The wonderful weirdness that is Big Mouth

Big Mouth is a Netflix original animated series.

Big Mouth is a Netflix original animated series.

Simon Mandel and Georgia Moore

Yearning to relive your awkward stages? We have just the thing. Ten episodes all about 12 year olds going through puberty to remind you of that special time in life.

Netflix’s new animated series, Big Mouth, will take you back to your middle school days. Well…in some ways, but definitely not all. From, quite honestly, terrifying “Hormone Monsters” to ghosts of dead jazz singers, this show takes an avant garde approach to convey the struggles most of us went through during puberty.

The show perfectly encapsulates those awkward stages of our lives when literally everything was changing: bodies, peers, likes, social norms, etc.

Nick Kroll, the creator of the show, voices Nick, the 12 year old late bloomer who tries his hardest to navigate through the changes going on around him. He is friends with Andrew (voiced by John Mulaney) who is definitely in the lead in the “puberty race”.

Both boys represent the different experiences everyone had or will have. They create an outlet to talk about a topic that is mostly treated as a shameful secret. It brings up questions like Why don’t we talk about puberty more? Why is it designated for health class?

But how is it’s audience perceiving it?

“It’s a really weird show, but that’s kind of a trend for a lot of animated stuff these days,” iSchool junior, Asha Rossato Bennett, stated. She watched the series in full after a few recommendations.

“I’ve only watched two or three episodes, but it’s funny,” Jo Manansala, fellow iSchool junior, said.

Sophomore Kianni Mccain was very enthusiastic about Big Mouth, “Oh my god, I love that show!”

Even without these opinions, it is clear that the show is doing really well with a current rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and we understand why.

Much like all TV shows today, this Netflix original is being authentically different. Yet, it still knows how to appeal to those common feelings the majority of us have shared when we went through this big change.

The characters are lovable and the overall strangeness of the show makes it equally entertaining as it is heartwarming. You feel for each middle schooler and understand their struggles to find their confidence and identity, and feel out their new challenges.

Big Mouth is taking bold steps to bring the topic of puberty up in more conversations and to normalize it while also utilizing a great comedic angle. It’s different, it’s fearless, it’s big.