Finally saw the second episode and man, was it really emotional to watch.
I actually felt bad for the crocodile in this episode, especially since he had no idea what his true backstory is since he's an NPC character. It does make me curious about the NPC characters in this world and how they got there in the first place. It just makes things even more mysterious with this world. Also, I will admit that the ending was pretty messed up with them just vanishing the crocodile out of nowhere when we just got an emotional arc with this character. It makes me wonder what episode 3 will be like.
I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!
Caine tried telling Zooble he was working on a new AI towards the beginning of the episode, the implication being that Gummigoo possessing that AI is what allowed him to become self-aware. Caine ended up making the AI's too human basically, which is what allowed Gummigoo to actually question his existence.
Recently found a YouTube channel (Kirby Green) that seems to make fake Disney Channel/Disney XD ads for web animation shows.
While they did one for the pilot, I found their recent take on second episode to be more "recognizable" to the usual ad tropes from XD (including the joke needle drops). It's just really well done.
Also, the comments couldn't help but play along with hypothetical announcer interstitials
, such as:
"Don't fall through the map! Disney XD will be right back with more of The Amazing Digital Circus!"
Edited by XMenMutant22 on May 19th 2024 at 10:57:55 AM
The series thesis on the NPC's I think can be best summarized with the Philosopher René Descartes's most well known idea: "Cogito, Ergo Sum", or in English, "I Think, Therefore I Am".
The players in the circus are clearly real people, they have memories, they know they are real people, and abstracting being the loss of their individual form can be seen as them not knowing who they are anymore, having lost themselves to the madness of the Circus. It's that same token though that Pomni uses to convince Gummigoo that he is real even if he's an NPC. The memories may be scripted, but his feelings aren't, they are his, the care for his "boys" is genuine, as is his bond with Pomni, they made him real. And if what Caine said is true, this is likely true for one of the "players" anyway, since they're really an AI. The idea of "form" and not knowing who you are can actually be looked into further by comparing Kaufmo's abstraction to Pomni's epiphany.
- Kaufmo ended up abstracting because of being driven mad looking for an "exit door", with none of the other players taking him seriously and Caine writing it off as a "Digital Hallucination", and his attempts at masking his pain with humor were just ignored as attempts at unfunny jokes. Kaufmo wasn't "seen", and he no longer knew who he was as he was consumed looking for a door that didn't exist, so he abstracted.
- Pomni meanwhile has come to realize that she's not alone in this hell, the other players (sans Jax) are there for her, and this is represented by them rescuing her from the nightmare where she was beginning to abstract. They will be able to keep her grounded, help her remember who she is, since even if she starts to lose herself, they can bring her back.
Edited by RebelFalcon on May 19th 2024 at 4:39:52 AM
Rodimus: Self-sacrifice, Magnus— It's cheap. It's a cheap way out. I need to live so I can make amends.I wonder if they are gonna play up Jax's jackassery in part to shock us that he has a lot of inner sadness and frustration motivating it. Albeit Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse
I… kind of hope they don’t do that, actually. Some people are just assholes who have no reason to be assholes other than ”because they can.” Character depth is always nice, don’t get me wrong, but I’d rather not give the fans more reason to give him another pair of leather pants. (Sure, Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse, but that sure as hell doesn’t stop people from claiming that actual VILLAINS, even the omnicidal ones, are totally right and justified because something shitty has happened to them - No doubt the same thing would happen here)
I also vaguely recall Word of God stating that Jax is the one who deserves his predicament the most because of how much of a dick he is.
Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on May 20th 2024 at 12:59:24 PM
My AO3 profile. Let sleeping cats lie and be cute and calming.I'm honestly curious whether or not Gangle's Tragedy Mask is able to be broken. Though, more so, I just want to see an episode where Gangle goes half the runtime without her Comedy Mask being broken.
Orcus on His Throne will always be my pet peeve.Cue the mask becoming a Rage Helm and compelling her to unleash hell on him
"That we continue to persist at all is a testament to our faith in one another."
I'm pretty sure he'd prefer Gangle to express visible suffering rather than leave her speechless and visually emotionless. She's his favorite target of abuse, after all, and he'd find it boring to see her unable to express anything at all. Gangle herself would fix her comedy mask in the meantime (perhaps with Jax doing his best to interrupt her).
And speaking of ![]()
, that'd be awesome and hilarious at the same time for sure!
Edited by Inky100 on May 22nd 2024 at 2:56:09 PM
Waiting to have my head disfigured and mounted on a wall.Remember that one scene in the Pilot where she gets unraveled while falling down the Zooble hole? The mask stays attached and it just bounces off the ground? That must mean that if the tragedy mask breaks, she just... fucking dies! That's it. She's just nothing more than a long strand of red ribbon and a bunch of porcelain shards. I imagine one of the characters picking up the pieces and trying to repair everything, hoping in vain that this will being her back, before eventually giving up and asking Caine for help, where he revives her.
Good morning, and good night, I hardly ever sleep. With what I have, what else do you think I'd ever need?The one thing I hope the show doesn't do is having one of the players be Evil All Along and having planned everything from the start or something like that. Like Kinger being revealed to having faked his crazy attitude all this time and being the one who trapped them all in the circus for some evil plan. It’d feel like such an unnecessary backstab, I really hope they don't do anything like that.
Given how genuinely helpful his words to Ragatha were, in getting her to ease up on her anxiety surrounding if she fucked up with Pomni or not, I highly doubt he'll suddenly spring up as this Evil All Along sociopath.
Self-professed Wild Card who thinks cynicism isn't so bad.![]()
I feel like the only way it'd be able to work is if the player's human self was Evil All Along, and their avatar in the Digital Circus ends up having a Heel Realization. Having them be Evil All Along within the game's coding doesn't seem like a logical possibility.

Anime, JRPGs, and things no-one's read in 15 years? You're right, .hack would be a pretty good crossover! And it could use more love as it is...
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.