>>53536555Yeah I'm not trying to make the "becoming something totally different and unexpected is good actually" argument, that's always been a bad premise imo. That an unpredictable outcome is inherently a good thing, just on the merit of surprising people. I'm just not sure this situation really applies to Arboliva. It's not like it's ugly or anything (that would be a real case of changing things up radically as it evolves), it just looks less like a human girl than some people probably expected. I suppose it's the least cute of its family, sure, but final evolutions usually are, especially since they're the physically largest. And I would even argue that it's Dolliv that's a little at odds with the rest of the line, for leaning into that plant waifu angle more than the other two. Like however you feel about whether or not Arboliva is pretty enough, there is nothing especially feminine about Smoliv at all. If any member of the family sticks out from the others, and even gives some people the wrong expectations for what this thing is supposed to be, it's Dolliv. And I like Dolliv fine, but they may have made it a little too cute a humanoid grass girl for its line's own sake.
