askhezureviews

[askhezureviews]

It's very validating to listen to you agree with other people talking about the absolute lack of nuance in HB and HH when it comes to all of the aspects of the story, but, if you aren't going to review them now or in the near future considering the states of the shows, do you think you'd ever do a retrospective review when both are over and have their finales? (Not including crossovers that may or may not happen, like a Vees spinoff or a FizzOzzie spinoff Viv has proposed, depending on how well the shows do once they finish on Amazon?)

I'm only going to review Hazbin & Helluva season 1 and season 2. I'm stopping after that, because I'm just seeing repeated patterns of the exact same issues, I've essentially run out of stuff to talk about. It feels like milking something that has run dry, even if it claims to only be half way through its storyline.

[askhezureviews]

Martha x Mayberry being confirmed and Mayberry being confirmed a lesbian makes absolutely no sense??? She had a husband, found out he cheated, had a mental breakdown and preformed a murd3r su1c1d3, paid assassins to have Martha killed after finding out she’s still alive cause she was the one that was sleeping with her husband (still unsure where she even got that information to begin with cause she’s in hell and has no access to the living world) and now they’re suddenly dating and Mayberry is suddenly a lesbian???? Wtf???

It’s very much fandom ship pandering

This is actually the same thing that happened to Stolas too, where he was implied to be bi or pan in season one, considering he had a wife who loved him enough to go to theme parks with him and slept in the same bed as him, had a daughter with him, and got rightfully upset and deeply betrayed when he cheated on her.

Only for Viv to change the narrative come season 2 and make him 100% gay by changing his marriage to be one of forced unwanted arrangement, one of such blatant hatred and toxicity that it suddenly makes it okay for him to have cheated on her in the first place.

[askhezureviews]

Tbh I fucking hate how Blitz was talking to Stolas on the balcony at the end of Sinsmas. When he said that “Octavia will understand eventually” and when he talked about Barbie Wire he stated “if you hurt someone and they don’t want to forgive you, then you just gotta keep trying”

Um??? No??? Your actions have consequences, and forgiveness is up to the victim. If you do something shitty and ask for forgiveness, and the victim chooses not to forgive you and even cuts you out of their life, then they are completely in the right to do so. It doesn’t even matter if you “didn’t mean it”, you still fucked up either way. You ESPECIALLY do not constantly chase after said victim and try to pressure them into forgiving you, when they want nothing to do with you and they want to be left alone. That is literally HARASSMENT AND STALKING.

It just left a really bad taste in my mouth, because all it did for me was further prove just how toxic Blitz and Stolas’ relationship is. I think Stolas should just get a job somewhere else and get his own apartment so he can properly heal from loosing his daughter and do some self reflection, being coddled by Blitz constantly clearly is not healthy for him especially if Blitz is just going to say shit like that.

☝️

[askhezureviews]

Why does the narrative say that when Adam kills sinners it’s bad but when Blitz kills humans it’s totally fine?

Blitz kills people constantly whether they are innocent or not for money. He is actively going against the balance and sending people to hell constantly and is also actively contributing to the over population problem in hell. He also takes great pride and sadistic pleasure in his work and he swears and makes d!ck jokes constantly.

Adam is also killing people, the difference however is that these people are already in hell and from what I’ve seen everyone in hell is either an asshole like Angel or genuinely evil like Alastor. Adam was also assigned to do it by the angelic council themselves because of over population and is not doing anything illegal or interfering with the balance. He also takes great pride and sadistic pleasure in his work and he swears and makes d!ck jokes constantly.

I’m not saying Adam is good person. I’m saying Adam and Blitz are very similar to each other, and imo Blitz is way worse than Adam, yet Adam is seen as the only villain here for some reason…

That's actually an issue Helluva Boss has, where they make the antagonists worse than our main characters to excuse our main characters' bad behavior. Most of the people Blitz & Co are up against: Annoying jerk kid in the pilot, satan worshippers, rich money hoarders, hollywood obsessive weirdos, bitchy alcoholic ex-girlfriend Verosika and her band of sexual harassers, asshole ex-friend robo Fizz who is absolved of any wrong doing the second Viv wants him as a main character, power imbalance black mailer demon Prince Stolas who cheated on his wife- forcing Blitz into a relationship only to absolved of any wrong doing now that Viv wants him as a true main of the show; jerk father Paimon, jerk father of Blitzo, jerk father of Moxie, jerk shark exboyfriend of Moxie and Millie, shallow bitchy sister Barbie, shallow bitchy twin clown girls, shallow bitchy teenage girls from camp... and then there's the two embodiments of sin- gluttony and lust, but they're treated like a good thing in comparison to the others for some reason. "We just want to party and be sexually free!" instead of the point of them being sins is overuse and abuse of those concepts...

The government agents and the Cherubs are the only non-evil antagonists in the show, but they're overlooked if not ignored. (and even then, the Cherubs are made to look like racists I guess?????? and well, its the US government, so... that's an impossible thing to not be evil or corrupt in some way... these are pretty low bars here)

Hazbin has a similar issue, where they need to make the antagonists look worse than our mains to excuse our main characters bad behavior or beliefs. That's one of the biggest problems Viv faces as a writer, is keeping her characters complex. It's very hard for her to have them do something aborttently wrong or unforgivable, which is unfortunate, because that's the entire point of the show. That's what the characters are in hell for. That's what made it so intriguing in the first place. Watching someone take the worst of the worst and redeem them? What a writing challenge! What a complexity! What a concept for an adult show, this I had to see!

But low and behold, in the end... :/ I was disappointed

[askhezureviews]

So apparently Helluva Boss is getting picked up by Amazon Prime and now Viv is gonna start doing crossovers with Hazbin and Helluva. I feel like this is a bad idea for Helluva especially. Like so much has happened in the series already that I feel like doing crossovers now is just going to make the writing and world building even more messier and confusing than it already is.

I’m personally just confused?

Because the point of Helluva Boss was to explore the non-human side of Hell?

Hazbin Hotel was supposed to be about humans redeeming themselves and Helluva Boss was supposed to be about resentful humans paying demons to commit sins on their behalf typically out of revenge.

So the crossover appears to be a “just because we can” rather than something with a narrative purpose to it, considering these are complete opposites.

[askhezureviews]

So, what do you think about Naruto and Boruto? Do you think it is peak or does it fall to the same pitfalls as Bleach?

I dropped out of Naruto just a little before the official ending, but from my understanding is does indeed have similar pitfalls because of Sasuke's strange plot... arc?? And it ended with ships and babies ever after, so

But Naruto wasn't really my thing, I'm surprised I watched it as long as I did

[askhezureviews]

Would you have wanted Ichigo and Rukia to marry in the ending in Bleach? Or think that they should have been together somehow? Do you think * THAT * would have fixed the ending(or one of many plot holes in its ending)?

I do believe that out of the two main ships, Rukia and Ichigo ending up together would have made more sense in terms of plot hole cover up, but it wouldn't fix the ending, or the rushed, confused plot the ending would lead to.

In my opinion, Ichigo should have become the next soul king; or if not that, then at least would have made the sacrifice of his human life, forced to stay in Soul Society since his power level is too dangerous to have him around normal humans anymore- narratively, having Ichigo join Soul Society to reinstate the Shiba clan and do what attracts most of BLEACH's fanbase (not counting gooners) : epic action sword fighting and spell casting- narratively it just brings Ichigo right back to his family roots and allows him to actually have a hand in Soul Society's rebirth.

Ichigo was always looking for the next fight, always looking to help those in need, always wanted to make a difference, bounced from job to job in school, never talked about career goals, never showed an interest in starting a family let alone actually caring for one outside of using his fists. (that's one of the reasons I'm frustrated with the pairing of Ichihime, because Yuzu, Ichigo's younger sister, stepped up to household chores when their mom died, while he ran off to start fights at school instead of helping out around the house. And neither did their dad help for that matter. (aka patriarchy) I don't want Orihime to be in a housewife position doing laundry at home while her husband and son are constantly running off to go fight hollows. It just feels insulting to Orihime's character, who wanted to fight by her friends' sides, to be left like that.)

Anyway, I digress. Ichigo and Rukia don't have to end up together to have fixed the ending.

[askhezureviews]

Do you play Cookie run kingdom?

If not you really should, it's a free mobile game but it has a lot of lore

No, the only dedicated mobile games I’ve ever played would be Pokemon Go, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Sky Children of Light

And I stopped playing them because the grinding got tedious, and you didn’t get full access to fav characters or designs unless you payed a frankly ridiculous amount of money

[askhezureviews]

One of the wasted moments in Bleach(whenever I mention small or big flaws in a series I get instantly, wrote some small things I wanted to criticize and got blocked instantly to the point I get scared and regret writing as NOT anon):

Yhwach should have been the one to kill Chojiro in cold blood, alone(emerging from the Schatten Bereich all by himself for some personal payback for his defeat 1,000+ years ago) as personal payback and send him flying easily with his abilities. He should have killed Yamamoto easily instead of cowardly stealing Yamaji's Bankai, like being ineffective against Yamaji's Bankai flames. AND he should have killed Unohana too during the first invasion(with Unohana using her Bankai as a last resort). The deaths didn't sit well with me. Why are the Arrancars and Fullbringers sidelined in the TYBW arc, I wants to know.

To actually raise the stakes, all the captains in the first invasion aside from Shunsui, Ukitake and Toshiro should have lived with Ukitake sacrificing himself like in canon and all the captains(grade 3 and grade 2 spirits) being sent to hell like in canon but they become mindless souls unless the GOD of hell(if he or she or they or it even exists) gives them a mind as he desires.

There is a more flaws I want to mention in the Bleach series, as everything has its flaws, but I also want Ichihime to be canon and be WAY more developed(Ichigo and Orihime are the hottest in the series, imo).🥺 Also, you can love something and STILL criticize it, I don't agree with everything happening in Bleach like a consistent moment like everyone else. Love doesn't mean you compliment something and NEVER criticize it. Okay, I'm done...

While we may disagree with ships, I am nodding my head with everything you said in regards to BLEACH’s criticism and I deeply appreciate a fellow fan acknowledging that BLEACH’s story has had some major writing troubles for the past decade 🤝

[askhezureviews]

Hi hezu! Love your content, whether video form or blog form. In one of your responses, you mentioned how you considered luz a mary sue and i was wondering if you’d be willing to give your thoughts on the owl house in general. Sorry if you were planning on making a video about it or if you already touched upon your thoughts in another post. Im just curious bc you’re one of the only people ive seen actually give constructive criticism of the show without religion swaying your opinions. I would love to hear your thoughts, thank you

Aw, thank you!! I really wanna do a review on the Owl House after my Bionicle review I'm working on right now. People have been curious what I'm gonna say about it, but I'm rewatching it a second time to gather my thoughts and make sure I don't miss anything, but since you asked, here's some tid bits without going too much into it:

Tonal dissonance; the first battle between Eda and her brainwashed military sister in regards to Eda being a wanted criminal, is resolved in a silly basketball game.

There were way too many ships. 90% of them were unnecessary. The show focused more on romance than the actual lore or plot. The world building is like Harry Potter's. Whimsical, but weirdly dark, seemingly outdated, and completely unsafe for children. May even abuse children/normalizes children getting put into danger. Constant OSHA violations in terms of school design or function.

and the show is slow. Steven Universe slog of not really going anywhere with its storyline until season 2 starts. Then of course, it gets "canceled" and the finale gets sadly rushed.

Context and more in depth criticism to come via video!

[askhezureviews]

Doesn't Disney's Hercules take massive liberties compared to its source religion?

Such as:

Zeus is a faithful husband and Hera is Herc's mother. Pegasus exists at the same time as Medusa and not after. Narcissus is a God and not a cursed mortal. Hades is a Satanic figure and not a neutral God at best. Megara is alive and not killed by Herc. Etc.

But most of all: There are several modern day stuff like Herc's merchandise.

So I made a post a while back critiquing Helluva/Hazbin for not being faithful to source material, but I’d like to fix my statement and clarify:

Straying from source material isn’t a bad thing at all. But if you misunderstand the source material, mishandle it by missing the point, or contradict the lore your story overwrote, then I’d say it’s a fair basis for criticism.

Hazbin/Helluva introduces lore that doesn’t abide by its source material (which should also state, originated from a dozen translations as well as several books, not just the Bible) and that’s fine, until it contradicts that very material it just introduced for itself.

Hercules is modernized, simplified, and censored for the audience they wanted to cater to. Granted it’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, however, I don’t recall Hercules contradicting its lore within the movie they built.

[askhezureviews]

What's your opinion on works that would fall under the same general umbrella as Hazbin/Helluva such as Helltaker (videogame), Little Nicky (movie), and Seven Mortal Sins (anime)? Would you criticize them similarly for taking big liberties and not being accurate to the source material?

Have not heard of these, but it would depend on how they handle the modernization and implementation of the source material

[askhezureviews]

So you have an issue with the Hellaverse not being accurate to Religion so does this mean you have a problem with Disney’s Hercules not being accurate to Greek Mythology?

No, Disney's Hercules isn't comparable because Helluva /Hazbin lore introduced within its own series is actually inaccurate itself. Like the embodiment of Lust and Gluttony being good, for example. Sinners being sent to hell, but not into the sin layers for the sin they're committing. Christian marriage, a concept of god, being used by demons who are against everything heaven/god related.

Disney's Hercules is probably a watered down love letter to Greek Mythology while Hellaboss / Hazbin is a fundamental misunderstanding of the source material they were inspired by.

[askhezureviews]

Hey hezu i'm sorry to hear that people calling you racist because you say you don't like Isabela Madrigal and Kat Elliot. As someone who like both of their Character i understand your criticism. As someone who is Asian i have my own character i like and hate sometime i get that type of respond, i would never liked Character despite their trauma that they went through abusing others i would never liked those Character. I can understand however that would never changed my opinion about them

Keep up the good work i really like your video and your criticism post

It's alright, and hey, I mean, Isabela and Kat got better by the end of their stories! Which I super appreciated. I love how it ended, I just don't like how we got there. I didn't believe in how their arcs were handled.

And you know, it's not that I'm incapable of racism, homophobia, or ableism. I've said stuff when I was younger in regards to stuff like that. Even though I've since learned from that, as an adult, it can still happen unintentionally.

I think, in defense of these people making accusations: representation was/is extremely rare, and also extremely important in media. They want to make sure things are done right, they want to make sure we get to keep this representation of LGBTQ+, POC, Disabled folk, etc... especially in an age where that's currently being cracked down on, censored, as well as banned, like it has been in the past.

So when someone criticizes a media with characters or topics regarding the above, a lot of people are quick to jump to conclusions and blame bias because they want to protect this representation. To them, it's scandalous to say anything bad about a media that represents them, or an important group of people.

But it's a Social Justice Warrior mentality to a degree, where no matter the explaination or context or people involved, it's more important to people to accuse, attack, and defend for the sake of not just protecting this representation, but also feeling a sense of moral superiority, for the sake of social purity- which is often used to harass and bully those who don't actually deserve it. I saw my fair share of that in the Steven Universe fandom back in 2014.

Educating people is important, or letting them know something may be offensive. But often times, true bigots will make themselves known and very clear where they stand. There's also the people that are just, not self aware.

I think Vivziepop's writing is misogynistic. Do I think it's intentional? That she hates women? That she thinks the men are worth more? ...No, I don't think she's self aware. It's still misogynistic, but it doesn't come from a place of maliciousness. And I think that can also make all the difference.

[askhezureviews]

Some people that i follow on critical community for Hazbin hotel and helluva boss because i'm looking for criticism yet what i found is that misinformation, nitpicking and sometime when there's legit criticism the person i follow is actually a horrible person

Gonna admit I've done my fair share of nitpicking for Helluva Boss, so when I do an overall review of it at some point, I'll do my best to focus on the main stuff that actually has an effect, or at the very least point out the part of the story's pacing that was awkward which caused confusion and a lapse in my attention as an audience member, but clarify it's not necessarily something that would completely ruin an episode.

But yeah a lot of the Hazbin / Helluva critical community is very toxic too, and I'd recommend blocking people that make you uncomfortable. It's best not to engage.

[askhezureviews]

Just saw you mention Fanime a while ago and idk if you are aware, but huge controversy exists around the con for continuous neglect of their staff and volunteers when it comes to harassment. https://failedbyfanime.com/

Only one of the requirements for the boycott to end have occurred, which was delivering refunds for those unable to attend during COVID. But as for everything else, including removal of registered sex offenders, it has not yet happened. At it seems rn, Fanime seems to just be sweeping it under the rug and ignoring the boycott.

Mm, that's definitely sad to hear. I mean, I just had such an awful experience there, and I've never really gone to another con since. I can't imagine what the people running the place go through.

Reading through that, they're definitely understaffed and unheard by big corporate. I hope the workers / volunteers go on strike and shut the thing down until Fanime is forced to make changes.

[askhezureviews]

Be careful with whoever sent this, a lot of other HH criticals received an ask exactly word for word like this and we don’t know if it came from a troll or rumored to be antivivziepopparade themself or someone who really hates them. Whoever this is, was very aggressive depending on how people replied and some people even got harassed. As a black person myself, its petty that they added the “if you’re not racist” thing at the end too. https://www.tumblr.com/askhezureviews/778023235474407424/what-do-you-think-of-antivivziepopparade-theyre?source=share

Oh gosh thank you so much for letting me know guys. Craziness exists on both sides of the fandom, even amongst the haters!

I try to stick to reviewing the work people make and their creative habits, but if I learn the people themselves generate a toxic work environment, drop their employees who did so much for them, or have a history of not giving people credit, I definitely speak up about that- especially when there's a bunch of evidence for it too. At that point, you can absolutely criticize a person themselves for not being a good example or even a good person.

That being said though, harassment, threats, or hateful name calling is always uncalled for.

I have seen a lot of people online making fun of Viviziepop's appearance, as well as calling her and anything she makes "trash" and it's always upset me. I think her behavior is often abhorrent, but so is the behavior of a lot of her haters. This being a prime example, it seems.