This show consists of 2 distinct parts: audio, which is taken almost entirely from a real-life podcast, and video which depicts wacky adventures in a virtual multiverse. And these parts don't mesh well. At all. Worse, there's barely any effort to integrate them, to the point where a magic fish with a robot body describes himself as a white man and the main character is called by the wrong name more than once. I suppose the sheer incongruity of characters rambling about unrelated topics while they traverse strange apocalyptic worlds can be amusing, but at its core it's just a cheap gimmick that gets stale quickly.
Now, let's look at each part separately. I suppose the podcast part could be interesting, if you're into that, but Contemplate Our Navels ramblings is NOT what I wanted from a show about traveling into weird and wacky worlds! Moreover, since Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic, it's genuinely confusing and hard to understand at times, so the audio quickly becomes just background noise.
The video part and the Framing Device of Clancy's life on the Ribbon is frankly much more interesting, but it has its problems too. It's hard to get invested when almost every episode is a "Shaggy Dog" Story where the world we see will be destroyed. And why is every world dead or dying? Why, through the sheer negligence of our protagonist, of course! See, the technology he uses needs regular maintenance, which he fails to do, despite the computer trying to warn him about it multiple times.
Make no mistake: even if the worlds we see are virtual simulations (or something? it's really unclear), we have seen Clancy take objects into the real world out of them. Even living beings, like his dog. The characters we see are fully sentient and sapient, and they are all dying or dead because Clancy can't be assed to spend a minute to read FAQ!
Later we get introduced to Clancy's neighbor, who acts as a Foil to him. We're supposed to see him as evil for using this technology for profit and abusing the inhabitants of his simulations, but he honestly comes across as A Lighter Shade of Black, because at least he's pragmatic enough to properly maintain his tech. Clancy let every virtual world and its inhabitants die (and caused a localized catastrophe in the real world, killing several people there too) through sheer negligence. And also condemned Captain Bryce who had tried to help him to a Fate Worse than Death. And at no point had he ever shown a shred of guilt or remorse for it. Honestly, he's not a protagonist worth rooting for.
Boring Fauxlosophic "Shaggy Dog" Story with incredibly unsympathetic protagonist
This show consists of 2 distinct parts: audio, which is taken almost entirely from a real-life podcast, and video which depicts wacky adventures in a virtual multiverse. And these parts don't mesh well. At all. Worse, there's barely any effort to integrate them, to the point where a magic fish with a robot body describes himself as a white man and the main character is called by the wrong name more than once. I suppose the sheer incongruity of characters rambling about unrelated topics while they traverse strange apocalyptic worlds can be amusing, but at its core it's just a cheap gimmick that gets stale quickly.
Now, let's look at each part separately. I suppose the podcast part could be interesting, if you're into that, but Contemplate Our Navels ramblings is NOT what I wanted from a show about traveling into weird and wacky worlds! Moreover, since Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic, it's genuinely confusing and hard to understand at times, so the audio quickly becomes just background noise.
The video part and the Framing Device of Clancy's life on the Ribbon is frankly much more interesting, but it has its problems too. It's hard to get invested when almost every episode is a "Shaggy Dog" Story where the world we see will be destroyed. And why is every world dead or dying? Why, through the sheer negligence of our protagonist, of course! See, the technology he uses needs regular maintenance, which he fails to do, despite the computer trying to warn him about it multiple times.
Make no mistake: even if the worlds we see are virtual simulations (or something? it's really unclear), we have seen Clancy take objects into the real world out of them. Even living beings, like his dog. The characters we see are fully sentient and sapient, and they are all dying or dead because Clancy can't be assed to spend a minute to read FAQ!
Later we get introduced to Clancy's neighbor, who acts as a Foil to him. We're supposed to see him as evil for using this technology for profit and abusing the inhabitants of his simulations, but he honestly comes across as A Lighter Shade of Black, because at least he's pragmatic enough to properly maintain his tech. Clancy let every virtual world and its inhabitants die (and caused a localized catastrophe in the real world, killing several people there too) through sheer negligence. And also condemned Captain Bryce who had tried to help him to a Fate Worse than Death. And at no point had he ever shown a shred of guilt or remorse for it. Honestly, he's not a protagonist worth rooting for.
0/10, will not watch again.