“Hazbin Hotel” worthy of a binge
Lidia Vassar
Staff Writer
Are you looking for a new show to watch? Maybe an animated one, with a raunchy sense of humor and quirky art style? What a coincidence! “Hazbin Hotel” is exactly what you’re looking for.
The pilot of this very unique new show was just released on YouTube by Vivziepop, free for anyone to watch. It’s been in the works for quite some time it seems, and has a talented cast of animators and voice actors bringing life to an eclectic cast of characters.
Set in hell, “Hazbin Hotel” (originally Happy Hotel) is a redemption project that the princess of hell herself, Charlie, is trying to get off the ground. Frustrated by the yearly culling of unfortunate damned souls, Charlie wants to get demons and terrible dead folks the chance to redeem themselves and get to heaven.
A hotel seems like a fittingly temporary place for someone in transition to live. Charlie is supported by Vaggie, a slightly less cheery and more glass-half-empty realist sort of girl, who begs Charlie to cut back on the Disney princess levels of singing. Charlie isn’t one to be held back from her dreams, though, and bursts into song during her hellish interview on the local news, which is a real hit to her street cred. To make matters worse, the single occupant of the hotel, a porn star who goes by Angel Dust, is caught in some turf wars with some especially hedonistic individuals. So much for Charlie’s redemption project.
Thankfully, a special visitor to the hotel brings a helping hand… or does he? The Radio Demon is one of the most irregularly and freakishly powerful demons to ever go to hell, but he seems interested in seeing where Charlie’s endeavors land her. She’s smart enough not to make a deal with a devil by shaking his hand, but happily agrees to some help despite Vaggie’s warnings. All this in just the thirty minute pilot! It’ll be fun to see where this new alliance goes.
Accompanying the show is a website with a short comic giving you some insight into what Angel was doing prior to winding up at the Hazbin Hotel. There’s also some very nice looking merch, and I’ve got my eye on a few of the enamel pins and t-shirts.
The animation and atmosphere of the show is so fun and unique, and I’m looking forward to future episodes. The voice acting is also good, and the characters are all very intriguing so far.
The diversity of character designs is just crazy, and I like that none of them are totally human seeming. Sir Pentious, the serpent demon with some eggy minions, has to be one of my favorites from the pilot. It’s clear that the creators put a lot of time and heart into this project, and it makes me happy to see that it’s already gotten some 8 million views.
If you’re interested in checking out something new, make sure to search “Hazbin Hotel” up on YouTube and have a blast with a new interpretation of hell.
Header photo courtesy of Harbin Hotel’s Facebook page.