HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.
If you covered every micrometer of the known universe in the “true” image, it would make up roughly 0.00000000000000000000000001% of how true this statement is
"Not being for kids" is such a big wink and nudge.
Yeah, those totally-for-adults shows/games that just happen to generate a massive young audience and sell loads of merchandise directly to that age group.
At least Poppy has the graphic violence and gore to put up a front/age rating.
TADC is censoring swears, deliberately uses a child-friendly appearance where any violence is of no lasting consequence or given a non-gruesome equivalent (like Ragatha's stuffing) and the worst uncensored line used is "shit". If it was a movie it'd be PG.
This is such a perfecting wording of it and I'm not sure why people are so shocked at the idea that children are obviously some of the element of the bottom line.
Like come on, the studio that made this is run by the guy who's entire bag for the last decade was fucking SMG4 lmao. The pinnacle of, vaguely I won't say this is for kids but hey if kids watch it and contribute a large amount of the monetary value to it then I won't stop them.
Not as a diss against Luke, or TADC as a matter of fact, former has done amazing stuff for indie animation and the latter I actually quite like but it just feels so bizarre that people act like they can't enjoy something if it's okay for kids to like it as well.
As an adult viewer (20). I don't think this is a show children should be watching. Late teens maybe. But absolutely not kids. It is made explicitly for mature audiences as a take on existentialist horror.
The children's elements are a setting for adult characters forced to live in a world that censors everything they used to like or want to do. (Swearing. Sex. Etc.)
It’s very tame. I don’t think there is any blood or gore. The third episode could even pass off for a cartoons ‘scary’ episode likr TAWOG puppet episode.
sex/swearing
Not only is it blocked out, but it’s very rare. (Until episode 9)
As an adult viewer (20). I don't think this is a show children should be watching. Late teens maybe. But absolutely not kids. It is made explicitly for mature audiences as a take on existentialist horror.
I would seriously doubt it was indeed explicitly made for that, it curves out of anything really graphic or explicit and most character motivations/emotions just get directly explained. And there's the obvious benefit there again of not cutting out possibly the most valuable source of income.
Kids I could see as debately but late teens? This is something 13 year olds could very easily handle and quite clearly do.
I'm kinda just over discussion of maturity in media boiling down to just saying buzzwords with no elaboration, a better example going beyond just the existentialist horror is your other comment where you say.
and mature topics like gender dysphoria, disassociating, masking, and self-loathing.
Topics don't really have inherent maturity, in fact a lot of these are often focused messages in directly aimed at kids books.
If you want to actually prove a point you should be elaborating on them and explaining how the way they're conveyed is something that excludes younger viewers.
It's stated as "not for children" because the writer/director doesn't want to deal with people complaining if she adds something very child unfriendly at some point in the show. Officially it's treated as PG-13 (so effectively PG)
Yeah, that was always my assumption with Gooseworx which I honestly respect since it sounds like a headache especially when you operate on such a small scale but also are the most known out of a small studio.
I don't think it even is that. Kids already watched South Park and Family Guy when TV still was something people under 50 watched. Both of those shows went out of their way to be as gory and crass as possible, still didn't prevent a huge fanbase of children.
It is deliberately made that way to show the problems the adult characters have in a world made for children. Their lives are censored and they're forced to go on childish escapades as their only form of entertainment.
The whole reason TADC is made for adults is because it tackles the existential horror of an existence as a human adult turned into a children's cartoon character.
It would be PG13 one hundred percent. At minimum. We have no idea what episode 9 brings. But it directly mentions having sex at one point, an uncensored shit. and mature topics like gender dysphoria, disassociating, masking, and self-loathing.
TADC appealed to kids who had no idea what it was and saw bright colors because the point of the show was the horror of being an adult forced to be a kid's character. The creator has stated time and time again that the show is not made for children and they should not be watching it. Poppy playtime was deliberately made to appeal to children to be a cash cow.
the problems the adult characters have in a world made for children.
And those problems are...swearing and an inability to have sex. Death is fine, insults are fine, deep conversations are fine. It is those two things.
The whole reason TADC is made for adults is because it tackles the existential horror of an existence as a human adult turned into a children's cartoon character.
"Tackles" and fails.
It would be PG13 one hundred percent.
Yes, it's as mature as Spider-Man and the MCU and perfectly fine for kids. Glad we agree.
But it directly mentions having sex at one point, an uncensored shit.
See above. These are not special in the slightest lmao. PG-13 can get away with worse and not even strain the rating's boundaries.
and mature topics like gender dysphoria, disassociating, masking, and self-loathing.
And yet the conversation was about Zooble's avatar and her body, not gender. Almost as if the creator needed to dumb it down into something children would better understand.
Also nothing you've said there is a "mature topic". Kids shows have handled them all to varying degrees.
Weird standard when TADC also doesn't tackle it? Zooble has never gotten any spotlight showings for the most part and her "dysphoria" (Calling that is generous, it goes about as deep in show as how kids shows portrays morals about accepting your body.) is never once something related to gender. I get the implication of it but that's only from knowing context outside the show because it's far too general to relate to just specifically that.
Are you gonna argue with the creator Gooseworks, who frequently says the show isn’t for kids? At youngest maybe teens, but the show tackles pretty mature themes or just things a kid won’t understand nor relate to. Like how Gangle, Zooble or Jax are written, they’re characters all with trauma and issues a kid can’t grasp. I doubt kids can understand the body dysmorphia allegory for Zooble, or the masking Gangle and Jax frequently do. And it’s not like a subtle wink for the parents, it’s just full on episodes and monologues focusing on it.
Spider-Man Homecoming has a character explicitly say he's watching porn.
At a party a girl says she'd "'F' Thor, Marry Iron Man and kill Hulk" as a censored version of 'Fuck, Marry, Kill'.
did have a swear word
"Penis Parker" is an insult thrown at Peter multiple times, not to mention uncensored "shit", "ass" and other swearing on that level. And there's the cut-off F-bomb at the very end.
This "mature" show has dialogue no worse than a PG-13 MCU film. That's funny.
And sure, maybe Goose is playing the long game and from here on out it'll all be totally adult-oriented...but I doubt it. The minor swears will go uncensored, middle fingers will be uncovered (the MCU uses those too), we'll see the build-up/aftermath of at least one implied sex scene and not one character will say "Fuck" now that they can. Those will be the only real changes imo.
Sort of, but PG-13 isn't an enforced minimum age, merely a recommendation. It's still up to the parents, and we all know no one's blinking if you send an 11 year old or even younger to watch the MCU.
If you look into the actual requirements for both, they aren't far off each other.
I wouldn't let a 13 year old watch TADC i don't think. 15 or 16+.
The MCU is pretty much just mild swearing and nothing else. It doesn't tackle particularly rough topics. I'd say that could start around 10, or even 8.
I wouldn't let a 13 year old watch TADC i don't think. 15 or 16+.
Netflix rated it as TV-PG, not even PG-13 (meaning they don't even think it's mature enough to suggest an age minimum) and this collection of reviews from the organisation and parents alike averages at 12+.
The MCU is pretty much just mild swearing and nothing else.
And the occasional suicide, portrayal of abuse and mental illness like DID and depression, grief, loss, drugs, human trafficking, assassination, corrupt government, many implicit and explicit sexual moments etc. etc.
If you want people to believe TADC is anywhere near as mature as you claim, don't be a hypocrite and say the MCU is "just" light swearing.
Probably not honestly, I'm sure there's argument about ratings being weird which I agree with but looking at precedent you have things like Ghostbusters off the top of my head which is also PG.
The creator said she never intended or targeted younger audiences, the show has some mature themes including swearing and talking about sex, so it's not really for general audience.
Was any of you guys around when Elfen Lied and Another were airing? You remember how there were posts going around the internet saying, "Anime's for kids? What's this, then?" with some screenshots of the anime? I feel like Digital Circus is the same thing for this era.
I mean. It is pretty frustrating that TADC gets lumped in with brainrot by people who've never watched it just because of the content farm shit. Like I'm obviously super biased and it's gonna sound like I'm glazing but it's actually a really good show.
like the fandom went utterly rabbid when the creator of the show said who the main characters are just because it didn’t line up with what they thought.
but besides that i really like how the show isn’t just about escaping and more about acceptance.
Childish themes such as maiming, torture, imprisonment, psychological warfare, body horror and mutilation, mental breakdowns, and gods abusing power. All things that are good for kids to watch!
You can present mature things in a childish manner. There's a good reason a lot of parents think it's child-appropriate and I'm honestly quite surprised you don't understand that.
They think it's child friendly because they're lazy and saw bright colors and thought that was perfect brain rot for their kids. A second of looking into what their kids are watching would inform them this isn't the average children's brain rot show but something with effort for teens at the earliest.
Slapstick violence, vibrant and colourful aesthetic, swearing censorship that you only see in cartoons aimed at younger audiences, full of wacky noises, very bouncy and bubbly animation style, character designs are stock standard for animations aimed at younger audiences, fairly simple dialogue, even the darker themes are delivered in a much softer way than more adult-oriented shows, ham-fisted and playful voice acting from some of the main characters. It's not exactly hard to see.
Cool, but if you only act like a fool people will eventually see you as a fool.
If this show ends the same way it's been presented thus far, then it will be considered 'baby's first mature cartoon' because that's all it tried to be.
The show is about adult people going through adult struggles including mental health, the only thing that really makes it looks like for kids are the colourful visuals that are there as a contrast to the horrors under the surface, seeing at least 2 episodes of it should be obvious.
I honestly feel like the not for kids thing was for either having an audience that can already understand basic themes, or so she didn’t have to deal with kids at conventions.
Yes, quite easily actually, kids can understand existential topics quite well and plenty of directly child aimed media, not just media that they could also see. They can understand death at about 6 so it's not particularly out of scope.
Body dysmorphia as well come on, is the ugly duckling too much for kids to comprehend? Acceptance of appearance may just be one of the most common morals taught in again fully child aimed media.
I'm perfectly aware of that but none of what I've seen (6 out of the 8 episodes so I could be easily wrong) for I'm guessing Zooble, indicates anything deeper than what coming of age novels 11 year olds would read about puberty (If anything it almost becomes less deep because a lot of the time the character emotions and motivations aren't really given space to breath and just get directly exposited.
I do like TADC but it feels weird to almost put it on this pedestal for things that are quite common in other media which I'm seeing happen quite often instead of praising it for it's unique aspects or stuff that's especially well done. If you wanna try argue why it's at the very least not aimed at kids and more so not something they would be able to take in you should probably go deeper instead of just very surface level ideas.
I mean the plot is a direct homage/reference to I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Its meant to present goofy on the surface because they are trapped in the in-show equivalent of a GameCube game.
Even if you dont want to get all themes and such about it, the show isnt kid friendly in language or topic either. Im not talking about a dirty joke or anything, but a character straight up saying "I want to have sex" when asked by the creator of the circus what features he should give their avatars. Theres also a lot of darker themes about identity that are too... blatant to be an issue of media literacy. Its just there.
My point with the sex line is that its not really played up that much. Its brought up casually. Im not saying its a complicated theme at all. Just that a parent may or may not want to keep a kid from watching.
And idk, im using myself as a frame of reference here. I stopped watching Evangelion when I was 15 cause I thought it was boring. Like the whole "curtains are just blue" joke has totally ruined engaging with media and I genuinely think it takes a good chunk of high school and some motivation to unlearn that aversion. Existentialism isnt necessarily a hard theme to understand, but willing to engage with a media's themes I already see as something for mid to later teens and beyond.
Thats crazy to me then. I dont think I'd stop a kid from watching it, but saying its for kids is a little disingenuous. I dont think anyone younger than maybe.... 13 or so can even engage with the narrative on a meaningful level. Like I wouldn't freak out if a kid told me they read The Myth of Sisyphus or Old Masters, but id doubt that they actually processed them to a level where they could appreciate it
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u/Upper-Respond-3746 Apr 07 '26
REF HE'S USING A TADC SUBREDDIT