Isekai Suicide Squad

The isekai genre is easily the most overdone genre in anime. Ever since the success of Sword Art Online in the early 2010s, isekai has continued to grow in popularity, with more and more series being churned out each season. As of 2024, the average viewer's sentiment regarding isekai is that its become synonymous with the phrase "quantity over quality." This brings us to one of the recent additions to the genre's catalogue, Suicide Squad Isekai. Is it more of the same junk food we've grown to expect, or is it a hidden gem which takes on the genre in a more creative and unique ... way? Unfortunately, the answer is the former. Suicide Squad Isekai doesn’t do much with the isekai concept, nor does it do much with the concept of the Suicide Squad.

The fantasy world that the main characters are transported into is nothing more than the same generic setup we've seen many times before: there's a kingdom, there's a war and the main characters are expected to be the trump card in winning the conflict. However, the world-building never goes beyond the surface level, and it's clear that the show itself has no desire to explore things in depth. It uses the isekai genre merely as a backdrop rather than as an integral part of the story. The characters themselves even make meta jokes about common isekai clichés and plot conveniences, but these jokes fall flat because the show doesn't attempt to parody or satirize the clichés; instead, it merely underscores how basic and cliched its own narrative is. The story's only redeeming aspect so far is the pacing, which moves fast enough within each episode to prevent the show from becoming too boring.

The main cast do attempt to add some life into an otherwise plain and generic isekai, with Harley Quinn's chaotic charisma doing most of the heavy lifting. However, the majority of the other characters fall into basic one-dimensional character archetypes. The worst example of this is Peacemaker who comes across as dull as a plank of wood whenever he's on screen. So far, there is little to no attempt at exploring characters beyond their surface-level personalities which is reminiscent of certain anime video game adaptations where the characters exist primarily to maintain the status quo and to serve as little more than promotional tools for a brand. There is definitely so much more that can be done with the concept of the Suicide Squad as there are countless comics out there to draw inspiration from, however it seems like the show is unfortunately not willing to explore the characters beyond their wikipedia page descriptions.

The show maintains high production values, as expected from Wit Studio. However, there are occasional noticeable drops in art quality during certain parts of some episodes, despite the overall good art and animation quality. The show's soundtrack is well-made and fits the genre and tone of the anime well.

Overall, Suicide Squad Isekai offers nothing new to the isekai genre, relying heavily on typical genre conventions and clichés that may not appeal to those who have grown tired of them. The standouts of the show so far include the good production values, vibrant character designs and Harley Quinn's chaotic charisma, powered by her amazing voice actor. However, the anime struggles to deliver a unique narrative and doesn't bother to expand on characters beyond their surface level personalities.

Current Scorings:
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Story: 2/10
Character: 4/10
Value: 1/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Overall: 4.4/10

Plots that don't connect well and a narrative that can seem forced or incoherent. The anime may not meet expectations based on the films or comics, resulting in discontent with differences in tone and approach. The quality of animation and character design can be considered subpar, especially compared to other anime or superhero films.
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Tramas que não se conectam bem e uma narrativa que pode parecer forçada ou incoerente. O anime pode não atender às expectativas baseadas nos filmes ou quadrinhos, resultando em descontentamento com diferenças de tom e abordagem. A qualidade da animação e do design dos personagens pode ser considerada abaixo da média, especialmente ... em comparação com outros filmes de anime ou super-heróis.

So the first 1 episode sets the premise of the series i gues kinda in a way it puts the mystery in it like oh what is this machine?"" What are they doing, whats happening? Ect
It was definitely a more interesting uproach to the isekai part. But i would have laughed my ass if the joker got hit by a car and became sexualy attrackted to minors as every isekai goes.
I will tell you it's really enjoyable it has comedy. it's full of action and gore, and it's a lot of fun, but the writing is missing, and when i say missing, i ... mean like missing, it feels just like another middle of the run crashgrab from DC with no writting effort put into it not no experimentations just a basic story with no interesting qualities characters ect. Not only that but with every episode the animation declines and gets worse and worse i really hoped that this series could have been like Cyberpunk Edgerunners but no. Dont waster youre time

After this squad solved its first problem with the time limit, I just cant find myself caring what happens to them next. The story is generic isekai, which is not bad in itself, but absence of an MC who you can relate to, makes this too boring and unwatchable.

A lot of questionable artistic decisions. One of them is some weird map that replace action sequences of their travels. Another is the presence of some flashbacks with Joker, which do not help either, as they are just time-wasting fillers.

The main problem is the lack of any clear personal goals for the main character cast to ... which you can start to relate to. Without them, they are just a bunch of overpowered monstrosities running around without a clear goal. Boring.

Isekai Suicide Squad is an out of place and unnecessary addition to the genre. After watching the first five episodes it became clear that the series is simply a misguided attempt to capitalize on popular fandom at the expense of the viewer. While the animation and art style is quite good, id sevearly lacks the naritve qualities you would find in any decent anime.

Story Writing: To put it simple character interaction feel forces and dry. There is a severe lack of plot and motivation for the story to follow. Even in a genre known for its flexible realism, the whole premis of this project seems ... ridiculous There are no quality story arcs to be found and violence seems to be the only solution the character are capible of. This simple lack of creativity and two delimitational characters leaves each episode feeling more and more flat and devoid of excitement than the last.

Characters: The main characters are not at all life like or expressive. Even for supervillans the level of emotional maturate each displays is extreemly poor. There is also very litttle character development throughout the story making it hard for the viewer to connect. This lack of character appeal will leave you un invested and rooting against the protagonists you were mean to support.

Visual Quality: The only quality of this anime that is worthy of praise would be the art style. The quality of animation and action scenes show attention to detail thay many hope of in the new seasonal anime. Despite being from the DC Universe the chatacters are designed to fit in to the animated world the show tales place in. Unfortunately, no level of beauty can salvage a series that is this intellectualy unappealing.

Conclusion To put it simply, you should not take the time to watch this. An Isekai anime with rebelious western supervillians isnt the type of thing that a dedicated acuience want to see. This project should have simply been left to imagination. Hopefuly this forgettable and disappointing crossover will serve as an example of what not to do for popular animation studios in the future.

Rating 1/10 (Despite my love of Isekai)

Although it seems like a great idea to make an anime with the Suicide Squad characters, the application they made with this 'pile of nothing' they produced is useless.
Although the animation is good, it still has its flaws—deformed faces at times, lines that don't match the rest of the scene, and changes in art style in the middle of scenes. These are all somewhat subtle issues, but they create a strange feeling, and once you notice them, it's hard not to.
Finally, let's talk about the story. It fails to stay consistent, sets a rule and then simply forgets it ... the next moment, doesn't apply continuity in a decent way, has scene changes at inconvenient times, doesn't revisit interesting plot points when it should, and ultimately fails to keep the story engaging for the viewer.