Following up on my previous post, which discussed the Satanic themes in Hazbin Hotel, this week, I’ll be talking about Vivziepop’s side project, Helluva Boss. Like my critique of Hazbin, this one is also late. Helluva Boss, being an independent show, was released much sooner than Hazbin Hotel and has a lot more episodes out. Helluva Boss is set in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel, focusing more on the hellborn rather than the sinners of Hell.
Helluva Boss also focuses more on slightly different themes. While Hazbin Hotel is about the concept of redemption, Helluva Boss is more about navigating interpersonal relationships. I love both series, but in my opinion, Helluva Boss is the better show (even though I think the show sometimes gets obnoxiously stuck on the relationship between Stolas and Blitzo when there are so many more interesting relationships to explore). While Hazbin Hotel does have the benefit of studio production, that can also be a hindrance which Helluva Boss doesn’t have to contend with. Being an independent series, Helluva Boss gets to experiment more with the storyline and character development; Hazbin Hotel has set-in-stone deadlines and has to meet certain requirements in order to stay signed with the studio, which somewhat limits how much experimentation can happen.
The main draws for the show are of course its irreverent humor and its monster-of-the-week format, but what I love most about the series is the level of detail and the amount of research someone had to do when actually structuring the denizens of Hell. Obviously, a certain amount of creative license has been taken, but clearly, someone has read at least part of Ars Goetia to get into this project.
Another delightful little detail is that the animation style is very reminiscent of one of my favorite cartoons from childhood, Invader Zim. Invader Zim was a series that didn’t last long (it was sabotaged by its network, Nickelodeon), but I’m glad to see that its influence is so long-lasting. To further cement the similarities between the two series, the same voice actor who voiced Zim now works on Helluva Boss, not only voicing the character Moxxie but also serving as the voice director for the show.
I do have a couple of criticisms of the show. I already mentioned that I feel that the show gets obnoxiously stuck on the relationship between Blitzo and Stolas, but that’s a minor criticism. Blitzo is the main character of the show, so of course the show is going to focus on his relationships. And when you’re romantically involved with someone, that relationship sometimes dominates over all of your other relationships. However, for someone who came to the series for its monster-of-the-week format, it can get a little bit annoying. Another minor criticism of the show is that the pacing of some of the last few episodes has seemed a bit rushed. Again, I feel this is a forgivable criticism. The writers of the show gave themselves what looks to me to be some pretty tight deadlines, which means they didn’t have enough time to get the pacing perfect.
Helluva Boss has yet to finish its story, with the latest episode and Season 2 finale set to come out at some point in December. My hope for the series moving forward is that, now that what seems to be a climactic moment between Blitzo and Stolas has happened, the show will start to focus on other relationships again. Aside from my minor criticisms, I count Helluva Boss among my favorite online series.
Playing With Demons 