The first three episodes of Suicide Squad Isekai at the moment are streaming on Hulu and Max.
If there’s a uniting issue behind the 2 live-action Suicide Squad motion pictures launched as a part of the now-defunct DCEU (in addition to the ebullient presence of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn; good luck topping that, Gaga!), it’s the concept of outré DC dangerous guys as a Hot Topic-friendly vogue assertion. That’s not a knock; even for a bunch of superhero-type characters, the best-known Suicide Squad characters reduce memorable, iconic figures. Their bad-guys-gone-good-ish storyline rides the road between scary modern Batman-villain menace and goofy Silver Age dress-up, so it is sensible to port their daring, graphic, darkly whimsical sensibilities into anime. The first three episodes of Suicide Squad Isekai, a brand new Japanese-made animated sequence streaming on Hulu and Max this summer season, land someplace between the dopiness of 2016’s Suicide Squad and the weirdly heartfelt gonzo action-comedy of its 2021 follow-up. But it understands {that a} Suicide Squad venture ought to at all times be visually participating.
The present doesn’t have any formal connection to these motion pictures – on this telling, the principle characters are all being conscripted for the primary time – however its lineup appears influenced by them: Harley Quinn (Anna Nagase), Deadshot (Reigo Yamaguchi), Peacemaker (Takehito Koyasu), King Shark (Subaru Kimura), and Clayface (Jun Fukuyama) are the preliminary fivesome that type Isekai’s all-star antihero crew. (Clayface is the one member not closely featured within the live-action movies.) The present additionally seems to cite the primary movie’s memorably silly “like some form of suicide squad” line, presumably with a wink.
This mission goes additional afield from the films’ approximation of grit. The title’s “Isekai” refers to a specific subgenre of anime the place characters go to an alternate world through a portal, right here opened by Suicide Squad boss Amanda Waller (Kujira). So whereas the primary episode does characteristic some Harley-and-Joker antics, it’s largely about zapping the newly fashioned Squad right into a fantastical kingdom of floating castles, besieged royalty, and beastly warriors. Newcomers to the subgenre needn’t fear; Clayface, leaning into his wannabe-actor smarminess (he’s hilariously characterised through on-screen textual content as an “unpopular film star”), is conversant in isekai and its conventions, offering Abed-from-Community-style commentary (or is it Tom-Sawyer-from-Huckleberry Finn-style annoyance?) about how the story is meant to go.
As normal, the explanations for this journey ultimately contain one other Suicide Squad; Waller’s managerial technique tends to rely closely on sending Suicide Squad after Suicide Squad to cope with probably unsolvable issues. The present has a distinct and extra shocking drawback: an occasional lack of urgency within the first three episodes, notably the second and third. (The set-up of the primary installment is appropriately brisk.) There’s a ticking clock on the group’s muddled mission, compounded by how their handlers are dispatched earlier than they may give them extra info. Yet there’s a good quantity of repetitive time-killing the place the Squad is captured or jailed after which fights their manner out by totally different teams of henchmen.
Those fights are admittedly numerous enjoyable, with everybody’s abilities mysteriously enhanced or modified by their new atmosphere. This, too, takes the characters for much longer to determine than the viewers. The colourful, fluid animation offers one more reminder of how effectively this medium can seize the important weirdness of comic-book storytelling. The humanity is one other matter; up to now, Suicide Squad Isekai retains issues comparatively shticky – although it’s early but, and the shtick is steadily pleasant. Where the present falls brief is the isekai materials; the brand new fantasy characters have some bother competing with the likes of Harley and Peacemaker, by way of each visuals and angle. Still, as a sequence of endearing and well-composed splash panels (plus, throughout the credit of 1 episode, a goofy music video), this present is worth it for DC followers ready for the following massive reboot.
