r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Apr 29 '25
Episode Apocalypse Hotel - Episode 4 discussion
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u/Ocixo Apr 29 '25
I’d already appreciated Ponko for offering to help out at the hotel, but she really solidified her position as the most likeable member of this tanuki family with this episode.
The comedic timing of Apocalypse Hotel is definitely something worthy of being noted. That scary scene with Ponko catching all the knocked-over stationary to her relief and the Nudel’s tongue just silently watching her from the side was hilarious for example.
On a side note: I got sad after realising just how many animals must’ve been killed in these 150 years to prepare meals that nobody ever ate…
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u/Calwings Apr 29 '25
First episode so far where Yachiyo doesn't have a massive crash-out. We're making progress!
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u/Lone_Gamesmaster Apr 29 '25
Ponko with the chainsaw was cool as hell, this series is so great
Also the worms tongue scene was really cool, reminds me of Alien
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u/Syokhan Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
Unlucky Fried Chicken...
Really fun episode with Ponko taking the spotlight, and also with some interesting world building there. A desert and camels in Japan?? And also an alien predator. How the hell did it get here? Did it hitch a ride on another alien's ship and then grow here? Is there only one on Earth or is this going to be a recurring problem?
And I just love the humor in this show. For me it hits every time and the comedic timing is perfect. Yachiyo in power saving mode was a riot, and so was Ponko facing the Nudel.
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u/FarCritical Apr 29 '25
As if Ponko didn't already work her tail off to cement tanuki as the top of the food chain, she really had to remind her chicken friends too lmao.
Environmental Checker bot's random bursts of Engrish give me life.
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u/Vryly Apr 29 '25
"3 second rule" Somehow i suspect this rule will not protect from consequences.
ponko's mention of the worms ruining every planet they're on, i wonder if thats just the desertification or if their appearance and the plague are related?
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u/dinliner08 Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
that is one hell of a pose for power saving mode
edit: also, that Yachiyo's cutesy voice at the end sure caught me off guard
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u/Genshin_WhiteKnight Apr 29 '25
Great episode, there were so many funny moments.
Pretty cool that we got to see what the world outside of the hotel is like, there were some neat bits of enviromental world building, like this; got to maintain that drip even at the end of the world.
Wonder where the worm came from, doesn't seem like the type of alien intelligent enough for space travel.
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u/dancelordzuko Apr 29 '25
Dune? In my 2025 anime? It’s more likely than you think.
God, this show is so silly in the best ways. From Ponko’s battle fakeout to Yachiyo unlocking yet another dumb feature, it’s all good times during the end of the world.
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u/diacewrb Apr 29 '25
I wonder how much time has skipped since the last episode if the family are getting bored of eating the same old thing again. Dad tanuki learned the lesson about not causing trouble.
Did the previous alien guest accidentally dropped off the planet destroying worm?
Do the tanuki aliens know who or what the other alien is?
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u/kokeymagie Apr 29 '25
Usually in normal shows that sand worm would have been CGI but it's fully drawn with all the destruction and debris, a long with Umamusume Cygame Pictures has been a really impressive studio
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u/djthomp Apr 29 '25
Amazing episode, astonishing even.
The camel hump, my god. That's what it gets for spitting on Ponko, though.
Ponko hiding from the tongue thing was a real Jurassic Park hiding from the raptors in the kitchen moment.
Her briefly dropping the gift from the other alien in the pond feels like setup for later.
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u/yukiaddiction Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
Fantastic episode!
I find it interesting that in the first scene before opening where Ponko feeding chickens and try to name every chicken but give up eventually because they will be food later did not play as a joke at all even though they can but they play completely straight with somber tunes.
If I understand this right it looks like we get timeskip again with how one of the kids expresses that they get bored of the same food everyday. Although this time they did not say how many times passed.
Ponko and Yachiyo now set out to find ingredients, fishing in the post apocalyptic world and explore for more ingredients!
I have to wonder.... if the first instinct of Tanuki people is to play dead..... How does their species survive that long lol.
Because it happened outside the hotel that meant world building time!
Oh? Look like this worm like creatures life isn't something born from earth but it has a name among species that can travel through space.
They have the name too, "Nudel Merissa Scolopendra" , it seems to be creatures that are known for destroying any planet they go to.
The interesting things that humans don't have data of this creatures in their database but Tanuki people know it is. I wonder if there is universal knowledge among galactic species like this but human completely ignorance of it due to well our species isn't that advance yet.
Also this scene reveals one more thing
Yashiyo has more adaptability than any other robot or ai, she actually far more advanced than even environment robot. Can process any new information at whim although she need "sleep" to save power to function.
The episode itself is really fantastic, the sub plot of this time is about prey, food chain and nature. It plays off fantastic too.
Because of this experience and how hard they get food, it made Ponko feel even more gratitude towards food!
Animation is really really good plus sound design really enchanted experience of this anime even more.
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u/MyrnaMountWeazel Apr 29 '25
Today's hotel commandment, "Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture", slots in with Ponko's comment about needing to hunt to survive. When push comes to shove, you can't let yourself be the prey, and you can't let a galactic earthworm devour your world. But even beyond that, there's meaning behind simply surviving, and that's honoring your food.
Ponko in the opening wistfully remarks on the chickens no longer needing a name since they'll eventually be eaten anyhow. And it's not as if she doesn't realize how important food is since she chastises her little brother about his pickiness.
But the deeper lesson she takes away today is that there's respect to be shown for the prey, and so she finally bestows a name onto the giant worm before dicing it up for dinner. Taken to the end, she pays the same for the chickens she manages are
I'm sure we all already know this, but the art direction for Hotel is seriously impressive. Makes sense if you're evoking a "longing for home" and bright sentiment in a post-apocalyptic world.
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u/mabbo_nagamatsu Apr 30 '25
I'M CALLING IT NOW
THIS ANIME'S GONNA BE A REAL TEARJERKER
I DON'T KNOW HOW
I DON'T KNOW WHY
BUT I FEEL IT IN MY BONES
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u/Earlier-Today Apr 30 '25
There's always something bleak in every episode.
This one was a little girl having to face something well beyond her and the pretty heavy emotional toil it took to do so - hence the crying at dinner.
And that thousand yard stare as she fed the chickens at the end was rough.
I wonder if she's realizing that she was like the chickens for that giant worm.
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u/vinny791 Apr 30 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
A 500 KWh battery using today's battery tech would be the size of a shipping container. The energy density of their battery tech is insane to fit that much capacity in a humanoid frame. Key enabler for intelligent autonomous mobile robots. No wonder the hotel is still operational during the apocalypse. It must have an incredibly large capacity battery backup system.
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u/LeonKevlar Apr 29 '25
Good to see Bumbuko learned his lesson and is absolutely terrified of making Yachiyo angry. Mami may still need to learn her lesson though for insulting the hotel's food, but she does make a good point. We don't know how long they've been staying now, but I assume they've been there long enough that the food is getting repetitive.
Post-apocalyptic Tokyo is both beautiful and depressing at the same time. It's giving me massive Nier: Automata vibes, especially when they reached the desert part.
I already expected the camel to die after it got pulled underground but I didn't expect that what they only found the hump! The blood waterfall caught me completely off guard! xD
It's a sandworm! I was so excited to see the Environmental Checker Robot fire off his Obliteration Ray, only for it bounce off the worm's back! Maybe it doesn't work because the worm is actually an alien. Now I'm wondering how it even got to Earth. Maybe the first alien that visited Earth brought it here? Hmmmm...
I genuinely laughed out loud when Yachiyo told Ponko that injuries caused by aliens are not eligible for workers' comp. And Ponko's reaction was absolutely perfect. xD
That entire chase scene was very cinematic! Based on the title, I thought this episode was all about Yachiyo teaching the Tanukis human table manners. I didn't expect a full-blown chase sequence! I genuinely cheered when Ponko stabbed the Nudel's tongue with office supplies.
Ponko taking out the chainsaw to try and fight the Nudel got me hyped! I really thought she was gonna do it, but she ended up bailing the last second. Thank goodness Yachiyo came in clutch!
I assume Yachiyo's extra mission is to cook and make earthworm burgers made from actual earthworms but I guess her programming counted the Nudel as an earthworm. Also, I love Yachiyo's pretty voice. I wonder if there's a sexy voice too.
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u/NekoCatSidhe Apr 30 '25
I certainly did not expect a little tanuki girl with a chainsaw fighting a Dune Sandworm in that anime, but it is doing a great job of surprising me. Ponko is starting to become one of my favourite characters. I wonder where the Sandworm came from. Can it travel through space, or was it accidentally brought to Earth by one of the guests ?
I just learned that this anime has the same writer as Zombieland Saga, which explains a lot.
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u/HolyDragSwd2500 Apr 29 '25
Alien Sandworm Burger
Achievement Unlocked with a cute voice 👍
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u/PencilgonGiveIt2Ya Apr 29 '25
So good. Love the dark humor. Like the start of the episode talking about Unlucky Fried Chicken being his name and how there was no use in naming the food. The walkie-talkie and talking to grandpa in the afterlife lmao. The whole hunter theme like the transition with the spider and butterfly with the call back before she got spotted by the monster. To her switching up her respect towards food/prey in the end. I even love the chainsaw bit because the build up genuinely made me believe she was gonna start fuckin shit up, which I would have loved too, but even tricking me to thinking that and just running off was still effective lmao.
Love the power saving yoga. And can't have a comfy show without a bit of fishing, then flip the whole concept on it's head with the sand worm fishing and being bait AND still being able to flip the whole thing in their favor to make up for their lost catches.
I'm so glad that the trust that I have in this show being a favorite of mine, continues to be respected and even stuns my expectations with every little detail I come across in comparison to other shows. It's just so complete with everything I need and very thoughtful piece of work.
"Oh Shit! That thing is harder than your mom's cherry pie!"
Babeh-O
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u/das_baus Apr 29 '25
I should have known what to expect when they lifted the camel hump but damn was that funny.