Recently, alongside getting picked up by Netflix, “The Amazing Digital Circus” has released its second episode, excluding the pilot.
This episode focuses on characters Kinger and Zooble.
The episode’s “adventure of the day” was a haunted house, where the main character, Pomni, and Kinger get separated from the group. At the same time, Zooble, who consistently stays behind from the adventures, is heckled by the showrunner, Caine.
As a catchup, “The Amazing Digital Circus” is an independent animation produced by Glitch Productions. It takes place in a digital world where every character there, save Caine, the host, and Bubble, the assistant, are implied to be office workers who got trapped there in some way or another.
Upon arriving, everyone forgets their name and takes on a very kids show-esque appearance. The protagonist is called Pomni, and she takes on the appearance of a jester.
Like I mentioned, this episode focuses on Kinger and Zooble. Kinger is a chess piece, specifically a, you guessed it, king. He is quite spacey and considered crazy by everyone else there, but this episode looks into why. In the dark, apparently, Kinger is grounded and is much more sensible.
Throughout the episode, he teaches Pomni the importance of appreciating your friends. It’s a very touching plot, especially for those who have lost a loved one.
The episode also expands on some background details many eagle-eyed viewers have noticed from the pilot. In the room hall scene during Pomni’s initial arrival to the circus, there is a brief few frames of a door with an X over it.
Underneath the X is a picture of a queen chess piece, who many theorized to be Kinger’s wife or something of the like. In this episode, it was confirmed.
For the B plot, Zooble, whose digital appearance is that of a toy that has detachable and customizable parts, is skipping out on the adventure once more. They are being harassed by Caine because of it, and this causes an impromptu “therapy session.”
Caine, however, is a horrible therapist.
Zooble has horrible body dysmorphia and cannot find parts that they like to use for themselves, but Caine thinks providing some will help. The problem is clearly that Zooble wants out of the circus, but Caine is disregarding it.
This plot is quite good, too.
Zooble’s explanation of their dysmorphia works well for just about anyone suffering with it, even though they are just a bunch of shapes and not exactly human-shaped. Caine can also stand in for ignorant people who don’t understand these sorts of things, and he can also be a relatable aspect for Zooble’s struggle.
Another detail about this episode is that the shading for the animation has had a massive upgrade, likely due to the budget increase after being picked up by Netflix.
This really improves the atmosphere, especially since even before, Glitch Productions had beautiful animation.
All in all, if you haven’t, I’d employ you to check out the new episode of “The Amazing Digital Circus.”
