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

[Amber the Hedgehog]

It was pretty good. If it wasnt for the adult comedy and all the references, which will probably fly over a kid's head anyway, I'd say the show is more of a kid's show than anything actually made for kids in recent memory. While I expected the ending, it was still strangely depressing that the alligator NPC didn't make it.

I know for a fact that kids watch this and like it alot. I work at after school hobby clubs and I have seen what characters kids make fanart of. It's at moment this and Poppy's playtime.

 

[electrician's apprentice]

I know for a fact that kids watch this and like it alot. I work at after school hobby clubs and I have seen what characters kids make fanart of. It's at moment this and Poppy's playtime.

when I was 9 I made a drawing of Aqua teen hunger force and the teacher put it up on the wall because she didn't know what it was
I wonder what people thought when they saw it

 

[Alter Ego]

Figured as much that there was going to be a punchline out of obliterating the NPC at the end, but I appreciate the implication out of it that the show will be focused on the main cast we're presented with, not to get bogged down in further character besides. I was a bit worried when the merch trailer not too long ago mentioned more characters to meet, but I feel more at ease about it now, these characters likely being one-offs as appropriate to the premise. While the croc might show up again with that mention of Caine sometimes reusing NPCs, it obviously won't be the same person, and such a return will probably be mainly to distress Pomni.

This matter is on my mind because I've concluded before that Helluva/Hazbin has a big problem with there being too many persistent characters with Viv seemingly compelled to introduce more with every episode. I believe a lot of these additional characters to ultimately be pointless (e.g., Vox, Velvette, Cherri Bomb) or given a bizarre amount of attention (e.g., Fizz), crowding out the supposed main cast either way.

I know for a fact that kids watch this and like it alot. I work at after school hobby clubs and I have seen what characters kids make fanart of. It's at moment this and Poppy's playtime.

Probably helps a lot that Digital Circus characters seem like they're very easy to draw compared to other popular animations and games.

 

[AI generated waifu]

I liked the new episode. This adventure of the day premise works because it'll continue to give us more character moments between the main cast, with varying one offs like Gummigoo keeping things new and interesting. A big step up from the always confused hazbin hotel.

Jax is kind of an asshole in this episode, he wasn't that bad in the pilot because the asshattery was balanced because he wanted to protect Kinger and Gangler. But here he's unlikeable all the way through for no good reason,

Bully characters like him work better when their teasing is actually funny and clever, which is not the case with him. He's just kinda an asshole.

I'm sort of expecting a big episode in the future where one of the main cast is going to abstract, and my money's on Gangle right now. It'd be interesting to see her become dangerous and take out all that rage on Jax, possibly severely hurting him and leading to some character development , maybe.

 

[Trollblade69]

I wish KF had this much energy to spare on bashing RWBY instead. Guess people only care if there aren't anime women.

 

[Vecr]

Figured as much that there was going to be a punchline out of obliterating the NPC at the end

Oh right, I remember that personally I thought he either was just going to walk through the portal and come out the other side in the same world (so essentially not interact with it), or hit it like a Portal style annihilation barrier. Nah, portal worked, circus guy is just evil.

---

I never actually get to the point about why I don't like stories set in game worlds/simulations. The main problem is the expectations of both the audience and characters in the story, at this point there's just too many tropes attached. Even if you ignore the tropes and go by a straight analysis, these kinds of worlds are prone to TESCREAL shit, gamer shit, or TESCREAL gamer shit. I'm not a fan of either of those things, so you can probably understand my issue.

Spoiler: TESCREAL

T,E,S,C,R,EA,L makes the abbreviation easier to read. EA is one element. Transhumanist, Extropian, Singularitarian, Cosmist (like Russian Cosmism), Rationalist (maybe only of a certain style, I'm not sure), Effective Altruist, Longtermist.

 

[The Fair Lady]

I'm sort of expecting a big episode in the future where one of the main cast is going to abstract, and my money's on Gangle right now. It'd be interesting to see her become dangerous and take out all that rage on Jax, possibly severely hurting him and leading to some character development , maybe.

I think Goose already accidentally let it slip that Ragatha is the one who abstracts.

 

[Tablet County]

I wish KF had this much energy to spare on bashing RWBY instead. Guess people only care if there aren't anime women.

RWBY has its own thread. It's also dead now so who cares?

Oh right, I remember that personally I thought he either was just going to walk through the portal and come out the other side in the same world (so essentially not interact with it), or hit it like a Portal style annihilation barrier. Nah, portal worked, circus guy is just evil.

I don't think it's a "Teeth Man is evil" thing. I think Caine is meant to be well-meaning, and seems to know things subconsciously that are clearly suppressed. The whole "confusing who is and who isn't NPC" thing being an example.
Fun fact, his voice actor became semi famous for doing voices for the character Spamton from Deltarune, who has a similarly cheery attitude that betrays a darker side. Spamton compulsively (as in against his will) self-censors himself when talking about the more abstract, "deep lore" parts of the setting. Makes me wonder if something similar is going on with Caine. Like he screwed up terribly in the past and basically lobotomized himself to keep it from happening again, or something.

I never actually get to the point about why I don't like stories set in game worlds/simulations. The main problem is the expectations of both the audience and characters in the story, at this point there's just too many tropes attached. Even if you ignore the tropes and go by a straight analysis, these kinds of worlds are prone to TESCREAL shit, gamer shit, or TESCREAL gamer shit. I'm not a fan of either of those things, so you can probably understand my issue.

Spoiler: TESCREAL

T,E,S,C,R,EA,L makes the abbreviation easier to read. EA is one element. Transhumanist, Extropian, Singularitarian, Cosmist (like Russian Cosmism), Rationalist (maybe only of a certain style, I'm not sure), Effective Altruist, Longtermist.

I don't mean to nag or mock but I think it's odd how granular and autistic you seem to be getting while discussing this internet show for children.

Edit: Apologies for the complete schizophrenic content of this post, it was written on zero hours of sleep, but I think I conveyed what I meant to.

 

[Sparky Lurker]

Legitimate criticism effort post:
Animation is basically Popee the Performer meets Don't Hug Me I'm Scared for Alpha Gen, which makes it hilarious when you compare the episode runtime of the 3 series.
Episode 2 and the show confirms the main cast is overcrowded and exists with the sole purpose to sell plushies:
Zooble is sidelined again, barely developed character, almost certain is the creator self-insert.
Gangle is the dumbest character, its main gimmick fails to carry it, Kedamono mogs her.
Jax and Ragatha works since they are polar opposites, most people believe that Ragatha will go first, which will work as a shock value since she is the most level headed of the quintet.
Kinger is the best character of the group, the "wise cuckoo" trope can work if it is used right.
Bubble is a non-character, I mean he is an AI, but his complete lack of relevance is way too obvious, he could work if he served as some kind of "eye" for Caine, or if Caine was some kind of ventriloquist character, but as of now his purpose is only to sell plushies.
The show strongest point is probably the more fast-paced scenes, the simplistic character designs works in favor of it.
The show weakest point is the 25 min runtime, the main scene in this episode, where the NPC has an existential crisis, lasted for over 5 minutes, funny when you compare another show that made a better impression with a 10-second scene.

Maybe it was to drive the point that Pomni befriending the NPC was completely pointless, but it was still too long and the dialogue was bad.(And before you ask, while nu-DHMIS had longer runtime episodes, it was a forgettable slop besides the better production values, also invalidated the main point of the OG series.)
The ending scene in episode 2 felt off compared to the pilot, it passes the impression that Pomni believes the group will be there to help her, except the complete opposite happened on the episode where she spent more time with a dude that just exploded.

 

[Beautiful Border]

I think Goose already accidentally let it slip that Ragatha is the one who abstracts.

If that's the case then that's an... odd creative decision. Gangle's main character trait is that she's the perpetual butt-monkey of Jax and clearly depressed. Ragatha also struggles with being trapped in the circus but she has a layer of stoicism that Gangle doesn't, and we've also had much more screen time with Ragatha (which suggests she's not as "disposable" as a character - have Pomni and Gangle even interacted?).

If there's one thing this show hasn't done so far it's been to take unexpected turns with the narrative. Pomni tells the Gummy guy that he can come and join them, but anyone with half a brain sees that and thinks "he's going to be erased before the end of the episode" and then that's exactly what happens. Maybe we will see more in future episodes that shows Ragatha isn't handling things as well as it seems, but right now having her abstract feels like it would be a narrative asspull (of the kind that currently plagues Glitch's other show Murder Drones).

On the subject of Gangle: Has it ever been explained how exactly the dynamic with her mask works? If her happy mask gets broken, does that mean she can't be happy? If not, then does it matter which mask she wears in any way? Maybe I'm just being a sperg about this but it seems unclear to me.

 

[Trollblade69]

Ragatha also struggles with being trapped in the circus but she has a layer of stoicism that Gangle doesn't, and we've also had much more screen time with Ragatha (which suggests she's not as "disposable" as a character - have Pomni and Gangle even interacted?).

Pretty odd to think that makes her less expendable rather than more. My experience with stuff like this is that motherly optimists like Ragatha end up cracking pretty violently. Mami in episode 10 of Madoka Magica and Mikan Tsumiki in Danganronpa 2 stand out as examples in my mind.

 

[Vecr]

Pretty odd to think that makes her less expendable rather than more. My experience with stuff like this is that motherly optimists like Ragatha end up cracking pretty violently. Mami in episode 10 of Madoka Magica and Mikan Tsumiki in Danganronpa 2 stand out as examples in my mind.

I don't think Ragatha is an optimist, and in general thinking around optimism has changed, though a lot of people still have problems decoupling their general optimism/pessimism from their demeanor. Also, I'm not sure an anime I've never heard about and game most known for not being played by that guy who makes huge paper cutouts of the characters is the be all end all to predictive psychology. It would be unfortunate to have none of the characters acting reasonably going forward instead of one of them, but maybe there's a plan there.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

You do have to remember that how everyone acts in this show is most likely the method in which they’ve learned to cope so as not to abstract. Twitter is made at Ajax for being an asshole, but it’s clearly his way of coping with the horror he’s stuck in.

I’m assuming Pomni already had some sort of issue before she got stuck there, which is the only reason she hasn’t abstracted despite having at least one major breakdown per episode.

 

[Vecr]

I’m assuming Pomni already had some sort of issue before she got stuck there, which is the only reason she hasn’t abstracted despite having at least one major breakdown per episode.

I'm probably commenting too much in this thread, but how likely is it that Pomni is not literally just from "the real world" from the first episode? Yeah, maybe there's an explanation for her not giving details like the one you allude to, but otherwise a cardboard cutout of the 2000s might be it.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I'm probably commenting too much in this thread, but how likely is it that Pomni is not literally just from "the real world" from the first episode? Yeah, maybe there's an explanation for her not giving details like the one you allude to, but otherwise a cardboard cutout of the 2000s might be it.

It’s definitely a theory. My own personal one is that everyone isn’t actually real but just a “copy” of someone who put on the VR goggles. Like the goggles did a brain scan and made the person exist as a character in that digital world.

 

[Enig]

I’m assuming Pomni already had some sort of issue before she got stuck there, which is the only reason she hasn’t abstracted despite having at least one major breakdown per episode.

My theory is Pomni's test subject 0 for the new AI which explains abstraction resistance and the fact she is able to stay within an anxiety lane like it's a David Cage game.

 

[ReceiveAndAsk]

I know for a fact that kids watch this and like it alot. I work at after school hobby clubs and I have seen what characters kids make fanart of. It's at moment this and Poppy's playtime.

I'd rather children watch this over HH/HB. This actually is age appropriate way of tackling mature topics.

Also, Jax is clearly set up to be the villian in the future.

If you watch this or Hazbin Hotel you are literally gay or a manbaby.

I just like to get high and watch this shit.

 

[Baron Vain]

I just like to get high and watch this shit.

It's even better when you're high.

 

[WitchOfDarkness]

Maybe I am overthinking a silly YouTube cartoon show, but if they were using VR, and they had real bodies, shouldn’t they have died a long time ago due to lack of water and food? They explicitly said the food they eat is not realm right?

The abstraction and Being trapped forever horror thing only works if they are all truly not real people. So I am in the, they are not real, camp.

 

[Vecr]

Maybe I am overthinking a silly YouTube cartoon show, but if they were using VR, and they had real bodies, shouldn’t they have died a long time ago due to lack of water and food? They explicitly said the food they eat is not realm right?

The abstraction and Being trapped forever horror thing only works if they are all truly not real people. So I am in the, they are not real, camp.

I don't think the physical body thing is much of a question at all, it's more if they ever existed anywhere else.