The Amazing Digital Circus - Western Isekai that probably will become Hazbin Hotel killer

[FILTH Tourist]

The whole series felt like it needed another session in other to breathe. We should've had Season 1 as a way to introduce everyone, then Season 2 can explain all of the lore shit

9 episodes is plenty of time to flesh out 5 characters in a "horror" story. An extra season isn't going to fix the fundamental issue that Goose doesn't know how to utilize his characters or time very effectively.

 

[Beautiful Border]

I just keep thinking about how this entire series ended up becoming a stretched out more sloggy version of this youtube funny moments edutainment parody thing with a shittier twist somehow.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=G9FGgwCQ22wI mean there wasn't really even much of a twist in this but you get me.

It's now been ELEVEN FUCKING YEARS, OVER A DECADE WHAT THE FUCK IS TIME

yes I know I already compared this thing to DHMIS and pointed out the inspirations... But what I didn't point out is them sharing a similar obnoxious fanbase. wow!

The difference is that DHMIS has an actual point. To me that was straightforwardly a show criticizing how children's media talks down to children. "Green is not a creative colour". The way the clock character reacts when the duck (I'm not enough of a fan of it to remember the names, sorry) starts questioning if time is just a construct of human perception. There were other examples too that don't immediately spring to mind. There was a critique of how we choose to educate children within that. Whether you agree is a different thing entirely.

And this is where modern zoomer "lore" discourse completely misses the point of the media they're consuming. People wasted inordinate amounts of time trying to figure out 'what DHMIS is about' and kept coming up with nonsensical, contradictory theories. Because they were reading it literally instead of stepping back and asking "What is this trying to tell me?".

You also saw this with Five Nights At Freddy's. The first game, taken in isolation, is a spooky horror game that makes fun of shitty minimum wage jobs. Then MatPat and his ilk got their hands on it, ignored the 'point' of the game entirely, and tried to piece together a plot that wasn't there. Scott Cawthon, very keen on the idea of making money, then released dozens of sequels to pander exactly to this market, each adding more 'hints' to the non-existent grand narrative in a very "Send the Fool Further" sort of way.

TADC is the ultimate example of this "pointlessing of media". It's a story that started and ended without having a point. Modern audiences, especially in online fandom culture, has become obsessed with uncovering hidden lore and solving mysteries, and in doing so they ignore the thematic meaning of a work. And this has culminated in the subject of this thread, a show spawned from that very fandom culture, and that in turn lacks any thematic meaning.

 

[Tom Arnold Schwarzenigger]

I dunno, aside from the dogshit ending and it being made by a troon I feel like it’s weird that collectively you guys hate Jax when he’s basically Master Shake-levels of being a dickhead.

Master Shake is superior in every way

 

[The Lawgiver]

Cane was just teleported into the void at the end of EP8, what a fucking waste of a moment.

This is one of the blatant tells of this last episode being rushed and not the initial plan. Caine was fucking gone. he didnt' teleport, we've SEEN what it looks like when people teleport. that nega was GONE. The circus collapsing shouldn't have happened if he was just teleported to the void because he's literally been there countless times.

when the duck (I'm not enough of a fan of it to remember the names, sorry)

It's fine, they don't really care too much about em. They even made a joke about that in the higher budget series.

 

[Nonokay]

to make it seem more sophisticated than it actually is

There’s nothing sophisticated about Ellison’s story. When you consider that dime-a-dozen sci-fi tripe is Cooper’s sole “literary” inspiration the vacuity of the shows themes makes sense. The real driver behind the story, the basis for the show, is its rendition of therapeutic intervention. The premise of “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream” has some dramatic bite, but The Amazing Digital Circus translates it into cutesy absurdist therapy scenarios.

Watched this show thanks to PPP and Josh Suffahing through it. There is no plot

Ashton and Josh rightfully harp on how most of the episodes—even the whole show if the leaks mean anything, have no resolution in an ordinary sense. This is not an accident. While normally an episode is supposed to introduce a premise, a problem, and a resolution. TADC introduces premises in order to set-up moments in which the problem, which is always the same sort of psychic problem, can be solved by someone in the cast “talking about their problems”. In the story, the “resolution” is becoming a subject for interpretation. The plot is nothing but frame for this disclosure and so each episode is not centered around “what must be done?” or “what happened?” but “what unspoken pain or insecurity must be voiced?” The characters could have never escaped because that would (rightfully) subordinate these therapeutic centerpieces to action, escape, and judgement. It’s sort of twisted how these fake characters are trapped in a digital hell, and instead of escape or self-annihilation (as would be the case with I have no mouth) the “right” path is emotional management. It’s literally the blue pill. The world is violent, distressing and absurd, but the only thing you should do is submit yourself to be managed and interpreted. You are not freed from the machine but you’re enthusiastically invited to describe how it feels to be imprisoned inside it.

This show is what happens when therapy has become the default substitute for religion, morality, and plot for an entire generation. It works because the creator and the audience have been primed to accept “healing”, “processing”, “validation”, “having trauma”, “setting boundaries” as dramatic endpoints. Cooper is fundamentally a subject of expert interpretation, from the culture industry, the medical industry, the therapy industry—and much of his target audience are just like him. In a world where young western people have been systematically severed any thick inheritance of culture, religion, people, familial identity, they’ve become subjects of a therapeutic replacement which cannot save but it can teach them to cope. There is an entire generation of people who inhabit the digital circus in real life, and instead of reckoning with the cruelty and absurdity, overthrowing the false god, recovering reality, they find valor in merely remaining functional and available for the next stupid “adventure”.

 

[Bruno Powroznik]

https://x.com/chrischris58493/status/2063414484178268527

https://archive.ph/wip/aYNVe

 

[DickMain]

It even got its own pop-up cafe, only big franchises in Japan like Chainsaw Man or JJK get that treatment!

I can't believe fellow [SMALL INDIE SHOWS] like JJK and Chainsaw Man got pop up cafes!

 

[Tom Arnold Schwarzenigger]

There’s nothing sophisticated about Ellison’s story. When you consider that dime-a-dozen sci-fi tripe is Cooper’s sole “literary” inspiration the vacuity of the shows themes makes sense.

Now saying this takes some serious balls. As for the rest of the comment, B A S E D

 

[Hayduraide]

The plot is nothing but frame for this disclosure and so each episode is not centered around “what must be done?” or “what happened?” but “what unspoken pain or insecurity must be voiced?” The characters could have never escaped because that would (rightfully) subordinate these therapeutic centerpieces to action, escape, and judgement. It’s sort of twisted how these fake characters are trapped in a digital hell, and instead of escape or self-annihilation (as would be the case with I have no mouth) the “right” path is emotional management. It’s literally the blue pill. The world is violent, distressing and absurd, but the only thing you should do is submit yourself to be managed and interpreted. You are not freed from the machine but you’re enthusiastically invited to describe how it feels to be imprisoned inside it.

This show is what happens when therapy has become the default substitute for religion, morality, and plot for an entire generation. It works because the creator and the audience have been primed to accept “healing”, “processing”, “validation”, “having trauma”, “setting boundaries” as dramatic endpoints. Cooper is fundamentally a subject of expert interpretation, from the culture industry, the medical industry, the therapy industry—and much of his target audience are just like him. In a world where young western people have been systematically severed any thick inheritance of culture, religion, people, familial identity, they’ve become subjects of a therapeutic replacement which cannot save but it can teach them to cope. There is an entire generation of people who inhabit the digital circus in real life, and instead of reckoning with the cruelty and absurdity, overthrowing the false god, recovering reality, they find valor in merely remaining functional and available for the next stupid “adventure”.

Wow. This is brilliant.



Cooper is too preoccupied with naval gazing his fetishes, self pity, and matricide fantasies to come up with a theme so poignant, raw, and relevant to today's world. You've painted a horrifying yet accurate picture of contemporary society filled with its shallow desires, learned helplessness, laziness, cowardice, and entitlement to emotional masterbation.

I'm satisfied after reading this as if I read the best fix-it fic. Time for me to pack up and never think about tadc ever again lol. A creative and insightful theme like this is so welcome in the west's creatively dry and vapid entertainment industry, who are obsessed with shallow and ever consuming desires for more distractions and masturbatory pleasures. What you said is what I'm going to take away from TADC, not the message of the actual ending lol.

 

[BigJoey41X]

Madness Combat:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=H1aubPfepmg>Literally just cool ass choreographed fight scenes and gore, John Wick-MAXXING that really puts test inside every edgy teen from the 2000s.
>there's lore but you could easily ignore it for the cool fights presented
The unique thing about MC is given how its animated, it has given fans an easy way into making fan animations that at times far exceeds Krinkle's own episodes.

MADNESS COMBAT MENTIONED

it's just well-choreographed action porn with gore and shit, you can watch all of the story-relevant content in like an hour and a half for those who are curious and doesn't like time sinks, the lore is completely incomprehensible garbage not worth most people's time but thankfully you can just not go down that weird rabbit hole, the coolest part about it that this series has been running since 2002 (latest release is in 2024), meaning in that hour and a half, you can see Krinkels' art and animation skills considerably improve over that 22 year timespan, going from stiff clipart shit that is about the quality of most 2000s NG animations to one of the most impressive pieces of animation you'll ever see mostly made one guy, I may not like the lore very much, but one of things you'll also notice is the tone going from typical NG-style nonsensical fun to paranormal hellish landscape, the art design and good action hard carries the genre shift.

The music bops too, if you're into dubstep like I am, most of the soundtrack was made by one guy, Cheshyre, listen for yourself.

Bonus: Ongezellig
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-tt2ZmH-3ucProbably the only "modern" indie animation that I actually like. I've already wrote my initial thoughts in the 'zellig thread here and it's pretty much stayed the same (silly girl cartoon about an anti-social teen with two adoptive sisters trying to be less of a reclusive failure). It's just unfortunate that besides being a DNB, it's now being infested by mexibrap shooters gooning to Mymy (the orange haired girl, xhe's a Dutch nationalist) before committing warcrimes. Now newGODS will think this show is for hecking white nationalist neo-nazis and anyone who watches it is a school shooting CHUD, sad!

Reminder to all the soycacas in here that 'zellig is NOT a gem.

 

[DerichLovesSSI]

Master Shake is superior in every way

That goes without saying but it’s the same archetype

 

[invisibult plus+]

TADC is the ultimate example of this "pointlessing of media". It's a story that started and ended without having a point. Modern audiences, especially in online fandom culture, has become obsessed with uncovering hidden lore and solving mysteries, and in doing so they ignore the thematic meaning of a work. And this has culminated in the subject of this thread, a show spawned from that very fandom culture, and that in turn lacks any thematic meaning.

The irony is people would talk about how TADC does have themes. Except, it goes out of its way to sabotage them for various, self-indulgent bullshit reasons, so they don't mattress. Not even "nothing mattress" or "you can find meaning in a stagnant life" apply because going for either defeats the argument. At the risk of repeating myself: nothing matters? Nothing worth doing. You can find meaning in a stagnant life? There's a reason no one wants a stagnant life, because it's inherently devoid of purpose and fulfillment. Playing with toys and jerking off is not meaningful. Like stop writing one-handed, get off the computer, and lay your hands on some plants (without cooming).

 

[Beautiful Border]

Do you think the Japs are aware?
「The Amazing Digital Circus ザ・ラストアクト」 ポムニとジャックスで観に行ってきたよ！Vlog😆🍿🎥 (※)許可を得てコスプレ撮影しています。 #tadc#t.mp4
Digital Circus is pretty popular in Japan.
Ver archivo adjunto 9108970
Ver archivo adjunto 9108978
It even got its own pop-up cafe, only big franchises in Japan like Chainsaw Man or JJK get that treatment!

One of the main reasons I tuned out of this show was because I found the aggressive merchandising/marketing/etc. by Glitch increasingly off-putting. Keep in mind, they're doing stuff like this while constantly pushing the whole "Hey, we're a small indie animation studio taking on the big guys at Disney/DreamWorks/etc.!" angle.

Everything I have seen from Glitch has made me think that they're rank opportunists. They want to become as big as Pixar. They're currently in the "Evil corporation before they've had the power to become evil" stage. Like, you can tell exactly what they want to be, they just haven't actually got there yet. Releasing this in theaters was clearly a move to signal "We want you to get used to the idea of us being a big deal in the animation industry".

Now, I don't begrudge them that. But when they're always talking about how they're the underdogs, all while hawking merch at every available opportunity, opening pop-up stores in Tokyo, and getting episodes (not even proper movies) of their shows in cinemas, I'm surprised more people haven't soured on them already. They released a plushie of Gummigoo (a minor supporting character, by the way) the same day the episode with his first appearance was released.

 

[Mystery Spy]

The more I think on it the more it annoys me at how little agency the characters have in the show and the episode where Able helps them escape best highlights this perfectly. There is zero reason for that character to exist as the cast is more than equipped to come up with that plan on their own:

Pomni being the urban explorer could stumble across the hidden admin area and the door to Caine's office

Kinger should be the one loredumping, getting them admin keys, and finds the two buttons odd.

Zooble should be the one with the best understanding of Caine's personality, she seems to have spent a lot of time with Caine as seen in the therapy scenes episode 2 and could be good at reading people which leans into her background as a bartender. She should be the one to suggest the Chinese room to talk about the plan because she suspects Caine will not break his gimmicks and knows about his blue screens which will be handy for getting the key.

Ragatha and Jax pair up to get the key from Caine, Ragatha being the people pleaser should be the one doing most of the talking and pretending to be interested to get him distracted while Jax physically gets the key from him.

Finally Gangle can... I guess draw diagrams and maybe use her ribbon body as a rope to climb up to hot air balloon.

The twist that the escape plan was an adventure Caine orchestrated would be much more impactful and surprising if the plan was solely created BY the characters which allows them to make uses of the whole cast to showcase their strengths and also twists the knife that Caine is miles ahead of whatever plan they can come up with. Having a literal NPC come out of nowhere to force them to participate in the escape plan while wiping their ass the whole way through isn't clever and doesn't make the twist fulfilling at all. The shady new guy handing them an escape on a golden plater was too good to be true, shocker.

You are completely right. This would have been much better an given the characters more agency

I think the only one that you would need to tweak is kinger. The lack of darkness is the only reason supposedly he didn't outright told them they are scans and that the whole thing was impossible in the first place. In that episode it's even implied he was gonna tell them just that. His reaction to the idea of escaping the circus was just saying "that's impossible".

But to be fair it is a plothole he never told them until the finale. They have caught him in the dark several times, yet he never saw fit to explain the situation.

But don't get me wrong, you do make a great point. Showing instead of telling, though therapy, who this characters are and make them have agency would have been far better.

 

[NSJAP]

>Want to explore new TADC art on the x dot com, everything app.
>Its all flooded with troon Jax.

Thanks for nothing, Cooper.

 

[Tom Arnold Schwarzenigger]

That goes without saying but it’s the same archetype

....Aye, fair enough

mattress

How does one make such a typo. I'm not even being facetious, like how does it happen. Otherwise, you're spot on

 

[Learning Wall]

Everything I have seen from Glitch has made me think that they're rank opportunists. They want to become as big as Pixar. They're currently in the "Evil corporation before they've had the power to become evil" stage. Like, you can tell exactly what they want to be, they just haven't actually got there yet. Releasing this in theaters was clearly a move to signal "We want you to get used to the idea of us being a big deal in the animation industry".

That reminds me of what Viclis/No Context SMG4 said in his WOTFI 2022 review, that's it's ironic how Glitch prides itself in being an indie studio and not like corporations, yet they act corporate at times, like with the SMG4 redesign. And he said that in 2022, a whole year before TADC existed and before Glitch earned his reputation as "King of Indie Animation". Viclis was ahead of the curve.

 

[Tom Arnold Schwarzenigger]

That reminds me of what Viclis/No Context SMG4 said in his WOTFI 2022 review, that's it's ironic how Glitch prides itself in being an indie studio and not like corporations, yet they act corporate at times, like with the SMG4 redesign. And he said that in 2022, a whole year before TADC existed and before Glitch earned his reputation as "King of Indie Animation". Viclis was ahead of the curve.

What's he think about them now?

 

[invisibult plus+]

How does one make such a typo. I'm not even being facetious, like how does it happen. Otherwise, you're spot on

Its called - safe. Oh, look, at the end of the day - none of that literally mattress, since mattress was a lie. It's kinda like a shitty practice ground for spergtardoons to attempt at coming to their own terms before facing the hard R's involved. Very cute and well written for what Circus set out to be, but otherwise a very weak overall plot and execution compared to something that came out only couple years prior and got arguably better funding when it comes to start ups.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

At least it’s better animated than Invincible…