tilyoungteens

The transcription discusses the relationship between popularity and quality in media. It questions whether something being popular means it is tasteful or well-done. It uses examples such as Taylor Swift's music and popular tropes in books to illustrate this point. The discussion then shifts to the anime series "Free Rin Beyond Journey's End" and how its popularity challenges the idea that the average person has bad taste. The transcription also mentions the genre of mascot horror and how it has become oversaturated. It then introduces the show "The Amazing Digital Circus" and addresses misconceptions about its genre, stating that it is not actually horror but has mature themes. The transcription also discusses the show's appeal to younger audiences and the debate surrounding its target demographic. 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. 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.