That's Entertainment

So I will be completely honest, I am not particularly a fan of this specific style of storytelling, mainly an animated show in which the tone is constantly shifting from exaggerated comedy to serious drama. It is not the same as black comedy, because the goal at the end of the day is not to make you laugh, the goal is to tell a captivating story, but the entire thing is framed as comedic. I am not saying it is a bad style, I just personally do not like it, and feel as though it is overdone. However, it doesn't mean that it is a bad style just because it's not my favorite. So when I heard that this was getting picked up to be a fully-fledged animated series with an entire team behind it, and was started by a low-budget youtuber, I was definitely intrigued.

Needless to say, I was not personally that drawn in by the pilot because as I said before, I do not like the style. But objectively, it is quite well done. The animation is incredibly interesting, especially on Alastor the Radio Demon, along with the voice acting and music. The entire thing is professionally made, which is especially impressive since it comes from a youtuber, who, while they do have a team working for them, ultimately does not have the same resources as a TV production company. So even though it is not really my taste in storytelling, I definitely think that it deserved to be picked up for a full series.

I'm going to put this at a 6/10 for now due to us only having the pilot, but the rating for the overall series could be much higher, depending on how good it ends up being.

I only heard of HH when Prime started promoting the 2nd season recently and my first thought watching the pilot? Wow, the animation alone makes this trip to Hell worthwhile!

I loved seeing a distinct, vibrant style brought to life in this visually kinetic first episode. Charlie's impossible dream of sinner redemption is a fantastic premise, and seriously, those musical numbers? The catchy, Disney-esque opening song was an instant highlight for me.

BUT - while the episode absolutely nailed the complex lore and the dread of the annual Extermination, here's where I hit a snag. Despite all the chaotic world-building and striking visuals, the pilot just didn't earn its emotional stake for me. I honestly struggled to fully invest in Charlie or her supporting cast, which left the series' massive potential feeling slightly untapped.

6.5/10: Overall, it's a promising, anarchic start, but I think the show needs a couple more episodes to truly find its emotional center.

I rate the 2019 Hazbin Hotel pilot a 9/10 because it feels like lightning caught in a bottle-messy in places, indulgent, occasionally overwhelming, but so unmistakably alive that its flaws end up reinforcing its identity rather than undermining it. Watching it now, years after its release and after the series has grown into something more polished and industrial, the pilot still crackles with a kind of raw creative electricity that you almost never see at this scale. It doesn't feel focus-tested. It doesn't feel cautious. It feels like a creator and a team daring the internet to keep up.

What struck me first, and still does, is how confident the pilot is in its own voice. Not confident in the sense of being restrained or elegant, but confident in the sense of knowing exactly what it wants to be. From the opening moments, the world of Hell isn't introduced with exposition-heavy hand-holding or apologetic humor. It throws you straight into a morally inverted society that's loud, cruel, colorful, and absurd, and it expects you to either acclimate or bounce. That kind of take-it-or-leave-it attitude is risky, especially for an independent animated project trying to break through online, but it's also what gives the pilot its backbone. You can feel that this isn't a product engineered to please everyone-it's a vision demanding space.

Visually, the pilot is doing an incredible amount of work. The art style is instantly recognizable, bursting with sharp angles, exaggerated silhouettes, and a color palette that refuses subtlety. Reds, pinks, blacks, and neons dominate, creating a Hell that feels less like a cavernous underworld and more like a warped showbiz city perpetually stuck in sensory overload. What's impressive isn't just the design itself, but how consistently it's applied. Backgrounds are dense with detail, characters move with theatrical expressiveness, and even throwaway gags are staged with a clear understanding of visual rhythm. You can pause almost anywhere and feel the hand of artists who care deeply about composition, not just jokes per minute.

That said, the pilot absolutely flirts with visual excess. There are moments where the screen feels crowded to the point of exhaustion, where the eye doesn't quite know where to land. But even that excess feels intentional, thematically aligned with a version of Hell that's overstimulating and performative. It's not polished restraint; it's maximalism with purpose. The chaos becomes part of the worldbuilding. Hell isn't just morally noisy-it's visually loud, too.

The animation itself, especially for an independently produced pilot, is frankly astonishing. Character acting is fluid and expressive, with an emphasis on personality over realism. Faces stretch, bodies contort, and gestures are exaggerated in a way that recalls classic cartoons while still feeling contemporary. There's a sense of movement that keeps scenes from ever feeling static, even when characters are just talking. This is important, because the pilot is extremely dialogue-heavy. Without this level of animation energy, it could easily feel like an overlong skit compilation. Instead, the motion carries the pacing even when the narrative briefly stalls.

And yes, the pacing does stall at times. This is one of the pilot's more obvious weaknesses. It wants to introduce a lot-characters, concepts, jokes, tonal expectations-and occasionally it does so at the expense of narrative momentum. Some scenes linger longer than they need to, especially when the pilot indulges in comedic tangents or extended bits that don't directly push the central premise forward. As a critic, it's hard not to notice where trimming could sharpen the experience. As a viewer, though, it's equally hard not to appreciate the audacity of letting those moments breathe. They feel less like padding and more like a team refusing to rush their introduction to this world.

Where the pilot truly earns its high rating for me is in its character work, particularly with Charlie. In a setting designed around cynicism, cruelty, and indulgent sin, she is almost aggressively sincere. Her optimism isn't ironic, and it isn't framed as stupidity. It's fragile, earnest, and constantly under threat. That alone makes her compelling. The pilot understands that optimism in a hostile world is not a neutral trait-it's a form of rebellion. Charlie isn't trying to dominate Hell or overthrow it; she's trying to reform it through empathy, and the pilot treats that as both admirable and deeply impractical.

This is where the emotional core sneaks in, often beneath the noise. Beneath the vulgar humor and visual bombast is a story about belief-belief in change, in redemption, and in the idea that people are more than their worst impulses. The pilot never pretends this belief will be easy or even likely to succeed. In fact, it repeatedly undermines Charlie's efforts with mockery and resistance. But it never ridicules her for trying. That distinction matters. The humor may be sharp and sometimes cruel, but it doesn't fully eat its own heart.

The supporting cast, while not all equally developed in the pilot, leave strong impressions. Each character feels built around a clear emotional or thematic axis rather than just a single joke. Some shine more than others in this first outing, but even the ones who get less screen time feel like they belong to a larger, coherent ensemble rather than existing as disposable gag machines. There's an understanding here of long-term storytelling potential, even if the pilot itself can't explore it fully.

Tonally, the pilot walks a tightrope between sincerity and satire, and while it mostly succeeds, this is another area where cracks show. The humor is aggressive, rapid-fire, and often deliberately abrasive. For some viewers, that's part of the appeal; for others, it's a barrier. Not every joke lands, and some rely too heavily on shock value or repetition. When the pilot leans too hard into noise for noise's sake, it risks dulling its sharper commentary. Still, even at its weakest comedic moments, there's a sense that the humor is coming from a specific place, not just a desire to be edgy for attention.

The music deserves special mention, not because every song or musical moment is flawless, but because of how seamlessly musicality is woven into the identity of the show. The pilot understands musical storytelling as an extension of character rather than a break from it. Songs aren't just spectacle; they're expressions of belief, ego, or desperation. Even if you don't love every musical choice, it's impossible to deny how much they contribute to the pilot's theatrical DNA. This is a show that knows it's a performance, and it leans into that self-awareness without collapsing into parody.

Another reason I hold the pilot in such high regard is how alive the character chemistry feels compared to later, more polished iterations. In the 2019 pilot, the interactions crackle with a chaotic, almost theatrical energy, like a group of performers feeding off each other in real time rather than characters waiting their turn to speak. The exaggeration isn't a flaw here-it's the engine. Characters interrupt, escalate, overreact, and bounce off one another in ways that feel deliberately heightened, but never hollow. That heightened absurdity gives the dialogue momentum, making conversations feel less like scripted exchanges and more like verbal sparring matches spiraling out of control. The comedy flows because it's rooted in personality clashes rather than isolated punchlines; jokes emerge naturally from who these characters are and how aggressively they collide. There's a looseness to it, a sense that anything could spin off into chaos at any second, and that unpredictability is exactly what makes the pilot so fun to watch. It feels less restrained, less managed, and far more alive-like the characters are genuinely enjoying the madness of existing together in the same space, and the audience gets swept up in that energy.

Another reason the pilot holds up so well is its cultural context. Released into an online animation landscape that often undervalued long-form, creator-driven projects, Hazbin Hotel felt like a statement. It proved that there was a massive audience hungry for ambitious, adult-leaning animated stories that weren't afraid to be weird, heartfelt, or stylistically bold. That impact isn't just external hype-it's embedded in the pilot itself. You can feel the urgency, the sense that this was a shot that had to count.

Of course, it's not perfect. The pilot can be overwhelming, uneven, and occasionally indulgent to a fault. Some emotional beats are sketched rather than fully earned, and certain characters feel more like promises than realizations. The density that makes the world feel alive can also make it hard to emotionally settle into quieter moments. These are real criticisms, and they matter.

But none of them overshadow what the pilot accomplishes. A 9/10 doesn't mean flawless-it means impactful, confident, and resonant enough that its flaws feel like growing pains rather than structural failures. The Hazbin Hotel pilot doesn't just introduce a show; it introduces a creative philosophy. It says that animation can be loud and sincere, crude and compassionate, chaotic and purposeful all at once. It dares to care in a genre space that often hides behind irony.

That's why, years later, it still feels special. Not because it's perfect, but because it's unmistakably itself. It's the sound of a door being kicked open rather than politely knocked on. And even now, knowing what the series would become, that first step into Hell still feels like one of the boldest, most passionate leaps animated storytelling has taken in the online era.

In this piolet we get to meet the characters and see where they are at in the start of the show. It's a great hook and had me interested in the whole show. As fair as piolets go this Is a great job. I found alistors was very intriguing and I couldn't wait to find more out about him as the show continues.

This pilot gives a lot to look forward to, with so much passion poured into it. The concept is original and interesting, the characters are all very lovable, and the animation looks amazing. Aside from some minor pacing issues, this pilot gives a great taste of what's to come.