Intro

You may have been walking to your class one day, and might have heard your friends or classmates talking about something called “The Amazing Digital Circus.” But just why is it so popular, you may ask? Why do you have friends who continue to talk on and on about this web series? Why is it trending everywhere on the internet? In this article, I will be reviewing the pilot episode of this series, and maybe you will get a better idea of why this show is so popular.

⚠⚠⚠SPOILERS BELOW!⚠⚠⚠

Summary

At the beginning of the show, a woman is transported to a strange colorful world, unable to remember anything except the fact that she put on a VR headset before appearing in what appears to be a digital world. She learns that there are also five other humans who have appeared in the same world, and that there is no way to escape. She tries to find an exit, while also trying to hide from a monster who got loose.

That’s basically the gist of it, although I’m not great at summarizing things like this.

Review P1: Characters

There are eight main characters in the pilot: Pomni, Jax, Ragatha, Caine, Bubble, Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble. (I know, the names are a bit weird.) Here are my rankings of the characters (WARNING: bias).

• Pomni: Being the main character of the show, Pomni seems to get the most time on screen in the pilot. She spends the pilot trying to find her way out of the digital world, only to find that she can’t escape. From the development I’ve seen, she is somewhat reserved and a tiny bit mentally unstable (she reminds me of myself). I can’t really explain her very well, but I give her a 10/10.

• Caine: Caine is a “fun-loving wacky little guy” who is supposedly the antagonist of the series. He’s an AI who’s the “Ringmaster” of the Digital Circus, and he’s also a tiny bit mysterious. He is sometimes oblivious to how the other characters’ emotions work, so he might unintentionally cause them some harm. Overall, I give him a 9/10.

• Jax: One of the most controversial characters in the show, Jax is a rabbit-like character who’s very sarcastic and sadistic. He also tends to start conflicts, and tries to stay out of them, if he gets involved he retreats. He also gets a lot of attention in the show, most likely because the show’s creator is very fond of him. Overall, I give him an 8/10.

• Ragatha: Ragatha is a kind and compassionate character who is sort of like an older sister to most of the characters. Although she’s pretty much out of commission for the second half of the pilot, she still proved herself to be an optimistic and caring person. Overall, I give her an 8/10 as well.

• Kinger: Kinger is a paranoid character who is like the living embodiment of chaos and panic attacks. He is often very tense and always seems to be worried about something. He also is somewhat interested in insect collections for some reason. He also starts shaking violently at random times. Overall, I give him an 8.5/10.

• Gangle: Gangle is an emotional character who seems to be easily scared. She wears a mask called a “comedy mask,” supposedly to suppress her depression. When her mask breaks, she immediately becomes sad and timid. Overall, I give her a 7/10.

• Zooble: With a still somewhat unclear yet irritable personality, Zooble is a character who does not get a lot of time on screen due to being abducted by tiny creatures who “steal anything and everything they touch.” They also have forgotten their gender, making them the most ambiguous character in the show. Overall, I give them a 7.5/10.

• Bubble: Bubble is an odd sort of character who, similarly to Caine, is an AI. He doesn’t appear often, and when he does he annoys Caine who ends up popping Bubble (since Bubble, of course, is exactly what his name suggests). Overall, I give him a 7/10.

• Kaufmo: Almost nothing is known about this character, other than the fact that he is a clown who makes unfunny jokes. He “abstracts” before we can truly find out anything about who he was and what he was like. Overall, I give him a 4/10 (because I barely know him).

Review P2: Animation

The overall animation of the pilot was really well done. The graphics were great, the designs really stand out, and overall the animation was very smooth. It’s hard to believe this started out as just a few storyboards! You can really tell how much work the animators put into making this the best they could, and that’s one of the things that I love about the animation.

Review P3: Overall Story

This section contains more spoilers than the other sections. If you don’t want to see this section before watching the pilot, I recommend skipping to the end of this article.

The pilot was really well made, one of the best things that I’ve watched in a long time. Everything–the music, the art, the overall plotline–was amazingly thought out. I feel like I can also relate to both Pomni and Kinger a lot, but all of the characters were really fun and awesome. There were quite a few funny parts (for example, when Bubble ate Caine’s angel food cake), mixed in with a perfect amount of intense scenes (like when Pomni accidentally enters The Void). Each character was unique and iconic in their own ways, which is great because shows are usually boring without a diverse cast.

I would also like to point out how well the voice actors did. Every actor played their parts very well, and stayed very true to their characters. Whether it was Pomni’s actor making a freaked-out sort of voice or Jax’s actor making Jax sound bored the whole time, all of the roles were very well executed.

Conclusion

In short, the pilot of this show was really good, and I would definitely recommend it to others. While the show may have a reputation for being “overrated,” I usually don’t like shows with those kinds of labels, and the fact that I really like it is kind of a way of saying “you don’t have to like popular stuff to like this.” Thank you for reading this review!