“The Midnight Gospel” is an animated show released to Netflix on April 20,. It follows the protagonist, Clancy, on a journey through a simulated universe, jumping from one planet to the next in an attempt to find interviews for his podcast. The show was based on a preexisting podcast featuring comedian, Duncan Trussel, as its host. The show took segments from the podcast series, recorded some new lines to fit with the narrative of the story, and then brought it to life with fluid beautiful animation.
To truly decide, how to feel about “The Midnight Gospel” after only the first watch is pretty tough, each episode offers a different complex issue or idea from meditation, to overcoming the death of a loved one, and while the show was surely enjoyable on the first watch, there are many details that can be missed. The dialogue feels natural, as it was taken from a real podcast, and the animation is smooth and very pleasant to look at\; however, each aspect is so strong, sometimes it’s possible to lose focus of one while paying attention to the other. This is where a rewatch can come in handy to expand an understanding of the show.
“The finally, out of all of them had the best cohesion between animation and story, you can come across difficulty sometimes with trying to understand what they’re talking about while also taking in the animation,” junior Ellis Deal said. “However some could say that’s the charm of the show.”
Sometimes the topics discussed deserve very close attention to what is being discussed, especially when some of the concepts are very niche. One episode discusses spiritual magic, which is the act of shaping the world with only the mind, for example, positive thoughts yield positive outcomes and negative thoughts yield negative ones.
“I loved the episode about spiritual magic,” junior Kaj Keith said. “I love the idea of being able to change the world around you with just your mind.”
A fascinating idea, but one many people in western civilization are not well acquainted with. Yet sometimes the topics are a little more down to earth and a little more focus can be put easily on the creative animation.
“As someone who is relatively sheltered from spiritual talks, it was enlightening getting into conversations so deep, it was a great new experience,” Keith said. “If you want to mix very deep conversations which teach about life with animation that reminds you of your childhood it’s a great show.”
The mix of calm voices and fluid animation is sure to relax. Even if completely lost during an episode, just sit back and enjoy the ride, because one thing this show is sure to offer is twenty minutes of meditation each episode, which I feel is the goal of the show, and they surely accomplish it.