Hazbin Hotel

Context, for the first three months of its existence I've been hating on this show out of sheer pettiness because it took the spotlight away from another indie thing that came out the exact same day. In march I finally decided I would give it a watch and was honestly surprised about how good it was. The animation was stunning, the music was fantastic minus a few songs, comedic writing was hit or miss in the first half but got better over time, then I reached the fourth episode and realized I was watching something that was truly special. If you've been debating whether or not you should watch it, I highly recommend you do so as it's honestly spectacular. I feel ashamed for not even mentioning Alex Brightman. He got his fame from "Beetlejuice the musical," and was phenomenal in that. In Hazbin Hotel he has two major roles, Adam who is the antagonist, and Sir Pentious who is an ally. He puts on his charm he uses in Beetlejuice for Adam and for Sir Pentious he goes completely different. I wouldn't exactly call this the best show out there, and you can see that with my list, But it's damn good and more shows should absolutely take a glance at its notes.

This show was put on on a whim, and wow was I surprised at how engaging and fun it is. The voice talents are amazing (love Keith David and Alex Brightman, and who could argue against Stephanie Beatriz?), and the writing is great! I honestly was not expecting songs, which are really fun, and there are a lot of references to biblical lore, which I find fascinating.

It tackles a lot more issues than just sinning and redemption, and it has an interesting take on demons and the inner workings between different factions. I love the biblically accurate angel representations and attention to detail, and while I was initially skeptical of the animation style, I have grown to really like it.

For an entirely internet produced project it couldnt have been more amazing. Everything from the animation to the voice acting conveys the efforts of everyone involved in the making of this episode.

I will prefix this by saying I had a pretty good time watching this. But only because I was watching it with a friend who is a fan of the show that I could dunk on it with. If I watched it alone I would be miserable.

The show isn't awful and I can get why some would like it. But in my opinion it's a show that dies by a hundred cuts, it doesn't excell at anything and is only dragged down by its flaws that I'm gonna list, and then some positives, and a couple mixed things.

Flaws:

• None of the characters hit anything for me, they all feel very one note and never seem to evolve. Some can be enjoyable like Adam and Lucifer, but adam can sometimes feel overdone and Lucifer I only liked in episode 5.

• I think it takles too many plots, it should have been focused on the plot of trying to redeem a character, and when a character does get redeemed, it feels unearned and sudden.

• I hate Alister (however it's spelt), like really he feels like a discount bill cipher who leans too hard into being threatening, and ironically in turn becomes less threatening, even less than bill.

• it doesn't feel like it's made for adults, the sound design, characters, and writing, it feels like it's written for teens who think it's adult.

• the sound design is almost insufferable, the background music isn't subdude and they play far too many sound effects

I could go on but it's mostly nitpicks beyond that. Let's cut to the things I did liked:

• a few background gags were actually good and 2 or 3 gags gave me a quick exhale

• some of the line delivery is really well done, the VA's usually just do a serviceable job at the characters and some just suffer from the voices they have to do, but some shine through

• the base concept of a hotel to redeem sinners in hell is good

• I like how characters are drawn when far in the background, the simplicity is charming

And last, the mixed:

• the animation is sometimes really good, mostly it's serviceable but in some scenes it hits well

• character designs are another very mixed batch, most don't really hit much for me, but some I really dislike

There's probably more I could've gone over, I might add it later, but that's the main stuff I wanted to say. If anything I wish this show wasn't a comedy or just focused on being more episodic, just picking a lane. I'm glad this show got greenlit it's a pretty decent step for indie animation, and I'd like to see it continue, but I'd be lying if I said it was anything I enjoyed or would ever recommend.

My conclusion is; can't wait for season 2 so I can watch it with more friends who are fans and dog on it in with them all over again. 2.5/10.

Very fun show with an enjoyable cast characters. The show definitely has its flaws but most of the critiques you see are just regurgitating the same points and clips even when their issues with the show aren't there for most of it. Not saying the show is perfect or anything but the characters are written well with a pretty interesting plot. You'll probably enjoy the show as long as you actually want to watch it and aren't focused on whatever turns on your hating brain.