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.

I really enjoyed this one. Viv managed to stay true to the pilot, which is a feat in and of itself. The world of Hazbin Hotel is very entertaining and offers a different take on Christian lore, one that goes back to its roots about forgiveness and flips the usual script. Yes, it's not the first, but it offers an entertaining view and teases with its lore and character background enough to leave the viewer wanting to know more.

It is a shame, though, that only 4 episodes were realased as of this writing. I was looking forward to an entire night of binging it. This interest is niche, but those in this genre should enjoy the adult humor laced with song in this format. I know I did.

Amazon, A24, and Bento Box, you had *better* let them finish this story!

I've been following this show's development and progress for 2 out of the 4 years it was being made for, and now that it's finally out I can say that it exceeded every expectation I had for it. Not only was the animation beautiful to look at, but the entire thing was so ridiculously absurd and full of life. The characters are likable and very entertaining, my favourite probably being Alastor. The writing was also spot on. While it may have relied a little too heavily on swearing at points, the whole concept of it being set in hell kind of acts as leeway for that, along with the cartoony expressions, sexual nature of some of the characters, etc. But there were certainly a lot of funny moments in this pilot, in fact I had a massive smile on my face the whole time Alastor was on screen. There was a clear emotional center as well at points, so it was nice to see an adult show that wasn't ONLY centered on raunchy comedy. The music and songs were fantastic too, filled with a lot of energy, helped by the amazing voice cast. All the voice actors/actresses did a superb job and no one slacked off in the slightest. This was clearly made with true love and passion and I really hope it gets more funding or a network picks it up.

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.

Positives:

• Extremely fun and likable characters
• Wonderful Animation with beautiful lighting and a great energy
• Well done humor, in my opinion at least

Negatives:

• Plot moves at such an extreme break neck pace
• Way too many sound affects that became kind of distracting for me
• Poor shot timing in some scenes