This isn't necessarily directed at you specifically; I just wanted to point out that I'm really getting tired of the 'time constraints' excuse. People trot it out every time a show ends weirdly or badly, and yet they never include any analysis of how the time in the show was actually used...
In my humble opinion, TADC Episode 9 covered a MASSIVE amount of content in proportion to its runtime; that's probably the thing I respect the most about it. They must have some top-notch video editors on their team, because it was genuinely impressive to see.
So when I say that they left certain things up in the air, or that they should have elaborated on this or that, I'm not talking about using the time they had in the finale; I'm talking about using the time they had over the course of the rest of the series. Which amounts to roughly 4 solid hours that were not managed anywhere near as well as that final one.
Like, maybe this is a hot take, but TADC is hardly what I'd call ambitious storytelling; it really didn't do that much. Jax's character arc was the most complicated thing they had to tackle, and they covered 80% of it in the final episode. Next most complicated was Caine's character arc: again, most of that was in the last two episodes.
Which leaves me looking at those leftover SEVEN episodes and wondering why characters like Pomni and Zooble remained so shallow, for instance, when we had all that time available to flesh them out. Because we needed it for goofy gags instead?? You can do both, y'know...you can also develop multiple characters at the same time; we could have been using all those Zooble/Gangle and Jax/Pomni interactions to elevate all four characters. There was plenty of time, it just wasn't used efficiently.
...As someone who did watch the first 7 episodes, I think you're correct. '_' I didn't bother rewatching the series before seeing the finale, for similar reasons...even without the Amazing Digital Recap, most of those earlier events just don't matter that much. I don't know whether that's good or bad...
Oddly enough, I don't think the gaps between episodes were an issue; I think they were fine and should be considered the 'indie production' standard. Doesn't hurt to remind people how long it takes to make an episode of a show by letting them feel it...and TADC in particular always had enough fun content in each episode to avoid a 'Steven Bomb' scenario (IYKYK...).
...Ngl, I hope that isn't true because that's unprofessional. There's no real difference between doing something like that and pulling a 'Game of Thrones' and changing the plot completely because too many of your viewers predicted it. It's the same logic.
A story is supposed to be a self-contained work of art; if you don't want to spend time on something it should be because YOU as the writer don't think it needs that time, not because a subset of your audience did 'extra homework', so to speak. What about the audience members who didn't do that extra homework?? What about the future audience members who won't be able to participate in fan theorizing with the community?? Do they not deserve a complete story...?
I don't think storytelling that reacts to the audience is inherently bad or anything, but if it is used, it should be explicit, NOT implicit. We cannot start assuming it's fine to just let fandom culture drive media, because people can and do still experience media outside of fandom.
...As someone who wrote several paragraphs on why that didn't actually happen, I'm really hoping that someone can give me a good counterargument at some point. Because for the life of me, I can't get behind the idea of a 9-episode 'character study' where half the cast doesn't even get character arcs. I'm gonna need that explained to me like I'm 5...
Tbh, and maybe this is a hot take, but I think it's technically valid if the show is just neither?? Like, just because it's not plot-driven, doesn't mean it's automatically character-driven...it really seems to me like a setting that was just created for funzies, and to explore 1 or 2 characters. Like, I feel like that is the simple truth of what TADC was...and as a concept, that's okay. I still think it should have been paced better even within that framework, but there's nothing inherently wrong with it.
I want to believe that...but the obvious concern the cast shows for Jax ("BE here later") makes that feel unlikely. That, plus the experience they should have with abstraction, and recognizing the signs...Jax was 'breaking character' frequently throughout the latter half of the show; when such an obvious mask starts slipping that way, it *should * raise flags in your mind. Especially when, as I said, there's nothing else for you to do. Who or what else was Pomni concerned with when they were all hanging out and laughing and conjuring shapes together...? ^^;;;
I'm not trying to blame Pomni for Jax's abstraction or anything; I'm thinking on a meta-level: i.e. it would have been nice for the showrunners to add in a scene of the cast trying and failing to reach out to Jax, showing CLEARLY that they recognized the problem, but he was just too far gone. Because with the way they directed it, it feels more like they kinda just "oops" forgot to check in on him until it was too late.
If that's true, I wish they had done more with it...I feel like they wrote Pomni trying to save Gummigoo in Ep.2, and then from there on out they just assumed we saw her as the "selfless MC girl who wants to save everyone" rather than actively characterizing her that way. It's a subtle difference, yes, but I couldn't help but notice...
Contrary to what cartoons might have you believe, it isn't normal to want to "save" people, and such a character trait should be extremely obvious and probably causing issues across multiple relationships, not just coming in clutch for the person you want to save. I've seen many characters like that; I've even written a few, and in comparison Pomni does not come across (to me) as a savior, she comes across as 'considerate'. So...if that was supposed to be a major theme of the entire show, they should have ratcheted it up a few notches...
I still think the placement of the montage (and the fact that it even exists, regardless of its role in establishing Jax as trans) is a marker of his importance within the cast. Particularly because it didn't go anywhere-- it didn't lead to a major shift in Jax's character or a realization everyone made about him, it was just used as a transition to Pomni being pulled out of his mind-labyrinth. Which makes it feel...gratuitous.
BUT, as for the rest-- that is very true, and it almost makes me actually mad to be realizing this in hindsight. Because apparently the maid dress and the misogyny were supposed to be hints at this reveal; and they were VERY BAD HINTS.
I think Jax's reaction to the dress was extremely vague and could have been read any number of ways, and call me crazy but I don't think a male character in a dress should just be assumed as automatic trans-coding/setup. GNC people exist; some male characters are secure enough in their gender to simply not care about temporarily wearing a dress; maid outfits specifically are a common 'sexy anime fanservice' meme regardless of gender. It's a valid hint, sure...but with all these variables in play, like I said, it's not a good one.
And the misogyny...hoo boy. I was literally sitting in the theater thinking to myself "they really write these lines as if they've never heard misogyny in real life before; they just read a dictionary definition and figured they'd try to imagine how it sounds". Every time Jax makes one of his "EW GIRLS" remarks it sends my brain into shock from how juvenile and unrealistic it is...again, a valid hint, technically. But an AWFUL one simply due to being impossible to take seriously.
I think it would have been way more fun to actually have Jax exploring his femininity as a character gimmick throughout the show, it would have fit his personality (the Bugs Bunny reference was right there...! TT_TT) and it would have helped to highlight his main character status more consistently.
I don't know why they chose this route instead...sometimes indie writers write as if there is a censorship board reading their scripts where none exists, and I feel like this is one of those cases. Because it's strikingly easy to imagine a version of Jax who constantly half-seriously toys with the idea of being a girl and uses it to mock the rest of the mostly-female cast while experimenting with his gender in a much more overt way. And I mourn for her...
