Show Reccomendation: Helluva Boss

Helluva Boss is by far one of my favorite current cartoon series and I would reccomend it to anyone. It's a series that follows Blitzø (the O is silent) and his life as the boss of I.M.P., a killer for hire firm located in the pride ring of hell. (Trigger warning: Lots of nudity, cursing, death, blood, gore, it's literally in hell, like the biblical hell, satan is a character mentioned here. Also if you're someone who says cartoons are for children, please reconsider)

Blitzø is an imp who is the boss of the Immediate Murder Proffesionals (I.M.P.) which has 3 employees, Loona (Who is Blitzø's adopted daughter who is a hellhound), Moxie and Millie (who are married, both imps as well). Beyond this there are plenty more characters such as Stolas, the goetic own demon who Blitzø literally seduces in order to get his grimoire which has spells of portal magic, which we will get into later. Fizzaroli, an imp/clown with mechanical arms who's backstory is tied with Blitzø (no spoilers). Asmodeus, the literal embodiment of lust, ruler of the lust ring of hell, and Fizzaroli's boyfriend. The other deadly sins like Mammon, Beelzebub, Lucifer (mentioned), and Satan (mentioned). The other 2 primordial sins, sloth and envy, are yet to be shown nor mentioned. Other side characters such as Striker, Millie's family, Moxie's dad, demon hunters, Verosika, Glitz and glam, and a plethora of other colorful characters.

I've already mentioned the pride ring and lust ring, but to further expand, hell is divided into 7 rings, each corresponding to a deadly sin and ruled by the corresponding deadly sin of the same name. Lucifer is king of hell and in charge of the pride ring, where all of the sinners are. Asmodeus is of the lust ring with the sucubi and incubi. Beelzebub of the gluttony ring with all of the hellhounds. And so on and so forth. I.M.P. specifically has business with sinners wanting to kill mortals due to unsettled grudges. Stolas, being a goetic demon, has magical powers and so by seducing him, Blitzø is able to use his grimoire to be able to travel to the human realm and successfully kill off their intended targets... most of the time. There was that one time where they had to go against cherubs who were tasked with keeping the target alive.

That's the characters and setting, but them being of hell isn't where the story is centered. It's merely a plot device that allows the events in the story to transpite. The story delves into deep topics of self-guilt, grief, multiple types of trauma, and unhealthy ways people deal with those traumas. Hell is to be expected, there's plenty of death, plenty of drugs, drinking, general horrible attitudes, but in a way the story portrays it as just a reflection of the actual world, the dimmer parts of reality, and uses the comedic grimness of the situation to portray these deep emotions, events, experiences, and topics which are normally impossible for other shows. Themes such as losing parents, not being accepted, being in love when you think you know that they only want you for sex, having to be an actor/performer all your life to compensate for the fact that you have nothing else to show for it, being abused all your life and not being able to receive any sort of affection, hiding your traumatic past from your partner, being addicted to being used because it compensates for the feeling of being worthless, your parents fighting over you throuought their divorce not realizimg they're tearing you apart, forced to marry someone and trying your hardest despite not loving them, blaming yourself for things that happened when you were a child.

There is also PLENTY of LGBTQ representation. The default sexual orientation is NOT STRAIGHT when you're in hell. And the way it portrays being gay, bisexual, pansexual, trans, and all as something that is normal is so refreshing. 

It's on youtube too, from the creator vivziepop. It's actually not the first series in it's world, there was supposed to be a series before it called Hazbin Hotel which was in the exact same universe but featured the princess of hell, daughter of Lucifer, Charlie, and her optimistic idea of rehabilitating the sinners in hell. The pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel has been on YouTube for about 4 years now, but hasn't developed and instead Helluva Boss was released. However there has recently been good news, the series is back, and not just on youtube, but in Prime TV, aajor breakthrough for Vivziepop. 

Did I forget to mention the series is a musical? Well yes, yes it is. Both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are musicals. Boasting songs such as Insane by Black Gryphon (voice of Alastos in Hazbin) which was a viral tiktok sound. Addict, a song staring angel dust and cherry bomb (again, characters in Hazbin). My personal favorite lullaby, You will be okay, by stolas in Helluva. House of asmodeus, look at this, and 2 minutes notice by Fizzaroli. Klown Bitch by Glitz and Glam. Cotton candy by Beelzebub (voiced by Kesha, yes THAT Kesha, Ke$ha). It even inspired songs from fans such as Heaven 2 hell by Black Gryphon, Alastor's game by The Living Tombstone (yes, the one's that made the song Discords) and One hell of a team. The pilot of Hazbin hotel also has Inside of every demon is a rainbow and most recently

 Hazbin's commercial has Happy Day in hell. There are also other somgs which I forgot because there is surprisingly a lot of them.

That is all for Helluva Boss. If you like fast paced scenes, deep emotions but not the cliche ones, action, mature comedy, and the hellish adventures, come enjoy Helluva Boss and stay tuned for Hazbin Hotel.