Big Hero 6

Based off of everything Obake's gotten so far (the blueprints, the heavy water (D20) conversion, and now stealing a giant-ass magnet from SFIT, it seems pretty obvious that he's building something nuclear-related. But to what end? A bomb? A reactor?

Or maybe he'll just use it to turn everything into robots.

EDIT: Or recreate the Great Catastrophe of 1906. I mean, the title of the finale is called "Countdown to Catastrophe".

Edited by Arctimon on Oct 8th 2018 at 12:59:19 PM

Countdown to Catastrophe:

Turns out, that paperweight in the pilot wasn't just some kind of meteor that everyone suspected; it's an energy amplification device. Bob Aken created it, but he was not as smart as Hiro and ended up blowing up the lab and causing Granville to resign. Hiro, going against Granville's objections to create an energy amplification device, unknowingly recreates it. In fact, he was too busy in creating it that he ruins Fred's trap even with Baymax's assistance. Noodle Burger Boy infects Baymax with Obake's chip, causing problems down the line.

Hiro's test driving the energy amplification involves tons of combustion, overload, and lots of plot problems.

Honey Lemon discovers Lenore Shimomoto's recording of herself, a confession that she caused the Great Disaster of 1906 because she wanted to make a device to help humanity, but her star-generator ended up tearing up California with Earthquakes.

Obake wishes to remake the device, killing all the people in SF in order to rebuild it into a scientific society without ethics or as he calls them, limits. Since he sees Hiro's intellect, he activates Baymax and has him capture Hiro because he sees a lot of himself in him and he's smart.

Globby, not wanting SF to sink into the sea and be rebuilt by a madman since there are things he actually likes about the city, betrays Obake and helps Hiro escape.

Turns out, Baymax's diagnosis of Obake is that Bob Aken sustained an injury which damaged the parts of his brain that assist in morality and ethical processing.

In the end, the star is stopped by creating a counter shockwave, cancelling out the force of the mini-star.

Still, there was enough damage that the Obake bunker was damaged enough to collapse. Seeing how his life's work is now ruined, Obake refuses to flee and start over, unable to comprehend this failure. The lair collapses with Noodle Burger Boy apparently going with him. Momakase was apprehended and Trina was in the cave-in, but the ending implies that Obake might have survived.

[[spoiler: Oh and Granville knows about BH 6 because she's not a moron. ]]

Edited by Dr.XXX on Oct 13th 2018 at 11:44:20 AM

Damn, Obake's apparent end was pretty dark. I'm impressed.

Noodle Burger Boy and Trina also are dead too I guess, though they could get rebuilt.

Edited by Isaac_Heller on Oct 13th 2018 at 12:22:46 PM

I can't not laugh at the fact that the main villain of Season 1 was named "Bob".

I dunno what to make of that tease at the end, but apparently, we might be getting a new Big Bad for the next season.

Overall, good finale. I liked seeing almost everything the season set-up actually have a pay off, from plot points to character cameos. Obake and Baymax's last scene was chilling, in particular. Though I'm now wondering if Shimamoto being revealed as the one that accidentally started the disaster that destroyed San Fransokyo will have any ramifications, like taking her off the currency or something.

I really liked the slow reveal that despite all the brilliant planning and setup, the violence of Obake's plan made no sense and is built on an unbelievable lack of understanding of the consequences of his action, followed by the reveal that there's a good reason for that: the dude is legitimately insane and his conception of what he's doing is tenuous at best. The way he doesn't even really seem to understand why Hiro would try and stop him - let alone succeed - really works.

As for next season villains. I hope they don't Status Quo Globby back into being a villain, unless he gets a Catwoman deal where he's commits minor crimes but everyone treats him like a hero when the chips are down. The suspicious lack of Trina in the latter half of the episode makes me suspect she'll be back, probably for revenge. And Liv Amara's almost certainly evil, so that's a thing.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Oct 15th 2018 at 8:15:22 AM

I just realized Obake's plan of I'll destroy everything so a better city can arise is basically Everwraith's plan in the first volume of Big Hero 6.

Finally got around to watching the finale, and a few points:

1.) I'm very glad they showed the whole thing together and not in parts (although in retrospect that would've been hard to do with a 1:15 run time).

2.) Love the ending. The entire conversation between Obake and Baymax was chilling. While not surprising, there was a legitimate explanation as to why Obake was doing this whole plan.

3.) Call-Back City. The paperweight, good lord. Now we know why he wanted it: to try to replicate the energy amplifier he couldn't make before. And while it wasn't specifically nuclear (unless you count a star nuclear), I was partially right about the reactor guess from earlier. That's not even including so many other stuff that I don't have time to mention.

4.) I vaguely remember someone associated with the show (a storyboard writer, maybe) saying that Obake is strictly a Season 1 villian, so I'm not suprised he "died". Maybe that'll open the door for Trina to maybe come back, but I don't see how they would've gotten out. They're going to wipe the slate clean for Season 2.

5.) Globby. I don't see how he comes back next season. They're going to put him on a bus and get him out of there. I think he's just gotten too powerful at this point. He's gotten his redemption arc; let him be.

All in all, a very solid, if not amazing, season finale to a show that took a little bit to get going. I'll be anxiously awaiting Season 2, whatever it'll be about...

Even though we all know it's more than likely going to be focused on Liv Amara and Karmi.

Am I crazy or were they trying for a little Globby Lemon Ship Tease?

I think she was just being her sweet self and he's too old. Then again, most of the cast are adults.

Also, season two likely coming out next summer.

Cool. We don't have to wait to terribly long for the next season, provided they don't delay it.

Well, that's what I get for not having fully watched his intro episode. He certainly didn't sound that old to me, but I guess that's Andy Richter for you.

(Not much worse than some of my crack ships anyway (i.e. Gogo/Cass).)

So now that I have seen the full first season of Big Hero 6, I still have mixed feelings about it. I still feel like it did not live up to its full potential. It was still a show about Hiro and Baymax, with the others being extremely flat characters; oh sure they got a few episodes spotlighting them, but none worked too well if you ask me.

As for the finale, I found it predictable except for two things: Globby's turnabout and Obake really being insane due to brain damage. Not sure how I feel about either. On one hand they were unexpected, but on second thought, they might have been easy ways to tie up loose ends.

Hopefully by next season we'll see the characters get some depth. Because they desperately need it. Especially Baymax. I realize he's just a robot but everyone treats him like a person so the fact that its just a machine following a programming is easy to forget, but the fact he let Obake die simply because he used the "I'm Satisfied With My Care" code word tragically brings it back to mind. If Data on Star Trek could get an Emotion Chip, surely our favorite inflatable robot can get one too.

Baymax gets some slight human moments, particularly when he emphasizes that he'll be going alone with the others when Hiro stays behind to work on the energy amplifier, and when he hesitates and looks behind at Obake after being given the command to leave him alone. I don't expect him to get sentience all of a sudden, but it did stand out.

I do agree that the others really needed some focus and development. It's like the previous Kung Fu Panda series where there's a chance to develop the rest of the group, but the show mostly still sticks to Po alone. Fred had the most screentime after Baymax and Hiro, but I thought Honey Lemon was a bit more fleshed out than him. Quality over quantity, I support.

Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on Oct 17th 2018 at 7:01:47 AM

Yeah, I've been noticing more and more across the series that the writers very pointedly don't answer the question of how sentient or sapient Baymax is (in fact, you could even say it varies), and how much of him is just algorithm, and the finale has the best example of it. Not just in that moment, but throughout that whole scene he doesn't even really seem to comprehend what's going on beyond the various ways Obake's life is in danger, and even then it's an issue he only shows interest in and pursues up until the point where he's told not to.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Oct 18th 2018 at 12:34:59 PM

Wasabi desperately needs some development. He got his car back. Whoopie. Give him an actual episode focus.

Going off of the season 2 tweet, it looks like we're getting more shorts in November...chibi shorts, that is.

Gogo could use a focus episode too. Something beyond being Fred's or Honey Lemon's Straight Woman.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Oct 19th 2018 at 12:34:09 PM

Her birdwatching thing was neat. Though it hasn't really affected anything after helping kick off the plot for one episode.

I'm hoping Big Hero 6 can actually go to Japan for a few episodes so they could meet an Expy or two for Silver Samurai and/or Sunfire. Let's face it, the mutants aren't home yet, so we might as well get the next best thing.

Some characterization ideas for the BH6 that I hope to see next season:

• I hope weare done with the "Hiro is too reckless" thing? Because it got old real fast. I also hope his love/hate relationship with Karmy is resolved, but in a satisfying way. Because no, I don't find her likable at all.
  • Also, WHY isn't his aunt allowed to know his secret ID? Because she would not let him be a hero? His teacher can know but not her? Hello this woman became an 'underground chef fighter' herself! I'm pretty sure it would not be too hard for her to accept it.
• as I said above, Baymax needs to develop sentience, somehow. As a robot learning about life, he'd be much more interesting.
• Fred. God, please STOP being a moron. I know he's supposed to be funny but he's not. At least he was somewhat useful in the last few episodes. But the episode in which he was supposed to prove himself capable rather than a walking disaster wasn't that convincing to me. Maybe if he can take down someone a bit more competent than Steamer.
  • BTW, I have a theory that his father is actually out of town JUST so Fred can get off his ass and be a hero.
• Similarly, Go-Go needs development. ANY development. No, little things like bird watching or a fear of leprechauns are not enough. Who is she? Why is she such a hardcase, or addicted to speed? And would it kill her to smile once?
• As for Honey, yeah she solved the big San Francisco Earthquake err I mean the Great Disaster mystery- which wasn't THAT hard to guess anyway. But that was all. I was hoping for her to be revealed to be Latina. I mean its the only major American ethnic group not represented in the series. And no her skin and hair doesn't matter, we Latinos come in all shades.
• Finally, yeah PLEASE cure Wasabi of being skitterish and a neat freak. Given him some actual personality traits and flaws.

I thought Honey actually was supposed to be Latina, but it doesn’t really come across to me except the way she sometimes pronounces Hiro’s name.

Honey is officially Latina, yeah. It’s never comes up, though.

They're going to be doing these chibi shorts in-between the seasons, starting with this one.

Lol, psychotic chibi Gogo.

Is it just me, or is Gogo their go-to character to put together with Fred?

Just in time for Valentine's Day.