?

[@marcellom]

@@shingshongshamalama he pretty much had the whole united states in a chokehold in the mid-90s

[@tylerferguson3193]

Hope you'll have a good day

[@marcellom]

Thank you, I hope YOU have a good day

[@froggy-tq6xk]

When I was a kid, this was one of the books I had full access to, so I read it multiple times (I didn't finish the series, and read a lot of what I had out of order). Everything you've said is true, but it's still one of my favorites. This one has a b-movie quality that I find so endearing.

[@marcellom]

Yeah I think many of us had the experience of having a scattered collection of books, and loving the ones we had copies of. It is like a part of Animorphs culture lol. I had a copy of the one where they're allergic to oatmeal and remember it fondly, and that one is also a Rachel book so we'll see how that reread goes

[@SunshineCasy]

Rachel is a lot like Cassie in the way that she has some of the best moments in the series, and the most filler-y, wacky books. Both of them narrate a Helmacron story.

[@ani_anonymuncle]

While this book is pretty "monster of the week"-y, I do want to say that I think the fact that Rachel DOESN'T learn a lesson - that, despite seeing how bad things go, she's still going to push her way in and hit that mission consequences be dammed - is actually the important character beat of this story. It has significant weight on how her character will develop from here.

[@marcellom]

That is actually a really good point that I had not considered. Growth is not necessary for a character arc, and lack of growth can be just as significant to the makeup of a character. I wonder to what degree this was intentional. I'm going to crash the next KA book signing I can and ask her.

[@apophis7712]

12:10 Ooo, this can be the next "bear or man" hypothetical!

[@marcellom]

What an awful choice that would be. On the one hand, the Yeerk option is horrific. On the other, the crocodile option is pretty much certain, immediate death. It is human to hope. Logically I want to say crocodile, but I worry that if it came down to it, I might choose Yeerk. Part of me is certain I could beat a crocodile in a fight though, if the circumstances were right. This is almost certainly a character flaw of mine lol

[@flamewingmenace1]

Ha ha! I actually read this one before the episode. It's so funny watching these because we have pretty much the same exact responses. After I finished it I thought "ah so that was the first filler book?" I already read book 13, I'm bout halfway through the Andalite Chrinicles [can't wait for that video, it's my favorite book so far]. Fun fact: I brought the Reaction with me & finished it during the 2024 solar eclipse.

[@marcellom]

The Andalite Chronicles kicks ass, it was the first Chronicles book I read, and I remember being absolutely blown away. The Ellimist Chronicles is also excellent, as is the HB Chronicles and Visser. All the supplemental books really bring so much more to the story, which I feel like isn't always the case with long, drawn-out series like this one.

[@Grace-ix6oc]

It's nice to see that your channel is growing. I enjoy your Animorphs videos and make sure not to miss a single one. :)

[@marcellom]

@@Grace-ix6oc it really is! And given how absolutely terrible my output has been since my daughter was born, I do not understand why. But I am still very pleased, and truly grateful

[@Shane-eg5kq]

Love your work on this series as always. Hope you enjoy your long weekend.

[@marcellom]

Cheers, thank you! And you too

[@loganbigmo]

I forgot you didn't do Megamorphs #1 lol It's funny how Animorphs did _two_ books about a character unable to control their morphing, lying about it, and then the third act is them in a TV studio where the Animorph undergoes their final uncontrollable morphing event while Ax is there in the studio in Andalite form.

[@marcellom]

It took me a full minute to even remember that The Proposal exists. Definitely not one of the better Marco books lol. We'll see where it falls in the Perfect And Scientific Rating System

[@SirJosephZhou]

When I read this to my wife, she was laughing her ass off at how much Rachel lied in this book and kept lying despite the consequences. "I lied and things went shitty. Well, I gotta lie again, what could go wrong???" BTW, I read aloud to my wife the Andalite Chronicles and book 13, and am now on 14 - so you got some videos to catch up on!!

[@marcellom]

Ha you are like my pace car, I've got some work to do

[@Delta350]

i dont think i can remember a ghostwritten rachel book that did a good job with her characterization :/ theres plenty of good characterization when its not her pov though which is weird

[@marcellom]

A few people have commented this, I think it's a very valid point.

[@ayoalawode6852]

Its funny watching you say nobody saw the last mystery novel video only for it to have the most views on the channels, you spoke too soon

[@marcellom]

@@ayoalawode6852 I really did. It made its way into some part of the algorithm somehow, I'm pleased

[@LeonCook34]

Boys 11 men lol probably ment Boyz 2 men