#helluva+boss+critical

[digitaltrapdigitalcircusocblog]

Jax Has Crossedressed More Times Than Angel Dust

Seriously pre-series a major party of his character was cross dressing, but we never seen him do it in season one which again makes me think that despite making him wear feminine stuff his crossdresser shenanigans have been downplayed. Kind of sad that a character that wasn't sold on it does it more than him.

[fortunelowtier]

Ok so i saw a post mentioning how Spindlehorse was hiring animators again, and i thought "huh yknow im really curious what the turnover rate of animators is in this studio" because i mean its a genuine question considering how i swear theyre hiring new animators every other week

So then i checked IMDB...

Before i go on i wanna put some context because its kinda needed for what im about to say:

On IMDB there's a section of the cast and crew page labeled "Series Animation Department". This is the section meant primarily for animators and storyboarders among other jobs in the same vein.

Now. Can you guess how many animators/storyboarders Helluva Boss has gone through in less than 2 seasons?

444.

That is four hundred and forty-four individual credits, a majority of whom didn't stay for any longer than a few episodes. I have never in my life seen an animator turnover rate this skewed.

But i saw this and i went "well it cant be that bad right, what about other shows?" because admittedly i didnt know a lot about animation so for all i knew this was normal. So i went to the IMDB pages of other animated shows

RWBY: 164 credited animators over 9 seasons

Murder Drones: 11 Animators over 7 episodes

The Owl House: 88 Animators over 3 seasons

Amphibia: 73 over 3 seasons

Steven Universe: 44 over 5 seasons

And just to be fair let's include Hazbin Hotel, which had 62 in 1 season

This means that for one reason or another Helluva Boss has gone through more animators in less than 2 seasons than shows that ran for SIGNIFICANTLY longer go through in their entire lifespan by several times and that astounds me

[prokopetz]

The character designs aside, I guess the big reason I can't take the whole Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss franchise seriously is because its sense of humour feels like it's written by and for people who thought this guy was the height of sophisticated comedy:

[theoddest1]

Lmaoooo

Edit:

Samantha is a Story Artist, Animator, and Animation BFA who works for Viv on both HH and HB.

2nd Edit: Some of y'all need to chill in the comments with certain things you say. It ain't finna make any point come across decently with how you spread some info. I get being mad at some of the reactions, don't get me wrong, but bring it back down slow plz.

[66kenobi66]

Here's some good Hazbin/Helluva critical videos I've seen (since it's so hard to find good ones on YT)

(Both are by GalXE!)

(Left one is by HezuReviews, right is by Autistic Swag!)

(Both are by Madeline Maye!)

(Both are by Cassidy Whiskey!)

Please go check these people out, all of them are extremely talented. Some of them even shared some insight and clever criticism into this series that I hadn't even thought of! (I especially like the Madeline Mayne ones as they poke into how both HB and HH fail at their queer representation.)

[helluvabossrewrite45]

I'm so proud of her. Cut him out of your life Octavia. It's for the best.

[sapphic-agent]

This is plot manipulation if I've ever seen it.

Let me be clear, making Stella abusive is not the issue. The issue is the pandering the narrative does to Stolas here. Stolas is shown to us as a bright-eyed, sensitive kid. Stella, as a child as young as Stolas and in the same position as him, is shown to us as a violent and malicious heathen. It goes out of its way to establish, before they've even met, that Stella is the abuser and Stolas is the poor victim.

Viv says she was inspired by Bojack Horseman. As a HUGE fan of BH, I think her and the other writers really missed the mark. For reference, let's look at Bojack and his abusive mother Beatrice, both as children.

Do you see the difference? Do you see the way it's emphasized that they both started out as just children in shitty situations?

And they still maintain that Beatrice was a monster. They humanize her without excusing her behavior. They humanize Bojack without excusing his behavior. No one starts off as a bad person, but the fact that the HB writers try to hammer in that Stella from the start was an irredeemable monster while Stolas is the sole victim throughout his entire life doesn't sit well with me

[redjoey1992]

Why does Viv try to subvert these moments that would've made Moxxie, Alastor, and Charlie a lot more badass than before? It would've showcased their development/growth, but they ended up getting the short end of the stick.

Moxxie ends up being saved by Millie, Alastor got his ass kicked by Adam and then just vanishes, and Charlie got her ass kicked, and Lucifer has to come in and kicks Adam's ass effortlessly.

Don't these characters deserve a moment of awesomeness on their own without anybody’s help? I'm not saying that it's not okay to ask for help, but these characters should've been able to handle them well on their own.

[vivziepopcriticalconfessions]

"As a child of divorce, I just feel like no one has pointed out how messed up and scary it is for stolas to effectively lose custody of Octavia, and then show up to the place she's staying and assault one of the adults protecting her. Yeah, narrativly Stella and andraelphus are villians, but those are her caretakers currently. I just don't see anyone talking about this angle"

Submitted by anonymous

[digitaltrapdigitalcircusocblog]

You Know I Think This Image Of Jax Shows What Angel Dust Could Have Been

When Hazbin Hotel was still in it's pilot era I kind of wished we see Angel Dust open up more as a jerk but had complex depth to him. He was both a victim but also there was a reason he ended up in hell. He had bite to him despite being under Val's thumb and while he did sex jokes it did feel he could ease them when it didn't need them. Now he's kind of a flanderized into a uwu baby victim who does nothing but spout innuendos while barely interacting with the cast and feels flat. Also they use his victim status to deflect from being condemned for his sexual harassing behavior which has made many feel less sympathy for him.

Jax for the most part has shown himself to be a jerk character who gradually opens up he has more depth to him by still being a jerk but it's obvious something is bubbling inside. He's not coddled for being a jerk, but it's obvious how much of a coping mechanism it has become for him especially when we are shown the room of his former abstracted friend. Jax is really a character that I wished that Angel Dust could have become as he stayed at the hotel which is make friends and bond with people, especially if he butt heads with. It's something that Glitch made a character voiced by Michael Kovach and pushed him to his full potential that Vivziepop could never dream of.

[dwewi66]

They'll never make me hate you.

[sophieabigail2021]

"How fandom react to criticism" wheel

[mickmeasley]

theory:

vivziepop kickstarted the indie animation revolution the same way freud is the father of modern psychology:

by having some good ideas but elaborating on them so badly alongside a whole bunch of terrible ideas that a whole bunch of people felt compelled to come on the scene just to keep the ball rolling and steer things in a better direction, partly to prove they could and because they had genuine passion, but also because letting freud/vivzie be the sole, defining player in the field would be very embarrasing for everyone

so much of what i feel is poorly executed/sorely lacking in hazbin hotel and helluva boss is done so much better in all the other indie cartoons that I almost feel like this is genuinely the case, that taking the cool ideas of hazbin/helluva and actually doing them well this time was in the back of everyones mind when formulating their series concepts

>The Amazing Digital Circus

does the "character-based-dramedy around finding connection and meaning in (whats basically) hell" better

>Lackadaisy

takes the "gangster furries in snappy suits + art deco aesthetic" ball and runs with it, but they actually can design good character designs and period accurate clothing

>Murder Drones

idk much about this one, havent watched it but from what i've heard they do the whole "emo angst meets cosmic horror" thing a lot better

>The Gaslight District

Worldbuilding and aesthetic reminds me a lot of Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel, but here its WAY more coherent and focused, with the pilot actually answering a lot of obvious questions about the worldbuilding similar to ones that, IIRC, Hazbin/Helluva stil hasn't answered to this day. Also, better action, better art direction, better edgy humor/characters, better music, better father/daughter dynamic, better fucking everything

[sleeplessdreamer14]

When you really think about it, Charlie prioritizing sinners, these objectively horrible people, over her actual people, the natives of Hell who are struggling to make it in the Pride Ring, especially with human souls ending up in Hell and causing an overpopulation crisis requiring annual exterminations, is kinda fucked up. And the way she goes about her delusions adds insult to injury.

references from Adventure Time: Distant Lands, Obsidian

reblogs are appreciated, please do not repost, and remember to do your daily clicks

[bump-inthe-night]

Vivziepop fans claiming adding black features to her black characters would’ve made it “too difficult” to animate them is a hilarious excuse considering this is the same woman who had characters like these animated:

Another excuse fans have been using is that Vivziepop’s art style is “unsuitable�� for black characters, despite her crew members proving otherwise: 

No art style is "unsuitable" for black characters because it's the artist's responsibility to learn how to draw them in their style. There's no excuse for black characters not looking black in your style.

Vivziepop could draw black features in her style but CHOSE not to, hence why none of the black characters look black outside their skin color, which sometimes they don't even have.

[66kenobi66]

Shoutout to my girl Angel Gabby for being a better representation of Religion, Angels, and trauma than all of the Hellaverse!

She's literally me fr.

(Please go check out Angel Hare on the The East Patch Youtube channel!!!)