Is Big Mouth REALLY That Bad? 

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I think the biggest reason why Big Mouth is so hated is because it keeps getting more and more seasons while other (clearly better) Netflix animations are even lucky to get just one season

It’s not about whether it’s a good show or not, it’s the fact that other shows were canceled before it was. Just baffles me how Netflix was like “alright you can stay” lmao

One thing about Big Mouth is I can’t name a single other show in my lifetime that’s tackled puberty this bluntly. And I appreciate that! I learned more about vaginal health from Nick Kroll than my own mother lol.

I honestly hate how relatable it is. The humor is more crass than I'd usually like and Jay in total is weird but i can assure you Jesse screaming about the particular to her mom out of literal nowhere made me feel extremely called out

Throughout my entire puberty life, I thought Big Mouth was just an adult's perversion of what puberty is actually like. I related to NONE of it.

I mean, them not doing anything outside of school was the most realistic thing about the show to me. I remember having "best friends I literally only ever saw in school

Every flaw you mentioned in the video, is exactly why I love Human Resources. It fits better because the depth to the story actually exists. You can clearly tell that someone actually cared about the writing. There a maybe two adult animations that have actually made me feel for the characters and their arcs. I feel like a creep watching Big mouth because of how much of the sexual content is saved specifically for the CHILDREN.

Part of me has to wonder if there was a method to the madness that is the hideous character designs in this series. Like maybe they knew they were going to be animating a lot of, um... questionable... things involving underage kids and that that could attract a certain type of "audience," so they thought "Hey, we should probably make our kid characters as ugly and unappealing as possible to at least *try* and scare the windowless van driver-types away from our cartoon show."

This show really needed one producer to say no to some ideas. Overall there are some cool concepts and funny bits but it feels like none of the writers have ever been told “hey that’s dumb actually”. Also I like the new avi model you use Mark.

I feel like the biggest issue with this show is that it's all about how puberty changes the kids. But we never see the kids before going through puberty so we always accociate them as awkard hormonal assholes

I think what a lot of people don’t understand about the pillow pregnancy is that it’s a metaphor for real teen pregnancy without actually putting the characters through that situation. Idk why some people have the idea in their head that all kids are innocent I literally had MULTIPLE friends go through pregnancy scares starting as early as 13. Middle school is hell and this show represents it perfectly

Big mouth came out when I was in middle school, so the show was relatable which appealed to. Big mouths charm is SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable, because its abut puberty and growing up. This show has also helped me with not feeling alone in my situation, for instance, Tito the anxiety mosquito. I was able to recognize what anxiety was so I could cope with my symptoms as I'm also autistic. This one of my most favorite shows!

Crazy I was 100% convinced Andrew was actually the main character tbh

What sucks is that adult animation is a genre that has the potential to be amazing, but Netflix canceling 3 of the few hidden gems in a few years kinda hurts. what's worse is that all 3 series had a season 2 planned, but were cancelled after season 1.

for me recently I feel like jay and matthew’s storylines are the ones that I’m actively interested for when it comes to this show. most of the characters, heavily on nick, are starting to feel really repetitive and annoying lol but at least for matthew and jay there’s SOME form of development. but yeah human resources is pretty good when it comes to actual storylines

The hormone monsters are personal, but shared in understanding. A big part of puberty is everyone kinda knowing what everyone else is going through, but not fully knowing if it's exactly the same for others. Two people having Maury as the monster are essentially experiencing a similar experience whereas having another monster is a different experience.

It hurts to find out that Inside Job got cancelled by Netflix in a video about Big Mouth.

My biggest criticism about having a comparison before puberty is that puberty is not hitting you like a truck. It’s gradual changes and there can be a huge amount of character development through those stages. I think a lot of adults are disconnected from how puberty actually felt due to the passage of time

If the cast had their own hormone monsters, there would probably have to be a lot less characters. The amount of kids and their respective monsters would be difficult to keep track of tbh. I'd say, if season 1 had four or five pubescent characters and showed who was controlling their hormones gradually, that would be a nice way to ease into it. Then down the line, new characters can be added bit by bit until the whole cast has been shown

can we leave actors using their normal voice for “voice acting” behind?

Seeing Mark as a Big Mouth character has scarred me

The one thing i can appreciate about big mouth is that at LEAST it can be crap without ruining an original source material

As a teenage girl, I really like and appreciate big mouth. like it’s really stupid and nasty but It's honestly really relatable. I like how blunt and honest it is about puberty and all aspects of it from different point of views. like for once we don’t just get “oh were getting body hair🤯“ or “we’re getting our periods” we get all of the emotional aspects to, like We get Missy struggling with her biracial identity and we get Jesse coming to terms with her broken family (two things that I personally understood) . and to touch on the thing that Mark said about them being too grown-up and not acting/talking like children, I actually think that they do because I know personally a lot of kids my age act and talk like this. We’re all pretty mature, while still being immature considering we’re still growing up. so yes Big Mouth is bad and stupid most times, but I think overall it’s a good show.

How the writers manage to fuck up such a simple concept confuses me. A hormone monster that represents puberty is literally the easiest metaphor ever.

Matt is one of the genuinely good characters they have in this show. They actually created a real character with development

I watched this show with my friends, and while they were all laughing their asses off, my brain was in severe pain trying to figure out the rules before the whole pillow pregnancy thing then I realized this whole show is the epitome jumping the shark

For the hormone monster not being exclusive for each kid, I think it's a metaphor of types of people, or groups even. You see when you go further into the history you have Maury who is absolutely crude, but semi-average and basic type of puberty 'for boys', Connie being the truly emotional and 100% 'girl energy', Mona who is absolutely openly all for being sexually active and try out all the possibilities or Rick who is the epitome of all the things wrong with hormones and with no possibility of change whatsoever. For me, they perfectly depict different types of personalities that ppl do depict and how they. No to mention that the idea of hormone monsters taking care of kids both genders can reference to the idea of embracing your masculine/feminine side As for the show itself-for me personally, those mistakes you've pointed have it's charm because they depict the whole 'being a teenager' as chaotic and some kind of hazy dream we do or don't remember. Nothing makes sense, everything is 'just because'. And you must remember that because it's based of memories of the guys, some situations like, battling with depression, might be shown as a memory. Plus - puberty IS uncomfortable. It's disgusting, it's crass because you learn do's a don'ts, you smell because of the hormones, body odor and getting the hang of the hygene (pls don't tell me ALL of the teens are squeaky clean and always smell mint and flowers, because we all know it's not true), everything hurts because of growing pains, your body is changing and you in this weird twilight phase where some of your body parts are grown up and some are still kid like so you really often lack proportions and look like an alien. There was not one part in my body during puberty that I've liked- but not because of complexes or other social shit. I was in constant pain- if not from growing, then from periods. And the smell- let me tell you how absolutely my hormones DESTROYED every shirt I've owned, because of the sweat - at some point I just had to take soap, deodorant and at least 2 shirts, because it was so bad. And the list went on and on- it was absolutely horrible and I'm glad I'm in my adult body. And as for the different somewhat uncomfortable closeups, look - teens can mess their body pretty bad, because of experimenting and the shame there is when they have to ask their parents for help sometimes holds them down from asking- which (and I'm saying this as a female presenting person) might lead to grown women not going to OB GYN even with deep yeast infections or simply being able to talk with their kids about sex ed. And honestly- if this crass shit will help a kid or a grown up talk about genital-related problems - so be it. For example, for me, Sex Education was far more uncomfortable and I still cannot lay my finger on why was that.

He says mouth 82 times in this video, each in a different way

I wholeheartedly agree with the point about shows involving teens dealing with adult situations. If you've ever made it all the way through high school, you've probably had some friends who made immature jokes about their bodies or talk about s**.... and there's a reason for that. The problem isn't that shows involving teens go into this territory, the problem is that there's a way to go about it without making it uncomfortable. In more explicit or extreme cases, it's gotta be more implied rather than outright shown, and too many shows with premises like this show more than they should.

It and Aggretsuko shares the exact same problem. It tries to say "hey, these characters will grow and change", but also has a very odd status quo to either reset or shuffle their characters because they want to extend it in some way.

I've never been a huge fan of Big Mouth, and I have some issues with the show, but I can't deny how well they portray some of the topics they decide to cover.

ive always loved big mouth. it came out when I was 12 so being about to watch something that openly talked about the things that I was going through (or going to go through) and what others around me were experiencing taught me a lot. learnt more in the show than my parents/teachers taught me. also I weirdly love the animation style. idk why don't ask

Bro LS Mark needs to make a F is For Family video I'd love to see him talk about a show as amazing and complex as it

This is why you don't make a deliberately off putting or cruddy art style. I genuinely wonder how people would feel about this show if it never fell into the uncanny valley of lips in animation.

Dude I can’t believe Mark hasn’t made a video on King of the Hill yet, I can’t think of a cartoon that develops its characters better. Also the smoking episode is classic.

I really don't like how much it basically Sexualizes most of the characters, when most people watching are adults, and most characters are Children. That's *my* biggest problem with it

as someone who was in middle school when the show came out, it was really nice to see stuff i was going through that isn’t really talked about. it’s shitty yeah, but comforting

Big Mouth is one of those shows that since it's not on live television, it can do whatever it wants as long as Netflix is ok with it. The show's humour is very vulgar but they manage to do it in a very very hilariously wrong way and that's what I love about these types of shows.

I appreciated the way they tried (emphasis on tried) to show what it’s like growing up with depression and anxiety. Tito the anxiety mosquitoe and the depression kitty seemed to tackle it well but they flopped big time on how to “get rid” of or deal with the two. Being thankful doesn’t get rid of two big mental illnesses, neither does riding a bike, or whatever else they tried. I had hoped they’d show what might happen is Jessie took anti-depressants and the stigma you could face for taking them, the stigma for going to a therapist or needing help. Her arch made me feel less alone but I definitely wish there had been more there.

I think this show is almost nostalgic in a way to me because I watched it when I was 11/12, which was definitely too young, but in the subsequent years I experienced a lot of the things in the show (Jessie's sexuality arc hit pretty hard especially) so even though the art style is sucky, I do like the show

At this point for me yes. I really enjoyed season 1, it was incredibly relatable and funny. I also liked season 2, but beyond that I feel like the show has dipped in quality and has gotten uncomfortable…

The whole revelation that the monster isn't just a figment of the kids imagination, and is actually an ancient alien being that spends all of its time manipulating young teens (literal children) into doing perverse acts is really disturbing.

Honestly, the finger joke would been funnier like this: "You've got five fingers, right?" "Oh, yeah, of course!" (Raises up hand, realizes there's only four. Eyes widen.) (Cuts back to wide shot showing that the monster is also shocked.) End scene.

The fact the spin off actually handles puberty better than the original show should already say a lot not to mention every single episode is some sex gag or fucking gag and childhood pornography in a way

My brother loved the show and had me watch the first 2 seasons with him, which is nice since it means when I say I hate this show people can’t say I never gave it a chance.

While I'd never call Big Mouth a masterpiece, there are aspects I enjoyed that kept me watching. Going through puberty as a girl I was completely unprepared, the topic was taboo on my house and I honestly related to a lot of what Jessie went through. Also I appreciate Missy and her struggles being Biracial and accepting herself. That also hit me on a person level as growing up there were not media that represented biracial children and struggles of fitting in. On that note, the show has definitely gone downhill. I'm really shocked it's still going over other animated series. Also Nick is the worst character.

Im pretty conflicted with Big Mouth. Some of the situations the characters go through are pretty relative to what i felt growing up. I think it explains those years pretty accurately some of the time. But the visuals. Good God the visuals. Its hard to say who the target audience of the show is when they go way too far with detail. In idea its a great show that can be an educational tool to understand puberty and how it feels but i think they should've held back a little on the adult humor and animation.

Yeah so since you didn't mention it in the intro, I don't even need to watch the rest of the video. It's a bad show because it shows naked children. Nuff said.

If you're looking for a show that tackles adolescence without shying away from the grossness and cringe, but stays compassionate to its characters and faithful to its own internal logic while being hilarious and often surreal -- that show is PEN15. It's wildly underrated. Watching this video essay made me reflect on how PEN15 did right what Big Mouth was trying to do.

I'm pretty sure the "who can see Hormone Monster" rules is basically like the same rules on who can hear Stewie talk. One character all the time then whoever else when it's needed for a joke

I dont love Big Mouth, but I do like watching it when I turn my brain off (tho I do get second hand embarrassment in parts). Glad to see someone not just hating on the show, but also stating on what they can change!

My only defense for watching this show was the fact that I was the same age as the characters when it began and I had similar situations or problems as the characters. I do agree that its a bit weird if a grown ass adult person watches it lol

"You just want big mouth to be cancelled over other shows because you hate it and think it is bad" is the weirdest moral soapbox I've seen someone put themselves on so far this year

I had literally just shown my friend the part in the Season 5 finale where Nick meets IRL Nick Kroll yesterday. Cuz like that's basically the whole show's existence encapsulated in one (broken up) scene. I've been putting actual effort in trying to understand the sheer hatred for this series, so it's really cool to see someone else with a similar media literacy attempt the same thing!

This show is such a mixed bag. Honestly it’s only consistently funny when you’re extremely not-sober, but there is some genuinely good stuff. While also having a ton of bad and… uncomfortable things. And not uncomfortable how the showrunners intended

Big mouth was an incredible show for the first few season especially from someone who could relate to it at the time. But recently the story has been confusing and they’re just adding a shit ton of characters and making the story NOT about kids going through puberty and not providing entertaining story’s and lessons. They’ve ruined something that could’ve been one of the best animated shows of all time

They cancelled inside job and final space which is insane. Two great shows but they let shows like paradise pd and big mouth is given so much.

About the rules on seeing the monsters, I always kind of assumed that they were selectively invisible and could only be seen by who they want to be. They, especially Maury, but also the Monstress, are kind of like an embodiment of chaos and they push everyone to do different things and feel different ways. I also think the reason everyone has one of only a few monsters is for practicality. It already has a pretty big cast of characters and it would be an absolutely massive cast if every character had their own original monster to keep track of and remember who went with who. They've added new ones as the series went on but its still just a handful. Having ambiguous rules for the fantasy makes it easier to follow the action without complicating things with 5 different characters all filling the same role and saying the same kinds of things but invisible to each other.

I genuinely think the characters look ugly because if the characters looked human, the creators would be arrested

I think the reason people “loved” Big Mouth is because they don’t actually watch it. Hear me out, sometimes I get off work but feel like watching something, I’m just too tired to give it my full attention. When the show came out I was in Highschool, I never gave it the chance but the people I knew that did were also working on twelve other things. As an adult with MORE responsibilities I sometimes “watch” shows I don’t like while doing something else, like Owl House and Amphibia. Not bad shows, but not my style, still I “watch” them.

I had an English teacher in high school who considered this her favourite animated show. An English teacher! For that reason, I’ve refrained from watching or dogpiling on it, and thought it was something that appeals way more to older middle aged viewers than us zoomers. There’s probably something we’re missing, or my teacher loved dissecting the convoluted metaphors.

The creator/showrunner of a cartoon not writing a lot of episodes seems to be not that uncommon. The biggest example I can think of is SpongeBob. Everyone gives all the credit for how great the show was to Stephen Hillenburg (partially out of sentimentality and remembrance, I'm sure), and while yes, he was definitely an important asset to the show and it gradually got way worse after he stepped down... he only wrote about three episodes of the show, and they were all VERY early on.

I feel very uncomfortable watching some of those clips to be honest.

1:47 rotten tomatoes pays their critics to review movies in a positive light and visa versa, it’s the reason cuties was “critically acclaimed.” It wasn’t.

i feel like the hormone monsters were supposed to be somewhat in the kid's heads as a metaphor for how alien your thoughts can feel during puberty, but the longevity of the show has kind of forced them to develop character and lore which made them more literal which,, doesnt really help tbh

Funnily, I've always assumed Andrew WAS the main character.

Every Big Mouth season just keeps getting worse and worse

Wait if Missy has both a white and a black parent, why is it an issue she was voiced by a white woman? That sounds equally as appropriate as getting a black woman to voice her tbh

This show was hard to watch someone review let alone actually watch it, you're a trooper for watching it.

It's weirdly become an annual passive watch for me cause I usually binge it in an evening but I was....alarmed? At how much I enjoyed human resources and I think the shift to adults navigating emotions was way easier to watch and connect with than "modern" kids dealing with puberty. That's just me tho

This is such a comfort video for me and I don't know why. Mark shit talking a shitty show is my favorite genre of youtube video.

You're right about the underrated animation getting cancelled with open ending and no full potential. InfinityTrain deserves more storytelling and I can recommend YOU ALL the show

I think Jesse’s experience with puberty was pretty accurate, when I first got my period I was a fucking terror. Like when you said it doesn’t make sense for a kid to suddenly scream at their mom that they’re the patriarchy, I think that’s pretty accurate to my extreme mood swings after hitting puberty I had insane unbridled rage and I definitely yelled and screamed at my family at times that didn’t make sense to someone who didn’t know what was going on. I do think the show goes too far at time I hated the ending after the shame wizard it was wayyy too far and not funny. But I always thought the hormone monsters were like tooth fairy type beings so they’re not actually real and not actually there but all the kids can see and hear them, but the show definitely doesn’t make sense when they go further into the monsters world and stuff. But I personally don’t mind it not making sense. The show first came out when I was like 16 so I’ve watched it as a late teen/early 20s. I always thought it was kinda relatable bc I was a super raunchy middle schooler w my friends so I like that they were showing how much middle schoolers actually know about and how kids that age absolutely swear excessively and talk about sex and r rated stuff. I would have loved this show as a 13 year old and I would have totally related to it. As an adult I don’t think it’s appropriate for 12 year olds to watch, but at the same time I could have totally handled it and would have been offended if someone said it’s too “adult” for me. I think it’s for ppl w immature senses of humor (most teens probably), and it’s supposed to go too far because kids that age go wayyy too far bc they’re learning where the limits are, I think it’s almost satirical in that way. I feel like it’s supposed to feel like it’s almost created by middle schoolers that why it has some really unfunny, annoying, absolutely disgusting moments. And I think it criticizes itself and laughs at itself but I don’t think it’s necessarily a “good show”. I think I like it because what I related to in it and I was already a nick kroll fan when it came out. Also Jesse dealing with a yeast infection was soooooo relatable. I’ll acknowledge that the show is kinda bad but as bad as it is I’d much rather watch this than family guy. I think the vibe of the show not knowing what it really is or where it’s going is sort of relatable to a teen.

When I was watching this (out of pure curiosity I swear) I thought Andrew WAS the main character, I thought that all the way up until the show directly told me Nick was supposed to be the main character

Big mouth should be canceled, it's shit, why is it continuing while Inside Job is canceled?

50:05 the choice of music genuinely scared me. Not because the music itself was scary, but because i knew whatever came next would be insufferable

When I was first hearing about the show, I always thought the point about the, "there's a monster next to you!" line was a nitpick because the kid is clearly supposed to be atypical. But then, watching the show you realize, no. It's not just the weird kid for that one-off joke, it's just anyone whenever they feel like it (7:32)

i was a sophomore when Big Mouth came out & going through a really hard time. i felt completely alone & like no one could understand me. when i saw jessi going through her depression, i felt seen. going into this show, i knew it would be exaggerated and not actually how puberty would be. i think your review was really put together but i wish you could have watched it through a 16 year old’s eyes. the show is bad but very comforting & makes me laugh

im just glad there arent any actual kids involved with this show *coughcoughcutiescoughcough*

I remember watching this show in my early high school years. My friend had a little brother who was in grade 6ish who also enjoyed it and we would talk about the show together sometimes. It was cool talking to a kid who was viewing it through the eyes of someone who was the same age as the characters vs why I liked it as someone who was just finishing my worst "puberty years"

I wanted to point out that the kid who saw another kid's hormone monster is very possibly on the autism spectrum. Throughout the entire series he has amazing insight and is very blunt with words. He is also very creative in creating a comic book with all the characters as superheroes. That being said I wouldn't be surprised if someome with his abilities would be able to see something like a hormone monster.

It's not as bad as velma at least, you can tell they TRIED

I was in middle school when it came out and big mouth made me feel less alone as I went through those awkward pre-teen and teen years. I don't connect with it much now and don't watch it anymore but it was a great thing for when I was younger.

I feel like Big Mouth having a lot of popular actors, like Nick Kroll, make it more popular too. I enjoyed the first two seasons the most because I felt it did a good job showing off the struggles some people have growing up without sex ed or just discovering themselves. It ended up getting just ridiculous or raunchy for the sake of it mid 3 but I felt I got what I wanted out of it by then. Their spin off, Human Resources, was a great watch for Season 1.

one thing i love about Big Mouth is how much talent is in the voice cast. like...SO many big names read the scripts and were like "yeah i'll do it"

Love the video, this show had gross moments but it’s nice that it has moments where there’s actual emotion and storytelling

I'm glad to see that other people are tired of everything being meta, it was cool at first but I'm tired of it and want most things to not be meta. I don't mind just a few things being meta but only if it does something new with being meta and finds a cool new way to use it, other than that, just stop being meta, a self contained story is more satisfying at this point and I'm glad to see others are agreeing now.

BRUH lemme explain the netflix equation. 50 < 2 posts 50 new options. in a yearly quarter less then 5 are worth clicking. notice how i said OPTIONS and not shows. because a show implies there's something to see; option are what you put on to fall asleep

the botched pansexuality definition in season 2 is like a time capsule back to 2012. somehow they managed to offend bisexuals, trans people, AND pansexuals all in one fell swoop. fascinating.

It really depend of the person. I have a friend who is obsessed with it and recommended it to me but the humor just didn’t stick with me. I also understand why teens would like it since it’s all about teen experience, but nothing can excuse that gross art style Also, I really liked the new avatar in the newer videos, the design is just overall more clean

I hate how accurately you can copy the art style of part the shows you review in your thumbnails.

Inside Job was a literal masterpiece, the characters were so fun and unique and it was genuinely funny. Plud the artstyle was unique. I can't believe big mouth gets spinoffs and high ratings but inside job gets... cancelled before they finish a full arc.

Mark is in a abusive relationship with women 8 years older then him please get him help now.

16:57 thank you! meta humor is really getting lazier and lazier with time, you can practically smell the writers sniffing their own butt when they write those "jokes" imagining how they will go viral on the internet

Big Mouth won an Emmy and Better Call Saul didn't. Just think about that.

I loved watching Big Mouth and i though the plot was genius but I honestly got tired of how they can tell a good story, makes it compelling to then just smir shit all over it and make it pointless. Is like you can never really expect anything intelligent from any character. I get that teens are unpredictable, but that doesn't make them brain dead. I was so soo disappointed when real life Nick appeared, it felt so...out of place and cringy like you give 0 fucks about world building just for what?? Not even a funny joke it was bad.

The scene with Nick meeting Nick Kroll is so fucking dystopian. It perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with not only the show, but modern adult animation as a whole. It's perfectly poetic in a way.

I personally find the show better and funnier bc of the fact that they sound like adults but look like kids. If they used forced tween voices or kid’s voices it would’ve been more uncomfortable than it already is

"Is Big Mouth really that bad?" The short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes.