Ranking Animorphs 7: The Stranger

[@ZackDevenne]

Ur my dawg bro out here doing the lords work

[@marcellom]

@@ZackDevenne I appreciate your appreciation

[@AmataRayne2492]

Yay! Marcello is back!!! I've been waiting for the next video, and you do not disappoint! As Rachel and Tobias are my favorite characters, I always love their books. I enjoyed The Stranger, but I respectfully disagree with Rachel's motivations between this book and the 2nd. I see this book as an evolution in her motives. The Visitor is a very personal book for her; she does what she does because of Melissa, and she's just starting put as an Animorph. She wants to protect Melissa as much as possible. Now, the 7th book in, she's gone through a bunch of things. I see this as her realizing that she's enjoying the fight, and she recognizes that her abilities can be put to a broader, bigger use. She's not exactly limited towards just protecting those she loves- she can protect her people. I see this as her growth as a character, still somewhat innocent, and progressing into the killer she will become. * (Sidenote, I always felt that Rachel was the Boogeyman to the Yeerks. If they were capable of it, out of all of the Animorphs, Rachel would be the one they would tell ghost stories about to frighten newly born sluglings. * Also, my sweet, sweet bird boy- I love Tobias's sensitivity and perceptiveness in this book. Both he and Rachel are great characters and I love how both of them are so in tune with each other. * And because I was thinking of it, an easy way to explain away how the Controllers would see the Animorphs and not bat an eye at the Gap- probably had no idea who they were. A Yeerk pool can contain thousands of Yeerks or more. Not everyone knew everybody, and knew their hosts? And this is also back in the 90's- cameras were prevalent, but maybe not of the best quality and sometimes not in the best places to catch thieves. Could also be that they didn't care about theft as well. I mean... Why worry about that when you're trying to enslave the Earth? And frankly, I am super surprised that Jake went back down there. He had to have PTSD badly. * And I swear, this is my last few comments!😂 I love your documentaries. I think you should add "Unofficial Anidoc" to your resume, because these are all gems. Keep up the great work, Marcello. The moment I see your videos, I click instantly. I enjoy your videos so much! (And, once you get done with the Animorphs series... Maybe try Everworld? I'd love to see that happen) 👍

[@marcellom]

Honestly as I was editing I kind of changed my tune a bit about the level of development this book brings, but given how long I took to get this one out I was not gonna go back and change the numbers. I'll just have to live with the knowledge that my perfect system is flawed 😅 I think Rachel and Tobias's relationship was like, the first fictional romance that I wanted to emulate in my real life, which is funny because of all the romantic fantasies, being trapped in a bird body but having a deep emotional connection with a human girl is about as far from probable as you can get. As for the yeerks and their lack of fitting room diligence, I would like to know the actual number of controllers that are active in the invasion at any given time. It's clear that the animorphs are fighting the earliest stage of the actual invasion, but I want numbers so I can adjust my judgment. Irrespective of how many yeerks are out ingesting people, though, I would want a roster if I were a yeerk commander. But then again, the yeerks aren't as developed of a civilization as their technology would imply, because of the meddling andalites, so yeah it's very possible that they're just not keeping track. Not big on operations, our yeerks. Thank you very much for watching. It is incredibly validating that people actually enjoy watching these videos, and it motivates me to prioritize them higher on my laundry list of personal projects. Everworld. I read a few of them but not all. They were VERY raunchy for me back in the day and stirred up lots of weird feelings lol. High chance I'll revisit them, though, I've thought about it a few times.

[@AmataRayne2492]

@@marcellom I go right to my 90's Animorphs love, and I love how you break down each book. Looking back on these as an adult, YEAH, there are so many things that you point out where I go "Huh. Yeah, why is that? Why didn't I catch that before?" And it's so much fun reliving each one. I haven't read the series in YEARS, but the beginning of the series is so memorable, and I remember almost every story. Your KZbin channel is an amazing trip down memory lane into my childhood. * Yeah, Yeerks are super disorganized. Though... I wonder if that was KA's brilliance. Not withstanding the times where she or her ghostwriters write her stories into a corner (we know which ones those are 👀), normally, alien invasions are quick, lots of people die or enslaved, and it happens in a planned, methodical way. I feel like the Yeerks invasion here mirror's the Animorphs' rise into their power- messy, disorganized, half-baked and eventually reaching small victories, when there are better ways of getting their objective. But... That's looking at it as an adult 😅. As kids on the whole, we just want to be entertained, and these books are incredible escapism. * Tobias and Rachel were always endgame for me. I absolutely love them. And, even though it was unconventional, I feel the same way you do- their relationship is very, very healthy, especially earlier on. * I just bought all the Everworld books, and I bought a second copy of the first one for Ms. Applegate to sign one day. I was going to go see her for Dogtown in STL, MO but my dog got sick. She's going to tour for The One and Only Family though!!! So, I am hoping she comes through STL again. I plan on rereading them all next year, 1 per month.

[@MasterWGS]

Always excited to hear your Animorphs thoughts! Easily the best breakdowns of the books I've found.

[@marcellom]

Thanks so much 😁 there's a lot of good ones out there so I am honored and proud

[@flamewingmenace1]

Found your channel yesterday, just caught up with all the Animorphs content. Can't wait for more. I'm doing my own read through myself.

[@animepdx6852]

Just binged this entire video series at work today. Very easy listening and I love the nostalgia vibes and remembering reading Animorphs. Hope to see more soon!!❤

[@marcellom]

Ayyy thank you dude I'm glad you enjoy what I'm doing here

[@Malakili181]

Another great book analysis for this series, glad to see you back. You brought up a great point about how Rachel choosing the bear morph in this book to be her new go-to battle morph was a distinct change from what we saw of her in her last book and sets the tone for who she grows/turns into moving forward. Regarding the Ellimist and Crayak intervening, I'm convinced that Crayak pulls just as many stunts as the Ellimist does, we just don't see them spelled out for us in the books. How many times did Esplin 9466 manage survive experiences that should have left him dead? How did David, who would go on to be Rachel's foil and all-around anti-Animorph, find the Escafil Device when no one else could? Why did the Pemalite ship suddenly go haywire and almost give away the Chee? I'm sure there's plenty more I'm not remembering right now, but just becuase the Drode doesn't show up or someone doesn't mention Space Sauron giving them cryptic advice doesn't mean Crayak isn't pulling strings on his side. Once again, I love the series, so keep it up and I wish you well. Even if you do keep slandering my poor little dumpster fire trash baby Visser Three by calling him impetuous.

[@marcellom]

Calling V3 impetuous is basically this channel's brand now 😂 Good point about Crayak. It'd be super interesting to get some perspective on that. A series of short stories about times he's done equivalent things on the other side would be super interesting. Good idea for a fanfic anyway, if it doesn't exist already.

[@z-mac664]

I think book #48 is the most likely example of this. Crayak doesn’t successfully turn Rachel to the dark side, but he does set her up with a pit fight against Visser 3, shouts at Rachel for being a pathetic human when she refuses to turn, and in the very next book the Yeerks are suddenly actively searching for human morphers. That reads to me like Crayak basically did Ellimist’s exact trick here as a backup plan to give Visser 3 the needed information.

[@Grace-ix6oc]

Always great when you do a new video! It's cool you got to see K.A Applegate in person as well. Hope your channel continues to grow!

[@SirJosephZhou]

Thanks for posting more Animorphs content!

[@marcellom]

You are welcome, Sir Joseph!

[@Becasican]

I've been binge watching your videos and oh boy! I wish I could've read the books when I was younger

[@marcellom]

It's never too late, I only read like 1/3 of them as they actually came out I had to wait until they were all on the internet to read the whole series in order. And it is a great read.

[@matthewterlaga3022]

I can’t believe you got to meet K. A. that’s amazing, and I’m glad you’re back to doing these, it’s my favorite series in KZbin. I do want to say one thing (sorry to be “that guy”) but I’m (reasonably) sure that it is revealed where the animorphs actually live in the final book. That it’s San Diego and that The Gardens is Busch Gardens, and that the Zoo that they go to is the San Diego Zoo.

[@loganbigmo]

Well, to be "that guy" they never specify which town or city they live in, just the state. The Gardens in-universe is the zoo they go to. It's a zoo+amusement park fusion. It might be based on Busch Gardens somewhat, but the characters are not literally going to Busch Gardens and the San Diego Zoo in-universe.

[@marcellom]

I've only read the last book once so that is definitely possible - we shall see in a decade when I get to that review :D

[@ani_anonymuncle]

"Tongued by a Taxxon" is an extremely cursed sentence that could also, unfortunately, be a romance title. (Somewhere off, a butterfly flaps its wings.)

[@marcellom]

"A Taxxon tonguing a cockroach in San Diego can cause a forest fire on the Hork Bajir homeworld"

[@gabrielmuniz5869]

Please keep making these, soon the algorithm will bless you

[@marcellom]

Oh I will, I think of I manage to up my frequency it's only a matter of time. But I am very happy with the audience I have so far, you guys are excellent

[@Lowkey-NoPressure]

I think that it can be inferred that the ellimist isn’t allowed per the rules of the game, to just go and feed Intel to the animorphs. It’s not ‘fair’ for him to interfere, he IS cheating…but the trick imo is that presumably he must have had a chat with crayak first and said, “hey. I’m going to offer my favorite chess pieces sanctuary on another planet. I’m too worried about them dying. You cool with that?” And Crayak would have been all for it. First, the fact that Ellimist would even do this, would make Crayak think he had the upper hand since it seems like Ellinist is trying to salvage something. So from Crayak’s perspective, either the animorphs stay and the yeerks likely win, or the animorphs leave and the yeerks definitely win. Either way he wins. So he would say, sure thing Elly, knock yourself out. Without squinting too hard at any way the Ellimist might outsmart him-using asking the question itself as a means of subtly transferring intel. He basically got away with one. Or two. I don’t think he was ever going to whisk them away.

[@mokecity9723]

The Dillinger shirt! Hell yeah

[@chaseredmoon407]

Another beautiful video. I love Rachel and, as much as I always wanted to be seen as Cassie, most would say I'm Rachel. I feel like book 2 is there to establish that she has good intentions with this war. That no matter what happens to her, she started with wanting to protect her friend. This book shows that ideology being pressured and Rachel doesn't do well with pressure. She's not afraid. She just doesn't handle emotional pressure well. She's a creature of instinct and it's easier to slap a person than deal with emotional turmoil. Also, that truck is obviously being driven by controllers.

[@braydenb1581]

The bear is a perfect Rachel metaphor. Shes a mother bear. This book is part of her over arcing theme. Loss. Loses a cousin in book 1. She lost her best friend before this began and more so again in book 2. Almost jake in book 6. Her father in this book. The next book she almost loses her sisters. And then we begin rachels downward spiral. Losing her morals, chemical warfare, then possibly willing to murder david. And ya. Bird boy is sort of her little project. This is one of my favourite books as really sets rachel up. Its such a shame her novels dip in quality so drastically

[@marcellom]

The dip on quality of her books is part of what inspired me to make this series lol

[@braydenb1581]

@@marcellom i just wish we could get a badass anime or something to retell the the stories but maybe clean up some of their short comings. A lot of the low quality novels could have been saved.

[@braydenb1581]

My man has returned! But sadly the day i forgot my headset. Sigh

[@loganbigmo]

A 42 minute new Animorphs discussion. A good way to start today.

[@zwayhiual9854]

Katherine is great. I met her about eight years ago when she was touring for The One and Only Ivan. We hung out and talked Animorphs for about thirty minutes and what she and Michael were working on. I had her sign The Invasion, the first Animorphs book I read. Katherine is either an absolute sweetheart or has a great poker face when it comes to Anifans.

[@froggy-tq6xk]

Arguing in the comments! I think this book and the 2nd book kind of contradict each other in Rachel's motivations. The 2nd book has her as a protector, and her motivation is for something, instead of against it. I feel like this book kinda flipped that script to get Rachel to (as you said) the weapon of the group. I like time travel nonsense, and I love the development of Rachel's savagery and dissociation, so I always rated this book above the other.

[@marcellom]

You're right, and I think on the whole I probably enjoy reading this book more. I think what skewed the ratings in favor of book 2 is that each character's first book is getting a boost for character development, since it's their introduction. Anyway the ratings don't *really* matter, I think I just wanted some kind of system to provide a vehicle for me to review the entire series.

[@froggy-tq6xk]

Oh, for sure. You've gotta make some kind of structure if that's what you're going for, and I think viewing a series you love through more 'objective' lenses can be really interesting, and provide personal insight into what you love and why you love it.

[@z-mac664]

When I reread this one I ended up thinking the implication was that they got away with morphing back from inside the taxxon because Rachel ended up killing everyone who had seen them when she went into a frenzy by the dropshaft.

[@z-mac664]

Also Ax said it the best lol, “The Ellimist offers you choices that are no choices at all.”

[@braydenb1581]

I really wish during THE ATTACK that AppleGate sat us down like good boys and girls and explained the rules between the elemist and cryek.

[@marcellom]

Same, we need a Crayak Chronicles

[@ZackDevenne]

My buddy dated a girl named Rachel and I use to call her Roachel thats hilarious 🤣🤣🤣

[@braydenb1581]

Its not a nit pick about the dressing room. Think about it. 3 day timer. You would absolutely have a guest list of sorts which would be easily held by hiding it under a lay away list. John Wick here to get that Nickel back shirt Oh, hi john. Want to go try it on first? I would love to do that.

[@Shane-eg5kq]

This series is great.

[@marcellom]

Thank you Shane! Working on the next entry right now

[@tylerferguson3193]

Hope you're having a good day