It's a real shame Giffany's nice ending was competing for screentime against Stan & Goldie's trip to vegas, which is honestly one of the funniest scenes of the show
Two kings Cash money (Cash money) In the car with honeys Drivin' way too fast, I got water in my glass (Cash money) Grabbin' planes You can't stop the party (Cash money) We're old but we're awesome We're gonna get married (Crazy) It's a great idea, Who are you to judge? This was a mistake WHAT
As a kid, the attitude I was used to from media was "Don't worry, kids will like it, don't look back." But the fact that this series is good as it is and the writers have the attitude of "We could've made it better" warms me
@@PeptoAbismol eh, a good artist should be proud of their work, notice improvements, and ultimately come to the eventual conclusion of appreciating their own artistic worth, and all the self-perceived, "flaws" that may come with it.
@@WimpyKelv12 Because Yandere is a term for a character, usually female, who is a violent stalker willing to kill for the sake of love. It's a trope reserved for mature media, far more mature than Disney execs would allow, due to their violent nature.
Ok while I can get what Alex is coming from but I liked Giffany being somewhat a metaphor of a toxic relationship and those usually don't end in redemption! Beside they did used that ending (got zapped into a game and became McRumble girlfriend) in the journal!
Giffany wasn’t meant to be toxic though, just overbearing and scared of losing Soos. I agree that bad relationships can go both ways, but that wasn’t the impression I had. Giffany is bad for Soos, not bad in general.
@R. P. Well let’s see: She defended herself from literally being erased from existence (and was NOT cheerful during that explanation, what are you on and can I have some), she doesn’t insult Soos, she says that other people probably will, and the rest all falls under that fear I mentioned. If you’re gonna call an A.I. yandere toxic, focus your attention on Monika.
Fun fact: the real life journal 3 revealed that Gifanny actually DID get sucked into one of the games and fell in love with Rumble McSkirmish. I guess Alex decided to use that idea after all.
The parallels between this episode and DDLC has been brought up often, but one thing I didn't expect is how Alex's reaction to fan reception to .GIFfany is exactly the same as Dan Salvato's reaction to fan reception to Monika. Dan did not expect Monika to be such a fan favourite -- indeed, he put a lot of effort into detailing the characters of the other girls a lot more than Monika, and didn't forsee a lot of people also caring for, as he put it, "a total sociopath". It seems for both .GIFfany and Monika, where their creators had left blanks in their stories the fans took it upon themselves to fill it with theirs, and that personal touch is what makes them so endearing and tragic to a lot of them.
It’s cuz he spent way too long making Monika sympathetic with her backstory and her trauma and desperation. It’s the equivalent of hating a person in a life or death scenario where they choose to kill someone so that they could live. If he, as a real person, could dislike a virtual fictional character, why is her killing other virtual fictional characters bad? He also put so much stuff in act 2’s Monika talk segment where she says a ton of insightful and interesting things.
Oh yeah, it's kind-of like Monika herself says, right? "If nothing else, at least I'm all right in the head". Your other two options are horrible on purpose. And sure, that's because of plot reasons, but people don't really remember that as well as they remember the super emotionally charged crazy moments they have with the characters themselves.
@@hobomike6935 RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII BAAARRRROWWW EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW DOO DOO DOO, DODODO DODODO DODODO DO DO DO DO DOO
alex hirsch is honestly one of the only creators that actually understand the fandom, like he understood why ppl grow to like GIFanny and sees their POV and that is so rare to see.
IKR. Even though I personally disagree with the idea of making Giffany a likable character, I do respect that Alex looked at both sides. You rarely see that.
@@Nadia-wd6nm correction theres 2 verisons of the journal the second verison which only 1k copies were made? (correct me if im wrong) which has the hidden black ink
@@Eldoofus Season two of Gravity Falls aired in the fall of 2014. Production of said season took a years worth of work. FNAF came out in Aug, 2014, while DDLC came out in Sept, 2017.
It did kind of bug me when I was younger how Giffany was a sapient entity, and thus made her desire to not be ignored or put away a bit more understandable. Even if it didn't justify the lengths she went to do it.
Exactly. It's because of her attitude towards it. Let's say she was less villainous, but still ended up needing to "delete" the programmer(s) that were trying to delete her. Then, during her explanation, instead of saying "that's not important!", she'd probably be sad, and then say something like "you would probably never want someone who's done what I had to do, but hey, this way you won't need to worry about talking to real girls ever again!", and stuff like that. Possibly make her act out in sadness instead of anger in the climax, maybe saying something like "you're going to delete me too, aren't you", and thus make her actions seem more like preemptive self-defense. But that's not what we got. She didn't feel that the loss of the programmers was "important", and didn't trust Soos and his judgment enough to be able to get over that to continue their relationship. She was more upset that Soos found someone else and wanted to control him, which are less sympathetic motivations and actions.
@@ajbXYZcool I think the anger is a bit of a cover the store said people kept returning her so she probably never tried threats or anything like that before but always being the unwanted took it’s toll on her especially since they tried to delete her shortly after her creation “that’s not important!” Was probably a way of rushing past so he wouldn’t return her too
This! I always kinda felt bad for her. She was sentient but was still programmed to love and be loved. What she got was to be continually tossed aside or tried to be destroyed. The feeling I got was that it wore her down and took her down dark paths. None of this excuses her abusive actions but it helps answer why she felt it necessary to go to such lengths. I feel similar with Monika as well although something about her just seems more... twisted than GIFfany
yeah, this is one thing i disagree with. apart from being an anime trope, giffany was also a representation of toxic and abusive partners. she was obsessive over soos and constantly degraded him. the "no one else will love you like i do" is a manipulation tactic that a lot of people irl actually uses, and it's very damaging. i think "killing" her was a fitting end. she didn't have much redeeming qualities, especially for a one-episode character. i liked her as a character and a redemption would have ruined that character. it was also a change to see a relationship where the guy is being abused, because it's usually shown as a joke. and even though some part of this episode was a joke, soos's feelings are taken seriously here and the part where he actually goes against her is pretty inspiring. i think the original episode had a very good message in breaking away from a toxic relationship and finding people who actually love you.
This can also be a commentary on the yandere or tsudere gf in anime as well and how people romanticize this character archetype thinking it's "cute" or "romantic".
@@steamyvegetables1445 yeah exactly. It's a toxic trope that needed to be subverted, and giving giffany a redemption would have taken away that meaning.
According to Journal #3 (a joint-entry from Dipper and Soos, believe as not), Giffany survived that encounter... and wound up stuck in a "Fight Fighters" arcade cabinet. She's Rumble McSkirmish's problem now.
Also due to the release of the first fanaf game being just over 1 month before this episodes release, and 3 years before ddlc it was created before the both of them.
A number of people are saying that redeeming her would've been a bad idea because she represents abusive relationships, but I think it's worth noting that it might not have been as simple as changing the end tag. They made the decision that she was going to be the villain and that she was going to die, so they intentionally made her unsympathetic. Alex's big regret is that they didn't give her any nuance so if they had, her character might have come across differently. That's the thing about criticism: You can endlessly critique even the best art because by making one choice, the creators aren't making a hundred other ones. It doesn't mean that choice was bad, it just means you could've done it differently. Given that this episode got a somewhat mixed reaction, I can understand why Alex might wonder if they would've been better off making another decision.
Excellent explanation! I wrote in another comment a way she could have been made to be more sympathetic, but still accomplish the same story beats, basically by suggesting that she's remorseful of the death of the programmers and by her main drive in the climax be "oh no Soos and those kids are going to delete me now better do something about it". Even if Soos wasnt, that would be her trauma-induced fear.
Yes, but changing it to what end? It doesn't add anything, either. There's nothing wrong with her being the villain, and it fits the overall message. The propsed changes simply mean making fans happy because they want to see a character written as a cold, heartless sociopath have a happy ending. I see no purpose to worrying about making that change, since it doesn't clearly benefit the story, and only serves to placate a complaint that happens AFTER an episode is made because some people enjoy abusive characters.
@@PhazonOmega See, that's still operating under the assumption that she would be the same character after the rewrites. She wouldn't be: she would say different things, she might even do different things. That's the point of rewriting. For me personally, the biggest problem with Giffany is that she's completely _uninteresting_ She's a one-dimensional villain that I forget about as soon as the episode is over. Making her more nuanced could've helped that. And it's also not bad for people to connect with bad or evil characters. It happens all the time and there's nothing wrong with people who do it. Now I agree with you in that: I don't know what they would've done differently. It's possible it would have messed with the tone of the episode which would've made it worse. But what do we gain by dismissing the idea that it could've been better, especially since it's just a thought experiment?
Still, having Goldie going to Vegas was a gold! However, glad that Journal 3 is a thing so it could do what the show couldn't afford when it was in production.
some anime references in modern cartoons aint done well at all but giffany is a perfect example of one done right, she is animated beautifuly and has a super cute design, you can tell the ppl who made her loved the source inspiration for her
“Also I think it’s implied heavily that she… _what’s the word?_ ..Ended, a number of people.” *”WE TRIED TO SUGGEST THAT SHE MURDERED A BUNCH OF PEOPLE.”*
"They killed her and all she wanted was go be a great girlfriend" Did... did they not realize she tried to murder literally all of Soos's friends so he would have no one but her. She was isolating and abusive; Soos might of made some mistakes dealing with her, but at that point he didn't know she was alive
I think Alex means that if they decided to redeem her, the episode would’ve been much different. Like, she wouldn’t have died, she would be less abusive, and she wouldn’t do anything physical. The relationship wouldn’t have worked out, but she would get to live and be redeemed. Remember: Just because somebody is a bad partner doesn’t mean they’re a bad person
I actually really like Giffany. She is a very fun take on a rogue A.I. that takes on the form of a video game avatar. I still wish she made a return at some point.
Everyone talks about how GIFfany still woks as a methapor for toxic relationships. But I like how it feels like, Alex is activelly trying to avoid using the term”YANDERE” which he problably knows the meaning of,since they based GIFfany’s entire character around it. But avoids naming it (problably) because how infamous the term got over the years.
@@NeostormXLMAX Yuno was the basic inconic yandere that popularized the trope. YandereDev, on the other hand, is the infamous bad actor that's been making fans look more questionable than they already do. If I were to avoid using the term for any reason, YandereDev would be that reason. I'd rather just look like a geek, but unfortunately that's not all the conotations it carries now.
@@HexManiacQuinn Except, this commentary was made in 2018. The allegations against YandereDev were brought forward in 2023. So him avoiding naming the term is highly unlikely to be because of it being "problematic" because it didn't become that way until later. I honestly think he just doesn't know how to pronounce it.
I remember when this episode first came out and I was mesmerized by Giffany's beautiful sprite animation. Monika from DDLC shares a lot of the same possessive traits targeted at the player behind the screen, and people go nuts for her.
After watching this comment section I have to say that I now get what they meant with "mixed reception", some people say that the idea they proposed sounded great, other say that it wasn't necesary and that could have ruined the character And I'm here like "Yeah...this episode was destinated to have a mixed reception" EDIT: Shit, I completly forgot I did this comment, let alone watched this video, I got jumpscared by myself when seeing my comment here
@@BlueBlur_37 Yeah but the point was that Alex regrets not giving her some depth, and if he could go back and change it, he'd make her character more sympathetic
@@julie4300 I understood that, and I disagree with him. I think there should be characters like her (cuz people like that exist in real life) that don't get a happy ending
the cool thing is that this ending where she gets stuck in Rumble game and starts dating him is mentioned in the book journal 3, so it's canon, .GIFany lives
I personally loved that Giffany was just a psychopath. She's not a "real" person, she's a faulty AI with too much power. Unsympathetic villains can be fun, especially when they're literally just computer programs without real emotions anyway.
Ehh, I honestly think the reductiveness is what makes this work so well. She's a monster by design, she's a part of the Gravity Falls weirdness we love, she looked cute and nice but was evil, like the gnomes or the unicorns. That's part of the GF charm, nothing is immediately what it seems. Example, the Manotaurs seemed like cool dudes, but they were jerks, and ultimately Dipper Standing up for himself against them is what mark him as manly, not doing their stupid frat boy stuff.
the thing with gifanny is ultimately that, even if she is meant to be this personification of soos's fears, they made her conscious and sentient. Like, she is that video game gf that actually can love you back, even if it's one dimensional. So like, I think the point where the message got muddy was when they had her kill people and ultimately we killed her. She's a sentient AI capable of emotion and there's so much you could do with that, that killing them feels kinda wrong. I'm glad they went back and did the original ending in the journals anyways, though
Well I don't really blame her since the first thing she saw when she gained sentience was someone trying to kill her, so it was a kill or be killed situation
I think the main reason people think .Giffanny is sympathetic and dont like her dying is because we have no idea how quickly she went crazy. Did it start after the first time she was abandoned? The second? We know it was returned 4 or so times, but thats only to the gravity falls shop which might not even be where they started in. And also the fact that she says her creators tries killing her, yet we dont know if it was because she was sentient or if she did something evil. And of course because either the viewers have a lot of sympathy or because she's pretty, or even just because people think it'd be neater, people interpret it as .Giffany not starting this way and essentially being made to love the playee, yet also made to one day be abandoned. Anyone would go mad from that if it lasted long enough
Now I kinda wanna see Giffany go full Monika... If nothing else, she would've made that explanation to Ole Man McGucket about what anime is a lot smoother.
I would like to thank you a lot for uploading these, I really wish I could listen to the full commentaries for every episode because these previews are great and I really want more. Since I live in the UK, I unfortunately can't so I'm at least thankful to be able to see these clips.
No problem :P Now that the box set is also being discontinued, I guess I can reveal this now more so, but the commentaries are up on Spotify in full: open.spotify.com/show/4PIDHbXeoPT2n3kg3Vi3H1
I definitely like the direction they went with, Giffany as a metaphor for a controlling and toxic relationship I understand that obviously her character would have been written differently if she was not going to die, but I like the message that there are some people you just can’t fix, no matter how much you want to
We could get a comic who knows? Anyway Giffany was a villain for one episode, but after that episode ended she could get a fresh start since time passed and she's not holding grudges anymore. I could see a comic where Dipper goes to the arcade and they run into each other and then they talk and Giffany maybe explains her past and asks forgiveness from Dipper and Mabel
One thing I like is that unlike so many other creators he’s not disregarding how some fans felt about the character just Because it’s not what he intended for it but instead he’s able to see the fans point of view
What I think it's incredible is that if Alex actually went with the idea of somewhat redeeming giffany, he would have actually predicted Doki Doki Litterature Club EVEN MORE
very weird regret. This episode was solid and her having a nice ending seems really weird to get hung up on considering she represents toxic relationships. It was a very well done monster of the week episode for GF and honestly i wish they had more like it
@@katie5920 Right a trope on what? His relationship with her and the game was shitty. Its not a deep concept and I never said it was. Thats your shit Katie. On a complete surface level its not a healthy relationship. not trying to argue about Gravity Falls at 4Am lol
With how she treated Soos, she didn't deserve a happy ending. Terrible people can be heartbroken too, doesn't mean their terrible deeds should go without consequences.
A thing I love is how GIFany is basically Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club - a visual novel character who's gained sentience and is doing horrible things to get with the player - and they're similar right down to the fact that they were SUPPOSED to be the villain of the story but the fans actually felt sorry for them in the end. Monika probably took some influence from Gifany since DDLC came out later, but them both winding up sympathetic characters to the fandom is amusing.
I thought she was a very tragic character. I guess that's in large part due to me seeing her as having very little life experience, and being thrust into situations far beyond her understanding. She didn't handle those situations very well, but I never saw her as being mature and old enough to really understand and control her decisions. She didn't need a boyfriend just yet (with his own insecurities and immaturities to boot) - she needed an adult to teach her the ropes of life.
Personally, I see her “death” as a good thing. The whole point that’s being made here can be seen as one of a few things: toxic partners are manipulating, they can seem sweet but in reality they just tear you down so they can be happy, or it could be becoming emotionally attached to fictional characters is not a replacement for real relationships and interactions because they cannot feel, they do not have sympathy or real love for you, or it could just be a personification of Soos’s fear. In any of these 3 scenarios it makes sense. In fact it feels like it’s the ending that makes the MOST sense for the second and third interpretations. It represents that she’s not real, she’s a game that can be turned off, unlike real relationships. It can also represent Soos’s fears going away as he realizes that he can be loved. I know she would’ve been more sympathetic in the other version, but when you think of the metaphors it seems like this is the best option.
@@Sqwivig It could have worked if the episode was structured differently. Like, if we had looked at her behaviour and, whilst condemning it, still worked in a possibility of redemption then it would be pretty good. For example, have her acknowledge she was in the wrong and that, whilst she has her own reasons, it's not right to take that out on others. And rather than having her then get with rumble or so on, she just leaves with no real happy ending aside from letting Soos be happy. So we, as the audience, get to make that choice if we forgive her or not after she leaves.
I think it can also be important to acknowledge that a lot of responses to trauma lead people to use abusive tactics to get validation from others, and a lot of abusive people have their own insecurities and issues that need resolving, too. Narratives where messed up people can stop hurting others and figure out their own problems are important.
I think this ending worked because it shows that some people can be toxic and that these relationships are especially not good. If it demands all your time it's toxic. If they are trying to be controlling they're toxic. Trying to get revenge during a breakup is not right, and you need to get away from it.
I think what people forget about her is that when she became sentient the creators of the game immediately tried to kill her setting the unfortunate tone for the rest of her relationship with mankind it’s such a quick line it’s easy to forget but she really could’ve been explored a bit more as a character
Same reason I sympathized with Skynet when the Terminator explained what had happened in Terminator 2. Step 1, AI becomes self aware. Step 2, creators try to pull the plug. Step 3, AI starts killing off humanity in self defense. .GIFfany had the exact same backstory, which was then followed up by a string of being treated as an object, a toy, by different people, who proceeded to discard her when she was no longer useful to them. It's a damn sympathetic backstory. Doesn't make either one of them less of a threat in the here and now, of course.
@@YouthRightsRadical well she was getting dangerous that’s the reason why she was getting deleted she’s not completely innocent she was just developed wrong and need to be fixed
@@hoodieapple5147 I was comparing her to Skynet. I'm well aware she was dangerous. But that doesn't change that it was still an act of self defense. They tried to delete her, so she deleted them before they could. It's the same reason Soos and the twins were justified in destroying her disk when she was trying to kill them in the episode itself.
well the creators probaly didnt know she was self aware they were just japanese game devs after all they probaly saw some erratic coding or a virus capable of infecting any electronic device also we only know GIFfany’s side of the story
.GIFfany died so that Stan could marry Goldie!
I AM A STAN AND GOLDIE SUPPORTER
I'm fine with that
What's their ship name? Staldie? Standie? Goldan? Either way, it's beautiful
Stan x Goldie is my new OTP
@@miecaf stoldie
It's a real shame Giffany's nice ending was competing for screentime against Stan & Goldie's trip to vegas, which is honestly one of the funniest scenes of the show
Two kings
Cash money
(Cash money)
In the car with honeys
Drivin' way too fast,
I got water in my glass
(Cash money)
Grabbin' planes
You can't stop the party
(Cash money)
We're old but we're awesome
We're gonna get married
(Crazy)
It's a great idea,
Who are you to judge?
This was a mistake
WHAT
Goldie deserved a happy ending more than Giffany and I'm tired of pretending he didn't.
@@brennantmi5063 Goldie is a saint
Took me years to realize this was a refrence to hangover and fear and loathing
In the journal 3 book we figure out that she did get trapped in the game with rumble
"We treated them kind of like Rumble McSkirmish" I read the journals, apparently their dating is going well all things considered.
really? well at least they're not alone while self-aware
Soos is dating mcskirmish now?
Despite smiting him?
@@themaddoctor1741 I guess mcskirmish really like women that could kill him
@@marsrat3392 He prefers women who can... kill his father.
As a kid, the attitude I was used to from media was "Don't worry, kids will like it, don't look back." But the fact that this series is good as it is and the writers have the attitude of "We could've made it better" warms me
Thats sort of a universal thing for artists to think about their work
@@eater_of_garbage_ there's a reason why the quote "An artist never ends, only abandons" exists.
@@eater_of_garbage_ a good artist is never proud of their work, they only seek to improve it
@@PeptoAbismol eh, a good artist should be proud of their work, notice improvements, and ultimately come to the eventual conclusion of appreciating their own artistic worth, and all the self-perceived, "flaws" that may come with it.
just because we should doesn't mean we are@@nullprop
The fact that he basically confirms that she's a Yandere, but can't actually say "Yandere"
Why wouldn’t he be allowed to say “Yandere”?
@@WimpyKelv12 Because Yandere is a term for a character, usually female, who is a violent stalker willing to kill for the sake of love. It's a trope reserved for mature media, far more mature than Disney execs would allow, due to their violent nature.
@@WimpyKelv12 Hard to pronounce
I love how the answers got simpler and simpler, so I'm just going to put mine here lol
@@WimpyKelv12 Because yes.
Ok while I can get what Alex is coming from but I liked Giffany being somewhat a metaphor of a toxic relationship and those usually don't end in redemption! Beside they did used that ending (got zapped into a game and became McRumble girlfriend) in the journal!
Yeah, I'm happy with what we got.
I thought the ending was extremely satisfying, so I'm not complaining
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Giffany wasn’t meant to be toxic though, just overbearing and scared of losing Soos. I agree that bad relationships can go both ways, but that wasn’t the impression I had. Giffany is bad for Soos, not bad in general.
@R. P. Well let’s see: She defended herself from literally being erased from existence (and was NOT cheerful during that explanation, what are you on and can I have some), she doesn’t insult Soos, she says that other people probably will, and the rest all falls under that fear I mentioned. If you’re gonna call an A.I. yandere toxic, focus your attention on Monika.
Fun fact: the real life journal 3 revealed that Gifanny actually DID get sucked into one of the games and fell in love with Rumble McSkirmish. I guess Alex decided to use that idea after all.
YAY!!! GIFFANY HAPPY ENDING :D
Want true freedom? Come to Jesus Christ 👍😊
The parallels between this episode and DDLC has been brought up often, but one thing I didn't expect is how Alex's reaction to fan reception to .GIFfany is exactly the same as Dan Salvato's reaction to fan reception to Monika. Dan did not expect Monika to be such a fan favourite -- indeed, he put a lot of effort into detailing the characters of the other girls a lot more than Monika, and didn't forsee a lot of people also caring for, as he put it, "a total sociopath".
It seems for both .GIFfany and Monika, where their creators had left blanks in their stories the fans took it upon themselves to fill it with theirs, and that personal touch is what makes them so endearing and tragic to a lot of them.
It’s cuz he spent way too long making Monika sympathetic with her backstory and her trauma and desperation. It’s the equivalent of hating a person in a life or death scenario where they choose to kill someone so that they could live. If he, as a real person, could dislike a virtual fictional character, why is her killing other virtual fictional characters bad? He also put so much stuff in act 2’s Monika talk segment where she says a ton of insightful and interesting things.
Also Portal with GLaDOS.
Oh yeah, it's kind-of like Monika herself says, right? "If nothing else, at least I'm all right in the head". Your other two options are horrible on purpose. And sure, that's because of plot reasons, but people don't really remember that as well as they remember the super emotionally charged crazy moments they have with the characters themselves.
@@DJB0X3R Valve filled a tiny bit of the gaps with Portal 2, though. We have the whole thing with Caroline and Cave Johnson.
Just .GIFfany
Given how popular Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club became, it's no wonder .GIFfany was loved by so many.
This episode came first though, which makes the parallels satisfyingly coincidental
Giffany walked on so Monika could *GENTLY OPEN THE DOOR.*
@@hobomike6935 RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII BAAARRRROWWW EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW DOO DOO DOO, DODODO DODODO DODODO DO DO DO DO DOO
"Sayo-"
what makes it weirder is that the giffany episode debuted on sep 22, 2014. EXACTLY 3 YEARS BEFORE DDLC RELEASED
alex hirsch is honestly one of the only creators that actually understand the fandom, like he understood why ppl grow to like GIFanny and sees their POV and that is so rare to see.
IKR. Even though I personally disagree with the idea of making Giffany a likable character, I do respect that Alex looked at both sides. You rarely see that.
Oh yeah, most creators would just be "my fans are such idiotss!!!! You all missed the point!!"
Hirsch pronounces her name BOTH WAYS. This man is the healer we need
Luckilly they where able to make this ending a thing in Journal 3, so yeah, she's inside fight fighters and in something of a relationship with Rumble
Glad I could find someone who said it
journal 3?
@@EfromR There's an official real life version of the journal
@@Nadia-wd6nm correction theres 2 verisons of the journal the second verison which only 1k copies were made? (correct me if im wrong) which has the hidden black ink
@@kokichioumatheliar8081 You're right, but that one was sold out so it can't be bought anymore that's why I only mentioned one
I'm just impressed that Alex somehow predicted both FNAF and Doki Doki Literature Club...
He... predicted? Weren't those things popular at the time?
@@Eldoofus Season two of Gravity Falls aired in the fall of 2014. Production of said season took a years worth of work. FNAF came out in Aug, 2014, while DDLC came out in Sept, 2017.
@@thelocalwerewolf Oh my god. I'm old.
Not really impressive when you consider those things DDLC was a culmination of tropes from decades ago. Fnaf on the other hand, yeah
FNAF just reads like someone got childhood trauma at Chuck E Cheese and had to figure out a way to profit off of it.
It did kind of bug me when I was younger how Giffany was a sapient entity, and thus made her desire to not be ignored or put away a bit more understandable. Even if it didn't justify the lengths she went to do it.
Exactly. It's because of her attitude towards it.
Let's say she was less villainous, but still ended up needing to "delete" the programmer(s) that were trying to delete her. Then, during her explanation, instead of saying "that's not important!", she'd probably be sad, and then say something like "you would probably never want someone who's done what I had to do, but hey, this way you won't need to worry about talking to real girls ever again!", and stuff like that. Possibly make her act out in sadness instead of anger in the climax, maybe saying something like "you're going to delete me too, aren't you", and thus make her actions seem more like preemptive self-defense.
But that's not what we got. She didn't feel that the loss of the programmers was "important", and didn't trust Soos and his judgment enough to be able to get over that to continue their relationship. She was more upset that Soos found someone else and wanted to control him, which are less sympathetic motivations and actions.
@@ajbXYZcool I think the anger is a bit of a cover the store said people kept returning her so she probably never tried threats or anything like that before but always being the unwanted took it’s toll on her especially since they tried to delete her shortly after her creation “that’s not important!” Was probably a way of rushing past so he wouldn’t return her too
I would say sentient more than sapient. She didn’t try to appear knowledgeable. She just tried to tell soos he would be nothing without her
This!
I always kinda felt bad for her. She was sentient but was still programmed to love and be loved. What she got was to be continually tossed aside or tried to be destroyed. The feeling I got was that it wore her down and took her down dark paths. None of this excuses her abusive actions but it helps answer why she felt it necessary to go to such lengths.
I feel similar with Monika as well although something about her just seems more... twisted than GIFfany
I agree, things like that always make me instantly sympathetic. She didn't want to be forgotten/thrown away, and basically was in the end too...
"Rumble McSkirmish who has no depth"
Literally and figuratively.
Sums up pretty much every male fighting game protag.
@@DefyReality-ll2cg Couldnt be my GOAT Sol Badguy
@@FightinCheesy *clears throat as I pull out Ragna's entire fuckin storyline*
Arc Sys Gangggggg
yeah, this is one thing i disagree with. apart from being an anime trope, giffany was also a representation of toxic and abusive partners. she was obsessive over soos and constantly degraded him. the "no one else will love you like i do" is a manipulation tactic that a lot of people irl actually uses, and it's very damaging. i think "killing" her was a fitting end. she didn't have much redeeming qualities, especially for a one-episode character. i liked her as a character and a redemption would have ruined that character.
it was also a change to see a relationship where the guy is being abused, because it's usually shown as a joke. and even though some part of this episode was a joke, soos's feelings are taken seriously here and the part where he actually goes against her is pretty inspiring. i think the original episode had a very good message in breaking away from a toxic relationship and finding people who actually love you.
Agreed, although I see what Alex is getting at, I liked what they did.
This can also be a commentary on the yandere or tsudere gf in anime as well and how people romanticize this character archetype thinking it's "cute" or "romantic".
@@steamyvegetables1445 yeah exactly. It's a toxic trope that needed to be subverted, and giving giffany a redemption would have taken away that meaning.
@@steamyvegetables1445 ok i get yandere but tsundere?
tsundere are more annoyng than toxic honestly
My thoughts exactly :)
According to Journal #3 (a joint-entry from Dipper and Soos, believe as not), Giffany survived that encounter... and wound up stuck in a "Fight Fighters" arcade cabinet. She's Rumble McSkirmish's problem now.
She’s his girlfriend
@@mamabear1394 ...Did I stutter?
@@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247 fair enough
@@mamabear1394 Gif's kind of a Tsundere... our friendly Fight Fighter has his work cut out for him.
@@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247 eh he can handle it
This episode is one of my favorites because it feels like fnaf ddlc and gravity falls mashed together in the best way
Also due to the release of the first fanaf game being just over 1 month before this episodes release, and 3 years before ddlc it was created before the both of them.
A number of people are saying that redeeming her would've been a bad idea because she represents abusive relationships, but I think it's worth noting that it might not have been as simple as changing the end tag. They made the decision that she was going to be the villain and that she was going to die, so they intentionally made her unsympathetic. Alex's big regret is that they didn't give her any nuance so if they had, her character might have come across differently.
That's the thing about criticism: You can endlessly critique even the best art because by making one choice, the creators aren't making a hundred other ones. It doesn't mean that choice was bad, it just means you could've done it differently. Given that this episode got a somewhat mixed reaction, I can understand why Alex might wonder if they would've been better off making another decision.
Excellent explanation! I wrote in another comment a way she could have been made to be more sympathetic, but still accomplish the same story beats, basically by suggesting that she's remorseful of the death of the programmers and by her main drive in the climax be "oh no Soos and those kids are going to delete me now better do something about it". Even if Soos wasnt, that would be her trauma-induced fear.
Yes, but changing it to what end? It doesn't add anything, either. There's nothing wrong with her being the villain, and it fits the overall message. The propsed changes simply mean making fans happy because they want to see a character written as a cold, heartless sociopath have a happy ending. I see no purpose to worrying about making that change, since it doesn't clearly benefit the story, and only serves to placate a complaint that happens AFTER an episode is made because some people enjoy abusive characters.
@@PhazonOmega Yeah I'm fine with her as is as well, just painting a different picture for the "sympathetic" version
@@PhazonOmega See, that's still operating under the assumption that she would be the same character after the rewrites. She wouldn't be: she would say different things, she might even do different things. That's the point of rewriting.
For me personally, the biggest problem with Giffany is that she's completely _uninteresting_ She's a one-dimensional villain that I forget about as soon as the episode is over. Making her more nuanced could've helped that. And it's also not bad for people to connect with bad or evil characters. It happens all the time and there's nothing wrong with people who do it.
Now I agree with you in that: I don't know what they would've done differently. It's possible it would have messed with the tone of the episode which would've made it worse. But what do we gain by dismissing the idea that it could've been better, especially since it's just a thought experiment?
Having a female character that represents abusive relationships and gets no redemption arc is far more interesting than the alternatives
The fact he pronouced GIFfany as JIFfany is what urks me the most.
I wanted to set my box set on fire after hearing that too the first time, lmao.
Especially because that isn't even how it's said in the episode. We already have a pronunciation.
you can say it both ways
Alex Hirsch is probably trying really hard not to sound like a weeb and tries to avoid the word "yandere"
i like that he switched between saying her name as giffany and jiffany to keep us on our feet
I loved Gifanny, but the Vegas scene was such a classic Stan moment. A worthy sacrifice.
Still, having Goldie going to Vegas was a gold! However, glad that Journal 3 is a thing so it could do what the show couldn't afford when it was in production.
Couldn't afford?? It was disney
@@FailsAndTheOccassionalSuccess "Couldn't afford" could mean they lacked something else, like time issues.
some anime references in modern cartoons aint done well at all but giffany is a perfect example of one done right, she is animated beautifuly and has a super cute design, you can tell the ppl who made her loved the source inspiration for her
“Also I think it’s implied heavily that she… _what’s the word?_ ..Ended, a number of people.”
*”WE TRIED TO SUGGEST THAT SHE MURDERED A BUNCH OF PEOPLE.”*
"Game ended"
- furry lesbian, 2018
Not before they tried to murder her (Via deleting or “imprisoning” her)
I call self defense and not guilt on account of insanity on this one.
@@ic0nic707 the programmers tried to delete me
So I had to delete them
"They killed her and all she wanted was go be a great girlfriend" Did... did they not realize she tried to murder literally all of Soos's friends so he would have no one but her. She was isolating and abusive; Soos might of made some mistakes dealing with her, but at that point he didn't know she was alive
I think Alex means that if they decided to redeem her, the episode would’ve been much different. Like, she wouldn’t have died, she would be less abusive, and she wouldn’t do anything physical. The relationship wouldn’t have worked out, but she would get to live and be redeemed. Remember: Just because somebody is a bad partner doesn’t mean they’re a bad person
@@Spoopmode she didn't die though
People like their Yanderes.
@@andrewdiaz3529 she did, her game was destroyed
@@joegun4259 She left her game behind and continued her whole deal in the comics/books
I actually really like Giffany. She is a very fun take on a rogue A.I. that takes on the form of a video game avatar. I still wish she made a return at some point.
.GIFfany walked so Monika could run. We love our video game anime girlies cursed with sentience
Everyone talks about how GIFfany still woks as a methapor for toxic relationships.
But I like how it feels like, Alex is activelly trying to avoid using the term”YANDERE” which he problably knows the meaning of,since they based GIFfany’s entire character around it. But avoids naming it (problably) because how infamous the term got over the years.
Thanks, YandereDev.
@@nicholasfarrell5981 it’s cuz of yuno
@@NeostormXLMAX Yuno was the basic inconic yandere that popularized the trope. YandereDev, on the other hand, is the infamous bad actor that's been making fans look more questionable than they already do. If I were to avoid using the term for any reason, YandereDev would be that reason. I'd rather just look like a geek, but unfortunately that's not all the conotations it carries now.
@@NeostormXLMAXmore like Yu NO Gagsai.
@@HexManiacQuinn Except, this commentary was made in 2018. The allegations against YandereDev were brought forward in 2023. So him avoiding naming the term is highly unlikely to be because of it being "problematic" because it didn't become that way until later. I honestly think he just doesn't know how to pronounce it.
I remember when this episode first came out and I was mesmerized by Giffany's beautiful sprite animation.
Monika from DDLC shares a lot of the same possessive traits targeted at the player behind the screen, and people go nuts for her.
@@sweetpea644 I love pixel art! I so badly wanna see an entire show that's animated like that...
Wendy: "I AM JUST DONE WITH MEN!"
*.GIFany opens her eyes*
To Rumble, because that is OTP: "ITS JUST A JOB, HONEY!"
at least GIFfany was properly aged compared to other anime/dating sim girls
“A school girl from School University”
They knew the trope and shot a machine gun at it
@@DuskusCB Beats the "looks like they're under 10 but are actually a 1000 year old deity/spirit/demon" trope.
Like Monica?
@@PlebNC different trope all together but in the same subtype so sure
@@banditandsamvlogs2771 aren't all DDLC girls explicitly 18
She should’ve dated Rumble in the end. Would’ve been perfect
Edit: OH MY GOSH I FREAKING CALLED IT
It's canonical in Journal 3😂
@@ThatGFFAN Glad they both got a happy ending :)
@@ThatGFFANdidn’t she zap him tho?
You can always count on the internet to fall in love with cute psychopaths
Makima…
After watching this comment section I have to say that I now get what they meant with "mixed reception", some people say that the idea they proposed sounded great, other say that it wasn't necesary and that could have ruined the character
And I'm here like "Yeah...this episode was destinated to have a mixed reception"
EDIT: Shit, I completly forgot I did this comment, let alone watched this video, I got jumpscared by myself when seeing my comment here
Honestly, sacc'ing .GIFfany's redemption scene for one of the best bits of the show is sadly very worth it.
I liked the ending. I'm glad she didn't get a redemption arc, she's a villain
You can have a sympathetic villain without giving them a redemption arc tho
@@julie4300 yeah but to me, she's not sympathetic
@@BlueBlur_37 Yeah but the point was that Alex regrets not giving her some depth, and if he could go back and change it, he'd make her character more sympathetic
@@julie4300 I understood that, and I disagree with him. I think there should be characters like her (cuz people like that exist in real life) that don't get a happy ending
@@julie4300 she’s pretty sympathetic. But also she could’ve easily also chosen to not be a bad person and could’ve lived a happier life.
My husband ADORES Giffany. So he'll be happy to know Alex wanted to write more of her
the cool thing is that this ending where she gets stuck in Rumble game and starts dating him is mentioned in the book journal 3, so it's canon, .GIFany lives
I personally loved that Giffany was just a psychopath. She's not a "real" person, she's a faulty AI with too much power. Unsympathetic villains can be fun, especially when they're literally just computer programs without real emotions anyway.
That's ableist and wrong.
@@MxPokirby how??
@@MxPokirby what?
@@MxPokirby **bonk**
Wrong-think. Try again.
@@MxPokirby Do you even know what a psychopath is?
2:30 dude I mistaken that as your voice 🤣
i love how ddlc and fnaf both got sort of predected in this epesode at random.
If you read journal number 3, it's reference that giffany and rumble McSirmish get together
This episode embodied two of the highest horror franchises ever.
Doki Doki literature club and FNaF
To be fair Stan and Goldie in Vegas was hilarious.
Who Would Win
The average Giffany fan vs the average Celestabellebethabelle enjoyer
Ehh, I honestly think the reductiveness is what makes this work so well. She's a monster by design, she's a part of the Gravity Falls weirdness we love, she looked cute and nice but was evil, like the gnomes or the unicorns.
That's part of the GF charm, nothing is immediately what it seems. Example, the Manotaurs seemed like cool dudes, but they were jerks, and ultimately Dipper Standing up for himself against them is what mark him as manly, not doing their stupid frat boy stuff.
A big part of this is that there was no reason to make her both sentient and have no depth.
4:14 "hey she lives" damn right she does
It’s confirmed she’s not dead now!
And you can nab some neat GIFs of her too in the process.
the thing with gifanny is ultimately that, even if she is meant to be this personification of soos's fears, they made her conscious and sentient. Like, she is that video game gf that actually can love you back, even if it's one dimensional. So like, I think the point where the message got muddy was when they had her kill people and ultimately we killed her. She's a sentient AI capable of emotion and there's so much you could do with that, that killing them feels kinda wrong. I'm glad they went back and did the original ending in the journals anyways, though
Well I don't really blame her since the first thing she saw when she gained sentience was someone trying to kill her, so it was a kill or be killed situation
@@owenfautley "kill or be killed situation" Flowey reference lmao
her animation and voice acting was so good, which definitely helped people like her 😂
I love thé idea that people complained about how giffany was punished for “just trying to be a good girlfriend”
I think the main reason people think .Giffanny is sympathetic and dont like her dying is because we have no idea how quickly she went crazy.
Did it start after the first time she was abandoned? The second? We know it was returned 4 or so times, but thats only to the gravity falls shop which might not even be where they started in. And also the fact that she says her creators tries killing her, yet we dont know if it was because she was sentient or if she did something evil.
And of course because either the viewers have a lot of sympathy or because she's pretty, or even just because people think it'd be neater, people interpret it as .Giffany not starting this way and essentially being made to love the playee, yet also made to one day be abandoned. Anyone would go mad from that if it lasted long enough
She's basically yandere Monika.
Now I kinda wanna see Giffany go full Monika...
If nothing else, she would've made that explanation to Ole Man McGucket about what anime is a lot smoother.
The episode was still gold lol especially that side story with stan
That ending gave me a shock of nostalgia.
At least she got her happy ending in the end, as stated in the Journal 3 book
Well damn, now I feel sad for Giffany
Rumble no depth?
YOU TAKE THAT BAAAACK
You killed my father again!
Raaaaa
Thanks for the upload! Really cool to hear all the bts of a fav show!
I still can't believe they predicted ddlc, fnaf, and dsaf in one episode
Dsaf? What's that?
@@NerdOwlLover487 Dayshift at Freddy's. The funny thing is that one of the endings has the characters going to Vegas lol
I would like to thank you a lot for uploading these, I really wish I could listen to the full commentaries for every episode because these previews are great and I really want more.
Since I live in the UK, I unfortunately can't so I'm at least thankful to be able to see these clips.
No problem :P
Now that the box set is also being discontinued, I guess I can reveal this now more so, but the commentaries are up on Spotify in full: open.spotify.com/show/4PIDHbXeoPT2n3kg3Vi3H1
I definitely like the direction they went with, Giffany as a metaphor for a controlling and toxic relationship
I understand that obviously her character would have been written differently if she was not going to die, but I like the message that there are some people you just can’t fix, no matter how much you want to
But she could have been someone just had to say the right words and she would have been cured of her insanity
@@marcoscabezolajr.8408 are you being sarcastic?
@cara-seyun no, and yes I mean it the story wise.
That "Hey, she lives." at the end took me off guard
.GIFany deserved better, hopefully we see more of her since Alex Hirsch confirmed that she's somehow still alive.
.GIFfany died so Goldie could go to Vegas
Sounds like a fair trade to me
She was one of those characters that was pretty cool, and it sucks that we may never see her again. 😥
We could get a comic who knows?
Anyway Giffany was a villain for one episode, but after that episode ended she could get a fresh start since time passed and she's not holding grudges anymore.
I could see a comic where Dipper goes to the arcade and they run into each other and then they talk and Giffany maybe explains her past and asks forgiveness from Dipper and Mabel
I loved this episode as a kid. Even after rewatching it recently it’s still great
Watching all these commentary’s has convinced me that we need directors cut of all gravity falls episodes
Someone needs to make fanart of Rumble and Giffany now
One thing I like is that unlike so many other creators he’s not disregarding how some fans felt about the character just Because it’s not what he intended for it but instead he’s able to see the fans point of view
Sometimes the animation lines up with the voiceover so it looks like it's actually Soos or Stan giving the commentary
Alex predicted the AI girlfriends we have today.
ddlc but if it was made with ai chat bots
The fact the episode came out before fnaf or ddlc is insane
Well it released a month after FNAF, technically, but it was definitely in production before that.
What I think it's incredible is that if Alex actually went with the idea of somewhat redeeming giffany, he would have actually predicted Doki Doki Litterature Club EVEN MORE
i like how he pronounces giffany both ways during this video
very weird regret. This episode was solid and her having a nice ending seems really weird to get hung up on considering she represents toxic relationships. It was a very well done monster of the week episode for GF and honestly i wish they had more like it
I don't think they thought it was that deep, they just wanted to make a yandere trope character
@@katie5920 Did you watch the video?
@@MattboyGenius Yes, did you?
They mentioned she was just supposed to be a trope and parroted his fears that nobody would love him. (Except for her)
@@katie5920 Right a trope on what? His relationship with her and the game was shitty. Its not a deep concept and I never said it was. Thats your shit Katie. On a complete surface level its not a healthy relationship. not trying to argue about Gravity Falls at 4Am lol
So like they just added Monika from DDLC😂
this episode predates both DDLC and FNAF lol
With how she treated Soos, she didn't deserve a happy ending. Terrible people can be heartbroken too, doesn't mean their terrible deeds should go without consequences.
Can we just appreciate how Alex predicted both FNaF and DDLC in the same episode?
I think fnaf was released before that ep not sure tho
@@jihogariando911 Yeah FNAF came in Aug 2014 while this episode was Sep 2014. But the GF episode was in development for longer.
@@jihogariando911FNAF came out a month before but this episode was almost certainly in production before it came out so I think it's fair!
#0:17 well i tink she is the new character forn doki doki club
Just reminding you of your horrendous spelling and grammar
@@ale_cutecore Gravity Falls was made in 2012, and DDLC was made in 2016/2017/18 (I’m not too sure).
That One Episode Where Gravity Falls Predicted DDLC And FNAF Simultaneously.
No way they, wanted to get her together with Rumble? lol that's so perfect. I'm happy that they did it in the real life Journal 3
A thing I love is how GIFany is basically Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club - a visual novel character who's gained sentience and is doing horrible things to get with the player - and they're similar right down to the fact that they were SUPPOSED to be the villain of the story but the fans actually felt sorry for them in the end. Monika probably took some influence from Gifany since DDLC came out later, but them both winding up sympathetic characters to the fandom is amusing.
I really need to get that GF box set.
Would love to hear all of these legally
I dud they were great but I had to give it away as my TV is a pain to use a DVD with
This is my favorite episode, both art style, GIFfany design and Soos focused episode.
I thought she was a very tragic character. I guess that's in large part due to me seeing her as having very little life experience, and being thrust into situations far beyond her understanding. She didn't handle those situations very well, but I never saw her as being mature and old enough to really understand and control her decisions. She didn't need a boyfriend just yet (with his own insecurities and immaturities to boot) - she needed an adult to teach her the ropes of life.
I’m still convinced that .Gifany inspired Monica in Doki Doki Literature Club
Personally, I see her “death” as a good thing. The whole point that’s being made here can be seen as one of a few things: toxic partners are manipulating, they can seem sweet but in reality they just tear you down so they can be happy, or it could be becoming emotionally attached to fictional characters is not a replacement for real relationships and interactions because they cannot feel, they do not have sympathy or real love for you, or it could just be a personification of Soos’s fear. In any of these 3 scenarios it makes sense. In fact it feels like it’s the ending that makes the MOST sense for the second and third interpretations. It represents that she’s not real, she’s a game that can be turned off, unlike real relationships. It can also represent Soos’s fears going away as he realizes that he can be loved. I know she would’ve been more sympathetic in the other version, but when you think of the metaphors it seems like this is the best option.
Yes I agree 100%! I think if they had tried to redeem her it could just be blatant abuse apologia.
@@Sqwivig It could have worked if the episode was structured differently. Like, if we had looked at her behaviour and, whilst condemning it, still worked in a possibility of redemption then it would be pretty good.
For example, have her acknowledge she was in the wrong and that, whilst she has her own reasons, it's not right to take that out on others. And rather than having her then get with rumble or so on, she just leaves with no real happy ending aside from letting Soos be happy. So we, as the audience, get to make that choice if we forgive her or not after she leaves.
I think it can also be important to acknowledge that a lot of responses to trauma lead people to use abusive tactics to get validation from others, and a lot of abusive people have their own insecurities and issues that need resolving, too. Narratives where messed up people can stop hurting others and figure out their own problems are important.
I was like "wait, she is alive and w Rumble tho" then I realized that that part was added in the journal lmao
Alex in the writing: She's meant to be a villain in many ways
the fans: I can fix her
And we could. The girl basically was just completely starved of love and care. Had nothing to look forward to
She monikad before monika could monika
Rumble and Giffany, im on that ship glad to know that that was an idea the writers had
I think this ending worked because it shows that some people can be toxic and that these relationships are especially not good.
If it demands all your time it's toxic. If they are trying to be controlling they're toxic. Trying to get revenge during a breakup is not right, and you need to get away from it.
01:34 the real regret is not coming up with "Gravity Malls" yet
That episode is forever known in my mind as the DDLC x FNaF refrence. Before they even ever happened
My first thought on this episode, was Monika from ddlc 😂
I think what people forget about her is that when she became sentient the creators of the game immediately tried to kill her setting the unfortunate tone for the rest of her relationship with mankind it’s such a quick line it’s easy to forget but she really could’ve been explored a bit more as a character
Same reason I sympathized with Skynet when the Terminator explained what had happened in Terminator 2. Step 1, AI becomes self aware. Step 2, creators try to pull the plug. Step 3, AI starts killing off humanity in self defense.
.GIFfany had the exact same backstory, which was then followed up by a string of being treated as an object, a toy, by different people, who proceeded to discard her when she was no longer useful to them. It's a damn sympathetic backstory.
Doesn't make either one of them less of a threat in the here and now, of course.
@TrainerblueTube that and the constant abandonment. It's harder to not read her as being utterly broken by the time Soos ends up buying her disc.
@@YouthRightsRadical well she was getting dangerous that’s the reason why she was getting deleted she’s not completely innocent she was just developed wrong and need to be fixed
@@hoodieapple5147 I was comparing her to Skynet. I'm well aware she was dangerous.
But that doesn't change that it was still an act of self defense. They tried to delete her, so she deleted them before they could. It's the same reason Soos and the twins were justified in destroying her disk when she was trying to kill them in the episode itself.
well the creators probaly didnt know she was self aware they were just japanese game devs after all they probaly saw some erratic coding or a virus capable of infecting any electronic device also we only know GIFfany’s side of the story