Hazbin Hotel: Season One: A Delightfully Amusing Animated Musical Comedy (Blu-ray)

The Show:

When one thinks of the everlasting torments of hell and demons being presented the opportunity to redeem themselves, an animated musical comedy is probably not the first grouping of genres that come to mind when attempting to relay such a tale, but that's exactly the route that Vivienne Medrano has taken to do so with her curiously bizarre adult cartoon "Hazbin Hotel." Can this extremely unlikely combination of premise & genres possibly function in tandem, or is this just another wacky idea that's doomed to meet a terrible fate?

The show follows Charlie Morningstar (Voice of Erika Henningsen), daughter of Lucifer, who has a dream of opening a hotel that offers demons the chance to rehabilitate themselves as a non-violent alternative to Heaven's annual purge, where angels descend and go on a killing spree to prevent the possibility of an uprising. For this endeavor, she gets help from her girlfriend Vaggie (Voice of Stephanie Beatriz), a powerful demon called Alastor (Voice of Amir Talai), porn film actor Angel Dust (Voice of Blake Roman), and Husk (Voice of Keith David), a bartender bound to Alastor. Almost everyone finds her dream to be rather impossible, but that doesn't stop her from striving forward in a desperate hope that she can make it come true.

On the outset, "Hazbin Hotel" does indeed seem like a completely ludicrous idea, one that sounds like it would have no chance (in Hell) of working. After all, having demons singing about redemption (among other topics) comes across as rather nutty, and yet, somehow, creator Vivienne Medrano & her team make it work. In fact, not only do they make it work, they make it work kind of brilliantly through an incredible blend of a compelling story, fascinatingly eccentric characters, wonderful designs, and surprisingly fantastic music.

It's one of those odd concepts that, once you get into its rhythm (no pun intended), pulls you into its intriguing scenario as its amusing band of misfit characters do their various things, all in service of what turns out to be a pretty epic tale that has the fate of Hell's residents at stake. Speaking of epic, many of the excellent songs end up feeling that way as well. This is an idea that could've easily been sunk if the music had been sub-par, but it received just as much attention as all of its other impressive elements, leading to several marvelous tunes that elevate the entire endeavor even further.

At the end of these eight episodes (small sidenote: the original pilot is on YouTube), which seemed to fly by in a snap, we're left with a rather surprising result. "Hazbin Hotel" is quite the hidden gem that certainly deserves to be talked about a lot more than it has been. It's got comedy, drama, romance, action, and, of course, plenty of great music, all culminating into a wonderful adult cartoon. If you've yet to experience its delightful strangeness, you most definitely should. Chances are, you'll be very glad that you did.

Video/Audio:

"Hazbin Hotel: Season One" comes to Blu-ray in 1.78:1, 1080p High Definition transfers of outstanding quality. The picture is beautifully sharp & clear throughout all eight episodes, perfectly highlighting every detail of the show's incredible animation style. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and the marvelous music in excellent quality. Overall, A24 has done a wonderful job in both areas for the show's Blu-ray debut.

Special Features:

Episode Commentary Featuring Creator Vivienne Medrano, Animation Director Skye Henwood, and Art Director Sam Miller

Conclusion:

"Hazbin Hotel: Season One" is a surprisingly effective blend of a compelling story, fascinatingly eccentric characters, wonderful designs, and fantastic music, all culminating in a delightfully amusing adult cartoon that's able to execute its somewhat strange premise in a rather brilliant fashion. With the show finally making its stunning physical debut on Blu-ray, hopefully more viewers will give this wonderful & unusual creation a chance.

Score: 5/5

Now available on Blu-ray:

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