The Amazing Digital Circus follows six characters that get sucked into a virtual reality, the show's namesake; but despite how much the wacky enviroment the characters are trapped in stands out, I believe its strong suit lies in character interaction and personality more so than worldbuilding. The drama and horror is kind of subtle, in the sense that the story's central focus is not their attempts to usurp Caine or escape, but rather about how each individual character copes with a loss of autonomy and living in a cartoon world with cartoon bodies.
The highest stake as far as "physical" harm goes is the threat of abstraction, should one go mad from being trapped in the Circus, and I certainly wouldn't call the show as a whole a horror, but there are elements of psychological horror within it. They are forced to sanitize their language for the sake of maintaining a "family friendly" appearance even though they will never see the presumed audience on the other side of the screen, given the bodies of toys lacking sexual functions, made to give up their old names and life, and in general are at the whims of Caine, whatever he decides they should have to do next. The only thing he cannot control is their minds. Maybe all that keeps me from calling it a horror is the fact that the characters and their struggles do feel so real to me.
The fictional horror elements are complimentary and maybe built upon the horrors of everyday life- we've probably all felt like our choices have taken away by someone with more power than us at some point or another, and this is indeed the era of sanitation, even in contexts where children are not/should not be present, and Gooseworx gives careful attention to showing the nuance of how each character, as an otherwise average human being, deals with these very real struggles. (Except for Ragatha, whose time is cut short imo but she's still an interesting character regardless). Whereas I would usually find myself only focused on or two characters, Gooseworx keeps me invested in everyone's outcome this way.
The Amazing Digital Circus is almost like the milepost of the 2020s to me due to capturing the aesthetic and narrative sensibilities of the internet at this time, what with more and more of the world hinging on the internet while the internet becomes increasingly restrictive, but having the colorful and childish appearance that many turn to for comfort (think clown-, and kid-core). Don't let this deter you from watching it, though--it's not just a satirical amalgamation of trends. It's a fresh, down-to-earth, view of how every day people like you or me would respond to being literally sucked into the digital realm with no return. We spend copious amounts of time with our heads in the screen with the choice to leave in day to day life, but what if, one day, that choice you took for granted was taken away?
9/27/25
When I saw Howl's Moving Castle for the first time years ago, I had read the books first and thought the movie a rather hollow imitation, but upon rewatching it I was surprised at the richness of it. I suppose it might just a part of maturing and enjoying the slower things of life, or simply that my observational skills have become finer, buy it's rare that things become more magical with age for me, rather than the other way around. So is the case for character relationships and ships as well, I usually find dynamics I used to ship rather uninteresting now. But Howl and Sophie are a more entertaining pair now and even the witch is more charming to me.
The idea of seeing a girl years ago that witnessed you eat a demon now show up as an old woman to run your castle is funny to me, and it's a great set up for their dynamic. One must wonder what was going through Sophie's head when he let her stay, since she doesn't know he's seen her in the past. I've always said I abhor the concept of soul mates, but I think I just hate when it's done for the sake of itself. I do enjoy when characters are tied together by some magical means, like Re-l and Vincent from Ergo Proxy being literally made for each other... in a way I don't even fully remember. There's a lot to unpack in that anime so can you blame me? But anyways, I was much more attuned to Sophie's old life in the hat shop and her new one in Howl's Castle, so both of those being ripped away hit harder for me. I had completely forgotten about her flower shop after my first watch, I was a bit emotional to see it burn and Howl fly away on the second. Not in tears emotional, but just, melancholic. Tense. I don't think I felt a whole lot at the resolution, because everything already felt maximally interesting to me. But I don't think I disliked it either. It tied up things well enough. So that's all I have to say about Howl's Moving Castle, the movie. I once disliked it, and now I don't. And I will have to re-read the books one of these days.
11/27/25
To-do list:
2/25/25