DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THE CREATORS OF ANY OF THE SHOWS I MENTION. I simply wish they got the show to reach its full potential and I hope they get better at writing.
Instead of writing some long essay like some youtuber, I'm gonna get straight to the point.
In these days where there are so many remakes and bad media, the popularity of indie content is no surprise. This goes for games, shows, and movies.
The pros about indie content is that it often has more effort and passion put into it. They are also often more unique than the mainstream in what stories they tell.
The cons are that it does take longer to produce with a smaller team. Also, fame and fortune can turn an indie creator or team into something just as corrupted as mainstream studios.
There are 3/4 shows I want to talk about specifically that have struggled to meet their potential. And one of these shows has yet to meet their potential.
One: Hazbin hotel
Let's get the worst out of the way. I watched the first two seasons on prime and there was some stuff I like about it. The show is mid at best but truly its just kind of a mess that missed its chance to have a good impact.
First of all, there were multiple controveries surrounding the show. There was the Angel dust episode in season one with a very distasteful scene with Val abusing Angel dust over a pop song number of all things. There are rumors that the animator of those scenes, uhhhh reallyyyy liked what they were drawing... Now something that isnt a rumor is that the studio DID NOT PUT A TRIGGER WARNING at the beginning. Yes, its rated 18+ but you still need to give a warning that something very graphic and disturbing like that will take place. People who have been abused in similar ways could be triggered by this episode. For being a seemingly "woke" person, I was surprised that viziepop didnt prioritize this.
Now having a terrible scene contrast with something happy or upbeat to make the audience uncomfortable is a technique that has been done before but the way it is executed almost glorifies or romanticizes the abuse like it's a fun little piece of entertainment.
In the second season, Val ripping Vox's head off(he's fine and alive btw) is another punch to the face. Many people, such as myself, liked Vox as a villain and he seemed like a serious threat and when the stakes were at its highest, they just completely stripped his power away for some reason in the msot underwheleming way possible, not even letting the protagonists truly be the ones to stop him.
Here are some attributes of the show I have rated:
animation: 9/10(I liked the pilot animation better)
voice acting: 9/10(I miss Michael Kovach but maybe he wasn't meant to be on this terrible thing)
plot: 6/10(does the job but does it poorly)
pacing: 3/10(it rushes too much and does too much at once, there shouldve been 20 epsidoes not 8 each season)
characters exploration: 4/10(so much missed potential to actually explore the characters and not just rush through the story)
writing quality: 5/10(its like they are writing a project at 11pm and its due at 11:59pm and they are smoking weed)
Overall: 6/10(not that good)
Two: Helluva Boss
This one felt like it was actually gonna be good and for me it was until Season 2 episode 8. There are two seasons and there are 12 episodes in season 2. I liked Fizzaroli's story a lot more honestly. Many people said that helluva boss was ruined by "the yaoi shit" basically.
I already know this is gonna be a hot take but an alarming number of people, especially fans of these types of shows looooovvveee "that yaoi shit". You can say that it's just typical crazy shippers but there are other significant ships in the show. Moxxie and Millie are in a healthy striaght relationship. Fizz and Ozzie are in a healthy gay relationship. But of course, people liked the unhealthy relationship of Blitz and Stolas more and Vizie either gave into it or planned for the show to fixate on it. The right way to do the whole thing would be for Stolas to break up with Blitz but give him the power to go to earth. Another way to do it would be to let them be together like they are now but don't make it the focus of the show. The show is supposed to be an action comedy drama, mostly comedy, about demons in hell being hitmen not a romance. Romance should be a side plot unless its a romance.
Another thing is that some fans of this who like "yaoi" need to know that gay men and just lgbtq+ people in general shouldn't be fetished. Also, it's very telling what kind of person you are if you love toxic ships.
Yes, not all fans of Stolas x Blitz are crazy. Some don't fetish them and simply like the ship, maybe they were in a toxic relationship and want to see them have a healthy relationship.
There is probably literal fanfiction of hazbin hotel and helluva boss that is WAY better than the shows. And that's really saying something since fanfiction is infamous for being terrible(most of it is, but that's a blog for another time). When your show is so bad that the idea of it is better than the real thing AND when fanfiction of it is probably better, you know there's a problem, multiple actually.
My rankings:
animation: 9/10
voice acting: 9/10
plot: 7/10
pacing: 6/10(not the best flow)
characters exploration: 6.5/10(better than hazbin hotel)
writing quality: 5/10(vizie and here team still seem like they fell asleep during most of their writing classes)
Overall: 7/10(just mid)
Three: The Amazing Digital Circus
The three major problems with the show is that it did explore each character equally and the ending made everyone upset and there are so many plot holes and continuty errors. My biggest problem is that the ending didn't answer how the characters are stuck there and how they can get out. I thought Caine coming back and being good would help them escape but no they just accept living in a simulation. There is an after credit scene with some people at a bus stop but it still doesn't answer anything. It's unsatisfying and dissapointing. I am so GLAD I DIDNT GO TO THE THEATERS AND PAY FOR THE FINALE.
If the show just had maybe 10 or 12 episodes instead of 9, it could've actually finished the story and flush out its characters properly. The creator lost a lot of passion with the show due to the fame burning them out so it led to the downfall of the show. The fans of this show are usually insane and intense so that's also why the creator couldn't take iit anymore.
Fanfiction writers, get your typing hands and pencils ready to write an episode 10 yourself!
Regarding Jax's arc, I thought it was fine. It was expected. I don't love or hate him. He certainly was entertaining though.
My rankings:
animation: 8/10(i like 2d more)
voice acting: 9/10(Michael Kovach is awesome)
plot: 5/10(kinda all over the place, its one of those shows where the episodes are almost contained but there is also an overall plot but they didnt do a good job at the end so)
pacing: 7/10(fine i guess)
characters exploration: 7/10(they did ok but it was almost not enough and it was kinda weird)
writing quality: 8/10(the writers actually knew how to write for the most part, they can do nuance and subtley unlike viziepop lol)
Overall: 7.5/10(almost amazing but its more like The Digital Circus)
Four: Lackadaisy
I loved the pilot but I can't give rankings since it's not out yet. It's in production and will have 6, 22-minute episodes with Glitch Productions(interesting). But it's taking a while to be produced so I'm concerned there's problems besides just animation taking time. Hopefully it doesn't suffer the same fate as the other shows I mentioned.
So yeah unfortunately I did write an essay but I just like writing. PLEASE be respectful and civil in your replies and think before you speak.
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