what'd you guys think about hazbin hotel?

[Diggon]

Have you guys seen/ liked hazbin hotel? I personally thought it was neat and liked how it evoked like... 2015 internet fandom vibes-- down to the tumblr sexymen and everything. The characters are fun and likable, and the premise is pretty cool too.

My only gripe would, I guess, be with how fast the story progressed. I felt like Hazbin Hotel was sorta weirdly paced and it didn't give enough time to develop its existing characters before introducing new ones. However, It's still a very comfy show to watch if you like nice animation, musical theatre, and have nostalgia for those sorta vibes.

[starbreaker]

Haven't seen it, and probably won't since it's only on Amazon Prime and I can't be arsed to download bootlegs.

[BagelCake]

i liked it and did not expect it to be so musical lol.

i'm not against profanity in any way, but the first couple episodes felt like they had excessive profanity just to be edgy and oversell the "this is hell and every other word has to be profane" and it kinda turned me off to the show a little, but i'm glad i kept watching it ended up being really enjoyable.

[lianna]

I liked parts of it but I felt a bit uncomfortable sometimes by the overt and blunt way that they often referenced the queer subculture and kink. It was not only too much. It was authentic to how many people act and talk and joke around, but it's something that I just don't want to reach the mainstream or want to see in a commercial production, ya know?
I don't want a popular adult animation series to make overt queer or kink jokes as much as Hazbin Hotel did, it just feels like they're popularizing something pretty personal, shoving it into the limelight. Not to mention that it might be water on the mills for bigots.

[night-at-the-musian]

I watched it with my fiance a few weeks ago. Angel Dust was my personal favorite; as someone that worked on the retail end of the sex industry, he reminded me of a lot of people I've met. I also enjoy the worldbuilding as opposed to Helluva Boss, which used the classic Dante's Inferno ring-style world. Hell's all on one pentagram.

It's a show! That exists! And people either really like it or really hate it. I had fun with it.

[larvapuppy]

Overall I'll give it a negative review- I agree with the other comment about it being vulgar for the sake of being vulgar. I think it's a pretty juvenile show despite being full of adult content. The designs are too complicated, I personally prefer simpler or more streamlined designs that are able to use less superfluous detail to communicate the same message. I didn't enjoy the music because I thought the lyrics were pretty basic, predictable and lackluster. The animation (movement, not art style) is pretty rough in the first few episodes, though it does get better as it goes along.

I did enjoy some parts of it- I liked the LGBT representation, and when the animation was good, it was good. I like the themes of forgiveness and redemption. I did enjoy some of the designs but I just wish they weren't so all over the place and unnecessarily complex. And I agree with OP about it having some nostalgia factor, because it really is like 2012 DeviantArt threw up all over the show and didn't clean it.

4.5 to 5 out of 10 I guess!

[Bede]

I like what it did for indie animation as a whole - putting it into the spotlight a bit... But I unfortunately cannot stand it.

The main thing I feel qualified talking about is the way that it treats the subject of S/A, and how it literally makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Trigger warning for the next paragraph: discussion of S/A, fetishization of S/A, victim blaming, and general insensitivity towards the subject of S/A

I say all this as a victim myself.

Spoiler

From the way its treated outside of the show (a self-proclaimed fetishist of S/A being allowed to storyboard it, and the creator of the show making a 'coming'/'cumming' pun when promoting a song about S/A) to inside the show (the 'happy solution' being to call the S/A victim a whiny loser bitch, but being told to embrace it - this might work with a victim of bullying, but saying, "Be who you are! A (quote) coked-up dick-sucking hoe!" is NOT helpful and encourages internalized victim blaming),

[close]

it genuinely makes me feel utterly disgusted. The episode didn't even have a trigger warning.

All of this is without even getting into the history of the creator, or The Racism Of It All... Both of which are its own can of worms.

I highly recommend "My own personal Hell: Thoughts on Hazbin Hotel" by Bobby Schroeder. It goes into far more detail about far more subjects that I feel like I'd be out of my depth to talk about, and it especially focuses on the actual quality of the content of the show.

I don't consider myself a "hater" often, but this is definitely an exception. You know, respectfully. A respectful hater.

Like, if you manage to make ME... religious-traumatized ass, fallen-angel-obsessed-ass ME... hate an animated show about queer demons?? You've messed up BAD

[lianna]

I think if the show does one job well it is outing its most vocal critics as moral puritans and "your-kink-is-problematic" type queerphobes.

[BagelCake]

i definitely agree with Bede that the 4th episode in particular absolutely should have had a trigger warning for heavy s/a content, but i don't think the scene with Husk was problematic as a whole. there are certainly healthier ways of dealing with trauma, but i think it's a good showcase of another flawed person trying to help in a way the other seems receptive to when they'd rather avoid their trauma. they both could benefit a great deal from therapy but coming to terms with the trauma associated and taking the first step of action to heal is rough and messy and i think it's clear the dialogue comes from a place of genuine care and shouldn't be interpreted as personal advice.

though of course i guess there's the problem of unknowing people seeing it and thinking that interaction is good advice 100% of the time.

[Diggon]

Personally, episode 4 was my favorite one in the whole show and I thought It did a really really good job with all the stuff it set out to do... So it's sorta surprising for me to read from you guys that it's a little more controversial than I had initially anticipated. I can understand why people might want to skip it if they're just interested in watching a silly show with silly demons, but I thought it was very nice and well done!

When Angel disassociated from his bad situation by taking on an ironic facade and being self-destructive-- Husk tries to help by cutting right through that mask. Thereby allowing Angel to better grasp the reality of his situation that he's been trying to avoid. I resonated with the message of not giving up on self-betterment even when you're at your lowest-- Which supports the overall theme of the show better than any other episode imo:

Even if you're literally going through hell, it doesn't mean you have to give up on yourself. 

[Kolo]

The writing and pacing and some of the characterization could be a little rough but I liked some of the songs and a few of the characters (Vox especially). I also really liked the depiction of Angel Dust and found it very... hm what's the word... I don't want to say "validating" but I do mean validating in the way he acted, was treated, and though I don't like Husk I think the song between them was cute. The meaning behind their song resonated with me a lot more than most of the empty platitudes I get when I talk about Tragic Backstory. I don't really like being told I'm a big strong ~survivor~ and that random strangers are ~so proud~ of me for ~surviving~ I mean I am a loser HAHA. I can understand why others wouldn't feel the same way, but I found it refreshing to see that take done in big media.

[MrsMoe]

I really hate to dampen what's been a mostly positive thread so far, but I think it was kinda bad. The majority of the characters felt very basic to me and when the humor doesn't rely on swearing and sexual references as a crutch, it still really isn't all that funny. I think everyone already agrees that the story was terribly rushed and that it should've spent more time on the hotel, but I'd like to add to that by saying its themes about redemption and moral grayness are pretty shallow and don't go into more rougher territory despite having the opportunity to as an adult cartoon. The only exception is episode 4 but even then, I think the handling of SA was pretty questionable. I think the execution was fine....up until the songs happened. Having your character get SA'd in the background of a tacky pop song seems pretty icky to me and I appreciate that "Loser, Baby" had good intentions, but I think it's pretty wild to tell a victim of abuse that it's "okay to be a loser". I personally think episode 4 could've been more impactful or received better if they made a deliberate choice to be the only episode without any songs.

[bugholder's epiphany]

I thought it was fine honestly, the pacing was a bit wonky and the humor was hit or miss at times but honestly i thought it was fine.

[rinni]

I like what it did for indie animation as a whole - putting it into the spotlight a bit... But I unfortunately cannot stand it.

...

Like, if you manage to make ME... religious-traumatized ass, fallen-angel-obsessed-ass ME... hate an animated show about queer demons?? You've messed up BAD

All of this!! All of it! I'm a staunch Viv hater despite having grown up on the internet with her art. There's so many questionable choices in the show, and so many glaring flaws. Character and plot writing is clumsy at best and actively sabotaging its own potential for good storytelling at worst. All the "diverse" characters are stereotypes in some way or other. Moments that are supposed to tug at heart strings fall flat because there's no development put into them. Most of the songs just aren't very good. The world makes little to no sense... etc.

However, as a fan of indie animation, and someone who's prone to peer pressure, i caved and watched the show. (not on its actual streaming service, are you crazy?) I'm not ashamed to say i had fun with it. The show is not by any means great, or even that good. It's flaws are too glaring for that. But no show is perfect, and sometimes, after you've torn the bad thing to shreds and are aware of the problematic things in it, i think that it's fine to indulge in a way that doesn't support the creator. I had a good time with most of it. Skipped every song except Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad, couldn't for the life of me stomach episode 4.

The gross depictions of physical abuse and s/a made me feel ill because they just... ooze insincerity. They feel fetishized especially after you learn that they most likely are. I understand that people can be fans of evil and morally reprehensible characters, but the amount of people that want the abuser to be redeemed scare me a little. There's just things that aren't acceptable, and that is one of those things. If something like that were to happen I'd feel very vindicated in thinking that Viv has zero respect for victims.

If i had to rate it, I'd give the show a 4 out of 10. I'm taking Vox out of it and making him my own. I can save him.

[Capybara]

I hated the pilot, but I thought the show itself was decent/average. Unfortunately it feels like it was made for people who already invested in the lore, I think I only had fun watching it because I already knew a lot of background info from browsing the wiki years ago. The dialogue is often bad but the songs are good despite that. The character designs are either okay or awful, of course the ones I liked the most (Velvette and Carmilla) were barely present.    Episode 4 was one of the better ones and it doesn't personally offend me even if "Loser, Baby" was kind of insensitive/what Angel Dust and Husk are going through isn't quite 1:1. The pacing is also terrible and should've been at least 12 or 13 episodes longer. That said, I'll be there for season two just to see how the trainwreck finishes...