TV Shows

[Hydra009]

Just finished watching The Amazing Digital Circus: The Final Act.

At last, I am no longer vulnerable to spoilers. But I have a duty to not spoil it for other people. So until the day after it's unloaded to the internet, I will not discuss the plot. Who killed Dumbledore? I have no idea. I don't even know who this Dumbledore guy is. *casts stupify on self*

What I can get into is my verdict. 14/10. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. I am not exaggerating. I haven't felt this way in a very long time. The hype train is real and it took me on a truly amazing journey.

Surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed the audience as well. They were enthusiastic, engaged, and decently respectful, not at all like I feared. They were also almost all age 20-40. Very much a young and passionate crowd. I was truly among my people today. I can't wait to watch more Glitch movies with them. Maybe Gameoverse?

On the second day of the theatrical release, the seats were packed. If this has a good box office, and I don't see how it won't, there will be a deluge of indie animation projects hitting theaters in the future. We're entering a new age of animation and I'm glad to have been a fairly early adopter and to have done my little part to support it.

If you like TADC at all, and I mean at all, you owe it to yourself to get your butt in a theater seat. Watching alone on the small screen is fine, but there's something magical about watching on the silver screen with an energetic, engaged crowd. These kinds of opportunities don't come very often and you decide if they'll come again with your wallet. Support what you love, and you'll see more of it.

And although Gooseworx is known to lie when answering audience questions, she wasn't lying about flooding theaters with deadly neurotoxin to prevent spoilers. So goo

[Blackleaf]

I saw it last night. I enjoyed it, but I have some criticisms I have to withhold from sharing until a more appropriate time. Definitely glad I saw it in theaters, though. I don't know if it's just this theater, but I noticed a distinct lack of trailers before the movie. Usually, if you show up on time, you have at MINIMUM twenty minutes to kill before the movie actually starts. This one started when I walked in the door.

[Hydra009]

Yeah, mine started pretty quickly, too.

Oh, and I did see a little girl (16ish) cosplaying as Pomni, with clown makeup and everything. She was short, too. Nailed it.

I really enjoyed the crowd. It felt like the people I would normally interact with online, only in the flesh. A weird but good feeling that's hard to explain.

[Hydra009]

Nostalgia Critic just put out a 24 minute review and struggled with the characters' names. :/

He did admit that he's a casual fan and said his schedule is pretty busy, so that makes sense. He took a long - probably too long - time to say that he wished we had an episode or two more time with the characters so we can bond more with them and said that the finale was generally very good.

He had a good, probably unintentional pun where he told his audience to go see the movie on the big screen and "hopefully it's going to be the resolution you're looking for" heh

[Hydra009]

Standout quote: "Everyone around here needs to stop loving getting shibaried!"
(the subtitles weren't correct and I know the correct spelling off the top of my head like any normal person)

Gotta love Blitz the tech wizard editing his own video. He definitely shoulda delegated that to Moxxie.

Also, am I going crazy or are all female imps taller than male imps? I thought Blitz was unusually tall and Moxxie was unusually short, but it's looking like Moxxie is pretty much average height for a male imp.

[Hydra009]

IT'S HERE! TADC FINALE! I paid to see it on the big screen, you get to see it for free. Gratis. Zero. Zilch. On the House. Enjoy!



Watch it soon and let me know what you think, because imho it's an extremely high-quality animated movie with a hell of an ending. And also watch it because everyone and their brother will watch this and put out their reviews, including me 24 hours from now. And trust me, you don't want to be the last one to know how this digital circus turned out.

[Hydra009]

I liked how the show wrapped up. It felt earned and a natural conclusion.

Jax snapped, which everyone expected, but his backstory was so damn tragic. This guy had the chance - had lots of chances - to connect with others, but he pushed others away, then felt guilty for pushing others away which resulted in - you guessed it, pushing others away again. Ragatha (then later Pomni) tried and tried with him, but not everyone can be saved.

Somehow, Caine returned, which I don't think was on anyone's bingo card. He's so adorable interacting with the players on their own terms rather than his terms. Playing D&D (probably his first time playing anything as a player rather than DM), drinking shots from 4-armed-Zooble, and admiring art drawn by Gangle.

Not quite sure what happened to Bubble, maybe it was that blue orb that Caine let go.

SOMA theory confirmed, Manifest theory confirmed. I liked that their real-world counterparts are living their best lives in the world (even unknowingly bumping into each other) and all seem to be doing okay. Though let's skip forward to 2020 or 2025 and see their social media feeds then. I'm not quite sure their real-world counterparts have the better end of the bargain. With just a little bit of work, their digital cage can be become a digital utopia, with the characters free to create all sorts of fun adventures. Honestly, if I had the chance, I'd go digital. A comparatively worry-free existence - especially when Caine is nice - with friends and adventures. What's not to like? *smash cut to scene of Caine torturing everyone*

The series ends on a surprisingly hopeful and open-ended note. The abstracted can be pacified, but it's left open if they can ever come back. It previously didn't seem possible, but Pomni was able to make some sort of connection. Who knows what may be accomplished by continuing to try.

There are still several things that aren't explained. Why did Scratch join the Circus? Why did he abstract? What was going on with him and that tumor? How and why were people joining the circus during the C&A era? Why was Caine scared about confusing NPCs with PCs? Will Bubble return? Will Gumigoo return? What's in the void? Can new members join the circus? What happens when whatever server they're on runs out of juice?

[Blackleaf]

Honestly, if I had the chance, I'd go digital. A comparatively worry-free existence - especially when Caine is nice - with friends and adventures. What's not to like? *smash cut to scene of Caine torturing everyone*

Well, hold on. It wouldn't actually be you being digitized. It would be a copy of you. From their perspective, it would seem like one continuous experience from real life to digital, but you would continue on like nothing happened.

There are still several things that aren't explained. Why did Scratch join the Circus?

It seems like he and the other C&A employees had no intention of joining the circus. Scratch's brain scans created files containing their data, and Caine took it upon himself to activate those brain scans, turning them into characters in the circus.

Why did he abstract?

I think Caine attempted to alter Scratch's code and found out the hard way why that's a really bad idea.

What was going on with him and that tumor?

I don't think there was anything more to that, other than maybe adding a ticking time bomb for him figuring out the brain scan thing. He may have been the only one intending to live on in digital form, although even he seems upset when he comes online.

How and why were people joining the circus during the C&A era?

When Caine first finds the mind files, there are several already there. Likely, they were remnants of tests with Mike Dobby's mind scanner. So, I don't think it was an intentional thing. Caine just helped himself to them, without asking for permission.

Why was Caine scared about confusing NPCs with PCs?

He didn't want to do to them what he did to Scratch.

Will Bubble return? Will Gumigoo return?

Gumigoo, probably. Bubble? Doubtful. It seems like now that Caine is sane, Bubble is gone. I think Bubble is an extension of Caine, rather than a separate character. His thought bubble. Or maybe it's the result of his fusion with the blue AI. Who can say?

What's in the void?

A bunch of empty space, plus hidden files in the computer. Judging by how Caine ended up there when he was deleted, it seems to function as the computer's recycle bin.

Can new members join the circus?

Yep.

What happens when whatever server they're on runs out of juice?

RIP. Although, I find it hard to believe the abandoned building has never lost power in all this time. My house has lost power multiple times in the last few years, and my house isn't an abandoned building. Maybe the real employees found out about the circus and thought it would be morally wrong to unplug them, intentionally letting the computer run nonstop. Maybe there's a backup generator, just to be safe. But even then, the computer hasn't crashed? Not even once? Is somebody going back in to check on the computer every once and a while, and turning it back on when they find it shut off? Dunno. If the computer ever shuts off and doesn't get turned back on, though, they're all functionally dead.

[Hydra009]

Well, hold on. It wouldn't actually be you being digitized. It would be a copy of you. From their perspective, it would seem like one continuous experience from real life to digital, but you would continue on like nothing happened.

I phrased that badly. I meant I would volunteer to be digitally cloned. I know it wouldn't be me me, but it would be a form of me. I'm already a twin, so I think I have more of a handle on the weirdness of this concept than most people.

It seems like he and the other C&A employees had no intention of joining the circus. Scratch's brain scans created files containing their data, and Caine took it upon himself to activate those brain scans, turning them into characters in the circus.

Huh. I guess Scratch was up to some shenanigans in the break room or something. "Hey, look over there!" *ominous scanning noise* Or maybe he pitched it to the coworkers as a way to help improve the AI and they signed off on it.

He may have been the only one intending to live on in digital form, although even he seems upset when he comes online.

Scratch's reaction was strange if things were going according to plan. Though that might be due to the partial memory loss. I'm still not sure why they can reminisce about some things, but don't know their own real name or others' real names.

RIP. Although, I find it hard to believe the abandoned building has never lost power in all this time. My house has lost power multiple times in the last few years, and my house isn't an abandoned building.

Tell me about it. I lost power for 5 hours yesterday. I couldn't make a digital circus here last longer than a month without accidentally flipping all the bits to zero.

Maybe the real employees found out about the circus and thought it would be morally wrong to unplug them, intentionally letting the computer run nonstop. Maybe there's a backup generator, just to be safe. But even then, the computer hasn't crashed? Not even once? Is somebody going back in to check on the computer every once and a while, and turning it back on when they find it shut off? Dunno. If the computer ever shuts off and doesn't get turned back on, though, they're all functionally dead.

Abandoned and carefully tended to? That's a strange combination. And whoever is paying the electric bill over the course of decades is a saint. Though it was an AI company in the 90s, so they must've been loaded!

And given that the characters have a lot of power to shape and create within this digital universe, Gumigoo could definitely return, the blue AI and/or Bubble could maybe return, and new characters could join - there's a LOT of room in this show for a sequel, though it's doubtful Gooseworx would want to go through that again.

[Hydra009]

Oh and apparently Jax is trans.

I was really slow at picking that up because the only thing I had as evidence was that Jax didn't want to be involuntarily put in a maid outfit. Lots of guys have hangups about crossdressing, and it's important to note that 1) this wasn't by choice and 2) one of Jax's greatest fears is to be ridiculed by those close to him, so I didn't connect it to any sort of closeted trans identity. Silly me.

This whole thing is about as subtle as snowdrift white against daisy white on top of ivory white (by which I mean extremely subtle)

I'll be honest, I kinda hate it when authors/creators don't adequately convey these sorts of things in the actual show and for some reason spell it out in some sort of new testament canon (addendums to canon via social media, and yes, the pun on canon is intentional). This is a lot like the Dumbledore is gay thing. Yes, it's possible, but you'd never figure that out from the canon. I'm not saying Dumbledore has to walk around with a "I am gay" t-shirt or something, but there has got to be a happy medium between making it very obvious and basically making it require a ouiji board.

Authors should put whatever they want to convey in the show in the actual show or book or whatever, not social media after the fact. A one and done situation is ideal. Some stuff doesn't make it to print, well that's just something you put in the sequel or an epilogue or music video. That's what Murder Drones did.

Keep canon in canon - I shouldn't have to browse twitter for canon content. That's inhumane!