This show really expresses the way some people deal with trauma. Centaurworld itself is a metaphor, in my eyes, for the 'masking of pain with comedy' thing, doing things too glittery, too bright, too loud because it's anxious, it's desperate to pretend nothing's there, that everything's fine. The cattaurs are likely the most prominent expression of this - in their song they mention that they do pageantry every day to mask their trauma and pain most directly, Wamawink and her herd are isolating themselves to stay 'safe', moletaurs judge everybody but themselves, Comfortable Doug is one of them that came out of their shell into the light and became comfortable in his own skin, mer-guys and gals and non-binary pals were too depressed to go on and commited if not literal, then social/personal suicide, going numb to everything... Glorious show and I'd say the over-abundance of jokes is exactly right, at least in my opinion, since that is such a familiar way to deal with things for me.
You said this so beautifully. This is exactly how I feel about the show (I've literally made doctors uncomfortable with my humor over my mental/physical condition at times) and I feel deeply seen.
Man, I've made my friends and coworkers uncomfortable on so many occasions with my depression/anxiety jokes I've lost count. Thankfully I'm now with a person who really really understands this humor and does it themselves so we vibe wonderfully. It actually helped dealing with a lot of the emotions I masked with my overtly-positive and carefree attitudes. Bless that you find someone like that as well and I'm super happy that my post made you feel a bit less alone
The whale shaman hurt meeeee on so many levels. She got bandages covering her arms and it smacked me in the face when she started singing what she represented.
Oh shoot I completely missed the bandages on her arms. Like, I knew they were there and I knew what she was singing about, but this just clicked for me.
That was the first time I actually felt unnerved by a kids show. That was dark, and like, they play it completely straight. No sugarcoating or anything.
One of the things that freaked me out most was the cats who keep mentioning that they do the show everyday. You get the feeling that they don't even want to keep doing it, but johnny teatime keeps making them do it for entertainment and that they'll have to keep doing it till they die from exhaustion
Not really they do it everyday to hide the pain of the war it was mentioned in the song. "It used to be Cat Valley was disaster-free But the Great War brought death and cats-tastrohphe So we had to find a way to heal Cover up the pain, with pageantry and zeal"
Disagree about the pacing/timing, it sells the chaos os centaurworld but still lets the emotional scenes breathe, maybe is just that you don't like fast paced comedy My favorite part of the show was the songs, can't wait for the hundreds of animatics people will do with them, maybe someone will even make a amature production that would be neat
Agreed. I understand wanting more serious bits, but I went in with the impression it was a comedy first with the serious stuff as background plot to keep the story engaging, especially when you consider the setting Horse is in. If anything, I felt they managed to sprinkle in a lot of the dark stuff from the songs at each Shaman - it really shined through the chaos for me. They're clearly building up a single conflict by sprinkling in so little in between the comedy. I felt all but the giraffe guy were fleshed out at least a little bit as was necessary. If there is a season 2, the actual drama has been established which leaves room for less introductory antics and more fleshing out the side characters out instead of just the main (which is clearly Wammawink and Horse). If they had jammed in everyone's backstory in ten episodes I'd feel they'd be speedrunning it like some badly paced Shonen Anime that has you meet a villain, explains their tragic background mid-fight via flashback, then immediately has the protagonist defeat them and they're never relevant again. Just a waste of time imo
Agreed, having most of the show being relatively silly can really make the emotional parts hit much harder. I still shed tears during Horse's most emotional songs.
yeah and I'm sure the second season will touch more on the serious bits since they're, y'know, preparing for and/or fighting _a war_ in both worlds now
Honestly agree, my s/o cannot binge watch shows, so he has to take breaks However he was able to watch it with me. All 10 episodes without a break We normally would've stopped on like episode 3 otherwise
I think to the comic "we start life as a soft, mushy thing, and then as we get pelted by rejection, we transform into a tough unfeeling robot...piloted by a soft mushy thing."
I can understand why the Comfortable Doug song feels a little out of place, but in a way, it's not. It takes place after her run in with the Whale Shaman, right when Horse is trying to accept who she is. Doug is basically telling her to be happy with who she is, to Be Comfortable. His whole song is about him finding himself in the world, away from the Underground. Same as Horse realizing there is more to herself than just a warhorse.
I've thought about the too many jokes criticism a lot and honestly I didn't think there were too many jokes. A big point of the series is in Centaurworld they use songs, jokes and dance to hide the trauma, the show itself does the same thing so for people who want to understand these themes can look deeper. So honestly I kind of have to disagree with that point but that's just my opinion, great review 👍 Though for the nowhere king point I think the amount of attention he got in this season is fine, after all it's definitely gonna get a second season at some point and the season final gave a lot of hype for what's to come with this embodiment of evil.
The songs and jokes are great and add to theming, comfortable doug song is good and makes you feel like the entire universe is stalling. I think it is all great.
I think there might be something badass that happens when Horse goes back to her world, at least aesthetically. Two different art styles. It would be kinda cool to see how they collide.
As someone whose a massive Yakuza fan, the tonal whiplash is perfect bc the crazy choatic, lighthearted moments help the serious moments stand out even more. Centaurworld is honestly one of my favorite shows bc it doesn't try to appeal to everyone. The creator knew what she wanted to make and faught tooth and nail to make it and damn if that isn't respectable.
Cosmine: **loves super cutesy characters dealing with horrifyingly dark, depressing, and foreboding themes and events** Me: “If I had to take a guess, I’m assuming you’re a fan of Kirby games, aren’t you?”
@@Cosmine ayo if you wanna play a game that looks really cute but has some dark themes id suggest playing wandersong!!! its a short and sweet game and i think youd like it :]
@@Cosmine I mean comfortable Doug is pretty cool and interesting if you dive deeper into his character he was just another moletaur but once he got comfortable with himself he can come to terms with most trumas and move on
Epic review. I've watched season 1 5 times, love this show! Just wanted to mention that there is a *deeper* level - a hidden theme, if you will, of which the Mole-Taurs and Comfortable Doug in particular are a vital element. Oh, and that Derpleton Fart sequence that *seemed* to go nowhere. This hidden theme may be aimed at those who have themselves *experienced* severe psychological and physical abuse... I mean... Horse, ...and Rider... and Horse's Tail. Not getting it? Count yourself lucky.
Wait I thought it was fairly obviously the theme of escaping the constant judgement of people with unfair rules and expectations and learning to be comfortable with who and what you are on your own terms
@@faultyantivirus Perhaps I am opening a can of worms here, and don't get me wrong - I still *love* Unicorns and rainbows and all that, but there is also a darker nature to the symbols that feed into, - the scarier aspects of this world. I've been on the receiving end of some of this myself, so was able to pick up on the symbols used in the show. Also, I don't fully agree with the perspectives portrayed - I have my own interpretation, and will continue to support the notion of Unicorns being beings of magic and wonder with no need to be involved in any dark reality - I just feel that *on this world*, they have been twisted as such by, well, twisted people, who, well... like to twist things. But if you wish to know the hidden theme I was implying, simply search for 'unicorns hidden meaning abuse' on google and see what you find.
@@faultyantivirus Yes - Comfortable Daug and dealing with the Horse transformation and self acceptance is IMO the main theme of the show. Learning to accept yourself and also get help/talk to your friends and family about it.
just saying that the comfortable Doug song was a reflection of horse's story yet overly silly. it also says that being comfortable isn't getting rid of the pain it's living happily with it. But apart from that great vid.
THANK YOU i feel like nobody is talking about this show!! Lets GET IT Edited to add that this review was really well done, and I appreciate the deeper dive into trauma that you did, rly good analysis 👍 ❤️
This show really does feel like a spiritual successor to Adventure Time, being cutesy, brightly colored, quirky, traumatizing and tearjerking all at the same time.
As someone who wants to be able to see media I can resonate with as a traumatized and jaded person, without retraumatizing me through tor.por. or what have you, centaurworld really hit the sweet spot and I can relate to the characters even more as someone who tries (and sometimes fails) to cover up my sorrow with comedy. When a joke didn't land for me I always took it as "wow, this person is trying REALLY hard today, aren't they?" with a feeling of pity rather than a "the writers really should have reconsidered that joke"
Hey! Just watched this and wanted to give my feedback as someone who's a fan of the show! So, I completely understand what you mean about there being too many jokes. I loved most of them, but definitely felt like the show was slightly oversaturated in the comedy department. To me, it felt a lot like what you said, like the comedy was kind of split into three target demographics - preteens, teens, and adults. There are ways to tell jokes that adults *and* kids find funny, that's one of the reasons slapstick/physical comedy has persisted for so long, so it surprised me that there was such a distinct separation between the types of comedy being used in the show. Instead of each character using a general selection of comedy to appeal to wide audiences, it seemed like a few characters were reserved for the humor of each age group. However, I will say that the chaos and pacing was one of the things I really enjoyed about the show. To me, the scene where Horse learned Wammawink's backstory *was* them understanding each other's emotions, because when Wammawink sings to Horse in the Whaletaur Shaman episode it's pretty clear she knows that Horse learned why she's so protective of her herd. I felt it refreshing that they didn't have to halt the pace for younger audiences so that we could hear the two confide in each other, most shows would take the time to do that and it seemed fitting that they got their emotional connection in those two moments and left the rest to be implied to the audience. The secondary characters were also hit-or-miss with me. In particular, I wasn't as fond of Ched or Durpleton (feel free to disagree) because they didn't contribute much to the plot. Durpleton kind of did by using his sparkle blinkies to light up the beartaur cave, but I can't think of a scene where Ched's inclusion was relevant to the plot. Comfortable Doug, in comparison, actively bolstered the plot by guarding the jail and acting as the bailiff, which earned him the ability to reappear later in the show. It felt like Comfortable Doug should have been in Ched's place, not directly because it wouldn't fit with his character to join the herd, but if Ched weren't included and we got more focus on Comfortable Doug it would've felt more cohesive in general. That said, I personally still believe every character fits the theme of the show, which you so beautifully pointed out. Every character relevant to the plot has gone through or is going through trauma. Not only that though, everyone is *coping* with their trauma in various ways, which sells the positive message of the show for me. In particular: Horse - Being pulled away from her Rider into a dangerous, unknown world for so long she starts to forget Rider, coping by finding new family Rider - Sharing Horse's separational trauma, coping by doing what she can to reunite with Horse Wammawink - Orphaned at a young age due to the war, coping by creating and protecting a new herd (while also learning not to be overprotective as a result) Glendale - Unknown, but likely associated with loss from the war, coping via her kleptomania Zulius - Negative self-image likely from losing Johnny Teatime's Be Best Competition, coping via self-care and positive affirmations Durpleton - Paternal issues, coping via his talking farts Ched - Bigoted toward horses (because of family trauma caused by the horsetaur dentist), eventually coping via staying close to Horse and growing to respect her Comfortable Doug - Uncomfortable in life, coping by doing what he needs to make himself comfortable Nowhere King - Embodiment of trauma, suffering some misdeed in the past that turned him into this, one of the only characters not coping Waterbaby - Unclear but seems to be related to the war, coping via training shamans to protect Centaurworld and its important artifacts Whaletaur Shaman - More complicated, but her trauma is related to the depression she takes in from the merfolk she helps, and she copes by learning from the herd that the merfolk (herself included) would live better lives for experiencing their trauma and finding healthy outlets TL;DR I disagree with your critique of the pacing and the insert of Comfortable Doug toward the end because it resolves his trauma and has a strong message that both contribute to the theme of the show, but I agree that the joke-writing needed a touch up because of just how much comedy is involved in the show. That said, I loved your take on the show and it made me realize that not only is the show about coping with trauma (which I knew beforehand), but that all the characters relevant to the plot embody a form of personal trauma as well as a positive or negative way to cope with that trauma, and I really appreciate you for taking the time to make this video and help me realize that.
Comfortable Doug’s song was about being comfortable with who are and if you’re not comfortable where you are, you should go out and do new things to find what makes you happy. CD is a moletare who’s lived in the same place for his whole life. He’s never seen the surface and he settled into his underground life. But his life was dull, he wasn’t “comfortable” he was numb. So he had to BECOME comfortable by breaking away from everything he’s ever known and going on a Journey. Just like horses does.
Only centaurworld could have an episode where one minute, a character gets relentlessly kinkshamed and the next another contemplates suicidal thoughts.
You made a really good point with how much comedy there was, but I feel that it fits. Yes, I often got tired of it, but I feel that it made the more darker themes stick out a lot more and less at the same time. For example, when I saw the Whaletaur shaman, my jaw *dropped* when Horse jumped in because of how sad she was. If the whole show were too dark, it wouldn't be as hard-hitting because I'd expect it, but will all the comedy it makes it hit so much harder. It's like eating a really good meal full of flavor, and then there's a fingernail in it. It sticks out a lot harder. The way everyone and everything tries to pretend they aren't a total wreck is really interesting. When you look at the show from the trailers, it just looks like a fun preschool show, but in reality, it's every single character trying to keep it together. At first glance, they all look all happy and colorful when in reality they're all fucking unstable. That's what I love about the show, it's a beautiful mess held together by only a single chewed piece of gum.
You see comfortable doug is a metaphor for how we should be comfortable with our selves, and about how our sense of identity may not be what we actually truly fill like because as humans we change and learn new thinks about our self. And it's should parallel the change of self Horse go trough the series.
Pretty spot on review and very entertaining! Overall I think this show really appeals to the younger crowd (I have seen some children oriented reviews about this, and they are all 'cool colors and lots of fart jokes! awesome!' - Most of the underlying themes probably go over pre-teen heads completely. That said, I truly enjoyed it as an adult (and have rewatched most episodes more than once) - Like you said, the animation is smooth, imaginative and amazing; the colors are vibrant and on spot; the songs never get old; the traumatic themes and tonal whiplash are turned to 11; and the story has just enough mystery to make you want to see more. I can't wait for the next season!
I thought the fast pace and gimmick of Centaurworld being cartoony and a bit much was the whole point to be a huge contrast to the "real" world Horse comes from. It would be interesting to maybe get a Rider episode next season that is that more serious tone/less jokes to show that contrast a bit more. Either way, I loved the show, and the pacing/humor was right on for me, but understand that it might not be for everyone or might be a bit much. But Comfortable Doug was amazing...
I personally disagree with the idea that the show has too many jokes or too fast pacing. I've seen shows that never take a breather or just let characters be, and this show ain't it. They do take moments to let the dramatic impact of a moment sink in, they do have quiet moments where they let the characters just talk, and a lot of the supposed plot points that go nowhere, are really just plot points they explore in the 2nd season (the Mystery Woman, Durpleton and his farts, Ched's horsephobia, Wammawink's past etc).
I LOVED this show. However, i don’t know who the target audience is. Because the contrast between all the shows traits sometimes is too vast. Not enough to ruin the show big enough to justify what she said: “it’s rough.” The show has a lot of potential but it definitely needs to be polished just a little bit more. It’s for kids but there are CLEARLY some very adult jokes and imagery here. An adult can definitely watch this show and enjoy it. But at times the adult aesthetic goes so far I start questioning “IS this FOR kids though?” It goes from kid friendliness to adult content pretty wildly at times. “THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE HOLES.” But I digress. It’s good. Really good. Centaurworld just needs to be fleshed out a little bit more. Which I think it will by season 2.
You do know that this animated show wasn't designed for kids right? And Comfortable Doug and his song was to help Horse to accept herself and become comfortable with the changes that she under gone.
Bruh, I can get saying that there are too many jokes, but you can't say that there are two many songs. It's written like a musical instead of something like let's say Phineas and Ferb where they'll just put in a catchy song for the episode to punctuate a cool moment. In Centaurworld the songs pretty much are the story. And while the humor might not be for everyone I don't think it was a bad direction, the silliness mixed with the surprising dark humor really made the centaur world feel like the magical coping mechanism of an alien world. My favorite thing about the show is the replay value. So many things you miss the first time through, like the meaning of the comfortable Doug song or chad's homelife, the Cats reference.
That was exactly my toughts in mid show, but after the finale I realized this show is just perfect in the way it is. The show, lowkey is a therapy for people with traumas, problems with selfacceptence and fitting in. The all over the top jokes are not useless, but create a contraxt. And if they foreshadowed more the nowhere king more, then the ending would have been hit differently.
The evil thing is that even the fart jokes are him coping with his traumatic experiences he had with his own parents. And how he grew over the second season to be a great father and not a carbon copy of his dad. I cried when I understood his song "please sir, I don't want to be a dum dum". This show hid a lot of real mental health issues in plain sight.
Here I am, waiting for your take on Season 2. Don't mind me. Just sitting here with a knowing smile and a slightly malevolent gleam in my cold, dead eyes.
I do think this was the "have the characters bond and get to know them through wacky misadventures" season and we'll get into the plot now that they've set some seeds and food for thought out there and the Big Bad is on the loose. S1 did its job, I care about the characters and want to see more of the world, now let's get out there and do that in S2! Who's this woman? What's her connection to the nowhere king? Are the centaurs indirectly responsible for the massacre of the human realm by trapping the king's armies on the other side of the portal? o_O
every show tries to be like adventure time, but they don't have a full ten years' run time to do so. the characters grew with their audience and started dealing with more and more serious things, just as kids do as they age into teens, then young adults. the only reason all of the trauma that the characters go through isn't really weird, or hard to deal with, or ever felt disingenuous is that it's fully addressed and you see the longterm effects of that trauma and how the characters were shaped by it and overcame it. the trauma was something the kids could see reflected in their lives. now every show has to be deep and "well written." i really have the opinion that if a show is written to be enjoyed by "all ages," it's not written for kids -- it's an adult show with childish themes. kids have so much to deal with, especially right now, seeing constant sorrow and suffering so normalized in mainstream media, something they also can't get away from, isn't good for them. kids can deal with the issues of being an adult when they get to being an adult. seeing every single new "kids show" coming out dealing with 'trauma' is really just starting to feel like adults trauma dumping on a group of people that can't really control being raised by TV's now instead of their parents in a world that is already so scary and unpredictable. kids deserve shows written for them, by people who want to make a show for children, not a show "for everyone."
i kinda like comfortable doug's song, it's part of the fact that wammawink has abandonment issues, and can't properly deal with it. She wants to spend more time with Horse, but everyone keeps interupting her, for the most stupid and useless things
What you have failed to consider is that I live for Comfortable Doug. But jokes aside, season 2 did that- like- they put jokes aside literally. But season 2 got so much better and the finale?? My god was it intense and made me highly rethink if the show was really for kids. There are still jokes but they focused more on the story in the second season and it really showed. Got a bit darker but still lighthearted. Also, Comfortable Doug makes more of an appearance. I love that man. So much.
I loved season 2, I would also love to do a video about it but I am SO busy with making Live2D stuff at the moment that a long form video is out of the question. :,)
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I literally love this show but the PACING of it... MY GOD! I get it, Netflix is a cutthroat platform and you gotta make it interesting and viable and have enough lore for a season IF you even get there, but they cram so much into season 1 because who knows what will happen or if they'll get more allotted time EVER y'know? It needs the one thing that it wasn't given, time.
Heeey! Good video, could we have another review, now for the second season? I really loved it, I think it gives much sense to what we saw in the first one.
Great video! I really like Centuarworld, but I totally agree about the points in the video! I think that it could be better if episode 6 and 7 should have been darker to transition better into episode 8!
If you think Centaurworld is congested with too much humour and unnecessary distracting content, you should take a look at Hazbin Hotel. Woof. Whilst I like Vivienne Medrano's 'show' it has a lot of problems that need to be addressed. I really hope she cuts down on the number of useless characters in the future.
ok 11:07 totally caught me off-guard but also I'm cacklin' because I adore Trollhunters but uh yeah goin' back on that character development made me upsetti spaghetti lolll anyways centaurworld was cool
I think my biggest issue with the show was just... Ched. I didn't really appreciate the like.. horse-racism? I still can't even figure out WHY he's like that, unless I missed something. But nothing will redeem him in my eyes.
It’s fast paced bc of the world they live in. There’s gonna be a season two where we’re getting more development and emotion. I don’t agree with the “too many jokes” thing. Of the jokes didn’t make it in, the show would be boring honestly. And Comfortable Doug is amazing how dare you.
This show seems to me just a few F-bombs away from being on adultswim. ...at times, anyway. Some of the more cheesy elements don't lend well to adult cartoons, yes. But the humor just seems too good for kids :D
I must say I still feel like it should have more episodes and I don’t really like the cut off feeling, though I can understand it logically… it just feels like we got dropped off in the middle and there was nowhere to go from there. Nothing is really resolved and we don’t know anything about it. Like; was the Nowhere King once a horse? Was the witch lady that horse’s trusted rider and something awful happened? I love the review though!
This show covers so many emotional topics it's amazing. I only wished they got the time to do more worldbuilding. I want to know a lot more about the political structure of the Human World. I do heavily disagree on the story and character thing.
I'm confused... are you criticizing a comedy because it's a comedy? Like, yes there's a lot of jokes but it's a comedy, cut all the jokes out and it wouldn't be the same show. Heck, I don't think it would be a good show if it wasn't a comedy.
nonono, many jokes go by way too fast and I'd prefer to let them breathe, and have some parts go a little slower, still be a comedy but from what i've been able to tell, there's a lot of people who enjoy the faster pace even if it blasted past me.
This show really expresses the way some people deal with trauma. Centaurworld itself is a metaphor, in my eyes, for the 'masking of pain with comedy' thing, doing things too glittery, too bright, too loud because it's anxious, it's desperate to pretend nothing's there, that everything's fine. The cattaurs are likely the most prominent expression of this - in their song they mention that they do pageantry every day to mask their trauma and pain most directly, Wamawink and her herd are isolating themselves to stay 'safe', moletaurs judge everybody but themselves, Comfortable Doug is one of them that came out of their shell into the light and became comfortable in his own skin, mer-guys and gals and non-binary pals were too depressed to go on and commited if not literal, then social/personal suicide, going numb to everything... Glorious show and I'd say the over-abundance of jokes is exactly right, at least in my opinion, since that is such a familiar way to deal with things for me.
You said this so beautifully. This is exactly how I feel about the show (I've literally made doctors uncomfortable with my humor over my mental/physical condition at times) and I feel deeply seen.
Man, I've made my friends and coworkers uncomfortable on so many occasions with my depression/anxiety jokes I've lost count. Thankfully I'm now with a person who really really understands this humor and does it themselves so we vibe wonderfully. It actually helped dealing with a lot of the emotions I masked with my overtly-positive and carefree attitudes. Bless that you find someone like that as well and I'm super happy that my post made you feel a bit less alone
The whale shaman hurt meeeee on so many levels. She got bandages covering her arms and it smacked me in the face when she started singing what she represented.
i had to take a break after episode. so heavy
Oh shoot I completely missed the bandages on her arms. Like, I knew they were there and I knew what she was singing about, but this just clicked for me.
Self harm?
@@Mistfall254 yes it was
That was the first time I actually felt unnerved by a kids show.
That was dark, and like, they play it completely straight. No sugarcoating or anything.
One of the things that freaked me out most was the cats who keep mentioning that they do the show everyday. You get the feeling that they don't even want to keep doing it, but johnny teatime keeps making them do it for entertainment and that they'll have to keep doing it till they die from exhaustion
Not really they do it everyday to hide the pain of the war it was mentioned in the song.
"It used to be Cat Valley was disaster-free
But the Great War brought death and cats-tastrohphe
So we had to find a way to heal
Cover up the pain, with pageantry and zeal"
@@BLANK-wn5kg both reasons tbh
@@MarsMakes yeah
that'd be so ironic that the cutest shaman is the most authoritarian one
maybe it helped at the beginning, but they don't need to keep holding onto the same coping mechanisms, this is unhealthy.
Disagree about the pacing/timing, it sells the chaos os centaurworld but still lets the emotional scenes breathe, maybe is just that you don't like fast paced comedy
My favorite part of the show was the songs, can't wait for the hundreds of animatics people will do with them, maybe someone will even make a amature production that would be neat
Yes
Agreed. I understand wanting more serious bits, but I went in with the impression it was a comedy first with the serious stuff as background plot to keep the story engaging, especially when you consider the setting Horse is in. If anything, I felt they managed to sprinkle in a lot of the dark stuff from the songs at each Shaman - it really shined through the chaos for me.
They're clearly building up a single conflict by sprinkling in so little in between the comedy. I felt all but the giraffe guy were fleshed out at least a little bit as was necessary. If there is a season 2, the actual drama has been established which leaves room for less introductory antics and more fleshing out the side characters out instead of just the main (which is clearly Wammawink and Horse). If they had jammed in everyone's backstory in ten episodes I'd feel they'd be speedrunning it like some badly paced Shonen Anime that has you meet a villain, explains their tragic background mid-fight via flashback, then immediately has the protagonist defeat them and they're never relevant again. Just a waste of time imo
Agreed, having most of the show being relatively silly can really make the emotional parts hit much harder. I still shed tears during Horse's most emotional songs.
yeah and I'm sure the second season will touch more on the serious bits since they're, y'know, preparing for and/or fighting _a war_ in both worlds now
Honestly agree, my s/o cannot binge watch shows, so he has to take breaks
However he was able to watch it with me. All 10 episodes without a break
We normally would've stopped on like episode 3 otherwise
"For we are all just fragile things
Soft and small and haven't been here before"
It's a great description of life in this world
I think to the comic "we start life as a soft, mushy thing, and then as we get pelted by rejection, we transform into a tough unfeeling robot...piloted by a soft mushy thing."
yes, but you are failing to consider
that I love comfortable doug with my whole entire being
understandable
have a lovely day
same comfortable doug and Jeffrey are underrated and unappreciated characters and they're legit my favorite next to Ched and Horse
@@Gummy_Pop. Their name is actually Gebbery, no fault to you for assuming it was a real, normal name though
@@ordanarymods4990 ah makes sense cause we have wammawink (when i thought her name was llamawink) and Ched isn't Chad...yeah XD
I can understand why the Comfortable Doug song feels a little out of place, but in a way, it's not.
It takes place after her run in with the Whale Shaman, right when Horse is trying to accept who she is. Doug is basically telling her to be happy with who she is, to Be Comfortable. His whole song is about him finding himself in the world, away from the Underground. Same as Horse realizing there is more to herself than just a warhorse.
I've thought about the too many jokes criticism a lot and honestly I didn't think there were too many jokes. A big point of the series is in Centaurworld they use songs, jokes and dance to hide the trauma, the show itself does the same thing so for people who want to understand these themes can look deeper. So honestly I kind of have to disagree with that point but that's just my opinion, great review 👍
Though for the nowhere king point I think the amount of attention he got in this season is fine, after all it's definitely gonna get a second season at some point and the season final gave a lot of hype for what's to come with this embodiment of evil.
"We make burnt offerings to _Trevooooooor!!!_ "
"Who is Trevor?."
" _he's like a friend of something_ "
It’s Trebbor
The songs and jokes are great and add to theming, comfortable doug song is good and makes you feel like the entire universe is stalling. I think it is all great.
6:43 James Baxter works for Netflix and taught the centaur world team how to draw horse
WHAT
HE REALLY DID??
I WAS JUST JOKING HE REALLY DID HELP DRAW HORNSE
@@Cosmine Indeed. He wasn't the animator, but he was the _teacher_ for the animators.
Very well done job if I do say so myself.
Horses are apparently infamously difficult to draw and animate, so it’s great that they got an industry professional to help out.
OMGGGG YESS
I think there might be something badass that happens when Horse goes back to her world, at least aesthetically.
Two different art styles. It would be kinda cool to see how they collide.
As someone whose a massive Yakuza fan, the tonal whiplash is perfect bc the crazy choatic, lighthearted moments help the serious moments stand out even more. Centaurworld is honestly one of my favorite shows bc it doesn't try to appeal to everyone. The creator knew what she wanted to make and faught tooth and nail to make it and damn if that isn't respectable.
"mm tastes like 9/11"
Absolutely flipping lost it
Wait, when was that???
@@loonflam8910 1:15
Cosmine: **loves super cutesy characters dealing with horrifyingly dark, depressing, and foreboding themes and events**
Me: “If I had to take a guess, I’m assuming you’re a fan of Kirby games, aren’t you?”
kirb :D
@@Cosmine
ayo if you wanna play a game that looks really cute but has some dark themes id suggest playing wandersong!!! its a short and sweet game and i think youd like it :]
@@Cosmine I mean comfortable Doug is pretty cool and interesting if you dive deeper into his character he was just another moletaur but once he got comfortable with himself he can come to terms with most trumas and move on
Centaurworld: the funniest way to damage your children, for their own good
Ikr I loved it
Epic review. I've watched season 1 5 times, love this show! Just wanted to mention that there is a *deeper* level - a hidden theme, if you will, of which the Mole-Taurs and Comfortable Doug in particular are a vital element. Oh, and that Derpleton Fart sequence that *seemed* to go nowhere. This hidden theme may be aimed at those who have themselves *experienced* severe psychological and physical abuse... I mean... Horse, ...and Rider... and Horse's Tail. Not getting it? Count yourself lucky.
Wait I thought it was fairly obviously the theme of escaping the constant judgement of people with unfair rules and expectations and learning to be comfortable with who and what you are on your own terms
@@faultyantivirus Perhaps I am opening a can of worms here, and don't get me wrong - I still *love* Unicorns and rainbows and all that, but there is also a darker nature to the symbols that feed into, - the scarier aspects of this world. I've been on the receiving end of some of this myself, so was able to pick up on the symbols used in the show. Also, I don't fully agree with the perspectives portrayed - I have my own interpretation, and will continue to support the notion of Unicorns being beings of magic and wonder with no need to be involved in any dark reality - I just feel that *on this world*, they have been twisted as such by, well, twisted people, who, well... like to twist things. But if you wish to know the hidden theme I was implying, simply search for 'unicorns hidden meaning abuse' on google and see what you find.
@@faultyantivirus Yes - Comfortable Daug and dealing with the Horse transformation and self acceptance is IMO the main theme of the show. Learning to accept yourself and also get help/talk to your friends and family about it.
@@faeminx8438 i didnt find anything like you were suggesting. do you have a link?
just saying that the comfortable Doug song was a reflection of horse's story yet overly silly. it also says that being comfortable isn't getting rid of the pain it's living happily with it.
But apart from that great vid.
the tonal whiplash is the fun part
THANK YOU i feel like nobody is talking about this show!! Lets GET IT
Edited to add that this review was really well done, and I appreciate the deeper dive into trauma that you did, rly good analysis 👍 ❤️
This show really does feel like a spiritual successor to Adventure Time, being cutesy, brightly colored, quirky, traumatizing and tearjerking all at the same time.
As someone who wants to be able to see media I can resonate with as a traumatized and jaded person, without retraumatizing me through tor.por. or what have you, centaurworld really hit the sweet spot and I can relate to the characters even more as someone who tries (and sometimes fails) to cover up my sorrow with comedy. When a joke didn't land for me I always took it as "wow, this person is trying REALLY hard today, aren't they?" with a feeling of pity rather than a "the writers really should have reconsidered that joke"
Finally a good review of centaurworld
I haven’t seen any bad reviews, are there a lot?
Hey! Just watched this and wanted to give my feedback as someone who's a fan of the show!
So, I completely understand what you mean about there being too many jokes. I loved most of them, but definitely felt like the show was slightly oversaturated in the comedy department. To me, it felt a lot like what you said, like the comedy was kind of split into three target demographics - preteens, teens, and adults. There are ways to tell jokes that adults *and* kids find funny, that's one of the reasons slapstick/physical comedy has persisted for so long, so it surprised me that there was such a distinct separation between the types of comedy being used in the show. Instead of each character using a general selection of comedy to appeal to wide audiences, it seemed like a few characters were reserved for the humor of each age group.
However, I will say that the chaos and pacing was one of the things I really enjoyed about the show. To me, the scene where Horse learned Wammawink's backstory *was* them understanding each other's emotions, because when Wammawink sings to Horse in the Whaletaur Shaman episode it's pretty clear she knows that Horse learned why she's so protective of her herd. I felt it refreshing that they didn't have to halt the pace for younger audiences so that we could hear the two confide in each other, most shows would take the time to do that and it seemed fitting that they got their emotional connection in those two moments and left the rest to be implied to the audience.
The secondary characters were also hit-or-miss with me. In particular, I wasn't as fond of Ched or Durpleton (feel free to disagree) because they didn't contribute much to the plot. Durpleton kind of did by using his sparkle blinkies to light up the beartaur cave, but I can't think of a scene where Ched's inclusion was relevant to the plot. Comfortable Doug, in comparison, actively bolstered the plot by guarding the jail and acting as the bailiff, which earned him the ability to reappear later in the show. It felt like Comfortable Doug should have been in Ched's place, not directly because it wouldn't fit with his character to join the herd, but if Ched weren't included and we got more focus on Comfortable Doug it would've felt more cohesive in general.
That said, I personally still believe every character fits the theme of the show, which you so beautifully pointed out. Every character relevant to the plot has gone through or is going through trauma. Not only that though, everyone is *coping* with their trauma in various ways, which sells the positive message of the show for me. In particular:
Horse - Being pulled away from her Rider into a dangerous, unknown world for so long she starts to forget Rider, coping by finding new family
Rider - Sharing Horse's separational trauma, coping by doing what she can to reunite with Horse
Wammawink - Orphaned at a young age due to the war, coping by creating and protecting a new herd (while also learning not to be overprotective as a result)
Glendale - Unknown, but likely associated with loss from the war, coping via her kleptomania
Zulius - Negative self-image likely from losing Johnny Teatime's Be Best Competition, coping via self-care and positive affirmations
Durpleton - Paternal issues, coping via his talking farts
Ched - Bigoted toward horses (because of family trauma caused by the horsetaur dentist), eventually coping via staying close to Horse and growing to respect her
Comfortable Doug - Uncomfortable in life, coping by doing what he needs to make himself comfortable
Nowhere King - Embodiment of trauma, suffering some misdeed in the past that turned him into this, one of the only characters not coping
Waterbaby - Unclear but seems to be related to the war, coping via training shamans to protect Centaurworld and its important artifacts
Whaletaur Shaman - More complicated, but her trauma is related to the depression she takes in from the merfolk she helps, and she copes by learning from the herd that the merfolk (herself included) would live better lives for experiencing their trauma and finding healthy outlets
TL;DR I disagree with your critique of the pacing and the insert of Comfortable Doug toward the end because it resolves his trauma and has a strong message that both contribute to the theme of the show, but I agree that the joke-writing needed a touch up because of just how much comedy is involved in the show. That said, I loved your take on the show and it made me realize that not only is the show about coping with trauma (which I knew beforehand), but that all the characters relevant to the plot embody a form of personal trauma as well as a positive or negative way to cope with that trauma, and I really appreciate you for taking the time to make this video and help me realize that.
Funny how I originally thought this was an adult show
Comfortable Doug’s song was about being comfortable with who are and if you’re not comfortable where you are, you should go out and do new things to find what makes you happy.
CD is a moletare who’s lived in the same place for his whole life. He’s never seen the surface and he settled into his underground life. But his life was dull, he wasn’t “comfortable” he was numb. So he had to BECOME comfortable by breaking away from everything he’s ever known and going on a Journey. Just like horses does.
James Baxter actually taught the studios on how to properly animate a horse. At least thats what I heard.
"Tastes like 9/11" I'm punching my table so hard about that one! Instant like
Only centaurworld could have an episode where one minute, a character gets relentlessly kinkshamed and the next another contemplates suicidal thoughts.
I... Those... Those images... Those look to have been early concept designs of the show...
Im a boy right.... and i binged this show, right...... i, cant stop watch ing it. I want to stop, I REALLY DO. but.... i just. Cant.
holy shit I didn't even know the animal artist was the show creator!
explains a lot, but I didn't expect That
Have autism, it is difficult for me to focus on only 1 thing. This show with multiple subplots is perfect, for me!
1:10 Gravity Falls, Amphibia, Owl House, She-Ra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, looking back on my favorite shows, this is the perfect summary.
The Wizard Lady is Lea Salonga
(I freakedd when I found out 🤯🤯🤯)
I do hope we get a bit less jokes and a bit more plot in s2, but I liked s1 as is.
You made a really good point with how much comedy there was, but I feel that it fits. Yes, I often got tired of it, but I feel that it made the more darker themes stick out a lot more and less at the same time. For example, when I saw the Whaletaur shaman, my jaw *dropped* when Horse jumped in because of how sad she was. If the whole show were too dark, it wouldn't be as hard-hitting because I'd expect it, but will all the comedy it makes it hit so much harder. It's like eating a really good meal full of flavor, and then there's a fingernail in it. It sticks out a lot harder. The way everyone and everything tries to pretend they aren't a total wreck is really interesting. When you look at the show from the trailers, it just looks like a fun preschool show, but in reality, it's every single character trying to keep it together. At first glance, they all look all happy and colorful when in reality they're all fucking unstable.
That's what I love about the show, it's a beautiful mess held together by only a single chewed piece of gum.
You see comfortable doug is a metaphor for how we should be comfortable with our selves, and about how our sense of identity may not be what we actually truly fill like because as humans we change and learn new thinks about our self. And it's should parallel the change of self Horse go trough the series.
She's enjoying that trauma juice! 😂😂😂
Wow! A super nuanced review! Another slam dunk video from Cosmine
This is such a good video! Love your humor
HOLYSHIT i had no idea the same person who made that art helped make Centaurworld! Makes sense though.
I didn't know that this was a thing, but it makes total sense.
Pretty spot on review and very entertaining!
Overall I think this show really appeals to the younger crowd (I have seen some children oriented reviews about this, and they are all 'cool colors and lots of fart jokes! awesome!' - Most of the underlying themes probably go over pre-teen heads completely.
That said, I truly enjoyed it as an adult (and have rewatched most episodes more than once) - Like you said, the animation is smooth, imaginative and amazing; the colors are vibrant and on spot; the songs never get old; the traumatic themes and tonal whiplash are turned to 11; and the story has just enough mystery to make you want to see more. I can't wait for the next season!
Honestly I like the amount of jokes a lot and the dark story line
The music is what drew me in,
I literally watched it in one sitting
OH MY GOD SHE MADE THOSE!!!!???????!? OH WOW I REMEMBER THOSE BUT HOW DID I NOT THINK ABOUT THAT AHHHHHHH
idk man, I'm 34 and I've watched this like five times. I'm stoked for season 2
So, what do you think?
Did you get broken by the Last Lullaby like I did?
6:20 what do you mean, he won johnny teatime's be best competition, which forces horse and co. to steal the key piece
The horse one or b plot is adout birds trauma cause he was used as a ball
Edit there was 2 studios in involved
I thought the fast pace and gimmick of Centaurworld being cartoony and a bit much was the whole point to be a huge contrast to the "real" world Horse comes from. It would be interesting to maybe get a Rider episode next season that is that more serious tone/less jokes to show that contrast a bit more.
Either way, I loved the show, and the pacing/humor was right on for me, but understand that it might not be for everyone or might be a bit much.
But Comfortable Doug was amazing...
"mmm tastes like 9/11" is a great line
I personally disagree with the idea that the show has too many jokes or too fast pacing. I've seen shows that never take a breather or just let characters be, and this show ain't it. They do take moments to let the dramatic impact of a moment sink in, they do have quiet moments where they let the characters just talk, and a lot of the supposed plot points that go nowhere, are really just plot points they explore in the 2nd season (the Mystery Woman, Durpleton and his farts, Ched's horsephobia, Wammawink's past etc).
Durpleton and his farts are SO much deeper and more emotional than anyone could have thought.
I LOVED this show. However, i don’t know who the target audience is. Because the contrast between all the shows traits sometimes is too vast. Not enough to ruin the show big enough to justify what she said: “it’s rough.”
The show has a lot of potential but it definitely needs to be polished just a little bit more. It’s for kids but there are CLEARLY some very adult jokes and imagery here. An adult can definitely watch this show and enjoy it.
But at times the adult aesthetic goes so far I start questioning “IS this FOR kids though?”
It goes from kid friendliness to adult content pretty wildly at times.
“THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE HOLES.”
But I digress. It’s good. Really good. Centaurworld just needs to be fleshed out a little bit more. Which I think it will by season 2.
My favorite character says a lot abt me
My favorite character is Tail of all characters lol. I thought I’d hate him but I fucking love him.
They used two animation studios and it looks really consistent
You do know that this animated show wasn't designed for kids right? And Comfortable Doug and his song was to help Horse to accept herself and become comfortable with the changes that she under gone.
Bruh, I can get saying that there are too many jokes, but you can't say that there are two many songs. It's written like a musical instead of something like let's say Phineas and Ferb where they'll just put in a catchy song for the episode to punctuate a cool moment. In Centaurworld the songs pretty much are the story. And while the humor might not be for everyone I don't think it was a bad direction, the silliness mixed with the surprising dark humor really made the centaur world feel like the magical coping mechanism of an alien world. My favorite thing about the show is the replay value. So many things you miss the first time through, like the meaning of the comfortable Doug song or chad's homelife, the Cats reference.
I think season two is going to be almost all dark stuff
I mean it kinda was. But also not? Centaurworld is a massive paradox.
I don’t think there’s any other show where I can say “The main character goes suicide via whale” and be completely correct.
The jokes and songs are a big part of the charm to me... Tail I could do without tho
That was exactly my toughts in mid show, but after the finale I realized this show is just perfect in the way it is.
The show, lowkey is a therapy for people with traumas, problems with selfacceptence and fitting in. The all over the top jokes are not useless, but create a contraxt. And if they foreshadowed more the nowhere king more, then the ending would have been hit differently.
The evil thing is that even the fart jokes are him coping with his traumatic experiences he had with his own parents.
And how he grew over the second season to be a great father and not a carbon copy of his dad.
I cried when I understood his song "please sir, I don't want to be a dum dum".
This show hid a lot of real mental health issues in plain sight.
Here I am, waiting for your take on Season 2.
Don't mind me. Just sitting here with a knowing smile and a slightly malevolent gleam in my cold, dead eyes.
I dont really know if this video came out after season 2 but I bet that could fix the problem
Season 2 is out now on Netflix
6:22 and yet the fans love him
Centaurworld needs a season 2 also love digimon too patamon is my favorite digimon he's adorable
We have the same aesthetic!!! Cute but secretly horrifying
The show is perfect for me though I am a kid and I have ADHD so the fast pace is super perfect
I do think this was the "have the characters bond and get to know them through wacky misadventures" season and we'll get into the plot now that they've set some seeds and food for thought out there and the Big Bad is on the loose. S1 did its job, I care about the characters and want to see more of the world, now let's get out there and do that in S2! Who's this woman? What's her connection to the nowhere king? Are the centaurs indirectly responsible for the massacre of the human realm by trapping the king's armies on the other side of the portal? o_O
I don't it was supposed to be for children, but its a war character that somehow went on a children television show i think
I need a clip of Cosmine saying " Lemme get a cup of that trauma juice " at 1:10 really bad ..... Cause it's perfect
The fuck do you mean Durpleton's fart song goes nowhere!? It is connected to his own truama!
Maybe you could wait for season 2
every show tries to be like adventure time, but they don't have a full ten years' run time to do so. the characters grew with their audience and started dealing with more and more serious things, just as kids do as they age into teens, then young adults. the only reason all of the trauma that the characters go through isn't really weird, or hard to deal with, or ever felt disingenuous is that it's fully addressed and you see the longterm effects of that trauma and how the characters were shaped by it and overcame it. the trauma was something the kids could see reflected in their lives. now every show has to be deep and "well written." i really have the opinion that if a show is written to be enjoyed by "all ages," it's not written for kids -- it's an adult show with childish themes. kids have so much to deal with, especially right now, seeing constant sorrow and suffering so normalized in mainstream media, something they also can't get away from, isn't good for them. kids can deal with the issues of being an adult when they get to being an adult. seeing every single new "kids show" coming out dealing with 'trauma' is really just starting to feel like adults trauma dumping on a group of people that can't really control being raised by TV's now instead of their parents in a world that is already so scary and unpredictable. kids deserve shows written for them, by people who want to make a show for children, not a show "for everyone."
i kinda like comfortable doug's song, it's part of the fact that wammawink has abandonment issues, and can't properly deal with it. She wants to spend more time with Horse, but everyone keeps interupting her, for the most stupid and useless things
The once was a centaur named Wenis!
What you have failed to consider is that I live for Comfortable Doug.
But jokes aside, season 2 did that- like- they put jokes aside literally. But season 2 got so much better and the finale?? My god was it intense and made me highly rethink if the show was really for kids. There are still jokes but they focused more on the story in the second season and it really showed. Got a bit darker but still lighthearted. Also, Comfortable Doug makes more of an appearance. I love that man. So much.
Yeah season 2 was like a wonderful dessert after a full meal of wacky spaghetti and hard core new york prime rib steak tenderloin medallions
*GASP* KYLE!!!! THAT ME
So…. About season 2
I loved season 2, I would also love to do a video about it but I am SO busy with making Live2D stuff at the moment that a long form video is out of the question. :,)
This is candy coated cyanide.
This is a "kids show" as in that a lot more is going on. Yeah, "kid" show... yup!
This is the best review yet!
I wanna see the thoughts on the second season
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I literally love this show but the PACING of it... MY GOD! I get it, Netflix is a cutthroat platform and you gotta make it interesting and viable and have enough lore for a season IF you even get there, but they cram so much into season 1 because who knows what will happen or if they'll get more allotted time EVER y'know? It needs the one thing that it wasn't given, time.
Heeey! Good video, could we have another review, now for the second season? I really loved it, I think it gives much sense to what we saw in the first one.
Comfortable Douglas is like a forced meme that kinda works. Probably cuz of the good music and quirky voice acting.
Great video! I really like Centuarworld, but I totally agree about the points in the video! I think that it could be better if episode 6 and 7 should have been darker to transition better into episode 8!
If you think Centaurworld is congested with too much humour and unnecessary distracting content, you should take a look at Hazbin Hotel. Woof. Whilst I like Vivienne Medrano's 'show' it has a lot of problems that need to be addressed. I really hope she cuts down on the number of useless characters in the future.
ok 11:07 totally caught me off-guard but also I'm cacklin' because I adore Trollhunters but uh yeah goin' back on that character development made me upsetti spaghetti lolll
anyways centaurworld was cool
I think my biggest issue with the show was just... Ched. I didn't really appreciate the like.. horse-racism? I still can't even figure out WHY he's like that, unless I missed something. But nothing will redeem him in my eyes.
It’s fast paced bc of the world they live in.
There’s gonna be a season two where we’re getting more development and emotion.
I don’t agree with the “too many jokes” thing. Of the jokes didn’t make it in, the show would be boring honestly.
And Comfortable Doug is amazing how dare you.
Guys help I was watching this with my friend and we only got a minute in and she is dying of laughter from the 9/11 comment.....what should I do XD
This show seems to me just a few F-bombs away from being on adultswim. ...at times, anyway.
Some of the more cheesy elements don't lend well to adult cartoons, yes. But the humor just seems too good for kids :D
aha! i see you used footage from the "Every song mashup" video too!
Yes!!! Centaurworld!!
I must say I still feel like it should have more episodes and I don’t really like the cut off feeling, though I can understand it logically… it just feels like we got dropped off in the middle and there was nowhere to go from there. Nothing is really resolved and we don’t know anything about it. Like; was the Nowhere King once a horse? Was the witch lady that horse’s trusted rider and something awful happened?
I love the review though!
This show covers so many emotional topics it's amazing. I only wished they got the time to do more worldbuilding. I want to know a lot more about the political structure of the Human World.
I do heavily disagree on the story and character thing.
Dude you should watch ragdolly, if yiu like cute but disturbing stuff
I'm confused... are you criticizing a comedy because it's a comedy? Like, yes there's a lot of jokes but it's a comedy, cut all the jokes out and it wouldn't be the same show. Heck, I don't think it would be a good show if it wasn't a comedy.
nonono, many jokes go by way too fast and I'd prefer to let them breathe, and have some parts go a little slower, still be a comedy but from what i've been able to tell, there's a lot of people who enjoy the faster pace even if it blasted past me.