The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act
I don’t think I tried very hard to predict what would happen but i certainly wasn’t expecting that.
I saw this twice, first with friends then with my sibling. I first saw this on the saturday of opening weekend, my theater experience was honestly really pleasant. I saw a couple of really cute cosplays and everyone in the theater itself was polite and not too disruptive. There was a kid sitting next to me though who kept asking questions but I didn't let that get to me.
I liked it a lot better on second viewing, probably bc I was less confused by a lot of the choices it makes.
Spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act
So I'm a bit split on how I think about this movie/finale/event/whatever. On the one hand I really like parts of it, I thought Jax's segment was really good and sad. It reminded me of Evangelion's final episode weirdly, just on a smaller scale. I thought it was really interesting getting to see this character self sabotage over and over again, but still be fought for by pomni. the whole "character who refuses to be saved" vs "character who refuses to give up" thing, its fun to watch. I also can't believe how wrong I was about the trans coding of Jax, like if it wasn't obvious before this episode basically solidified it, I was shocked when Ribbit put her bow on Jax's ear. That shit was so cute too. And then we see how Jax pushes everyone away at every turn and explains how we got here. I think what they're going for is a cautionary tale of how repressing your identity for so long can lead to your own demise, which is definitely something I can relate to. I didn't realize I could be trans until like, 22, and it definitely affected how I treated myself and others. I wish Jax didn't have to die, but I get why they did it too.
Then theres the second half of the finale where they give us Caine's speedrunning a redemption arc. On the one hand I'm glad for it, I guess. I was a bit upset at how they basically changed Caine's character for episode 8. I thought initially that Caine going crazy and torturing the humans was kind of out of character entirely, since until then he's wanted nothing but to be good at what he does. So seeing him immediately flip back the other way makes it make more sense in retrospect. I just kind of wish it was built up more throughout the show, and not just pushed in at the end. The way that they intercut Caine finding the human's information with him creating the mind files in the first place was confusing to me on my initial watch. I thought for a bit he just brought scratch back entirely and thats what he was saying was at the stage when he came back, but obviously not lol. Still, Caine's whole segment felt like its own episode within the finale. I kind of wish it was spread out a little more, like if they hinted to caine still being alive more throughout jax's segment, or something? I mean their arcs were kind of similar, Jax's being about not taking accountability for his actions and Caine attempting to do so, so idk I just feel like it could've been better.
So back to Jax abstracting though, I'm also not sure about what abstraction is meant to represent. I think it's definitely intended to be a suicide allegory, especially when you look at Gooseworx's posts around it. "theres no coming back from abstraction" or whatever. But I think if you just look at the show itself it reads more vague, like theres clearly still something in an abstracted person. I think it reads more like deep psychosis or just hitting absolute rock bottom, honestly. Like if it is just suicide, why show them still being "in there" in a sense? I don't know, maybe I'm just coping bc I feel bad for Jax lol.
For the rest of the characters though I'm glad they got a happy ending at least. Like Caine coming back and trying to make amends is probably the best case scenario for them. The scene with the moon (voiced by Goose herself too) and Caine was really cute too. I also really liked seeing the IRL equivalents of the digital circus members, but it was also kind of cold comfort too. Like it's nice seeing them all, but it really sucks that Jax never got to. Since Jax isn't Leroy or whatever their name is, Jax is Jax and Jax is dead (abstracted). It's just kind of a shame, it feels like the show going "see, they actually get a good ending in the real world!" but the real world doesn't matter to us, we care about the circus world since thats what we've been following. Leeroy is an entirely different person from Jax, in effect anyway.
Oh the sex update was funny I liked that. Not much else to say tbh.
Overall though I think it's a good final episode, maybe less good as a movie experience. I'm happy for its online release so that I can watch it without needing to watch episode 8 again lol. I might review the whole show as a whole later, but I'm not sure. overall ehhh 3/5
Edit: Im rewatching it after its youtube release, and I still cant believe jax dies offscreen bc pomni forgor. what are we doing. plus the 15 seconds we get watching her and ragatha walk away from each other. its so strange. i REALLLYYY love the animation in this episode once we get to jax. its soooo so cool when the lights go out. The scene with jax and gangle is so weird. like idk if i get it.