QS stands for “Quickshot”, a series of short form review/preview/opinion articles.
Some of you will have absolutely no idea what this article is going to be about, while others probably only needed to take a single glance at the thumbnail. That’s sort of the magic of ‘The Amazing Digital Circus‘, a brand-new independently-developed animated series that recently aired its pilot episode over on YouTube. It took the internet by storm upon its release, and it seems to have split online culture down the middle between those who have heard of it (and maybe watched it), and those who don’t have a clue.
Well, I’m of the former group, and I’ve gotta say that it’s really good!
The Amazing Digital Circus is a psychological dark horror comedy (wait, didn’t we finish with the horror stuff?) created through a collaboration of the Gooseworx and Glitch YouTube teams. It premiered three weeks ago, and has already garnered a staggering fifty-million views. It’s clear that this little darling of indie animation has captured the attention of the internet, even if it’s only one episode deep so far, with no clear indication of when the rest of the show may be ready. People are just that jazzed about it!
And why wouldn’t they be? Even just a minute or two into the pilot episode is enough to know that The Amazing Digital Circus is something special. Every single frame of animation oozes with charm and love, and the incredible production values can be witnessed through every facet of the animation, soundtrack and voice acting.
The plot revolves around a girl who, under circumstances not yet clear to the viewer, is trapped inside of a virtual reality video game that takes place in a circus. Unable to recall her own name from the real-world, the girl is designated as ‘Pomni’, and spends most of the first episode meeting all the other wacky denizens of this new reality she’s in.
There’s wise-cracking cynic Jax, the classic-doll-inspired Ragatha, the chess piece shaped Kinger, the weird theatrical ribbon creature Gangle, and the abstractly designed Zooble. Not to mention the denture-headed ringleader Caine and his bubble assistant appropriately named Bubble. It’s an eclectic cast with some eye-catchingly unique designs, so it’s little surprise to learn that the show already has loads of fanart and even some official merchandise (this is an indie production after all, so merch sales drive a lot of the budget of the show).
The entire aesthetic of the show is meant to parody early 3D video game entertainment, and there’s plenty of callbacks and references to that era. The show takes place in a literal video game, after all, which easily lends itself to a surrealist and wacky series of absurd circumstances for our characters to overcome. This is a really funny show, whether it’s hitting you with corny jokes, some good slapstick, or some honestly hilarious gags.
But I mentioned the “psychological dark horror” part of all this, right? Because that’s sorta of a big facet of this whole shebang.
There’s this almost suffocating level of hopelessness throughout the entire show that makes you so sad and sympathetic towards Pomni and her futile struggles to escape the circus. She’s trapped in this world, she doesn’t want to be in this world, and yet there’s no salvation to be found. The other characters are all implied to be humans trapped in this virtual purgatory that have given up hope and accepted this wacky new world, but Pomni is determined to break free…even if it almost drives her mad near the end.
But there’s some intrigue and some hope for a brighter fate for Pomni mixed in with the despair, and that’s what makes The Amazing Digital Circus so enjoyable. It’s heartbreaking to see this cheerful girl broken down by the apathetic and inescapable people and world around her, but there’s the intrinsic belief that something must exist out there to help her escape. She might not make it to freedom in the pilot episode, but surely by the end of the show she’ll see the light of the real world again…right?
The charm and horror of this show wouldn’t come together if it wasn’t for the utterly superb voice acting across the board. From the smarmy snarkiness of Jax (voiced by Michael Kovach), to the over-the-top bombastic showboating of Caine (voiced by Alex Rochon), everyone is in top form. Special note to Kinger, who is voiced by Sean Chiplock (Rean Schwarzer from Trails of Cold Steel). And, of course, Pomni’s voice actress (Lizzie Freeman) steals the show, providing one of the best character voices I think I’ve ever heard, certainly in the realm of animation. Her breakdown near the episode’s end is crazy to listen to.
I’ve mentioned it once or twice in this article, but the animation is also really great. The Amazing Digital Circus looks better than it has any right to for a little YouTube indie animation, with some excellent lighting, shadows, and reflection work (not to mention the fun character animations themselves, of course). The soundtrack is also really good too, with a catchy theme song and a fantastic outro song to close the pilot episode.
The Amazing Digital Circus may have basically come from nowhere, but boy am I glad it exists! If this article has even remotely peaked your curiosity, that I highly recommended checking the pilot episode out. I’ll link to it below!
(Also, for anyone curious, I won’t be doing NaNoWriMo this year. That’s because I’m actually in the middle of some intensive creative writing at the moment, and I like to focus on one project at a time with my writing work!)
The Contrarian Corner 