For a long time, I wanted nothing to do with anything Spindlehorse or Vivziepop related.
I was a fan of hers as a kid! I remember reading Zoophobia and enjoying the Timber music video. Her style is colorful and fun! It's heavily inspired by an era I grew up in. But it all honestly changed when the pilot for Hazbin Hotel came out.
I didn't really like how it handled itself. For one, I wasn't a big fan of musicals at the time, as I had convinced myself acting and enjoying musical theatre was cringe (despite a past interest in it). Additionally, despite watching the pilot, I didn't enjoy how it leaned heavily into the "cursing is funny and adult" attitude it had. Then, I heard of some controversal things she had drawn, in addition to accusations of her animation company being a pretty toxic workplace and her attitude towards critics or anyone that hurt her ego. It turned me off of her work entirely.
But deep down, I was still interested in Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel. Despite my wanting to check out both series, I just couldn't get past all the rightful criticisms of both the animation studio, Vivzie herself, and towards Hazbin Hotel specifically. And for years I ate up all the criticisms! I watched a lot of videos about the character design of the show, how it handled serious topics, and just overall other people's opinions.
What really got me to finally watch the series was the fact that I never watched the show myself, so I never got the chance to form my own opinions on it. I never watched the final show, I never got to form my own opinions. So, despite knowing all of the criticisms, I gave it a watch.
I was kind of at a disadvantage since I knew roughly what was going to happen. But I did like it better than the pilot! It wasn't as all over the place at the pilot. My main criticisms still remain (such as the mishandling of Angel's abuse, the character designs, and the color schemes of the show, and how un-animation-friendly the designs are in general), but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. It had more structure than I was expecting. Not like, a superfan of it, but it's alright.
So, with that in mind, I decided to check out Helluva Boss too. I didn't know too much about the show, so I was able to go in a little more blind. It is, by far, a better show than Hazbin Hotel. I still do think the designs of the main characters could use some work (except for Luna, I think hers is good). But Moxie, Blitzø and Millie? There could be some improvement. For example, I don't think Blitzø should be wearing a suit, and I feel like there needs to be more a push for Millie and Moxie. Not sure what the solutions would be, but yeah. I think Stolus' design is pretty fun, can't think of anything major I'd change.
I like how in Helluva Boss, the characters are more grounded. What I mean by that is that as opposed to Hazbin Hotel, where the sinners' designs are directly tied to human backstories that are rarely mentioned, we actually see where the Helluva Boss characters grew up. Now, they may get to that in later seasons of Hazbin, but I'm just judging based on what we know now. I am not counting anything that's been said outside of the shows, since that's not in the actual canon show, and I also don't know any details like that because I'm not involved in fandom for the most part. But in my opinion, the characters of Helluva Boss are more fleshed out, and their backstories seem to have a purpose that has nothing to do with thier character design.
Like, I'll use Alastor as an example. How does him being a 1930s mixed Black Creole radio host serial killer have anything to do with the plot except to explain that he's evil and that's being a radio demon is just his gimmick? His character design doesn't even reflect his human origin. So it just seems his human backstory is just there to justify his appearance and his character traits. As opposed to Helluva Boss, their origins seem to inform their character in a more purposeful way. For example, Moxie being kind and a nice person makes sense - he comes from a mobster family and seemed determined to seperate himself from it. Stolus coming from a royal background explains his posh attitude and his preferences. Being friends with an imp in childhood would explain why he's attracted to them (even if it's just one particular imp). Him having an estranged and arranged marriage would explain his urge to cheat on his wife. It just makes a lot more sense!
Again, granted, there is two seasons of Helluva Boss and one season of Hazbin Hotel, so they may expand on the characters in the second season.
But yeah, I guess I'm a fan of Helluva Boss now. The show itself is great. It made me emotional!