Sweet! (I Probably Should've Known, Given You've Seen The Cartoon Lol.)

Sweet! (I probably should've known, given you've seen the cartoon lol.)

How did these guys become magical koopas (? Is that what we should call them?)

yes, magical koopas is the best way to describe them LOL also!!

i love the fact that magic is already a major part in the Mario lore, especially surrounding Bowser, Kamek, Jr, and the Koopalings! so i decided to lean into that already-existing lore!!!

i like to think certain species of Koopa are more likely to be magic-users, with Magikoopa and the more dragon-like Koopas like the species Bowser, Bowser Jr, and the Koopalings are being the ones with the strongest connection to magic and Koopa Troopas being the ones with the weakest connection to magic

since Kamek is Jr and the Koopalings' teacher and grandpa, he's the one who helped them learn transformation magic. while he himself can't hold his humanoid transformation very long anymore as he gets older, he found it best to teach the nine children how to do so for many reasons. for one, it's a good disguise; despite their humanoid forms still having features similar to their Koopa forms (namely hair, eyes, and some accessories), they can accomplish some tasks easier... or mess with the students at their school for fun if you're Iggy. another reason is because it's a good way for them to practice for their future positions in the Koopa Army, since having troops that appear human is a good fake out for certain opponents!

and finally, the reason they were all excited for this in the first place: they could live out their anime battle fantasies, because why learn how to have a humanoid disguise if you're not gonna use it for fun AND practicality?

in fact, Rose was the one who had the idea for them to use their humanoid disguises to be a magical girl inspired troupe! outside of generally using the transformations for fun, they also use their human forms at school (with the exceptions of Rose and Jr, who are homeschooled by Kamek since their magic is still somewhat unstable) since it's practice for future battles on the front lines. it helps them learn how to hold their humanoid forms for long periods of time, and the schools all know that it's part of their magic homework from Kamek; if they get tired during the school day, they can go back to their Koopa forms without being accused of being a different student or skipping class.

Ludwig, as the one with the strongest magic, can hold his form the longest. Roy, Morton, Wendy, and Iggy can all hold their transformations around the same time frame as each other, with Iggy being able to hold his form second longest. Lemmy and Larry also hold their forms for similar lengths of time, with Larry being the one who holds his form just a few minutes longer than Lemmy. Rose and Jr, however, hold their forms at different lengths of time each attempt; their magic is still more unstable and erratic due to lack of practice, hece the homeschooling from Kamek.

(also my first ask being about worldbuilding is so perfect because it gives me an excuse to yell about all the worldbuilding ideas™ ive been cooking for MONTHS.)

"Lucifer became a fallen angel because he wanted free will for the humans. But heaven banished him to hell. Long story short, Heaven is full of assholes."

"...So I'm gonna open a hotel that redeems sinner demons to get them to heaven. And I'm gonna go propose this idea to heaven."

"Oh shit heaven is full of assholes that don't give a damn about sinners."

"...Anyway, I'm gonna work together with my staff and redeem sinners and get them to heaven."

It doesn't feel that good to critique Hazbin Hotel, I want to give it all the support I can, but...the story just isn't living up to the hype.

I was expecting, wanted, a story about what it really means to be redeemed. About self-improvement and learning, that instead of continuously yearning for a better place "grass is greener on the other side" style you should try to make the place you're in better, be the change you want to see and find the strength to do so in your loved ones and family. And once you make the place you are in and yourself happier you fight to defend it.

Instead, we get a rushed story about hell vs. heaven with an idealistic (to the point of feeling dumb) and underdeveloped disney princess protagonist with side characters who I vastly prefer to her. There are plot holes, the original premise of the pilot gets shoved to the backseat. A good mystery is set up only for it to be mostly solved a bit later and for the deed to have been done by a character we don't even know. We are told a sinner has made great progress and they don't even fucking show how he got there, just that he somehow did. And two episodes prior this character wasn't even near being redeemed! They lean a lot on the popularity of the pilot and don't try to build the characters or develop their relationships, we're just left to assume that they do grow closer when we're not looking.

Hazbin hotel has its merits. The songs are great, the style is amazing and unique, I like the side characters, the story has stuff that I like, too. I will watch it to the end. But I can't help but feel that the original premise, the one we were promised, is being trampled in favour of a narrative without depth and little to no cohesion. It's not the discussion of morality and self-betterment and found family I wish we had instead.

You can disagree with me. Rather, I wish you do. These are just my thoughts and I'm sad I have them. But I wanted to get them out there. Hopefully you won't rip me a new one.

Thanks for listening to my screams, void

Just wanted to state at least one of my personal gripes with Hazbin Hotel so far: the pacing seems to move at breakneck speed.

We're only on episode four and we're already getting into Angel Dust's issues, when it feels like it should've been brought up later on. Sir Pentious getting found out in his scheme and then redeemed was done in as little as two minutes.

It's like they're trying to cram in the entire story they want to tell (which would span for at least two or three seasons) into a single season with eight episodes before finding out "oh wait, we're getting a second season? uhhhh... okay then.."

Of course, I could be missing something (I myself know nothing about how this whole process works and what went on during the making of this show) but it just feels a bit off to me.