digitalcircus

The speaker discusses the relationship between popularity and quality in various forms of media, using examples from music, books, anime, and a specific animated show called "The Amazing Digital Circus." They address misconceptions about the show being horror and its intended audience, as well as the perception of attracting a younger fanbase. The speaker also provides a brief summary of the pilot episode of "The Amazing Digital Circus." When something gets super popular, to what extent does that indicate it's actually tasteful? When something gets like su- I mean, if so many people like it, there must be at least some soul in there, right? But is it possible for the inverse to be true? Because before you watch something, you can know surface-level aspects about it, but you can't know the intricacies of the execution and the writing. So when people all flock to something, it can be less an indicator of it truly being well-done and original, and more an indicator of mass appeal. It's similar to how one might argue that the popularity of Taylor Swift's music is less because she's a superhuman musical genius that nobody can match, and more because she knows how to write songs that a lot of people find catchy. You know, pop music, it's in the name. And a big marketing trend for books right now is spelling out all the popular tropes they contain. And I can't help but think that if something is written around what makes it appealing and trendy rather than what makes it stand out, it might not be very good. But this line of thinking that popularity always has more to do with mass appeal than genuine quality can be very... pretentious. For example, when I think of aspects of an anime, for instance, that would give it mass appeal but not inherent quality, I think of flashy fight scenes, fast pacing, maybe a bit more focus on plot than deep character introspection, and... fan service. Now, you might have heard that Free Rin Beyond Journey's End is a pretty okay show. Now, you might have heard that Free Rin Beyond Journey's End is a pretty okay show. It's a shounen fantasy anime, but it's very character-driven and slow-paced, with rather mundane episode-to-episode plots and a female protagonist. But not only is it popular and has a million video essays written about it that's to be expected, it's ranked number one on my anime list after a single season, surpassing shows that finished airing years ago. And perhaps the fact that it doesn't necessarily seem like something conventional that would catch on with the average anime fan, and yet it did, goes to show that the average person doesn't actually have bad taste, and you aren't the exception in a world of mindless drones just because you're into more niche stuff. I'm kind of ignoring the fact that the average person doesn't actually want to watch the same recycled tropes and actually likes when media such as Free Rin is original and subverts what they're used to seeing. And it's no wonder that people are especially enticed by the contrast that's created when something seemingly kid-friendly is subverted for horror purposes. However, in recent years, people have become more disillusioned with this genre, dubbed mascot horror, due to how oversaturated it's become. It's arguably spun around to being genuinely targeted at kids as opposed to being false children's media. People say this sort of thing about Garden of Ban-Ban, Poppy Playtime, and to some extent, modern Five Nights at Freddy's. And there's nothing people find more cringeworthy than media that tries to be dark and mature but is instead perceived as being edgy and childish. Anyway, The Amazing Digital Circus is an indie animated show created by Glitch Productions about a group of people trapped in a colorful circus-themed computer game that's also kind of a kid's show trying not to go insane. The pilot has over 300 million views and has consequently become the victim of content farm slop for unsuspecting iPad babies. It is absolutely ripe for this kind of mascot horror Tumblr fandom bait type discourse. Wow, I should show this script to a Victorian orphan. In this video, I want to discuss where I think its popularity and relatively minor but interesting backlash to said popularity comes from, and what I think of the show. Is it actually that good, or is it just trying way too hard? I should start by addressing a misconception that's bizarrely believed even by a lot of people who have watched and enjoyed the show, and that's that The Amazing Digital Circus isn't actually horror. It's not mascot horror, it's not existential horror, and it's generally not trying to be scary in the way horror media is. This misconception is based on the fact that the show is based on a true story, and that it's based on a true story. scary in the way horror media is. This misconception isn't too surprising though, because this show really does sound like that on paper. It's got these colorful character designs based on toys, but the characters are actually trapped in these bodies and trying to distract themselves from going crazy, and when they go crazy, they turn into these glitchy monsters. Even the second episode, which is quite different from the pilot in some ways I'll get into, focuses on an NPC having an existential crisis after finding out he's not real. And yeah, it's got its mature themes and perhaps mild horror elements, but at its core, it's not scary and it doesn't really want to be. The premise could be executed in a way that leans more into horror, but that's not what the show's going for. I also feel it's different from mascot horror specifically in the key way that the aesthetics aren't really supposed to make the show seem friendly and innocent to contrast with the darker themes. There's no illusion that everything's all fine and dandy. As soon as the main character arrives 30 seconds into episode one, she goes, what is this place? Why do you look like that? This is weird. I hate this. While the cast finds ways to cope with their predicament, they're not shy about the fact that it's an undesirable situation. So the bright kiddy look of the show isn't so much a cover for the premise's dreadfulness as it is a part of the premise's dreadfulness because they're stuck with it. You know, if I had to be trapped in an animated world, I think I'd want it to be a bit less obnoxious looking. Speaking of kid friendliness, Digital Circus has garnered a bit of a reputation for having a lot of younger fans. I mean, if it didn't, it probably wouldn't have fallen prey to, you know... And you could argue that this reflects poorly on the show's quality since it's trying to tackle mature themes and yet attracts an immature audience. To what extent the show's audience is intended to include younger kids is debatable. The creator, writer, and director of the show, Gooseworks, has expressed disdain for what Content Farms have done with it and its reputation as being for kids, describing her ideal target audience as weird people in their 20s. However, the Glitch Productions website says that they make shows for teens and young adults. That label's distinct from young kids, obviously, but since they also emphasize respecting the audience's ability to appreciate mature plots, you could say the target demographic is similar to that of YA books, with the genre technically standing for young adult and sometimes covering darker subjects but actually being more aimed at young teens. But, like, does attracting kids reflect poorly on a piece of media? I kind of get it. When something like this is popular with children, it can feel like it's trying to have its cake and eat it too. Like, it wants to seem dark and mature, but it also wants kids' attention because they're viewed as an easy audience with low standards. But things can appeal to multiple age groups, sometimes for completely different reasons. You wouldn't say the entire Star Wars franchise is kids-only just because a lot of little boys like lightsabers. Do kids even inherently have bad taste? You can probably think of something you liked as a kid that you would still think of as genuinely good today. And all this is me getting sidetracked from the fact that I don't think the people making the show ever expected so many little kids would be into it because they couldn't have possibly predicted the pilot's success. Digital Circus having so many kid fans might be partially a product of it having so many fans in general. I feel like when you're younger, the media accessible for you to find is more exclusive to just the most popular stuff. And while Glitch Productions obviously has a huge hand in the final product, I think we should consider the stated intentions of the main writer above the website description of the studio as a whole when judging this specific show. I think it's about time to look at the show itself. Brief summary of the pilot for context, it opens with what appears to be a theme song for a kids' show that's interrupted by the main character's arrival. She freaks out and tries to tear off the headset that she apparently put on before ending up there, and the other characters reveal that they're also humans and gently or not so gently inform her that like them, she can't leave. The circus's AI ringmaster Kane drags her on a tour of the grounds, including The Void, and after panicking that she can't remember her name, she's christened Pomni. Kane tries to get her to go on an introductory adventure, but she's more interested in finding the exit she thinks she saw, which the others think is BS, but Ragatha and Jax take her to check on Kothmo, another human who's also been talking about an exit recently. On their way, Ragatha tries to comfort Pomni, but also lets slip that the purpose of the adventures is to keep them from reaching their breaking point. Incidentally, that's exactly what's happened to Kothmo, who's transformed into a glitchy monster in a process called abstraction. Ragatha gets hurt and reaches for Pomni's help, but Pomni's hand gets infected and she runs away before returning and being told to find Kane to deal with the situation. Ragatha apologizes to her for how her first day turned out, which she awkwardly brushes off. While looking for Kane, Pomni stumbles upon an exit door and abandons Ragatha for... the back rooms? She eventually finds her way into The Void before Kane scoops her out since it's off-limits, puts Kothmo away, and fixes Ragatha, who had to painfully drag herself back. He apologizes for lying about there being an exit, saying he didn't know what to put behind it. The episode ends with a quite stunning musical sequence as Pomni stares into her low-poly meal. So, what's going on there? I'll start with the things that I like. The music is fantastic all around, and I think the setting delivers pretty well on its digital, video-gamey aspects. I especially like this scene of Pomni finding all these bizarre and somewhat unsettling rooms while opening random doors looking for Kane. It's probably unintentional, but sort of reminds me of the way people talk about the old internet having all these fun little corners to explore instead of being so centralized, but also being a little bit creepy sometimes. Again, this show isn't really horror, but I think it does a decent job at creating general dread. I especially like how the end of the episode establishes that Kane doesn't actually understand why the humans want an exit, and he can't even make a real one. It's both an interesting character choice and really hammers in how trapped they are. Even the ringmaster couldn't let them leave if he wanted to. I think there's some good characterization set up here also, especially for Ragatha and Jax. Ragatha copes with her situation by being positive and jumps at the chance to take on the role of the newbie supporter when Pomni arrives. But her attempts to sugarcoat their circumstances fail, and Pomni's more interested in getting out than being friends with her, resulting in some implied tension between them at the end of the episode. Jax, on the other hand, is not at all gentle and mocks Pomni's denial, his chosen coping mechanism being to bully the other characters at every turn. He appears to use this cynical attitude to avoid having to deal with what happened to Cosmo rather than just inherently not caring. I'm actually rather indifferent towards his character, and I'll get into that, but I think he balances out Ragatha's slightly fake optimism well, and the two of them being deuteragonists of the introductory episode is a good choice as they represent two very different reactions to their situation. And then we have the main character, Pomni, who seems to have made quite the impression on the internet with her all-out flop energy. I do find her fairly entertaining, and I think her signature wide-eyed staring into space and clamping up when she's overwhelmed is pretty real of her, but between that and panicking, she doesn't get to show a lot of varied emotions in this episode, and it can make her feel a bit one-note. It's an understandable reaction, and again, I really like the musical sequence of her shutting down as everything dawns on her, but I think she girlfails just a bit too close to the sun. This definitely improves in the next episode, though, and her decision to leave Ragatha behind is a good setup for her later arc. As for the other characters, I should probably address the entire B-plot with them that I didn't mention. Basically, this character Zooble gets their head stolen by these little creatures called Gwoinks, so Kinger and Gangle are made to retrieve it. Jax joins them, and they all meet the Gwoink Queen who monologues before being crushed by the abstracted Kothmo. The necessity of this subplot is debated. I don't find the Gwoink Queen super funny, I'll get to the overall humor in a minute, and if you find her actively unfunny, you're not likely to enjoy it. But these scenes only take up about four minutes of the 25-minute episode, and in my opinion, they help introduce us to the characters of Zooble and especially Kinger and Gangle, as well as the concept of adventure, since they're a core aspect of the show's premise. I especially like the characterization we get for Kinger, which gives some additional insight on the idea of going insane, which is otherwise somewhat unexplored, even though Kothmo losing his mind in abstracting is such an important plot point. According to the creator's Tumblr, all abstractions look the same, since the idea behind it is that you lose all individuality, which is really interesting, but that's not established in the episode at all, and I feel like it should have been. Kinger is described as the character closest to losing his mind. He's easily startled, hides in a pillow fort, and sometimes says nonsensical things. But he's also one of the kindest characters along with Ragatha, being concerned for his friends and enjoying politely explaining things. He also seems somewhat unaware, or at least doesn't get offended when he's called crazy, which is kind of sad. And I find him and the subplot gang's interactions pretty funny. Speaking of funny, Digital Circus is a comedy show. Is it good at that? Uh, sometimes. It's a bit hit or miss, especially in this episode, and when it misses, it misses. I find I prefer some of the more quiet humor if- I find I prefer some of the more quiet humor, if that makes sense. The visual gags are also pretty good. But then there's what I call the super in-your-face loud humor, which doesn't always work for me. I mostly attribute the loud humor to Kane, and sometimes Ragatha and Jax. Kane's whole thing is that he's like a showman, so he talks in this big voice and exaggerates everything, and it can be overwhelming and feel a little too mean-y. I guess him being too much is kind of the point, though. The whole setting is supposed to be bright and loud. That's another reason these characters want to leave. I find him funniest when he breaks character, but I suppose that only works when his default voice is big and showy. Ragatha and Jax are lesser perpetrators of this. I just find they can be a bit too unsubtle at times. For example, this is a clip I have pretty mixed feelings about. This line is necessary as a precursor to introducing abstraction, but I find how bad Ragatha is at being positive a bit unbelievable. I think this could be a lot more dread-inducing and good for Ragatha's characterization if it was more subtle, and I'm also just not a huge fan of using this kind of humor, if that makes sense. The tone reminds me of how people on the internet joke about their trauma and mental illness, which can be funny depending on the execution, but when it's used in a story, it feels like it's trying to emphasize its unhinged and chaotic premise, but the comedy is covering for the fact that these key concepts aren't being seriously explored. Does anything I'm saying make sense? I should move on. At the end of the day, I did enjoy episode one, and I feel kind of embarrassed for that because I think there's genuine heart behind the digital circus, but it's one of those things you look at and you go, of course this would be popular. I mean, look at these character designs! I feel like I shouldn't like them and I should condemn them for the obvious Tumblr bait they are, but I do like them. I think they're pretty unique. And they're not that Tumblr sexyman coded. Kane gets a pass for the suit and top hat because he's the ringmaster and his dentures are decidedly unsexy. Kinger is middle-aged, so technically he can't be a twink. The other characters aren't men. Jax! Uh... There are also theory-baiting allegations, but the second episode makes it clear that the lore focus in this one is mostly just a product of it being the introductory ep, so why don't we get into that one? Episode 2 starts with a toy story-like nightmare sequence revealing Pomney's fear of abstracting and being forgotten. Ragatha wakes her up and tells her that she completely understands being abandoned for the exit and she isn't even the slightest bit bothered by it, and Pomney continues to be awkwardly unreceptive to her attempts to connect. Kane introduces the first real adventure of the show, where they'll visit the Candy Canyon Kingdom and retrieve syrup from the gummy crocodile bandits who stole it. The gang are given a truck to race them with, and cartoon slapstick shenanigans ensue, with Jax making sure everyone has a bad time. This results in Pomney and the bandit leader Gumigoo no clipping under the map. Gumigoo finds the character models for him and his friends, and we discover that Kane's shiny new AI he advertised earlier in the episode has the immersive ability to have existential crises. Pomney tries to comfort him, and he questions why she cares when she's real and he's not, and she explains that even real people feel like they're nothing sometimes, and she doesn't want anyone to feel like that. So if the circus has to be her home, maybe he can come back with her and be real there. She figures out a way to glitch them back onto the map, revealing she's somewhat tech-savvy and leading into yet another banger musical sequence. Meanwhile, Jax strikes a deal with a man-eating goop monster to let them ride back to the kingdom, and Ragatha has a chat with Kinger where he tells her not to take it personally that Pomney's having a hard time adjusting to her new life. When Pomney reunites with the others, she explains to Ragatha that she's bringing Gumigoo back to the circus because it felt wrong to leave him behind. Jax, on the other hand, is very unhappy with the lack of bloodshed in the day's adventure, but before they all leave, it turns out that he left the gate open for the goop monster and it's ready to decimate the kingdom. When Kane finds out they've brought home an NPC, he snaps Gumigoo out of existence because he might lose track of who's an NPC and who's a human? Pomney's obviously upset by this, but she's invited to Kothmo's funeral and is eventually comforted by the realization that the circus members care for each other and wouldn't forget about her. We flash back to her nightmare from the start, but this time, her new friends save her. Oh boy, this episode was a lot more character-focused and less lore-heavy than the pilot, and apparently it's more representative of what the series as a whole will be like. I didn't like it quite as much on my first watch, but at this point, I think I prefer it to the pilot. You could probably guess my feelings based on the more detailed summary I gave, but I really liked the character stuff in this episode. Pomney doesn't really connect with the other members of the circus because they've all accepted their circumstances by now and that makes them unrelatable to her. But when Gumigoo's reality is crushed even more than hers ever was, we see her empathetic side as she affirms that what he's feeling is common instead of being like, well, this is your life now, buddy. My one complaint about her arc is that I think she gets over Gumigoo a little too quickly, like the funeral sequence goes by too fast. I would have preferred if it started by- I would have preferred if it started by actually showing us part of Ragatha's eulogy or something and letting us sit with Pomney's initial feelings as she attends the funeral for a minute, and then going into the montage and ending with Pomney smiling. Now, I've seen some people argue that Gumigoo's death was bad writing or wasting his potential, but I think he had served his purpose well. He assisted in Pomney's arc, he introduced the concept of NPCs, and his death was part of that. But maybe the reason I'm so fine with it is that, I must confess, I did not care for Gumigoo. I mean, not as a person. I like what he does for the story, I like the existentialism stuff they explore with him, I'm just not particularly endeared to him. I guess his bandit personality just feels very fictional compared to the main characters, which makes sense, because he's literally been constructed to be an obstacle for them and nothing else. Speaking of personality, Jax has a really annoying one, huh? He's already shown to be something of a trickster in episode 1, but I guess a lot of people found his assholery to be more excessive this time. To the point that the creator explicitly stated that she did not rewrite him based off of people's reactions to the pilot and that only the strong Jax fans will survive. And while I have seen a few people remark that they didn't like how far he went in episode 2, I think there's been a bit of an over-correction to this supposed reaction, like how people realized the early Undertale fandom over-emphasized Gaster's importance and now have decided he's completely irrelevant to Deltarune somehow. Like, oh, you guys thought Jax was gonna be a sympathetic sad boy, but he's actually irredeemable, but neither of those things are fully true. Jax is genuinely awful, but that's not the same as being flatly evil or an asshole by nature. Looking through Gooseworks' blog, it's pretty clear that he has issues and struggles just like every other member of the cast, with her even saying that he's her favorite, that she designed him to appeal to her, and that she projects her issues onto him. And already in the show itself, we see hints of humanity in his upset look at the mention of Cosmo's funeral, which he doesn't attend, because he's a closed-off asshole. This is such a silly thing to admit, but the fact that Jax is indefensibly a Tumblr sexyman in every aspect kind of hinders my enjoyment of him. It's like his character is so obviously designed to be appealing, so I can't like him or I've fallen for their trap. It takes me out of the story and reminds me how constructed he is, I guess. He's decently funny, though, and I think it's meaningful that he chooses to treat the adventures like they're not real, because, well, they aren't. That's kind of the point of the episode. At the same time, he's no less shitty to his real, non-AI peers. A lot of my criticisms of the pilot are less applicable in this episode. The visual humor continues to be great, and the jokes in general hit more consistently, maybe because Cain isn't as present, and the B-plot with the chocolate monster is more relevant and allows for some needed character moments. I haven't talked about the animation yet, though. Obviously, it's objectively very high quality. The characters are wonderfully expressive, especially Pomni, whose GIF ability rivals that of Anya from Spy Family, but I honestly wouldn't mind if the style was, like, less polished. I've seen several people say that they were disappointed when the more retro-looking pixely logo at the beginning of episode 1 shifted to look smoother, and I kind of agree. There are a lot of interesting things I think this show could explore or do stylistically that would give it an even more distinct vibe and make me like it a lot more, but ultimately, that would be judging it for what it isn't and not what it is. Also, I'm trying really hard to keep this script under eight pages. So, the amazing digital circus. Is it overrated or not? Well, I don't actually care for that word because it feels unfair to criticize a show for outside factors like its popularity, but I have to admit, I think this show gets a lot of its success from the misinterpretation of it as a lore-focused mascot horror. However, it isn't those things, and I think it's better for it. Psst, put this next bit where it belongs. If you watched the pilot and were kind of meh on it, I'd still suggest you give the show another shot and see how you like this one since it's so different. Okay, now put this bit at the end. I expect as more episodes come out, some people will be disappointed with it not going in the direction they thought it would, but I also think plenty of people will find themselves enjoying it anyway. So, despite my criticisms and me utterly spoiling it, I'd still recommend you give this show a try if you haven't already.