This show has had so much hype going for it for years. While I never got too invested, I definitely enjoyed the pilot, it set up some mysteries, the animation was great, the character designs were unique, and most importantly of all, the premise was actually intriguing. I never got too invested, though. The jokes didn't land for me, the sound design was excessive, Angel Dust was annoyingly sexual, the visuals were overwhelming, and overall the pacing was awful. It was hard to process what was going on.
A few months ago when I saw the news that Hazbin Hotel would be coming out on Amazon Prime, I wasn't that curious. It'd been four years, so my interest had long waned. However, I ended up giving in because I watched some Youtubers discuss about the plots of individual episodes and thought "Huh, this actually looks pretty good."
Having now watched the six episodes out, I am... Very conflicted. I adore the creativity behind everything, from character designs, to the artstyle and the musical numbers. Also I love a few of the characters. But by far the biggest detriment to the series is how fucking awful the pacing is. I get that the showrunners want to tell their story and that at the time they must've been extremely worried about not getting a second season, but they overcompensated by cramming every important event into eight episodes. The whole "hotel for sinners to find redemption" thing, which is the whole damn point of the show, is put to the side to priotitize other plot points. Most of the show so far consists of moments that should've waited until the second season. They are good on paper, but since the show has given us nearly no time to get to know these characters and see them interact and grow with each other, they feel like the writers are pulling them out of their asses. They make me think of the UNFULFILLED POTENTIAL.
