Gooseworx has said directly that they remember almost everything from their life before the circus. They just don't remember their names and a couple of other small details
@@lostmonkey To be fair talking too much about their old lives might cause them to get depressed and want to get out of the circus more which as we saw through Kaufmo's abstraction is a dangerous mindset to have
Pomni was suspicious that Jax was having a normal conversation with her instead of just insulting her, asking her how she was doing and that he'll see her later after he washes the dishes. Either Gangle's training video had an affect on him, or he was just too tired to keep up the mean persona. When Jax clocks out, he puts on his usual smile, but then he drops it as soon as he exits the restaurant.
Aye, I noticed that as well. He keeps his jerk face for as long as he feels like it, as much as possible when he's with others. This day was just too much for him tho 😅
Yeah, probably being an asshole is how he faces the situation. I personally don't think that most of his actions are justified, but he seems to be someone that hides his desperation behinds all that edginess.
I found the training video very relatable despite not relating to Jax. Being traumatically "trained" for your mistakes reminds me of my experiences with school, and being rather different after it reminds me as well.
One detail about Ragatha being a little looser and less filtered I like is that right after she says Gangle is annoying with her happy mask she questions herself on if that was innapropriate to say. I think people are a little off the mark with her. it's not that she puts on a phony optimist and caring attitude all the time, it's that she doesn't really know how to talk about the stuff that gets on her nerves with the others. She can get mad at Jax easy enough sure, he hits back just as hard. But even with jax she still doesn't want him to hate her, as stated this episode. She craves validation and so she doesn't want to risk her relationships with others because she said something too mean to them. I can understand that
Yeah, I also think people are being too harsh on her. I think really wants the others to feel good, but that doesn't mean she don't have some bad thoughts that she could not exactly be hiding, but fending off when they come. But, tbh, I think it's too early to be certain of anything. It can go either way depending on what the next episodes will present to us.
Yeah same having negative thoughts or opinions about people doesn’t mean that you don’t care or that’s completely how you really feel you can genuinely care and be annoyed by some things about them I think she is genuinely nice just complex like everyone
Yeah in my view, Ragatha seems to be afraid of making people she cares about upset, such as her friends. So she avoids being honest about how she feels about certain things they do that bother her.
@lemonboy2001: Spot on analysis. People love to hammer home how the thoughts inside are what make a real person (like how if a person gets drunk, their real thoughts come out). What they also seem to forget is that our filters are also a part of who we are. We deliberately choose what to tactfully say to others out of respect or courtesy. Saying whatever’s on our mind with no thought of consequence can be refreshing to some, but it also has the potential to hurt others, as Ragatha easily demonstrates in her impaired state. People really need to give more credit to Ragatha for how much she tries, rather than prosecuting her for not meaning everything she says.
Oddly enough, I think that the dancing in the parking lot then getting transported to cain is a reference to a trop in a Japanese meta about people getting hit by a bus and then transported to a new world.
Maybe it's a man-made heaven? A test run for the afterlife made by man? Maybe we are slowly seeing how they die and what they were doing when they died? I forgot that one Amazon show with a computerized afterlife and the guy not accepting it.
Another trope in Isekai is how the protagonist is sometimes an overworked adult who feels unfulfilled with their life and gets the chance to start over in a new world (eg. “Overlord” or “I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level”), which would certainly apply to someone like Gangle. If she did get into a vehicle accident in her past life, she could’ve wound up bedridden from her injuries. Maybe Gangle put on a certain gaming headset to forget about her situation and help pass the time.
I think Gangle wanted this adventure because of the familiarity, but also nostalgia. She may have been in the circus long enough that she forgot the tough parts about working in service industries. Instead she was going off the good memories of the job; probably the structure, authority, and routine.
Also, she was a manager. A situation where she felt like she'd be in control. It was when she realized she was losing control of the situation, that she started to really snap.
@@BeeGeenie Not necessarily losing control, but rather not having the type of control she would've liked. She can make them do tasks, but she couldn't change how they would've reacted to her making them do said task, or how they would perceive her for it. What broke her wasn't the fact that she couldn't control them, she was always able to up until they clocked off, but the fact of how they outright give her signs or tell her that they view her negatively after bossing them around (i.e the mask crack scenes)
@@BlankedOutSlate I meant more control of her situation. The fast food place was familiar, a place where she felt in control. Something else to consider: "stupid sauce" isn't a thing and there was no reason to bring Gummy-goo into the scenario. Did Caine sabotage them, and start drama deliberately to f*** with Gangle and her nice, mundane adventure? 🤔
20:05 I think this was more shock from Pomni then anything. I mean Jax called her by her name and asked her a genuine question without any kind of quip or taunt. And Pomni obviously never expected that from Jax of all people, hence the pause
Exactly, it seemed like Jax was so worn down that he briefly forgot to be actively mean - so, for just a second, he and Pomni were just two people trying to survive their day together. But then Pomni remembers it's JAX™ and her walls go back up.
People need to loosen up on Ragatha. Poor girl is, I think, one of the elder characters, and its clear her trauma response is to keep everyone together and getting along. She acts like a traumatized child in an abusive household who needed to feed, care, and nurture all their younger siblings. Everyone in this show is traumatized in a way, and they react and response in their own way. Just because she tries to be nice to everyone and is clearly frustrated when people dont react the same doesn't mean shes a two faced backstabber.
Ragatha is the mom friend with her own issues, but since she’s so focused on caring for everyone else’s emotions and needs she tosses her own on the back burner (probably a coping trait she learned growing up) so I’m 100% with you people need to loosen on her, she’s not two faced just very self sacrificing. Only when someone is mean or she’s off filter does she really speak her mind, she clearly struggles with admitting her needs/feelings. Shed rather be mildly annoyed and make someone happy than ruin their mood! Maybe not healthy, but certainly not two faced
If we go back to the 2nd episode, her first few dialogues with Pomni was about how "she doesn't blame her for abandoning her for the exit and there's no hard feelings." I don't really see her as being a backstabber, at least not yet depending on the future episodes, but the fact of the matter is that she still is two-faced. She hides her feelings and plays it off into something positive but often comes across as a backhanded insult, I can see why Gangle wouldn't necessarily trust her when it comes to wanting comfort over her troubles since it can get intoxicating dealing with a person that comes off as disingenuous. I thought people would've understood by now that we shouldn't keep using trauma as an excuse for how someone behaves, or how people would see that person in-spite of it due to what they do, regardless of if it's trauma or not the fact still is is that it's toxic in the long run. This isn't to say you shouldn't bottle things up sometimes, it _is_ a saying that often times "ignorance is bliss," but with how she went about it from what I mentioned previously, it definitely does feel like she gives those backhanded comments sometimes, and with the 1st episode how she got caught "fake-laughing" at Kaufmo's jokes, she's not very good at trying to hide her actual feelings but with how she goes about it, becomes more insulting than if she just told them how she felt for those specific regards.
I think ragatha seems to have more of a toxic positivity filter ,rather than being a two faced lair. After telling gangle how she really felt she said “was that to mean?”.
And to that extent, this kinda behavior tends to come from a well honed history of trauma- Its not actually just Fight or Flight, its Fight, Flight, Freeze of Fawn, and all this peacekeeping is just what happens when someone has had to fawn all their life to keep abusers from going off. Think of how good she is at managing Jax and folks near abstraction. Or when she's wronged in general- that total lack of ANY retaliatory response at all is beyond patience, its to an unhealthy degree
19:37 There is a moment in the episode where Jax is forced to smile when being pressed up against a TV and he asks "Nobody can see this right?" There's also a moment where Jax leaves the building while smiling and making snarky remarks about the adventure, but then right after he leaves where no one sees him, his grin quickly turns into a frown. His top priority is to look confident and to not show any vulnerability. He's insecure about showing emotions.
One thing to note about Gummigoo is that his intelligence is notably much more advanced than anything Cain has made so far. When he fell out of bounds in episode 2, it took him very little time to figure out that he was some sort of "stock" while Pomni and the others were not and was able to understand Pomni's explanation very clearly. With this sharp of an intelligence, the fact that Pomni mentions his name to Gangle, and Gummigoo suddenly is shocked and suddenly wants to say something is likely him realizing that if she knows his name when he never gave it, she must know him from "somewhere else". When she greets him again as he's leaving, he remains polite and that same confusion is lingering before she stops short of mentioning that she knows him and just wishes him a good day, and while he thanks her, we see that same lingering issue is stuck on his face.
1:31, if you look closely Jax actually looks up after swinging the bat until Ragatha screams JAX! This might indicate that it was an accident and that he was looking where he expected the ball to be after the swing
He 100% didn't mean to actually hit her but it seems like something he would do. So of course she yells at him. Truly he didn't mean to he was expecting it to fly upwards and is pretty shocked when he sees what actually happens
I feel for the Raggidy Ann comment Ragatha made, I feel like it was both a reference and a peek into her life. I can see her being from a rich family due to her mentioning her horses, so I can see her doing tea parties and dance lessons, I think this also why Ragatha is a doll, since a doll's personality and looks are controlled by someone else, like how her family tried to force her to "fit the family image."
Hey it me. This is pretty much my life story, as cliche as it sounds. I wasn’t “multiple horses” rich, but I grew up pretty well off. But all the money in the world wasn’t worth growing up in that home. You feel like you don’t have a right to complain. Like your own wants and needs don’t matter, because “other people have it so much worse”. All the things, the wealth and toys and gifts that you never even asked for are held over your head. I heard many variations of “you can’t be mad at me for not respecting you as a person or respecting your boundaries because we bought you a thing!! You should be grateful!” My parents were never physically abusive, but they were extremely controlling, emotionally and verbally abusive. I wasn’t allowed to have opinions. I wasn’t allowed to have emotions. I wasn’t allowed to feel upset or frustrated. My dad would sometimes scream at us for literal days at a time, only really stopping to sleep. My mom was a manipulator, guilt tripping us for expressing anything that wasn’t specifically approved by them. No show of gratitude was ever enough. No amount of fawning over them or bending to their every whim was ever enough, but I spent the first 19 years of my life trying. I learned to fake overly enthusiastic displays or affection and gratitude. I genuinely care about others, but I do “fake” a lot of my responses and reactions to things. I’m definitely a recovering people pleaser. But it’s never malicious. It just comes from a life of being harshly punished for NOT constantly faking. I still have a hard time telling sometimes what my own thoughts and feeling are and what was deliberately programmed into me
I had a similar upbringing. we were wealthy and while my parents weren’t quite so overt with things like gifts my dad would guilt trip me about providing a roof over our heads and how good we had it. My dad was constantly yelling and my mom flipped flopped between being nice, but also expecting us to act and look certain ways. I was also used as ammo when my parents would have arguments with each other, or maybe i just took that on in order to feel useful. I’ve learned that they both have histories where they were emotionally abused- especially my dad. After he was very sick, I’ve been able to see firsthand how insecure and unsure both he and my mom really are. It doesn’t excuse their behavior, but it helps me to know the why, and how i can start untangling my own knots. I understand Ragatha withholding her true feelings and wanting to be liked, because it’s how i learned to survive too. I also had a phase when I wasn’t nice to my younger siblings and i think that fueled my people pleasing tendencies even more. There’s so much guilt and shame buried beneath this sort of people pleasing, at least for me, but i recognize how it can hurt others now too.
@@etainrooney3259 I relate to that so much. I’ve given my parents so many chances because I know that they too had an abusive upbringing. My father was literally raised in the back of a car with his 3 siblings, and I don’t know much about my mom’s childhood, but just based on how my aunts and uncles act, it wasn’t a good environment for any of them. I spent much of my childhood trying to be the bigger person, playing therapist, hoping that if I could just connect with them, just find the right words, things would get better. We’d reach an understanding and they’d be able to see how they were hurting me. But all that ever did was make me feel like I was responsible for the emotions of those around me. It turned me into a people-pleaser. It resulted in me valuing other’s emotions and wants over my own well-being. It taught me to police the emotions of those around me (Which I needed pointed out to me in therapy that is a scummy thing to do to people) Meanwhile my parents just say that I’m ungrateful and use their own trauma to shield themselves from any blame (“well you can’t complain cause I had it worse”). I gave them way too many years trying to be forgiving and be the bigger person, but now it’s up to them to prove to me they deserve my kindness
@@Ryan-vs8pw Your story resonated with me. I'm not sure if the wealth aspect of it is compatible, but the rest of it is. When your parents buy you a thing, they use it as leverage to control you. I had to learn to fake my responses too. Made it hard when I tried to forge connections later on, because not everything is a trick. I hope you find some peace.
@@etainrooney3259 If it means anything to you, I'm glad you understand this now. You've pretty much paved the way for a brighter future already. I doubt any of your parental figures gave themselves this much time to reflect on why they act & behave the way they do. You demonstrated a high-level of self-awareness. This is the key to so many stories where people break free of the cycle. Good job!
12:10 Oh lord you have no idea._. See, Truck-kun is a joke in specifically isakai animes because sometimes the way the main character gets to go to a new fantasy world is by dying by getting hit by a car, specifically a truck. That’s why we have truck-kun
What draws specific line between truck-kun and the show, instead of being a normal truck, is that Gangle wanted to make an "anime style webcomic". If it was a normal webcomic, then I would call Truck-kun a stretch, but as it stands, its a possibility
While I understand being concerned for Gangle, I think this episode absolves her of future risk. If we're to assume any of the cast are getting abstracted, then there's no way the moments before Pomni offered to close for her weren't Gangle on the verge of abstracting. She was like, inches from the abyss. Pomni and Zooble pulled her out. At this point having Gangle ultimately lose it and be abstracted would be really weird from a storytelling point of view. This was probably the closest we've come to losing a main character, and so far that's not come to be.
Right now, I thing those who have more chance of abstracting are ones without an episode dedicated to them: Ragatha and Jax. As shown in this episode, Ragatha has a lot of thoughts that she keep supressed, what can be a problem on a long run. Jax, in the other hand, was pushed out his asshole persona for the first time, which can be just a thing of this episode or a sign that he's getting exausted of the Circus. Also, far behind the others, I don't discart Kinger yet. He's still not sane, and it would be really impactful for Pomni to see him abstrating, probably more than any other character right now.
@@Zecteiro 100% Jax. Note how no one checked or cheered him up in this episode qhere he was miserable. That is purely his fault because he pushes everyone away. He is digging a hole from which no one will pull him out.
@@Zecteiro I get the impression abstraction occurs when they collapse in introspection and depression. Kinger might be nuts but his memory lapses mean he cant obsess about the past or escape, its always now. he's always in a good mood. His mental state might have collapsed but its impossible for a heap of rubble to collapse any further, he's virtually abstraction proof. Thats why he's been there so long
Ragatha is the perfect depiction of a people pleaser, often you are not the victim but rather manipulative. I would not be surprised if we see a crash out episode soon
I think Ragatha and Jax might have a joint episode where they both have to acknowledge their own "masks". The way Jax is outwardly mean but seems to care deeply and how Ragatha is outwardly friendly but inside probably finds the others frustrating or annoying makes them seem more like narrative foils of each other after this episode. They're both hiding a side that slipped out this episode, just a little. I do like Gangle's "Manic" mask looks far more animated than her usual comedy/tragedy masks. It felt uncanny to me. Like "this isn't the Gangle I know"
My only caveat for the video is that Gangle never said she was a fast food restaurant manager, she said she was a shift manager, making it more general. Which to me, signals that there still is a possibility that she was a manager at C&A , and that bit about having dreams of being a cartoonist still applies.
True, but 'shift managers' is usually a term used for people working in the restaurant business. Not only that, Gangle knows exactly how they run, so I think that's definitely where she was. If she was working in an IT company creating something like the circus, I don't think she'd be so down on her dreams never coming true.
True, and she might have branched out to do that when she needed money, but the episode made a whole sequence of showing that Gangle knows her way around the specific fast-food machines and their settings, even making sure to show her blindly finding a switch on the BACK of a machine without looking, like she's done this 1000 times before and already knows it's there. So at the very least, she WAS in fast food at some point.
Funny how in the Pilot, Jax commented he thought Kinger would be the next one to Abstract, when it seems like without Pomnis influence Gangle would have been the next one to Abstract
9:50 As someone who identifies pretty strongly with Ragatha, that's pretty harsh. If we got this episode in a vacuum, there would be a bit more justification for framing her behavior as malicious. Her motives would be ambiguous, because she _could_ be a sociopath, or it could be a defensive mechanism because she is desperately afraid of people not liking her. Back in episode one, her 'two-faced sponge who sugarcoats everything' act doesn't drop even when she is in what is implied to be _excruciating physical pain._ At that point the motivation for her actions doesn't really matter - either she's a kind-hearted person who has an incredibly low opinion of herself, or has a pathological fear of rejection so deep that it can drive her actions even through intense pain. Either one points to her being just as traumatized as everyone else, and if Jax gets a pass for being a malicious asshat to everyone because it's a coping mechanism (and it really does seem to be) then Ragatha ought not be condemned for being kind to everyone out of a pathological fear of being disliked.
I think it's probably somewhere in the middle. One thing a professor taught me in my brief college days was that people here in the US have manners instilled into 'em from birth. Because of that, it can be hard to tell when someone is being genuinely nice or just "being polite" as they say. For Ragatha, she could be both genuinely nice to a degree, but is also using it as a form of coping. Maybe the next episode could her patience pushed to it's limits, and she could have an outburst where all the negative emotions she's bottled up could finally get let out. I could also be totally off the mark, but I really can't wait to see what happens!
heard a theory that gangle didn’t choose to be put in the circus, but rather was struck by a vehicle and was mangled so badly that only her mind was really left (possibly a coma situation but i don’t think so). she probably agreed to put on the headset bc she wanted her body back, and a digital one was the next best option. this to me looks mirrored in her character design; her entire body is just looped ribbon and the only thing of real substance is her mask, the head. if this were true, she wouldn’t need to be associated w/ the tech company at all to be put into the circus.
As someone who is autistic, I can’t help but see some autism coding with Gangle, specifically about masking. Masking is where more “higher functioning” autistic people intentionally hide their neurodivergent traits to appear “normal”, often to their detriment. Not to mention that Autistic people can also have Bipolar disorder so this makes me think that Gangle is quite literally is masking. Also, the Truck thing is an isekai anime where the MC gets hit by a truck and transported to a fantasy world, hence Gangle immediately appearing in Cains office after tripping into traffic and getting hit.
I was looking for this comment. Neurodivergent people often have to mask at work, and the relief at taking off the mask when the day ends was very resonant.
The parking lot scene is more of a reference to a trope for isekai anime, in those it's common to have someone die (typically by being hit by a truck) and then get transported to another more fantastical world, gangle gets hit by a truck and is wisked to the fantasy world of the digital circus
The part of this episode that breaks me a little bit on every rewatch is Gangle's "Why are you asking me? I'm closing tonight..." The delivery is so sad, poor girl is so exhausted emotionally yet also determined to keep her responsibility fulfilled, she's not even mad necessarily but just... I don't even know but it hurts to watch every time :(
Plenty of folks have explained the Truck-Kun Isekai thing, but I'll elaborate and say, specifically, that the ending was a deconstruction of the Anime nerd notion that being Isekai'd would solve all their problems. The reality is, Gangle DID get swept away into a life of eternal adventure. One has to wonder if they're trying to imply she somehow even willingly joined the circus, considering everything. Is it a storytelling fault or something that will become clear in hindsight? But we see that being isekai'd fixed nothing in the end, because the problem that makes them so unhappy is their inner turmoil. A Weeb's worst nightmare
One last thing about Ragatha: while she's looking for the horseradish sauce, she says she misses her horses. So that's definitely another piece of life before the circus that someone remembers. Honestly, I think it was confirmed they remember most of their life from before the circus, they just don't remember names. Rags may have been a country girl with a ranch, a farm vet, or at the very least someone who tends to horses. Maybe her needy nature comes from her background of tending to animals that needed her help? Who knows. Regarding Jax in this episode, especially his scene with Pomni... man, I dunno how you missed what it meant, but alright. Pomni at this point knows enough of Jax to understand that he's not a kind or nice guy, she knows enough of him, and has been subjected to enough of his antics, to know he's not someone to engage with lightly, and that he messes with everyone when the chance occurs. ...but this episode has been heck for the leoprine man. No chances for antics weighs down on him like a box of dumbells, and that moment of "employee reevaluation" was definitely rough on him. He's spent. He can't even bring himself to attempt to be a jerk, not like he can do it in this adventure anyways. And so... he lets up his own mask. He probably doesn't even notice jt. He's actually decently civil to Pomni. And she's _not_ used to it. That's why I think she reacts like that, she was about to say the register was actually manageable, like she would say if she was talking with anyone else that asked about how she was doing... until she realizes it's with Jax that she's talking. It was him that deliberately asked her how she was. The jerk rabbit man that seldom does anything without the intent to prank or insult. Of course she's suspicious, anyone else would be (Zooble especially). The end of the day, when the shift ends, he leaves and goes back to his smug attitude... only to drop the smile as soon as he's outside. No one's looking at him. He gets into... his car? Ok, I guess they have cars in this adventure. But not before bonking his head on the wheel, that's the action of a man who's absolutely done with that day, no filters. That's the most genuine side we've seen of him, and for the longest too. This thing of him not being seen by others while vulnerable seems to be a big thing with Jax actually... he tries to make sure no one's seeing him when he's being "handled" by Gangle during the training tape, he definitely seems to be very mindful about how he appears to others, within what's at his control at least. It's like he deliberately wants to appear as a jerk to everyone, a tough wise guy that can crack one whenever he wants, without care for others' well being. But we saw now that his mask ain't a flawless one.
Ragatha and Jax having some weird I-hate-you-and-I-can-be-honest-about-it relationship can make sense if she doesn't want him to hate her if she is lonely, since there's real irritation there, she's wants closeness to someone and she kinda has that with him most. Also noticing their colors match, her hair matches his trousers and his fur? matches her dress
I think Jax came after Kinger and Queenie and Ragatha came after Jax. Kinger and Queenie of course would turn to each other naturally, leaving Jax and Ragatha with each other. Familiarity breeds contempt but they have that forced camaraderie where they don't want to be around each other but need each other.
@angrytheclown801 Could be familiarity breeds contempt, especially if your trapped in a digital land, people can get on each other's nerves easily, could also be that she just hates how he can be
personally, the one I'm more worried about is actually Jax for a few reasons 1: everyone else feels a bit too obvious, and of them Jax seems to be the most "put together" with the exception of Ragatha, who also showed a slight existential episode in episode 1. 2: in the horror episode, Kinger talks about how having connections, having someone you can lean on actually helps a lot when it comes to keeping yourself together in TADC. Jax is the only character who doesn't seem to have any real friends in the circus and his constant antics alway keep him from making any. He's someone people only really tolerate, yet this episode and episode 2 shows us that when he's in a position where he'd express his deeper feelings (his reaction when they mention Kafumo's funeral and how he asks if anybody is watching him when he's pulled into the back room to be disciplined.) he rather disengage or not be seen. 3: each episode seems to have a habit of showing Jax in less and less of a good mood compared to the pilot. Episode 1: he was happy and relishing in the chaos he brought. Episode 2: he had express disappointment when the adventure didn't go the way he wanted. Episode 3: he was bound and gagged after sending Pomni and Kinger into Hell and wound up on a less "fun" adventure which he never even got to participate in. Episode 4: shows him in a constantly miserable mood that doesn't go away even after clocking out Jax being a jerk and a troll is how he copes with being in the circus and also keeps himself from getting hurt when someone he sees as a friend abstracts. He distances himself emotionally form others by being actively antagonistic towards them, but when we do get the Jax episode that shows us his own issues that he's going, we will get a lot of reasons why he acts the way he does towards other. Kinger has the memories of his wife that keeps him going. Ragatha wants to be everyone's friend and seems to have a good bond with Pomni, Gangle and Zooble have each-other, and Pomni is slowly getting less and less stressed and more balanced, even switching roles a bit and winding up as a bit of the "friend who has your back" which she's had in almost every episode to this point. But Jax doesn't have anyone. Nobody likes him, and when he starts to have a crisis of his own, it's possible someone won't even want to reach out to him just because of how bad he's been to everyone, either leading to abstraction or him getting to the threshold of it before someone actually decides to reach out to him despite how he's been acting. idk, could be talking out my ass on this and I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts, but that's how I feel about it
For Ragatha, I definintely think it's more that it was her unfiltered thoughts, but not ones that she'd mean to a strong degree. Like when anyone has bad thoughts about someone else that they don't say. Ragatha is so high she doesn't even realize that what she's saying is mean.
Another comment about Ragatha's "You're annoying when you're happy" thing that I haven't seen people bring up. I didn't take it as a "two-faced" comment when I watched the episode because I assumed she was referring to this adventure specifically. As we all know, USUALLY Gangle's mask gets broken almost immediately when they're on an adventure. Usually because of Jax. But it's rare that Gangle actually wears the comedy mask for all that long (To our understanding). So this would potentially be the first time she's actually gone an extended period of time wearing the mask, which means Ragatha's first interaction with "happy Gangle" is this overbearing jerk of a shift lead. And this is right after Gangle had JUST got on her case about not working hard enough while she's clearly impaired (Due to unsafe work environment, not like Ragatha chose to get super drunk, or stupid I guess considering the sauce). It seemed more like a gut reaction of "Ya know, I thought being happy would make you feel better, not want tear everyone else down." Just said hella poorly because intoxication.
I agree, while ragatha might keep what annoys her about others to herself, and doesn’t express her needs in an open way (and that’s something that she’s going to have to reckon with) i think it’s totally fair to say that Gangle could be construed as acting annoying with her happy mask in the context of this episode-she was being an overbearing boss. If Gangle was in a better headspace, she might have realized that the comment may be more about how she was acting and not a comment about who she is. Still, Ragatha did word it in the worst way, and the consequence was the loss of Gangle’s trust.
@@etainrooney3259 Yeah, but again, the wording was mostly due to being intoxicated. While people say being intoxicated removes a filter, it also messes with a person's understanding of word choice. I know when I'm drunk, I can't always think of the words I want to use. So I end up using bad ones. Something I dislike ends up being something I hate because I can't think of the word "dislike" And even right after, Ragatha questioned whether that was what she meant to say. Honestly, I highly doubt Ragatha even remembered the conversation/adventure after she sobered up. EDIT: Long story short, it's unfair to judge someone on something they say while intoxicated. Because everyone reacts to being intoxicated differently.
@@shaelynmartin1996fwiw, i think this show is lovely that it encourages these types of deep dives! Honestly Ragatha was a little unsettling for me as a character because i can relate to her. I can also relate to Gangle and the monotony of working endlessly at a job that doesn’t fulfill you. It really is developing into such an interesting show!
@@shaelynmartin1996 For the most part, I agree, specifically in this case because it was entirely unintentional that Ragatha became intoxicated. If she were someone that continually sought intoxication, that would be a different story. I do think her intoxication revealed a bit of Ragatha’s inner processes, like vulnerabilities or frustrations she might otherwise suppress, and that’s not a bad thing. More so than judging her, I relate to the feeling of people-pleasing and self-questioning, and I believe Ragatha is likely going to have a moment where she will be made to reflect on that-maybe that’s why I might have come across as harsh because it’s something I have felt about myself. She may not have meant it, and it would be unfair to condemn her for having a human reaction or expressing it while intoxicated, but it still had the outcome of damaging the relationship she had with Gangle. Hence why I said it was “the worst way” (which was probably a bit of an extreme way to phrase it, still, mb)-not because Ragatha was fully in control and should be judged, but because that’s how it unfortunately played out. That said, the show seems to be implying that all these characters may have room to grow yet
@@etainrooney3259 Very true. Though, I didn't get the sense that Gangle's trust in her was broken. More that Gangle at the end of the episode understood what happened and felt horrible about it, assuming she'd ruined everything. Which is why Zooble comes in to promise that she didn't and bring her back into the friend group fold. The look into Ragatha's inner workings was really good. Like, her comment about hating Jax but not wanting Jax to hate her which is really weird to me, personally, as I have a dog named Jax staring me down as I type this Jax slander lol Lookin' at me goin' "How dare you disparage my name in thus way?"
I think Gangle was very close to abstraction in this episode. When Jax asks about the time Gangle has a small existential crisis about time and how long “it’s really been” and questions whether or not they’ll ever go home. During that crisis you can see small glitching animations that are the same colors as the abstracted’s eyes.
As someone who has depression, pretty severely right now (Don't worry, I am activly seeking help and am doing better, just a bit of a rough patch), there was just something that just resonated with me and Gangle this episode. I think she is super depressed. I have those moments too, of being super excited, and ready for anything, to the point that I can tell I'm freaking people out. And the sort of... happiness to lead into a possible attempt at taking your own life... that's familiar. Sure, you're happy for a while, and then, boom, you start getting those thoughts. And that crushing of your dreams in terms of art... yeah, I feel that one too. So, I really like the writing in this episode. It of course might be something different that she's dealing with, but everyone's experience is different. There's also something terrifying about the fact Caine is learning. He doesn't have the best grasp on how humans are doing, and he seems to be pulling away from what he was supposed to be. He's developing a completely wrong image of how humans operate, because these guys are all coping differently. I don't think he understands exactly why they're acting like that. He might expect that to be the normal for how humans operate. And that's terrifying.
You might have bipolar. You can be severely depressed and bipolar, it just means that the switch is rapid and you’re occasionally manic. I am bipolar but I don’t think pure depression has true moments of excitement. It sounds like you have some good days which sounds to me like bipolar 2. Mostly depressed with occasional mild mania
This episode was great, it flipped everyone’s usual roles, ragatha was so high she was mean, zooble participated, gangle was in charge, Jax was miserable and off his game, Pomni didn’t have a crisis
This episode really made me feel so many things. 1. Seeing Pomni reunite with Gummigoo even though he doesn’t remember her is so emotional to me. 2. I feel I can relate to gangle, and also love want to draw comics and stuff and i definitely would not want to work in fast food service, also I have a relative with Bipolar and this episode really hit me in the feels. 3. Jax is slowly getting humbled, this is just an idea but I feel their in a future episode Jax is gonna start feeling that ever since Pomni came nothing has gone as he planned and now the circus is no longer as fun as it was. 4. Zooble is probably the most normal and sane person out of everyone in the circus and I love them for it. 5. This episode also seems to show some of Ragatha’s true colors, her kindness only seeming to be skin deep and not quite genuine.
I think Rags is nice... but not as nice as she tries so hard to be, certainly not to the point she has no complaints about anyone else (besides Jax). There are things others do that bother her, and there are things unrelated to others that also bother her, she's just too afraid of being open about it, in fear of hurting someone, of them not liking her because of it. Gangle puts it best: "I love her, but... after a while, it gets kinda hard to tell how genuine she's actually being." She's not a bad person, but she lies to others and herself about being a faultless person. She tries to be there for everyone while not letting anyone be there for her, not even herself. Her genuine thoughts about others are the kinda thoughts we have about people we love but have some things that annoy us. It's natural, but with her it seems worse, because she's never truthful about it.
People are giving Ragatha too much shit She's one of the eldest characters and is trying her damn hardest to keep everyone together with some semblance of unity. She might be a little phony at times, but that's probably her coping mechanism
I believe the real danger could be not just Caine, but the system of the digital circus and the programming for Caine himself, because the glichs keep happening, even to him now as we saw at the end of this episode, if it continues like this there wouldn't be much stability and everything would start to be destroyed like what happened in episode three because of how Caine was feeling, if he fails, the whole circus goes down.
I personally think he's glitching because he's becoming too ""Human"" now. We see how his system reacted when he called himself a, *"Good* boss"....It's like his programming wasn't supposed to say that.
the thing about the truck scene is it feels SO ANIME. the dramatic shots, the lighting, the slow motion... and i think that was intentional. Gangle's left work, she's free!! and then she gets hit by the truck - possibly a reference to getting isekaied into another world via getting hit by a truck (an entire genre of anime). this could imply that she quit her job, only to then get trapped in the circus. just a theory
This episode made me realise that I (in the process of getting diagnosed with autism) don't mask that much or,at least,not all that strongly. I've never really tried to act normal,which probably didn't help me socially as a kid but you know. I'm just basing that on the fact I didn't even see it as an allegory for that on my first watch,like most autistic people did
as a diagnosed autistic person i also don't mask a lot, I'm glad to find someone else who has the same experience as me because i sometimes feel alienated from other autistic ppl just because I don't mask or care to mask
I also share that trait. I've been diangnosed for a long time and have come to that conclusion about a year ago. I don't see myself in gangle at all and was surprised when i saw some people suggest that she's autistic
I think Jax puts up a front. After the training video Jax seems depressed and he does try to converse with pomni without malice. Then when he gets to his car he seems tired and frustrated
This episode introduced two really tantalising questions that I hope gets explored more as the series continues 1. Is what’s waiting outside of the circus really better than what’s lurking inside? 2. How far away is Caine from being more like his inspiration? The fact that we don’t have clear cut answers for either is fantastic
Sorry if I misinterpreted your infliction when you were discussing Ragatha, but I don’t think Ragatha is a needy validation seeker. To me she reads as someone embodying the Stepford Smiler trope with sprinkles of being a People Pleaser. Keeping the fake smile despite being absolutely fed up or on the verge of snapping. I know Gangle seems more appropriate for that but like you mention, her facade falls relatively easily and quickly. Ragatha is on the verge of having a breakdown so her way of coping with the situation is to be “positive ☺️”. She’s going for The Heart of the group but it’s coming off as Stepford Smiler. I’m not trying imply that your interpretation of Ragatha is wrong or in bad faith, but honestly I don’t see it as her “wanting someone to validate her”. To me, it didn’t seem like Pomni was an easy target for Ragatha to latch onto, it seemed like her being empathetic to Pomni being new, and trying to prevent her from being overwhelmed off the bat. Kinger even reminded Ragatha that she took a long time to adjust to the Circus. You could argue that Ragatha was projecting on Pomni, but I disagree with the sentiment that it was an ulterior motivation for validation or praise. She also doesn’t seem to want to think that people hate her, not out of low-esteem or deep desires for companionship but out of fear of isolation. She tells Pomni in Episode 3 that the others (barring Jax for obvious reasons) do care about Pomni, a sentiment echoing Kinger’s earlier statement about making people believe they’re not wanted being the worst thing you can do in this world. Ragatha (again to me and my interpretation) wants to be a support for everyone and wants to be reliable, but fears or worries that no one will do so for her in return. So she keeps being “Positive ☺️” so that she doesn’t think about the fear that no one cares about her in the circus. One could also argue that Ragatha believes in a “if we dwell negatively for too long we’ll abstract, so we can’t be negative for too long” mentality. Like Gangle said “I love [Ragatha]…but sometimes it can be hard to tell when she’s being genuine”. She’s not saying that Ragatha is never genuine with her positivity, it’s that sometimes you can tell that Ragatha is just smiling through the pain and suffering and she’s projecting her fears of the negative emotions onto others.
A detail I’d like to point out about Gumigoo remembering Pomni is where Gangle confronts her and she says “but it’s… Gumigoo… can’t the job wait a little bit?” somewhere around that point, Gumigoo looks taken aback and he tries to reach out a bit, making me think he definitely does remember
I find it interesting that when jax tossed ragatha in the deep frier, gangle doesn't even try to help her, but rather just seemes happy about jax being punnished later. The characters can't die, but as we saw in the pilot, they still feel pain. Through the whole episode it looks like rather than helping, she enjoys seeing others being as miserable as she feels
You could say that Pomni saved Gangle from abstracting when she was about to close up, going by the static and the weakened vision and Gangles state of mind at that point
Gummigoo remembering Pomni but not telling her would fit his character, since in he did keep the truth about being NPCs from Chad and Max in ep 2, especially if he’s afraid that telling Pomni he remembers could lead to him getting exploded by Caine again.
12:26 It's most likely a joke on Truck-Kun, which is, too, a joke, because in animes, mostly isekais, the protagonist gets ran over by a truck. Which appears a lot more than one would expect.
Gangle’s va theorized that the dog character seen among the former resident doors may have suggested the restaurant as you can see it make a brief cameo on the menu above the counter top.
The scariest thing about gangle's story is that she didn't have any control of her life even before being trapped on the circus If after the episode she somehow escaped, her life wouldn't improve as much anyone would expect
I really loved this episode. Gangle was already my favorite character, but this was just fantastic for me. Especially the scene where gangle looks outside where she sees stars and when she looks up and beatiful music plays before she almost gets hit by the truck. It made me so emotional. I loved it.
the gimmick with jax is that he pushes people away. He puts up a jerk persona and is generally just really mean and rude. Pomni retracts opening up to him because Jax's jerk persona is working. Pomni is wary of him and expects opening up to him to result in her getting hurt, so she puts her guard up. But Jax in that moment was more or less just completely exhausted and probably really could have benefitted from a real talk
9:53 thats really harsh wording for a character whos very obviously a people pleaser to her own detriment. i dont think shes consciously manipulating people, she just hates conflict.
Honestly, I don’t think this episode can be any more both entertaining *and* relevant than this one. 😅 And while, most people have interpretations of this episode, I’d say it’s related to both antidepressants and depression itself.
People willingly enter the circus for money and/or volunteer as members of the project, I think. Gangle was likely in it for the money so she could afford to pursue her dreams as an artist or just to get out of fast food management.
one thing: manic episodes usually last weeks to months, so this wasn;t one, it would've lasted longer while gangle was "manic" not even for the whole day. I think it's more just masking when you're depressed and trying to overcompensate than actually being manic.
16:07 I interpret Ragatha's comment differently. She says "No offense, but you are kinda annoying when you're wearing your happy mask." Plenty of Tubers intepret this is not liking Gangle when she is happy, but I believe it is more that Ragatha is aware that the happy mask is just a mask, and she prefers Gangle when she is being genuine, even if genuine is sad.
Something to note about mania: it often feels phenomenal, even with the irritability. A sense of euphoria or wellbeing is a common symptom. This isn't true of everyone who experiences it, of course. My first sign of a swing is not having/noticing my normal pain levels and being happier than normal, even when I am also being quicker to anger and slower to forgive than normal. It can consequently discourage people from seeking needed medical help and/or taking their meds. I know I'd stay in my hypomanic state if I could and have intentionally not asked for stabilizers outside of my antidepressants.
For me, it’s actually having energy and being productive for once 💀. That or being really freakin weird all of a sudden. I’m kinda torn on my mania. I almost feel more comfortable depressed even though it’s just as irrational as my manic state. The impulsivity scares me. I agree though, hypo manic is the best lmao
@justkittensbeingkittens5892 oh yeah I lump the energy/productivity under "not feeling as sick as I am" since even going for a walk is an achievement for me most of the time. This most recent bout had me buy a cheap treadmill that will either be excellent for me or a waste of $100, but that was cash I already had earmarked as disposable income so no real harm done.
i wonder if gangle's encounter with truck kun was really accidental. i've got bipolar disorder, and sometimes, when im in that stage of coming down from mania and reentering depression... sometimes i fantasize about doing exactly that, dancing my way into the front of a speeding car. especially after a long and bad work day
Gummygoo didn't look like that because he remembered, it's because he thought he was being stalked If a stranger called you by your name then tried to talk with you, you wouldn't be too chill about the whole thing, would you?
I think pomni changing her mind was her realising Jax's "how are you" isn't genuine and he just wanted to vent by her saying "how about you?", at least that's how I interpreted it
I think Caine is slowly bugging out, like how a program starts to glitch when given too much information or tasks. Because before this episode we didn't see TOO much glitching from Caine besides Episode 3’s near system crash moment (brought on by an existential crisis) and Episode 1’s “blue-screen” effect. Maybe all the abstracted characters in the cellar is starting to take up too much “storage” so to speak, add onto that the information/instructions he's being given by the cast then we can potentially see a system clean out. Like how a system sometimes empties out the memories/storage to make room for more…maybe that's what happened to Jax’s room? Like it got deleted to make room for MORE assets, MORE adventures? Or maybe that's what's really happening to characters who abstract! The system gets rid of “unnecessary characters” to make room for more!
What if jax has void cracks inside his room and he doesn't actually go inside his because of that.Maybe Jax knows of the Void the best out of all of them,And actually know how the copies can escape the circus.But is keeping them in check because he actually wants to stay in the circus and doesnt want to be alone when they leave.
18:02 yeah, this episode really cemented Ragatha as an archetypal type 2 character. Her self-esteem is held up by twigs and twine, and she's "helping" so she can feel worth something. I'm curious how things will go for her.
my personnal theory is that the suggestion was from Jax, because i feel like jax doesn't "hate" her, and might have known her before coming to the circus, maybe a fan of her works as a comic artist. Gangle wouldn't want to relive those days, as she is never truly "happy" while working at that job.
Watching this episode alone made me quickly pick up that viewers are supposed to pause this show and go through it frame by frame to find some deeper meaning. Maybe I just have a pancake for a brain, but I find I enjoy this series much more if I just consume the surface level story given to me. I love all the theories surrounding the show, but I don't really get stuck on things like “who are they really?” “How did they end up in the digital circus?” “Are they all monsters?” Mind you this is the first episode I watched FULLY, so I admit I could just missing out on a lot stuff here and will keep an open mind to anyone. If anyone’s curious, Cane, Gangle and Jax are my favorites so far! Also how the hell could Ragatha stand to be in the deepfrier that long? She must be made out of stern stuff! Also our boy Gummigoo (hope I got his name right) is back! I think though it's suggested he's a clone. Cane also sounds like I could voice him if I tried really hard! Okay sorry for the rant, this show was just WAY better than even how good I thought it would be and needed to let it all out! I'll leave a suggestion in the box next time ;)
You can enjoy a series however you want. With the release schedule it gives people more time to stew on things, the little meanings behind it are placed there for a reason. It’s a show that can be enjoyed by anyone but is the type of show that has meaning below the surface. (It is inspired by ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’ and created by Gooseworx who is very familiar with creating animations around existential dread.)
@@BalancedtheScales thanks, I kinda feel like an idiot because I didn't realize the cast were all either VR-people or copies of the people who wore the headsets (didn't watch the pilot yet) and didn't realize how deep this show got until Notty pointed it out.
@@superlagbro192 huh, really? But why would Ragatha then choose to stay in the vat that long if she's feeling pain the whole time? She was in there for quite a while and Jax was just a little bit of a (I can't say) for throwing her in there.
Honestly, you're doing just as well watching it like that. Maybe even better. Most of us just have too much of a "FNaF theorist" bone in us that forces us to find every single secret and possible answer. But we should really realize that this is a series first, and a hidden puzzle later. Heck, maybe it's not even that much of a hidden puzzle. So far, the series has been very direct with the stories it wants to tell us, and everything else are mostly references and background details that are either funny or curious. The most important part are the character interactions, that's where much of the nuance is. Plus, we know they don't have amnesia about their lives, or about the world they came from, only about their name really, maybe even names from other people they knew. If they don't talk much about their prior lives, maybe it's simply their choice.
Something I wanna bring up about Ragatha is that she appears to be a huge people-pleaser. When faced with a stressful situation, people will resort to one of four options: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Fawn is the adoption of people pleasing behavior in order to de-escalate a situation. It seems that Ragatha has this mask of constant cheer and kindness in order to make everyone like her.
Jax is different in episode 2 because of the setting Jax is a character that loves chaos and fun, but most importantly dreads the consequences of his actions. It's why, in episode 2, he's completely off-the-walls; its an adventure where nothing matters, and the only goal is to catch the bad guy through any means nessesary. He has the same thing in this episode when shoving Ragatha into the deep fryer... BEFORE GANGLE ADDS STAKES. he's bored, but as soon as messing around results in punishment, he stops and becomes... "normal". In my mind he's a perfect representation of intrusive thoughts; he does what he wants, when he wants... unless there's enough pushback to convince him to stay in line
14:27 I’ve seen some comments saying that if it weren’t for Pomni closing up for her, Gangle might’ve abstracted in the adventure (specifically in the part right before Pomni tells her that she can leave early)
I have a theory about it all. Everyone who enters the Circus did so willingly in order to literally “run off to join the circus”. All of them hated their lives and wanted to change themselves into who they truly wanted to be… But it’s a monkey’s paw situation. Kinger could have been a programmer that wasn’t as important or respected in his job as a debugger, so he wanted to be a king. He’s turned into a king chess piece, the biggest liability in chess and made fun of constantly. Gangle wanted to finally be able to finally stop acting and be herself. She’s turned into a set of fragile theatre masks that she has to use to display her actual emotions… And she always ends up only able to use one. Zooble wasn’t comfortable with their own body, so they wanted to have one they could make into something that they could feel comfortable in. Zooble now has a body they hate even more with mismatched parts without a single one they feel fits. (Theory) Ragatha wanted to escape her life of expectations that came with being born into a rich family and having to not say anything against them, so she wanted to have herself be anything but what her social status was. She turned into a raggedy doll stitched together and still having to grin and bear things. Jax, the one who Goose says belongs in the Circus most of all, could have been the most miserable of them all and all he wanted was to leave his life to be a cartoon. He becomes a messed up Bugs Bunny and he seems completely fine. (I also think he’s the one who’s ACTUALLY been there the longest and could be the cause of everyone else abstracting) Kaufmo might have been really serious before the Circus, but always had wanted to make people laugh. He went into the Circus and became a clown… But his jokes were pretty bad either way. As for Pomni, I’m not sure. It could be that she entered the Circus with information that the people inside were miserable, so she had the desire of wanting to help them. She became a jester as a result, which are associated with putting on a show to make others feel happy (or be the butt of the joke). This is all a theory though, so it might not be true in the end.
A lot of people say gangle has bpd since almost anything can throw her mood off violently.. but it’s never the other way around. She ALWAYS starts happy but almost anything can throw her into sadness and sulking that takes forever to heal over. It’s just really bad depression and god I’ve felt the feeling of waking up happy but one minor inconvenience sends me into a spiral where I’m just a depressed husk on the inside pretending “no I’m still happy :D”
20:00 Honestly my thoughts with the Jax+Pomni scene is that Pomni seems very ready to open up to nearly any member of the circus, but She closes up fast when she Realizes Its *Jax* Asking How Shes Doing. Because its JAX. And its Wierd for him to be asking anyone how theyre doing, especially Pomni. I don't think Pomni will be completely against opening up to Jax in the future, but I do think in this moment shes questioning his intentions, unable to recognize that he does seem to be fully genuine in that moment because of how he typically behaves. Can't wait til we get to the Jax focussed episode bc this one really showed some cracks in his asshole walls imo. Like hes known everyone hates him of course but like its Really setting in. Especially with him experiencing Gangle "getting back at him" to an extent. That hes genuine to Pomni in that brief moment because shes the newest and thus the least likely to hate him w/ her entire being. Only to be met with immediate closing of the door. Even if you want to think he revels in people disliking him, thats gotta hurt coming right after Ragatha point blank saying she Hates Him, something she doesnt hide but never really Flat Out Says.
So Gooseworx has said that the gang only has selective amnesia of stuff like their names and not life stuff. I think that C/A or whatever group runs the circus wiped their brains of anything that could be linked to the missing persons cases that likely exist around the gang and could incriminate the company
I know most neurodivergent folks related to this episode😭😭😭 autistic folks mask a LOT and I guess if you wanna look at it from that angle, u guess it shows the more harmful side effects of masking
Ya know since everyone is a circus member what are their roles in the circus? (Headcannons btw) Caine: Ringmaster Pomni: Fortune Teller Gangle: Ventriloquist Jax: Strongman Ragatha: Aerialist Zooble: Contortionist Kinger: Freak Kaufmo: Clown Bubble: also clown.
I've always thought Ragatha's kindness was a bit too peppy. I don't think she's fully fake, but I do think she's holding back her real opinions on the other characters to not seem like the bad guy.
There is a common trope in anime/manga that basically goes as: life is boring, walk into road, accident get hit by truck, change. Basically it represents change, heard somewhere that a good bit of The Digital Circus fandom being Japanese, dunno if thats factual. (Fun fact it’s known as truck-kun ^^)
TO BE FAIR For the ragatha scene She said "No offense but you're kinda annoying when you have your happy mask" Which is definitely not the same as "You're annoying when you're happy" And also The old mask is the comedy mask The new mask is the happy mask She was saying that she didn't like gangle's new mask It's still not the best but it's not "You're annoying when you're happy"
Another interesting detail is the Halloween 3 reference in the “Training Video” with Gangle’s masks flashing onscreen. Halloween 3 is about an evil toymaker making masks that kill the wearer when viewing a program. Episode 4 is also about masks both physically and metaphorically not ones that kill the wearer, but definitely how they aren’t healthy or are doing more harm than good
This episode resonated with me the most because I worked retail and some dialogue in this echoed things I heard at work. I took extra shifts for the money and time was a blur, like I couldn't recall if something happened a day or a week ago. And I had times where I wanted to snap, but the others working were as supportive as they could be. I was offered a supervisor position and was so glad I didn't take it. Whoever worked on the script definitely has personal experience.
Loved to hear that gangle got a spotlight in this episode cause she interested me the most during the roll call. Idk why, I guess it was the design and the sorta emotional turmoil she’s in intrigued me like “why she like that?” Nice we have an idea now for it, cause thinking you have to abandon your dream to work fast food is really awful…I mean also being trapped somewhere without your original name would also do that but I wanted to know more damn it! Also: 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
this episode reminded me of my childhood and the mental anguish i feel as an adult and how i felt while realizing i didn't enjoy vrchat after multiple years of in game playtime. being alive is hard. having a false grasp of everything all the time, is so, mind-numbingly, terrifying and, overburdening. sometimes. we just need to cry.
I thought for Gangle and the bus it was an isakai reference xDD It was a really interesting episode about masking. And with a partner who worked on a fast-food restaurant he said it was really a good representation about how miserable this sort of place works. Oh and yeah Pomni X Gumigoo. I see the vision of this ship. After all Gumigoo is really the first person who Pomni really bound with. And the tragic part with him being dead, the "what if" he remember something ? It's a delusional thing because yeah of course they will not end up together in the end, but yeah.. 😅 I ship it 😂
Something really weird to tack on is, Jax and Ragatha share a surprising amount design and personality wise. -They are the characters with the sam head shape. -They are the only players who don't have names that are two syllables. (Even the abstracted are all two syllables. Kaufmo, Qeenie, Dobby so on) -They are known to put on smiling personas -The fact Gangle wasn't smiling implies she was scared of what Ragatha did to Jax, implying she just as aggressive as he is, under the right circumstances.
About pomni and jax (or in this case pomni almost opening up to jax) i feel like she was just weirded out by jax actually asking how she was, because literally all of his actions till now shows that he really has no care for anyone, not even himself
For reference with the scene where Gangle was allegedly hit by a truck; it's a common trope for the start of isekai stories. It could be a metaphor for her love of manga & escapism.
The amount of characters acting and looking different especially in the trailer made me 90% sure it was gonna be a freaky Friday episode and I was so glad it wasn’t. Especially the teaser with him at the drive thru and his name tag clearly didn’t say “Jax”
I don’t know if this is bad but during the scene where Gang runs into the street played and the happy music played, I kind of just assumed she was suicidal at first until it was implied she tripped
Ngl I loved this episode. Gangle is quickly catching up to Zooble as my favorite character. Especially the parking lot scene, that hit me on a weirdly personal level. With the way things are going, I almost wonder if it’s a sort of infinity train situation. Spoilers for a show that no longer exists 😢, but people get put on the train and meet wacky characters to do therapy until they get off is the basic concept. Especially with the ‘circus’ theming, I wonder if maybe the whole thing was advertised as some sort of escape from reality, where you can forget your troubles and go on fun adventures. That’s maybe a bit too speculative though.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours so far! The commentary and in depth analysis of the characters is so good and I was so hooked and into the episode I didn't even consider most of these points. This episode also made me think deeper about how people got their bodies. Perhaps Zooble experienced body dysphoria before the circus and this body was formed to help them cope and face it. Gangle may have faced this type of depression in her life and this body with two literal masks is meant to help her cope and face her masking. I'm not sure how the others tie into this though 🤔
My guess for the plot of Episode 5- The new "adventure" is some sort of volunteering activity (soup kitchen, trash pickup, packing food into boxes to give to people who can't afford food, mentoring kids, disaster relief, maybe even a charity drive for a social cause, etc.). It's going to be Ragatha's focus episode, and Gangle might sit it out. The group, minus Jax, of course, actually enjoys this adventure for a change, despite them not helping any real people, because it feels good to be helping NPCs. Ragatha in particular really cares about doing a good job. But not every NPC is as grateful for her help and kindness as she wants, something Jax picks up on. Jax then goes out of his way to be seen as nicer and more likeable than Ragatha, which is the kind of Jax meanness that will probably be played for next-to-no laughs this time, because all of Jax's significant meanness so far has been absurd cartoonish physical violence, but now he's committing outright psychological warfare, targeting Ragatha's desire to be seen as a good and nice person and getting people to not see her as one. Ragatha complaining about it makes Pomni and even Zooble say that Ragatha is really putting a downer on things by being so negative. The combination of the NPCs' ungratitude, Jax actively trying to target her self-identification as a good and nice person and using it against her, and even Pomni and Zooble starting to believe that she's not truly a nice person makes Ragatha snap and scream at everyone about all of the things they do that annoy her- the NPCs' ungratitude and, in the case of ones like the Gloink Queen, bizarre behavior, Zooble's grouchiness, Kinger's disconnect from reality, Gangle being annoying when she's happy, Caine being a dangerous AI that kidnaps and psychologically tortures people for no apparent reason, and Pomni for supposedly thinking she's better than everyone else in the circus. As for Jax, Ragatha would either call out his Jax-ness in a way that actually emotionally affects him, setting up the sixth episode being his focus episode, or they'd do something like in the Simpsons episode where Ned Flanders calls out how terrible everyone in Springfield is after they do a terrible job rebuilding his house after it's destroyed in a hurricane, and he simply says that Homer is the worst person he's ever met, letting Homer feel like he got off easy, and maybe the same thing would happen with Ragatha and Jax. Or maybe both, like there's a pause between the "Jax, you are the worst person I have ever met" part and the actual "reason you suck" speech that makes Jax briefly think he got off easy. Ragatha telling off Caine leaves some more permanent cracks in the circus' digital infrastructure, and it ends on the show's first full downer ending, just like with some other episodes going in the opposite of their expected trajectory (the horror episode turning out to be one of the most heartfelt ones, the breather episode at the fast food restaurant turning out to be the darkest and most adult episode yet from a psychological standpoint, and now, the episode where they're volunteering having probably the least heartwarming ending of all of the episodes. If anything, I do think that Ragatha turning into a figurative or literal monster because of her kindness going unappreciated sounded almost confirmed by Gooseworx, so it will be about how Ragatha isn't necessarily fake-nice, but still puts too much value on being seen as nice by the rest of the group.
Gooseworx has said directly that they remember almost everything from their life before the circus. They just don't remember their names and a couple of other small details
They really suck at communicating that because no one knows that but them apparently
@@lostmonkey To be fair talking too much about their old lives might cause them to get depressed and want to get out of the circus more which as we saw through Kaufmo's abstraction is a dangerous mindset to have
To be fair, they never said they don't remember anything of their lives either, but I can see why people make the erroneous assumption.
If on episode one pomni already remembered how she got there
@JorgeLuiz487 and that ALL she indicated she remembered. The desk and putting on the headset.
Pomni was suspicious that Jax was having a normal conversation with her instead of just insulting her, asking her how she was doing and that he'll see her later after he washes the dishes. Either Gangle's training video had an affect on him, or he was just too tired to keep up the mean persona. When Jax clocks out, he puts on his usual smile, but then he drops it as soon as he exits the restaurant.
Aye, I noticed that as well. He keeps his jerk face for as long as he feels like it, as much as possible when he's with others. This day was just too much for him tho 😅
Yeah, probably being an asshole is how he faces the situation. I personally don't think that most of his actions are justified, but he seems to be someone that hides his desperation behinds all that edginess.
At any rate, he was terrified during the video.
I found the training video very relatable despite not relating to Jax. Being traumatically "trained" for your mistakes reminds me of my experiences with school, and being rather different after it reminds me as well.
One detail about Ragatha being a little looser and less filtered I like is that right after she says Gangle is annoying with her happy mask she questions herself on if that was innapropriate to say. I think people are a little off the mark with her. it's not that she puts on a phony optimist and caring attitude all the time, it's that she doesn't really know how to talk about the stuff that gets on her nerves with the others. She can get mad at Jax easy enough sure, he hits back just as hard. But even with jax she still doesn't want him to hate her, as stated this episode. She craves validation and so she doesn't want to risk her relationships with others because she said something too mean to them. I can understand that
Yeah, I also think people are being too harsh on her. I think really wants the others to feel good, but that doesn't mean she don't have some bad thoughts that she could not exactly be hiding, but fending off when they come.
But, tbh, I think it's too early to be certain of anything. It can go either way depending on what the next episodes will present to us.
Yeah same having negative thoughts or opinions about people doesn’t mean that you don’t care or that’s completely how you really feel you can genuinely care and be annoyed by some things about them I think she is genuinely nice just complex like everyone
You talking about Rags or me. I need a clarification.
Yeah in my view, Ragatha seems to be afraid of making people she cares about upset, such as her friends. So she avoids being honest about how she feels about certain things they do that bother her.
@lemonboy2001: Spot on analysis. People love to hammer home how the thoughts inside are what make a real person (like how if a person gets drunk, their real thoughts come out). What they also seem to forget is that our filters are also a part of who we are. We deliberately choose what to tactfully say to others out of respect or courtesy. Saying whatever’s on our mind with no thought of consequence can be refreshing to some, but it also has the potential to hurt others, as Ragatha easily demonstrates in her impaired state. People really need to give more credit to Ragatha for how much she tries, rather than prosecuting her for not meaning everything she says.
Oddly enough, I think that the dancing in the parking lot then getting transported to cain is a reference to a trop in a Japanese meta about people getting hit by a bus and then transported to a new world.
Truck-kun strikes against
Finally found the comment that explained the truck scene.
Maybe it's a man-made heaven? A test run for the afterlife made by man? Maybe we are slowly seeing how they die and what they were doing when they died?
I forgot that one Amazon show with a computerized afterlife and the guy not accepting it.
Another trope in Isekai is how the protagonist is sometimes an overworked adult who feels unfulfilled with their life and gets the chance to start over in a new world (eg. “Overlord” or “I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level”), which would certainly apply to someone like Gangle. If she did get into a vehicle accident in her past life, she could’ve wound up bedridden from her injuries. Maybe Gangle put on a certain gaming headset to forget about her situation and help pass the time.
Truck kun strikes again
I think Gangle wanted this adventure because of the familiarity, but also nostalgia.
She may have been in the circus long enough that she forgot the tough parts about working in service industries. Instead she was going off the good memories of the job; probably the structure, authority, and routine.
Agreed!
Also, she was a manager. A situation where she felt like she'd be in control.
It was when she realized she was losing control of the situation, that she started to really snap.
@@BeeGeenie Not necessarily losing control, but rather not having the type of control she would've liked. She can make them do tasks, but she couldn't change how they would've reacted to her making them do said task, or how they would perceive her for it. What broke her wasn't the fact that she couldn't control them, she was always able to up until they clocked off, but the fact of how they outright give her signs or tell her that they view her negatively after bossing them around (i.e the mask crack scenes)
@@BlankedOutSlate I meant more control of her situation. The fast food place was familiar, a place where she felt in control.
Something else to consider: "stupid sauce" isn't a thing and there was no reason to bring Gummy-goo into the scenario. Did Caine sabotage them, and start drama deliberately to f*** with Gangle and her nice, mundane adventure? 🤔
20:05 I think this was more shock from Pomni then anything. I mean Jax called her by her name and asked her a genuine question without any kind of quip or taunt. And Pomni obviously never expected that from Jax of all people, hence the pause
I agree!
Exactly, it seemed like Jax was so worn down that he briefly forgot to be actively mean - so, for just a second, he and Pomni were just two people trying to survive their day together. But then Pomni remembers it's JAX™ and her walls go back up.
People need to loosen up on Ragatha.
Poor girl is, I think, one of the elder characters, and its clear her trauma response is to keep everyone together and getting along. She acts like a traumatized child in an abusive household who needed to feed, care, and nurture all their younger siblings. Everyone in this show is traumatized in a way, and they react and response in their own way.
Just because she tries to be nice to everyone and is clearly frustrated when people dont react the same doesn't mean shes a two faced backstabber.
Ragatha is the mom friend with her own issues, but since she’s so focused on caring for everyone else’s emotions and needs she tosses her own on the back burner (probably a coping trait she learned growing up) so I’m 100% with you people need to loosen on her, she’s not two faced just very self sacrificing. Only when someone is mean or she’s off filter does she really speak her mind, she clearly struggles with admitting her needs/feelings.
Shed rather be mildly annoyed and make someone happy than ruin their mood! Maybe not healthy, but certainly not two faced
If we go back to the 2nd episode, her first few dialogues with Pomni was about how "she doesn't blame her for abandoning her for the exit and there's no hard feelings." I don't really see her as being a backstabber, at least not yet depending on the future episodes, but the fact of the matter is that she still is two-faced. She hides her feelings and plays it off into something positive but often comes across as a backhanded insult, I can see why Gangle wouldn't necessarily trust her when it comes to wanting comfort over her troubles since it can get intoxicating dealing with a person that comes off as disingenuous. I thought people would've understood by now that we shouldn't keep using trauma as an excuse for how someone behaves, or how people would see that person in-spite of it due to what they do, regardless of if it's trauma or not the fact still is is that it's toxic in the long run.
This isn't to say you shouldn't bottle things up sometimes, it _is_ a saying that often times "ignorance is bliss," but with how she went about it from what I mentioned previously, it definitely does feel like she gives those backhanded comments sometimes, and with the 1st episode how she got caught "fake-laughing" at Kaufmo's jokes, she's not very good at trying to hide her actual feelings but with how she goes about it, becomes more insulting than if she just told them how she felt for those specific regards.
Also their ages Zooble and Jax are both 22, Pomni 25, Gangle 26, Raghata 30 and Kinger 48! She must be tired too
I think ragatha seems to have more of a toxic positivity filter ,rather than being a two faced lair. After telling gangle how she really felt she said “was that to mean?”.
And to that extent, this kinda behavior tends to come from a well honed history of trauma- Its not actually just Fight or Flight, its Fight, Flight, Freeze of Fawn, and all this peacekeeping is just what happens when someone has had to fawn all their life to keep abusers from going off.
Think of how good she is at managing Jax and folks near abstraction. Or when she's wronged in general- that total lack of ANY retaliatory response at all is beyond patience, its to an unhealthy degree
@ I bet you in her episode all her true emotions well come to the surface.
Tbh sometimes people pleasers can be two faced, but she's not.
So basically what you're saying is that Ragatha was a Concord developer?
Checks out.
19:37
There is a moment in the episode where Jax is forced to smile when being pressed up against a TV and he asks
"Nobody can see this right?"
There's also a moment where Jax leaves the building while smiling and making snarky remarks about the adventure, but then right after he leaves where no one sees him, his grin quickly turns into a frown.
His top priority is to look confident and to not show any vulnerability.
He's insecure about showing emotions.
.... He's also a rabbit. A prey animal which directly contradicts the persona he puts on... .
@@unicornsandmilkshakes And hes also purple, and his teeth are always clenched, and..... more symbolism.
One thing to note about Gummigoo is that his intelligence is notably much more advanced than anything Cain has made so far. When he fell out of bounds in episode 2, it took him very little time to figure out that he was some sort of "stock" while Pomni and the others were not and was able to understand Pomni's explanation very clearly. With this sharp of an intelligence, the fact that Pomni mentions his name to Gangle, and Gummigoo suddenly is shocked and suddenly wants to say something is likely him realizing that if she knows his name when he never gave it, she must know him from "somewhere else". When she greets him again as he's leaving, he remains polite and that same confusion is lingering before she stops short of mentioning that she knows him and just wishes him a good day, and while he thanks her, we see that same lingering issue is stuck on his face.
1:31, if you look closely Jax actually looks up after swinging the bat until Ragatha screams JAX! This might indicate that it was an accident and that he was looking where he expected the ball to be after the swing
His whole 'oh shit' expression shows that it was even more. If Jax wanted to hit gangle he'd have his classic shit eating grin
He even say he didn’t mean to do that in a very sincere tone, before ragatha even starts yelling.
He 100% didn't mean to actually hit her but it seems like something he would do. So of course she yells at him. Truly he didn't mean to he was expecting it to fly upwards and is pretty shocked when he sees what actually happens
I feel for the Raggidy Ann comment Ragatha made, I feel like it was both a reference and a peek into her life. I can see her being from a rich family due to her mentioning her horses, so I can see her doing tea parties and dance lessons, I think this also why Ragatha is a doll, since a doll's personality and looks are controlled by someone else, like how her family tried to force her to "fit the family image."
Hey it me. This is pretty much my life story, as cliche as it sounds. I wasn’t “multiple horses” rich, but I grew up pretty well off. But all the money in the world wasn’t worth growing up in that home.
You feel like you don’t have a right to complain. Like your own wants and needs don’t matter, because “other people have it so much worse”. All the things, the wealth and toys and gifts that you never even asked for are held over your head. I heard many variations of “you can’t be mad at me for not respecting you as a person or respecting your boundaries because we bought you a thing!! You should be grateful!”
My parents were never physically abusive, but they were extremely controlling, emotionally and verbally abusive. I wasn’t allowed to have opinions. I wasn’t allowed to have emotions. I wasn’t allowed to feel upset or frustrated. My dad would sometimes scream at us for literal days at a time, only really stopping to sleep. My mom was a manipulator, guilt tripping us for expressing anything that wasn’t specifically approved by them. No show of gratitude was ever enough. No amount of fawning over them or bending to their every whim was ever enough, but I spent the first 19 years of my life trying.
I learned to fake overly enthusiastic displays or affection and gratitude. I genuinely care about others, but I do “fake” a lot of my responses and reactions to things. I’m definitely a recovering people pleaser. But it’s never malicious. It just comes from a life of being harshly punished for NOT constantly faking. I still have a hard time telling sometimes what my own thoughts and feeling are and what was deliberately programmed into me
I had a similar upbringing. we were wealthy and while my parents weren’t quite so overt with things like gifts my dad would guilt trip me about providing a roof over our heads and how good we had it. My dad was constantly yelling and my mom flipped flopped between being nice, but also expecting us to act and look certain ways. I was also used as ammo when my parents would have arguments with each other, or maybe i just took that on in order to feel useful. I’ve learned that they both have histories where they were emotionally abused- especially my dad. After he was very sick, I’ve been able to see firsthand how insecure and unsure both he and my mom really are. It doesn’t excuse their behavior, but it helps me to know the why, and how i can start untangling my own knots. I understand Ragatha withholding her true feelings and wanting to be liked, because it’s how i learned to survive too. I also had a phase when I wasn’t nice to my younger siblings and i think that fueled my people pleasing tendencies even more. There’s so much guilt and shame buried beneath this sort of people pleasing, at least for me, but i recognize how it can hurt others now too.
@@etainrooney3259 I relate to that so much. I’ve given my parents so many chances because I know that they too had an abusive upbringing. My father was literally raised in the back of a car with his 3 siblings, and I don’t know much about my mom’s childhood, but just based on how my aunts and uncles act, it wasn’t a good environment for any of them. I spent much of my childhood trying to be the bigger person, playing therapist, hoping that if I could just connect with them, just find the right words, things would get better. We’d reach an understanding and they’d be able to see how they were hurting me.
But all that ever did was make me feel like I was responsible for the emotions of those around me. It turned me into a people-pleaser. It resulted in me valuing other’s emotions and wants over my own well-being. It taught me to police the emotions of those around me (Which I needed pointed out to me in therapy that is a scummy thing to do to people)
Meanwhile my parents just say that I’m ungrateful and use their own trauma to shield themselves from any blame (“well you can’t complain cause I had it worse”). I gave them way too many years trying to be forgiving and be the bigger person, but now it’s up to them to prove to me they deserve my kindness
@@Ryan-vs8pw Your story resonated with me. I'm not sure if the wealth aspect of it is compatible, but the rest of it is. When your parents buy you a thing, they use it as leverage to control you. I had to learn to fake my responses too. Made it hard when I tried to forge connections later on, because not everything is a trick. I hope you find some peace.
@@etainrooney3259 If it means anything to you, I'm glad you understand this now. You've pretty much paved the way for a brighter future already. I doubt any of your parental figures gave themselves this much time to reflect on why they act & behave the way they do. You demonstrated a high-level of self-awareness. This is the key to so many stories where people break free of the cycle. Good job!
12:10 Oh lord you have no idea._. See, Truck-kun is a joke in specifically isakai animes because sometimes the way the main character gets to go to a new fantasy world is by dying by getting hit by a car, specifically a truck. That’s why we have truck-kun
I swear, Truck-kun is EVERYWHERE
Truck-kun has escaped Japan. We are not safe from that psychotic automobile
I am so glad am reading these comments that part I haven't been able to figure out
What draws specific line between truck-kun and the show, instead of being a normal truck, is that Gangle wanted to make an "anime style webcomic". If it was a normal webcomic, then I would call Truck-kun a stretch, but as it stands, its a possibility
While I understand being concerned for Gangle, I think this episode absolves her of future risk. If we're to assume any of the cast are getting abstracted, then there's no way the moments before Pomni offered to close for her weren't Gangle on the verge of abstracting. She was like, inches from the abyss. Pomni and Zooble pulled her out. At this point having Gangle ultimately lose it and be abstracted would be really weird from a storytelling point of view. This was probably the closest we've come to losing a main character, and so far that's not come to be.
Yeah, agreed. Unless something happens and EVERYONE starts abstracting, Gangle wouldn't be the one I'd put my bets on.
Right now, I thing those who have more chance of abstracting are ones without an episode dedicated to them: Ragatha and Jax. As shown in this episode, Ragatha has a lot of thoughts that she keep supressed, what can be a problem on a long run. Jax, in the other hand, was pushed out his asshole persona for the first time, which can be just a thing of this episode or a sign that he's getting exausted of the Circus.
Also, far behind the others, I don't discart Kinger yet. He's still not sane, and it would be really impactful for Pomni to see him abstrating, probably more than any other character right now.
@@Zecteiroplus he get to see his wife again
@@Zecteiro 100% Jax. Note how no one checked or cheered him up in this episode qhere he was miserable. That is purely his fault because he pushes everyone away.
He is digging a hole from which no one will pull him out.
@@Zecteiro I get the impression abstraction occurs when they collapse in introspection and depression.
Kinger might be nuts but his memory lapses mean he cant obsess about the past or escape, its always now.
he's always in a good mood.
His mental state might have collapsed but its impossible for a heap of rubble to collapse any further, he's virtually abstraction proof. Thats why he's been there so long
Ragatha is the perfect depiction of a people pleaser, often you are not the victim but rather manipulative. I would not be surprised if we see a crash out episode soon
That episode might just be the next one since it’ll be her episode
I think Ragatha and Jax might have a joint episode where they both have to acknowledge their own "masks". The way Jax is outwardly mean but seems to care deeply and how Ragatha is outwardly friendly but inside probably finds the others frustrating or annoying makes them seem more like narrative foils of each other after this episode. They're both hiding a side that slipped out this episode, just a little.
I do like Gangle's "Manic" mask looks far more animated than her usual comedy/tragedy masks. It felt uncanny to me. Like "this isn't the Gangle I know"
My only caveat for the video is that Gangle never said she was a fast food restaurant manager, she said she was a shift manager, making it more general. Which to me, signals that there still is a possibility that she was a manager at C&A , and that bit about having dreams of being a cartoonist still applies.
True, but 'shift managers' is usually a term used for people working in the restaurant business. Not only that, Gangle knows exactly how they run, so I think that's definitely where she was. If she was working in an IT company creating something like the circus, I don't think she'd be so down on her dreams never coming true.
True, and she might have branched out to do that when she needed money, but the episode made a whole sequence of showing that Gangle knows her way around the specific fast-food machines and their settings, even making sure to show her blindly finding a switch on the BACK of a machine without looking, like she's done this 1000 times before and already knows it's there. So at the very least, she WAS in fast food at some point.
Funny how in the Pilot, Jax commented he thought Kinger would be the next one to Abstract, when it seems like without Pomnis influence Gangle would have been the next one to Abstract
I think Jax meant this because of Queenie abstracting and Kinger acting far differently afterwards.
Zooble was the one who thought Kinger was the next to Abstract, not Jax
9:50
As someone who identifies pretty strongly with Ragatha, that's pretty harsh.
If we got this episode in a vacuum, there would be a bit more justification for framing her behavior as malicious. Her motives would be ambiguous, because she _could_ be a sociopath, or it could be a defensive mechanism because she is desperately afraid of people not liking her.
Back in episode one, her 'two-faced sponge who sugarcoats everything' act doesn't drop even when she is in what is implied to be _excruciating physical pain._
At that point the motivation for her actions doesn't really matter - either she's a kind-hearted person who has an incredibly low opinion of herself, or has a pathological fear of rejection so deep that it can drive her actions even through intense pain.
Either one points to her being just as traumatized as everyone else, and if Jax gets a pass for being a malicious asshat to everyone because it's a coping mechanism (and it really does seem to be) then Ragatha ought not be condemned for being kind to everyone out of a pathological fear of being disliked.
realll
I think it's probably somewhere in the middle. One thing a professor taught me in my brief college days was that people here in the US have manners instilled into 'em from birth. Because of that, it can be hard to tell when someone is being genuinely nice or just "being polite" as they say. For Ragatha, she could be both genuinely nice to a degree, but is also using it as a form of coping. Maybe the next episode could her patience pushed to it's limits, and she could have an outburst where all the negative emotions she's bottled up could finally get let out. I could also be totally off the mark, but I really can't wait to see what happens!
heard a theory that gangle didn’t choose to be put in the circus, but rather was struck by a vehicle and was mangled so badly that only her mind was really left (possibly a coma situation but i don’t think so). she probably agreed to put on the headset bc she wanted her body back, and a digital one was the next best option. this to me looks mirrored in her character design; her entire body is just looped ribbon and the only thing of real substance is her mask, the head. if this were true, she wouldn’t need to be associated w/ the tech company at all to be put into the circus.
As someone who is autistic, I can’t help but see some autism coding with Gangle, specifically about masking. Masking is where more “higher functioning” autistic people intentionally hide their neurodivergent traits to appear “normal”, often to their detriment. Not to mention that Autistic people can also have Bipolar disorder so this makes me think that Gangle is quite literally is masking.
Also, the Truck thing is an isekai anime where the MC gets hit by a truck and transported to a fantasy world, hence Gangle immediately appearing in Cains office after tripping into traffic and getting hit.
I was looking for this comment. Neurodivergent people often have to mask at work, and the relief at taking off the mask when the day ends was very resonant.
The parking lot scene is more of a reference to a trope for isekai anime, in those it's common to have someone die (typically by being hit by a truck) and then get transported to another more fantastical world, gangle gets hit by a truck and is wisked to the fantasy world of the digital circus
The part of this episode that breaks me a little bit on every rewatch is Gangle's "Why are you asking me? I'm closing tonight..." The delivery is so sad, poor girl is so exhausted emotionally yet also determined to keep her responsibility fulfilled, she's not even mad necessarily but just... I don't even know but it hurts to watch every time :(
Yeah, hearing that Gangle, one of the shyest characters, held a leadership position at some point was nice. Helps build her character more.
Plenty of folks have explained the Truck-Kun Isekai thing, but I'll elaborate and say, specifically, that the ending was a deconstruction of the Anime nerd notion that being Isekai'd would solve all their problems.
The reality is, Gangle DID get swept away into a life of eternal adventure. One has to wonder if they're trying to imply she somehow even willingly joined the circus, considering everything. Is it a storytelling fault or something that will become clear in hindsight?
But we see that being isekai'd fixed nothing in the end, because the problem that makes them so unhappy is their inner turmoil. A Weeb's worst nightmare
One last thing about Ragatha: while she's looking for the horseradish sauce, she says she misses her horses. So that's definitely another piece of life before the circus that someone remembers. Honestly, I think it was confirmed they remember most of their life from before the circus, they just don't remember names. Rags may have been a country girl with a ranch, a farm vet, or at the very least someone who tends to horses. Maybe her needy nature comes from her background of tending to animals that needed her help? Who knows.
Regarding Jax in this episode, especially his scene with Pomni... man, I dunno how you missed what it meant, but alright. Pomni at this point knows enough of Jax to understand that he's not a kind or nice guy, she knows enough of him, and has been subjected to enough of his antics, to know he's not someone to engage with lightly, and that he messes with everyone when the chance occurs.
...but this episode has been heck for the leoprine man. No chances for antics weighs down on him like a box of dumbells, and that moment of "employee reevaluation" was definitely rough on him. He's spent. He can't even bring himself to attempt to be a jerk, not like he can do it in this adventure anyways.
And so... he lets up his own mask. He probably doesn't even notice jt. He's actually decently civil to Pomni. And she's _not_ used to it. That's why I think she reacts like that, she was about to say the register was actually manageable, like she would say if she was talking with anyone else that asked about how she was doing... until she realizes it's with Jax that she's talking. It was him that deliberately asked her how she was. The jerk rabbit man that seldom does anything without the intent to prank or insult. Of course she's suspicious, anyone else would be (Zooble especially).
The end of the day, when the shift ends, he leaves and goes back to his smug attitude... only to drop the smile as soon as he's outside. No one's looking at him. He gets into... his car? Ok, I guess they have cars in this adventure. But not before bonking his head on the wheel, that's the action of a man who's absolutely done with that day, no filters. That's the most genuine side we've seen of him, and for the longest too.
This thing of him not being seen by others while vulnerable seems to be a big thing with Jax actually... he tries to make sure no one's seeing him when he's being "handled" by Gangle during the training tape, he definitely seems to be very mindful about how he appears to others, within what's at his control at least. It's like he deliberately wants to appear as a jerk to everyone, a tough wise guy that can crack one whenever he wants, without care for others' well being. But we saw now that his mask ain't a flawless one.
Ragatha and Jax having some weird I-hate-you-and-I-can-be-honest-about-it relationship can make sense if she doesn't want him to hate her if she is lonely, since there's real irritation there, she's wants closeness to someone and she kinda has that with him most. Also noticing their colors match, her hair matches his trousers and his fur? matches her dress
I think Jax came after Kinger and Queenie and Ragatha came after Jax. Kinger and Queenie of course would turn to each other naturally, leaving Jax and Ragatha with each other. Familiarity breeds contempt but they have that forced camaraderie where they don't want to be around each other but need each other.
@angrytheclown801
Could be familiarity breeds contempt, especially if your trapped in a digital land, people can get on each other's nerves easily, could also be that she just hates how he can be
😳
personally, the one I'm more worried about is actually Jax for a few reasons
1: everyone else feels a bit too obvious, and of them Jax seems to be the most "put together" with the exception of Ragatha, who also showed a slight existential episode in episode 1.
2: in the horror episode, Kinger talks about how having connections, having someone you can lean on actually helps a lot when it comes to keeping yourself together in TADC. Jax is the only character who doesn't seem to have any real friends in the circus and his constant antics alway keep him from making any. He's someone people only really tolerate, yet this episode and episode 2 shows us that when he's in a position where he'd express his deeper feelings (his reaction when they mention Kafumo's funeral and how he asks if anybody is watching him when he's pulled into the back room to be disciplined.) he rather disengage or not be seen.
3: each episode seems to have a habit of showing Jax in less and less of a good mood compared to the pilot. Episode 1: he was happy and relishing in the chaos he brought. Episode 2: he had express disappointment when the adventure didn't go the way he wanted. Episode 3: he was bound and gagged after sending Pomni and Kinger into Hell and wound up on a less "fun" adventure which he never even got to participate in. Episode 4: shows him in a constantly miserable mood that doesn't go away even after clocking out
Jax being a jerk and a troll is how he copes with being in the circus and also keeps himself from getting hurt when someone he sees as a friend abstracts. He distances himself emotionally form others by being actively antagonistic towards them, but when we do get the Jax episode that shows us his own issues that he's going, we will get a lot of reasons why he acts the way he does towards other. Kinger has the memories of his wife that keeps him going. Ragatha wants to be everyone's friend and seems to have a good bond with Pomni, Gangle and Zooble have each-other, and Pomni is slowly getting less and less stressed and more balanced, even switching roles a bit and winding up as a bit of the "friend who has your back" which she's had in almost every episode to this point. But Jax doesn't have anyone. Nobody likes him, and when he starts to have a crisis of his own, it's possible someone won't even want to reach out to him just because of how bad he's been to everyone, either leading to abstraction or him getting to the threshold of it before someone actually decides to reach out to him despite how he's been acting.
idk, could be talking out my ass on this and I'm not very good at explaining my thoughts, but that's how I feel about it
For Ragatha, I definintely think it's more that it was her unfiltered thoughts, but not ones that she'd mean to a strong degree. Like when anyone has bad thoughts about someone else that they don't say. Ragatha is so high she doesn't even realize that what she's saying is mean.
Another comment about Ragatha's "You're annoying when you're happy" thing that I haven't seen people bring up. I didn't take it as a "two-faced" comment when I watched the episode because I assumed she was referring to this adventure specifically. As we all know, USUALLY Gangle's mask gets broken almost immediately when they're on an adventure. Usually because of Jax. But it's rare that Gangle actually wears the comedy mask for all that long (To our understanding). So this would potentially be the first time she's actually gone an extended period of time wearing the mask, which means Ragatha's first interaction with "happy Gangle" is this overbearing jerk of a shift lead. And this is right after Gangle had JUST got on her case about not working hard enough while she's clearly impaired (Due to unsafe work environment, not like Ragatha chose to get super drunk, or stupid I guess considering the sauce). It seemed more like a gut reaction of "Ya know, I thought being happy would make you feel better, not want tear everyone else down." Just said hella poorly because intoxication.
I agree, while ragatha might keep what annoys her about others to herself, and doesn’t express her needs in an open way (and that’s something that she’s going to have to reckon with) i think it’s totally fair to say that Gangle could be construed as acting annoying with her happy mask in the context of this episode-she was being an overbearing boss. If Gangle was in a better headspace, she might have realized that the comment may be more about how she was acting and not a comment about who she is. Still, Ragatha did word it in the worst way, and the consequence was the loss of Gangle’s trust.
@@etainrooney3259 Yeah, but again, the wording was mostly due to being intoxicated. While people say being intoxicated removes a filter, it also messes with a person's understanding of word choice. I know when I'm drunk, I can't always think of the words I want to use. So I end up using bad ones. Something I dislike ends up being something I hate because I can't think of the word "dislike"
And even right after, Ragatha questioned whether that was what she meant to say. Honestly, I highly doubt Ragatha even remembered the conversation/adventure after she sobered up.
EDIT: Long story short, it's unfair to judge someone on something they say while intoxicated. Because everyone reacts to being intoxicated differently.
@@shaelynmartin1996fwiw, i think this show is lovely that it encourages these types of deep dives! Honestly Ragatha was a little unsettling for me as a character because i can relate to her. I can also relate to Gangle and the monotony of working endlessly at a job that doesn’t fulfill you. It really is developing into such an interesting show!
@@shaelynmartin1996 For the most part, I agree, specifically in this case because it was entirely unintentional that Ragatha became intoxicated. If she were someone that continually sought intoxication, that would be a different story. I do think her intoxication revealed a bit of Ragatha’s inner processes, like vulnerabilities or frustrations she might otherwise suppress, and that’s not a bad thing. More so than judging her, I relate to the feeling of people-pleasing and self-questioning, and I believe Ragatha is likely going to have a moment where she will be made to reflect on that-maybe that’s why I might have come across as harsh because it’s something I have felt about myself.
She may not have meant it, and it would be unfair to condemn her for having a human reaction or expressing it while intoxicated, but it still had the outcome of damaging the relationship she had with Gangle. Hence why I said it was “the worst way” (which was probably a bit of an extreme way to phrase it, still, mb)-not because Ragatha was fully in control and should be judged, but because that’s how it unfortunately played out. That said, the show seems to be implying that all these characters may have room to grow yet
@@etainrooney3259 Very true. Though, I didn't get the sense that Gangle's trust in her was broken. More that Gangle at the end of the episode understood what happened and felt horrible about it, assuming she'd ruined everything. Which is why Zooble comes in to promise that she didn't and bring her back into the friend group fold.
The look into Ragatha's inner workings was really good. Like, her comment about hating Jax but not wanting Jax to hate her which is really weird to me, personally, as I have a dog named Jax staring me down as I type this Jax slander lol Lookin' at me goin' "How dare you disparage my name in thus way?"
I think Gangle was very close to abstraction in this episode. When Jax asks about the time Gangle has a small existential crisis about time and how long “it’s really been” and questions whether or not they’ll ever go home. During that crisis you can see small glitching animations that are the same colors as the abstracted’s eyes.
As someone who has depression, pretty severely right now (Don't worry, I am activly seeking help and am doing better, just a bit of a rough patch), there was just something that just resonated with me and Gangle this episode. I think she is super depressed. I have those moments too, of being super excited, and ready for anything, to the point that I can tell I'm freaking people out. And the sort of... happiness to lead into a possible attempt at taking your own life... that's familiar. Sure, you're happy for a while, and then, boom, you start getting those thoughts. And that crushing of your dreams in terms of art... yeah, I feel that one too. So, I really like the writing in this episode. It of course might be something different that she's dealing with, but everyone's experience is different.
There's also something terrifying about the fact Caine is learning. He doesn't have the best grasp on how humans are doing, and he seems to be pulling away from what he was supposed to be. He's developing a completely wrong image of how humans operate, because these guys are all coping differently. I don't think he understands exactly why they're acting like that. He might expect that to be the normal for how humans operate. And that's terrifying.
You might have bipolar. You can be severely depressed and bipolar, it just means that the switch is rapid and you’re occasionally manic. I am bipolar but I don’t think pure depression has true moments of excitement. It sounds like you have some good days which sounds to me like bipolar 2. Mostly depressed with occasional mild mania
This episode was great, it flipped everyone’s usual roles, ragatha was so high she was mean, zooble participated, gangle was in charge, Jax was miserable and off his game, Pomni didn’t have a crisis
This episode really made me feel so many things.
1. Seeing Pomni reunite with Gummigoo even though he doesn’t remember her is so emotional to me.
2. I feel I can relate to gangle, and also love want to draw comics and stuff and i definitely would not want to work in fast food service, also I have a relative with Bipolar and this episode really hit me in the feels.
3. Jax is slowly getting humbled, this is just an idea but I feel their in a future episode Jax is gonna start feeling that ever since Pomni came nothing has gone as he planned and now the circus is no longer as fun as it was.
4. Zooble is probably the most normal and sane person out of everyone in the circus and I love them for it.
5. This episode also seems to show some of Ragatha’s true colors, her kindness only seeming to be skin deep and not quite genuine.
Same i even made the entire first part of my comic 17 entire chapters and iver 200 pages!
And now i feel like gangle no one will like it right?
I think Rags is nice... but not as nice as she tries so hard to be, certainly not to the point she has no complaints about anyone else (besides Jax). There are things others do that bother her, and there are things unrelated to others that also bother her, she's just too afraid of being open about it, in fear of hurting someone, of them not liking her because of it.
Gangle puts it best: "I love her, but... after a while, it gets kinda hard to tell how genuine she's actually being." She's not a bad person, but she lies to others and herself about being a faultless person. She tries to be there for everyone while not letting anyone be there for her, not even herself. Her genuine thoughts about others are the kinda thoughts we have about people we love but have some things that annoy us. It's natural, but with her it seems worse, because she's never truthful about it.
People are giving Ragatha too much shit
She's one of the eldest characters and is trying her damn hardest to keep everyone together with some semblance of unity. She might be a little phony at times, but that's probably her coping mechanism
I believe the real danger could be not just Caine, but the system of the digital circus and the programming for Caine himself, because the glichs keep happening, even to him now as we saw at the end of this episode, if it continues like this there wouldn't be much stability and everything would start to be destroyed like what happened in episode three because of how Caine was feeling, if he fails, the whole circus goes down.
I personally think he's glitching because he's becoming too ""Human"" now. We see how his system reacted when he called himself a, *"Good* boss"....It's like his programming wasn't supposed to say that.
the thing about the truck scene is it feels SO ANIME. the dramatic shots, the lighting, the slow motion... and i think that was intentional. Gangle's left work, she's free!! and then she gets hit by the truck - possibly a reference to getting isekaied into another world via getting hit by a truck (an entire genre of anime).
this could imply that she quit her job, only to then get trapped in the circus. just a theory
This is so genius, I never thought of the scene that way
This episode made me realise that I (in the process of getting diagnosed with autism) don't mask that much or,at least,not all that strongly. I've never really tried to act normal,which probably didn't help me socially as a kid but you know. I'm just basing that on the fact I didn't even see it as an allegory for that on my first watch,like most autistic people did
as a diagnosed autistic person i also don't mask a lot, I'm glad to find someone else who has the same experience as me because i sometimes feel alienated from other autistic ppl just because I don't mask or care to mask
@stilldeaky Awesome,I'm glad you're glad
I also share that trait. I've been diangnosed for a long time and have come to that conclusion about a year ago. I don't see myself in gangle at all and was surprised when i saw some people suggest that she's autistic
I think Jax puts up a front.
After the training video Jax seems depressed and he does try to converse with pomni without malice.
Then when he gets to his car he seems tired and frustrated
This episode introduced two really tantalising questions that I hope gets explored more as the series continues
1. Is what’s waiting outside of the circus really better than what’s lurking inside?
2. How far away is Caine from being more like his inspiration?
The fact that we don’t have clear cut answers for either is fantastic
Sorry if I misinterpreted your infliction when you were discussing Ragatha, but I don’t think Ragatha is a needy validation seeker. To me she reads as someone embodying the Stepford Smiler trope with sprinkles of being a People Pleaser. Keeping the fake smile despite being absolutely fed up or on the verge of snapping. I know Gangle seems more appropriate for that but like you mention, her facade falls relatively easily and quickly. Ragatha is on the verge of having a breakdown so her way of coping with the situation is to be “positive ☺️”. She’s going for The Heart of the group but it’s coming off as Stepford Smiler.
I’m not trying imply that your interpretation of Ragatha is wrong or in bad faith, but honestly I don’t see it as her “wanting someone to validate her”. To me, it didn’t seem like Pomni was an easy target for Ragatha to latch onto, it seemed like her being empathetic to Pomni being new, and trying to prevent her from being overwhelmed off the bat. Kinger even reminded Ragatha that she took a long time to adjust to the Circus. You could argue that Ragatha was projecting on Pomni, but I disagree with the sentiment that it was an ulterior motivation for validation or praise. She also doesn’t seem to want to think that people hate her, not out of low-esteem or deep desires for companionship but out of fear of isolation. She tells Pomni in Episode 3 that the others (barring Jax for obvious reasons) do care about Pomni, a sentiment echoing Kinger’s earlier statement about making people believe they’re not wanted being the worst thing you can do in this world. Ragatha (again to me and my interpretation) wants to be a support for everyone and wants to be reliable, but fears or worries that no one will do so for her in return. So she keeps being “Positive ☺️” so that she doesn’t think about the fear that no one cares about her in the circus. One could also argue that Ragatha believes in a “if we dwell negatively for too long we’ll abstract, so we can’t be negative for too long” mentality. Like Gangle said “I love [Ragatha]…but sometimes it can be hard to tell when she’s being genuine”. She’s not saying that Ragatha is never genuine with her positivity, it’s that sometimes you can tell that Ragatha is just smiling through the pain and suffering and she’s projecting her fears of the negative emotions onto others.
You said it best
A detail I’d like to point out about Gumigoo remembering Pomni is where Gangle confronts her and she says “but it’s… Gumigoo… can’t the job wait a little bit?” somewhere around that point, Gumigoo looks taken aback and he tries to reach out a bit, making me think he definitely does remember
I find it interesting that when jax tossed ragatha in the deep frier, gangle doesn't even try to help her, but rather just seemes happy about jax being punnished later. The characters can't die, but as we saw in the pilot, they still feel pain. Through the whole episode it looks like rather than helping, she enjoys seeing others being as miserable as she feels
You could say that Pomni saved Gangle from abstracting when she was about to close up, going by the static and the weakened vision and Gangles state of mind at that point
Gummigoo remembering Pomni but not telling her would fit his character, since in he did keep the truth about being NPCs from Chad and Max in ep 2, especially if he’s afraid that telling Pomni he remembers could lead to him getting exploded by Caine again.
How did you g the names of the other Gummi gators? And who is who, I kinda want to know. The long guy is my fav I think
Wiki, the one wearing the vest is Max and the one wearing the bandanna is Chad
12:26 It's most likely a joke on Truck-Kun, which is, too, a joke, because in animes, mostly isekais, the protagonist gets ran over by a truck. Which appears a lot more than one would expect.
Gangle’s va theorized that the dog character seen among the former resident doors may have suggested the restaurant as you can see it make a brief cameo on the menu above the counter top.
The scariest thing about gangle's story is that she didn't have any control of her life even before being trapped on the circus
If after the episode she somehow escaped, her life wouldn't improve as much anyone would expect
I really loved this episode. Gangle was already my favorite character, but this was just fantastic for me. Especially the scene where gangle looks outside where she sees stars and when she looks up and beatiful music plays before she almost gets hit by the truck. It made me so emotional. I loved it.
the gimmick with jax is that he pushes people away. He puts up a jerk persona and is generally just really mean and rude. Pomni retracts opening up to him because Jax's jerk persona is working. Pomni is wary of him and expects opening up to him to result in her getting hurt, so she puts her guard up. But Jax in that moment was more or less just completely exhausted and probably really could have benefitted from a real talk
9:53 thats really harsh wording for a character whos very obviously a people pleaser to her own detriment. i dont think shes consciously manipulating people, she just hates conflict.
Honestly, I don’t think this episode can be any more both entertaining *and* relevant than this one. 😅
And while, most people have interpretations of this episode, I’d say it’s related to both antidepressants and depression itself.
People willingly enter the circus for money and/or volunteer as members of the project, I think. Gangle was likely in it for the money so she could afford to pursue her dreams as an artist or just to get out of fast food management.
one thing: manic episodes usually last weeks to months, so this wasn;t one, it would've lasted longer while gangle was "manic" not even for the whole day. I think it's more just masking when you're depressed and trying to overcompensate than actually being manic.
16:07 I interpret Ragatha's comment differently. She says "No offense, but you are kinda annoying when you're wearing your happy mask." Plenty of Tubers intepret this is not liking Gangle when she is happy, but I believe it is more that Ragatha is aware that the happy mask is just a mask, and she prefers Gangle when she is being genuine, even if genuine is sad.
I cant believe Dream foreshadowed this episode with his mask song
Honestly this is the best episode for me. If they keep up this momentum its going to be banger after banger. Zooble's a real one
Something to note about mania: it often feels phenomenal, even with the irritability. A sense of euphoria or wellbeing is a common symptom. This isn't true of everyone who experiences it, of course. My first sign of a swing is not having/noticing my normal pain levels and being happier than normal, even when I am also being quicker to anger and slower to forgive than normal.
It can consequently discourage people from seeking needed medical help and/or taking their meds. I know I'd stay in my hypomanic state if I could and have intentionally not asked for stabilizers outside of my antidepressants.
For me, it’s actually having energy and being productive for once 💀. That or being really freakin weird all of a sudden. I’m kinda torn on my mania. I almost feel more comfortable depressed even though it’s just as irrational as my manic state. The impulsivity scares me. I agree though, hypo manic is the best lmao
@justkittensbeingkittens5892 oh yeah I lump the energy/productivity under "not feeling as sick as I am" since even going for a walk is an achievement for me most of the time.
This most recent bout had me buy a cheap treadmill that will either be excellent for me or a waste of $100, but that was cash I already had earmarked as disposable income so no real harm done.
i wonder if gangle's encounter with truck kun was really accidental. i've got bipolar disorder, and sometimes, when im in that stage of coming down from mania and reentering depression... sometimes i fantasize about doing exactly that, dancing my way into the front of a speeding car. especially after a long and bad work day
Yeah, man. It was mentioned twice about having "punishment." That is absolutely going to come back.
Gummygoo didn't look like that because he remembered, it's because he thought he was being stalked
If a stranger called you by your name then tried to talk with you, you wouldn't be too chill about the whole thing, would you?
I think pomni changing her mind was her realising Jax's "how are you" isn't genuine and he just wanted to vent by her saying "how about you?", at least that's how I interpreted it
I think Caine is slowly bugging out, like how a program starts to glitch when given too much information or tasks. Because before this episode we didn't see TOO much glitching from Caine besides Episode 3’s near system crash moment (brought on by an existential crisis) and Episode 1’s “blue-screen” effect. Maybe all the abstracted characters in the cellar is starting to take up too much “storage” so to speak, add onto that the information/instructions he's being given by the cast then we can potentially see a system clean out. Like how a system sometimes empties out the memories/storage to make room for more…maybe that's what happened to Jax’s room? Like it got deleted to make room for MORE assets, MORE adventures? Or maybe that's what's really happening to characters who abstract! The system gets rid of “unnecessary characters” to make room for more!
What if jax has void cracks inside his room and he doesn't actually go inside his because of that.Maybe Jax knows of the Void the best out of all of them,And actually know how the copies can escape the circus.But is keeping them in check because he actually wants to stay in the circus and doesnt want to be alone when they leave.
Ever since the pilot I have been convinced it's a psych ward of some sort and each episode seems to confirm it more and more.
18:02 yeah, this episode really cemented Ragatha as an archetypal type 2 character. Her self-esteem is held up by twigs and twine, and she's "helping" so she can feel worth something.
I'm curious how things will go for her.
my personnal theory is that the suggestion was from Jax, because i feel like jax doesn't "hate" her, and might have known her before coming to the circus, maybe a fan of her works as a comic artist. Gangle wouldn't want to relive those days, as she is never truly "happy" while working at that job.
Watching this episode alone made me quickly pick up that viewers are supposed to pause this show and go through it frame by frame to find some deeper meaning. Maybe I just have a pancake for a brain, but I find I enjoy this series much more if I just consume the surface level story given to me. I love all the theories surrounding the show, but I don't really get stuck on things like “who are they really?” “How did they end up in the digital circus?” “Are they all monsters?” Mind you this is the first episode I watched FULLY, so I admit I could just missing out on a lot stuff here and will keep an open mind to anyone. If anyone’s curious, Cane, Gangle and Jax are my favorites so far!
Also how the hell could Ragatha stand to be in the deepfrier that long? She must be made out of stern stuff! Also our boy Gummigoo (hope I got his name right) is back! I think though it's suggested he's a clone. Cane also sounds like I could voice him if I tried really hard! Okay sorry for the rant, this show was just WAY better than even how good I thought it would be and needed to let it all out! I'll leave a suggestion in the box next time ;)
You can enjoy a series however you want.
With the release schedule it gives people more time to stew on things, the little meanings behind it are placed there for a reason.
It’s a show that can be enjoyed by anyone but is the type of show that has meaning below the surface.
(It is inspired by ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’ and created by Gooseworx who is very familiar with creating animations around existential dread.)
It's established in an earlier episode that while they feel pain, none of them can get injured.
@@BalancedtheScales thanks, I kinda feel like an idiot because I didn't realize the cast were all either VR-people or copies of the people who wore the headsets (didn't watch the pilot yet) and didn't realize how deep this show got until Notty pointed it out.
@@superlagbro192 huh, really? But why would Ragatha then choose to stay in the vat that long if she's feeling pain the whole time? She was in there for quite a while and Jax was just a little bit of a (I can't say) for throwing her in there.
Honestly, you're doing just as well watching it like that. Maybe even better. Most of us just have too much of a "FNaF theorist" bone in us that forces us to find every single secret and possible answer. But we should really realize that this is a series first, and a hidden puzzle later. Heck, maybe it's not even that much of a hidden puzzle. So far, the series has been very direct with the stories it wants to tell us, and everything else are mostly references and background details that are either funny or curious. The most important part are the character interactions, that's where much of the nuance is.
Plus, we know they don't have amnesia about their lives, or about the world they came from, only about their name really, maybe even names from other people they knew. If they don't talk much about their prior lives, maybe it's simply their choice.
I didn’t think I could cry with my depression pills... This episode made me think about why I need them.
Something I wanna bring up about Ragatha is that she appears to be a huge people-pleaser. When faced with a stressful situation, people will resort to one of four options: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Fawn is the adoption of people pleasing behavior in order to de-escalate a situation. It seems that Ragatha has this mask of constant cheer and kindness in order to make everyone like her.
Jax is different in episode 2 because of the setting
Jax is a character that loves chaos and fun, but most importantly dreads the consequences of his actions.
It's why, in episode 2, he's completely off-the-walls; its an adventure where nothing matters, and the only goal is to catch the bad guy through any means nessesary.
He has the same thing in this episode when shoving Ragatha into the deep fryer... BEFORE GANGLE ADDS STAKES. he's bored, but as soon as messing around results in punishment, he stops and becomes... "normal".
In my mind he's a perfect representation of intrusive thoughts; he does what he wants, when he wants... unless there's enough pushback to convince him to stay in line
14:27 I’ve seen some comments saying that if it weren’t for Pomni closing up for her, Gangle might’ve abstracted in the adventure (specifically in the part right before Pomni tells her that she can leave early)
Poor Gangle. 😔
The Pilot is Kaufmo's episode! Caine just had Pomni finish it. She even almost gets spoiled by reaching the last door.
Honestly this quickly became my favorite episode so far. I love the more grounded setting and tone that is so different from the other episodes.
I have a theory about it all. Everyone who enters the Circus did so willingly in order to literally “run off to join the circus”. All of them hated their lives and wanted to change themselves into who they truly wanted to be… But it’s a monkey’s paw situation.
Kinger could have been a programmer that wasn’t as important or respected in his job as a debugger, so he wanted to be a king. He’s turned into a king chess piece, the biggest liability in chess and made fun of constantly.
Gangle wanted to finally be able to finally stop acting and be herself. She’s turned into a set of fragile theatre masks that she has to use to display her actual emotions… And she always ends up only able to use one.
Zooble wasn’t comfortable with their own body, so they wanted to have one they could make into something that they could feel comfortable in. Zooble now has a body they hate even more with mismatched parts without a single one they feel fits.
(Theory) Ragatha wanted to escape her life of expectations that came with being born into a rich family and having to not say anything against them, so she wanted to have herself be anything but what her social status was. She turned into a raggedy doll stitched together and still having to grin and bear things.
Jax, the one who Goose says belongs in the Circus most of all, could have been the most miserable of them all and all he wanted was to leave his life to be a cartoon. He becomes a messed up Bugs Bunny and he seems completely fine. (I also think he’s the one who’s ACTUALLY been there the longest and could be the cause of everyone else abstracting)
Kaufmo might have been really serious before the Circus, but always had wanted to make people laugh. He went into the Circus and became a clown… But his jokes were pretty bad either way.
As for Pomni, I’m not sure. It could be that she entered the Circus with information that the people inside were miserable, so she had the desire of wanting to help them. She became a jester as a result, which are associated with putting on a show to make others feel happy (or be the butt of the joke).
This is all a theory though, so it might not be true in the end.
A lot of people say gangle has bpd since almost anything can throw her mood off violently.. but it’s never the other way around. She ALWAYS starts happy but almost anything can throw her into sadness and sulking that takes forever to heal over. It’s just really bad depression and god I’ve felt the feeling of waking up happy but one minor inconvenience sends me into a spiral where I’m just a depressed husk on the inside pretending “no I’m still happy :D”
The truck is a reference of the start of many animes, wich is just: someone has a boring life, get hit by a truck and get to an amazing world
Maybe ragatha envy’s Jax’s confidence in his openly crappy behavior.
20:00 Honestly my thoughts with the Jax+Pomni scene is that Pomni seems very ready to open up to nearly any member of the circus, but She closes up fast when she Realizes Its *Jax* Asking How Shes Doing. Because its JAX. And its Wierd for him to be asking anyone how theyre doing, especially Pomni. I don't think Pomni will be completely against opening up to Jax in the future, but I do think in this moment shes questioning his intentions, unable to recognize that he does seem to be fully genuine in that moment because of how he typically behaves.
Can't wait til we get to the Jax focussed episode bc this one really showed some cracks in his asshole walls imo. Like hes known everyone hates him of course but like its Really setting in. Especially with him experiencing Gangle "getting back at him" to an extent. That hes genuine to Pomni in that brief moment because shes the newest and thus the least likely to hate him w/ her entire being. Only to be met with immediate closing of the door. Even if you want to think he revels in people disliking him, thats gotta hurt coming right after Ragatha point blank saying she Hates Him, something she doesnt hide but never really Flat Out Says.
So Gooseworx has said that the gang only has selective amnesia of stuff like their names and not life stuff. I think that C/A or whatever group runs the circus wiped their brains of anything that could be linked to the missing persons cases that likely exist around the gang and could incriminate the company
I know most neurodivergent folks related to this episode😭😭😭 autistic folks mask a LOT and I guess if you wanna look at it from that angle, u guess it shows the more harmful side effects of masking
Ya know since everyone is a circus member what are their roles in the circus? (Headcannons btw)
Caine: Ringmaster
Pomni: Fortune Teller
Gangle: Ventriloquist
Jax: Strongman
Ragatha: Aerialist
Zooble: Contortionist
Kinger: Freak
Kaufmo: Clown
Bubble: also clown.
What? Pomni's a Jester.
Yea but Jesters were more made for a royal court not circuses. That’s why I changed Pomni’s role in the circus. And she gives that vibe anyway.
I've always thought Ragatha's kindness was a bit too peppy. I don't think she's fully fake, but I do think she's holding back her real opinions on the other characters to not seem like the bad guy.
I think she’s putting all her energy into taking care of others so she doesn’t have to address her own feelings as a coping mechanism
There is a common trope in anime/manga that basically goes as: life is boring, walk into road, accident get hit by truck, change.
Basically it represents change, heard somewhere that a good bit of The Digital Circus fandom being Japanese, dunno if thats factual.
(Fun fact it’s known as truck-kun ^^)
TO BE FAIR
For the ragatha scene
She said "No offense but you're kinda annoying when you have your happy mask"
Which is definitely not the same as "You're annoying when you're happy"
And also
The old mask is the comedy mask
The new mask is the happy mask
She was saying that she didn't like gangle's new mask
It's still not the best but it's not "You're annoying when you're happy"
Another interesting detail is the Halloween 3 reference in the “Training Video” with Gangle’s masks flashing onscreen. Halloween 3 is about an evil toymaker making masks that kill the wearer when viewing a program. Episode 4 is also about masks both physically and metaphorically not ones that kill the wearer, but definitely how they aren’t healthy or are doing more harm than good
This episode resonated with me the most because I worked retail and some dialogue in this echoed things I heard at work. I took extra shifts for the money and time was a blur, like I couldn't recall if something happened a day or a week ago. And I had times where I wanted to snap, but the others working were as supportive as they could be. I was offered a supervisor position and was so glad I didn't take it. Whoever worked on the script definitely has personal experience.
Loved to hear that gangle got a spotlight in this episode cause she interested me the most during the roll call. Idk why, I guess it was the design and the sorta emotional turmoil she’s in intrigued me like “why she like that?” Nice we have an idea now for it, cause thinking you have to abandon your dream to work fast food is really awful…I mean also being trapped somewhere without your original name would also do that but I wanted to know more damn it!
Also: 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
this episode reminded me of my childhood and the mental anguish i feel as an adult and how i felt while realizing i didn't enjoy vrchat after multiple years of in game playtime.
being alive is hard. having a false grasp of everything all the time, is so, mind-numbingly, terrifying and, overburdening. sometimes. we just need to cry.
I thought for Gangle and the bus it was an isakai reference xDD
It was a really interesting episode about masking. And with a partner who worked on a fast-food restaurant he said it was really a good representation about how miserable this sort of place works.
Oh and yeah Pomni X Gumigoo. I see the vision of this ship. After all Gumigoo is really the first person who Pomni really bound with. And the tragic part with him being dead, the "what if" he remember something ? It's a delusional thing because yeah of course they will not end up together in the end, but yeah.. 😅 I ship it 😂
When i watched this episode, i really hoped that you would make a video about it
Love your videos 💜
Something really weird to tack on is, Jax and Ragatha share a surprising amount design and personality wise.
-They are the characters with the sam head shape.
-They are the only players who don't have names that are two syllables. (Even the abstracted are all two syllables. Kaufmo, Qeenie, Dobby so on)
-They are known to put on smiling
personas
-The fact Gangle wasn't smiling implies she was scared of what Ragatha did to Jax, implying she just as aggressive as he is, under the right circumstances.
About pomni and jax (or in this case pomni almost opening up to jax) i feel like she was just weirded out by jax actually asking how she was, because literally all of his actions till now shows that he really has no care for anyone, not even himself
For reference with the scene where Gangle was allegedly hit by a truck; it's a common trope for the start of isekai stories. It could be a metaphor for her love of manga & escapism.
The amount of characters acting and looking different especially in the trailer made me 90% sure it was gonna be a freaky Friday episode and I was so glad it wasn’t. Especially the teaser with him at the drive thru and his name tag clearly didn’t say “Jax”
I don’t know if this is bad but during the scene where Gang runs into the street played and the happy music played, I kind of just assumed she was suicidal at first until it was implied she tripped
Ngl I loved this episode. Gangle is quickly catching up to Zooble as my favorite character. Especially the parking lot scene, that hit me on a weirdly personal level. With the way things are going, I almost wonder if it’s a sort of infinity train situation. Spoilers for a show that no longer exists 😢, but people get put on the train and meet wacky characters to do therapy until they get off is the basic concept. Especially with the ‘circus’ theming, I wonder if maybe the whole thing was advertised as some sort of escape from reality, where you can forget your troubles and go on fun adventures. That’s maybe a bit too speculative though.
Can’t wait to see the video!
The SOMA comparison was very unexpected, but a welcome one
This is one of my favorite videos of yours so far! The commentary and in depth analysis of the characters is so good and I was so hooked and into the episode I didn't even consider most of these points. This episode also made me think deeper about how people got their bodies. Perhaps Zooble experienced body dysphoria before the circus and this body was formed to help them cope and face it. Gangle may have faced this type of depression in her life and this body with two literal masks is meant to help her cope and face her masking. I'm not sure how the others tie into this though 🤔
Thank you so much! ^_^
The thing about a job is that people call you by your name. And fast food jobs have nametags.
Gangle 100% remembers her name.
What do you mean? /genq
My guess for the plot of Episode 5- The new "adventure" is some sort of volunteering activity (soup kitchen, trash pickup, packing food into boxes to give to people who can't afford food, mentoring kids, disaster relief, maybe even a charity drive for a social cause, etc.). It's going to be Ragatha's focus episode, and Gangle might sit it out. The group, minus Jax, of course, actually enjoys this adventure for a change, despite them not helping any real people, because it feels good to be helping NPCs. Ragatha in particular really cares about doing a good job. But not every NPC is as grateful for her help and kindness as she wants, something Jax picks up on. Jax then goes out of his way to be seen as nicer and more likeable than Ragatha, which is the kind of Jax meanness that will probably be played for next-to-no laughs this time, because all of Jax's significant meanness so far has been absurd cartoonish physical violence, but now he's committing outright psychological warfare, targeting Ragatha's desire to be seen as a good and nice person and getting people to not see her as one. Ragatha complaining about it makes Pomni and even Zooble say that Ragatha is really putting a downer on things by being so negative. The combination of the NPCs' ungratitude, Jax actively trying to target her self-identification as a good and nice person and using it against her, and even Pomni and Zooble starting to believe that she's not truly a nice person makes Ragatha snap and scream at everyone about all of the things they do that annoy her- the NPCs' ungratitude and, in the case of ones like the Gloink Queen, bizarre behavior, Zooble's grouchiness, Kinger's disconnect from reality, Gangle being annoying when she's happy, Caine being a dangerous AI that kidnaps and psychologically tortures people for no apparent reason, and Pomni for supposedly thinking she's better than everyone else in the circus. As for Jax, Ragatha would either call out his Jax-ness in a way that actually emotionally affects him, setting up the sixth episode being his focus episode, or they'd do something like in the Simpsons episode where Ned Flanders calls out how terrible everyone in Springfield is after they do a terrible job rebuilding his house after it's destroyed in a hurricane, and he simply says that Homer is the worst person he's ever met, letting Homer feel like he got off easy, and maybe the same thing would happen with Ragatha and Jax. Or maybe both, like there's a pause between the "Jax, you are the worst person I have ever met" part and the actual "reason you suck" speech that makes Jax briefly think he got off easy. Ragatha telling off Caine leaves some more permanent cracks in the circus' digital infrastructure, and it ends on the show's first full downer ending, just like with some other episodes going in the opposite of their expected trajectory (the horror episode turning out to be one of the most heartfelt ones, the breather episode at the fast food restaurant turning out to be the darkest and most adult episode yet from a psychological standpoint, and now, the episode where they're volunteering having probably the least heartwarming ending of all of the episodes. If anything, I do think that Ragatha turning into a figurative or literal monster because of her kindness going unappreciated sounded almost confirmed by Gooseworx, so it will be about how Ragatha isn't necessarily fake-nice, but still puts too much value on being seen as nice by the rest of the group.