I often ramble on about how disappointing the world of animation can be for anyone that wants to watch something a little more serious in the sense that it has some actual adult themes and events. I have mentioned in the past that the world of supposed adult cartoons tends to be obnoxious and disappointing as a result. As if to justify its existence by being mostly incoherent and riddled with jokes that scream in your face every few seconds. It's difficult to find animations that consider themselves more for an adult audience without being something that struggles to take into consideration any actual narrative, and it can be really frustrating sometimes. But, for once, there's an instance in which some of this actually works. And I believe this is in the case of rather famous DC character Harley Quinn. Now, this is a lot for me to say, as someone that admittedly has very little experience with superhero works and has mostly avoided them as if they're a highly contagious plague. For the most part, I continue to do so in regards to the live action works. But this? It seems pretty good.
I won't pretend I know a lot about the character of Harley Quinn. From what I know, she's some sort of villainous counter character to Batman, more known for her independent nature that seems colourful but highly dangerous. I could be completely wrong here, so forgive me! But, in this animation series, Harley Quinn is the focus surrounded by various, from what I assume, other villainous comic book characters. Again, I won't pretend as if I know all of their names or what they're known for. This will take much more time and effort! This series contains many of them, and their various chaotic acts as villains lacking intelligence but with plenty of ambition. Taking some interest from that very obnoxious wave of cartoons but utilising it under a character in which it actually fits and is justified. It's pretty surprising to see, actually. As I always assumed DC would also cater to the widest possible demographic with their creations. At a glance, I actually assumed this was the case, as the screenshots I had seen around looked tame, very typical of modern animation. And not like it had something more to it behind the surface. I decided to give it a go out of curiosity, assuming the worst of it, expecting something painfully childish that would have me question my life choices.
Perhaps I still did, but for unrelated reasons. As Harley Quinn has been pretty fun to watch so far!
Harley Quinn
I quite like stories that focus around villains. It seems like a very niche genre and one that I have mentioned before, being quite ripe in its ability to tell unique stories that allow the audience to not just learn about a villain and their ways, but the foundations to the person behind the villainous title. I don't think we see enough of this, and the only two real examples I can think of are Chronicle and Joker. Perhaps there are more, but as I mentioned: I definitely don't have much experience with this stuff! Perhaps there are more comics focused on this area, but in the world of television and film, it's a very empty space. Giving an audience a deeper look that allows them to sympathise with a character that they're supposed to dislike and not root for at all, it makes these characters a lot more interesting. Even if it's simply learning of their troubled youth, or perhaps the cracks in society that have let them down. But in no means is this Harley Quinn show highly serious and deep, at least this far. There are currently four seasons of the show with the fourth airing at the moment, so I can't yet say whether this has the potential to get serious and come to an end anytime soon or not.
The animation so far doesn't seem like it's anything far out of the ordinary for modern standards. It seems like the usual style we have come to notice when it comes to most creations these days. In some ways this is a little bit of a letdown, given the characters have very established styles over the years from many different artists, and a more generic style seems a bit lazy. Perhaps this is me just having stupidly high expectations when really I should learn to relax a bit more. I admit that the style doesn't necessarily have anything wrong with it, but sometimes you can notice that the characters surrounding Harley Quinn could have a bit more detail to them. Perhaps this is a result of a cheaper budget that lets the creators handle more characters at once while focusing on the action sequences here and there. This show does like to utilise quite the number of characters in different episodes, and sometimes I have noticed that they have a bit more quality to their designs than others.
I think the show makes up for it with humour, though! Given this has a more adult approach to it, the jokes are naturally a bit more adult. But, I'm incredibly happy to say, the show doesn't take on endless vulgarity. Instead, the jokes are often just darker. I found one joke in particular quite funny: detectives using the bat sign that sits above the buildings to call Batman over just to talk to him about divorce problems. Batman, of course, being confused about this and having to remind him it's not just to talk but to save lives. It's moments like this that are actually funny, showing the existing struggles of its characters over endless vulgarity that other "adult" animations throw out. Alongside this, the show doesn't shy away from showing the violent actions of villains, allowing for more gory moments. These are often thrown into comedic narratives that show how out of touch characters like Harley Quinn are, how desperate villains are to get seen and noticed by others. Including being picky about what sort of villain lair she wants to rent. That said, there's plenty of cursing, as one would expect.
Each episode so far seems to be a different story. Showing the chaos of the characters and their lives. Their various mischievous acts they get up to, as well as the more human aspects of their lives to which they have to adapt and problem solve, of course in their own strange manners. I'm really digging it so far, which is a huge surprise to me given I truly expected to hate it. I'm quite glad that each episode is different, not telling a specific narrative. I don't think I'd enjoy it as much if it did have a linear narrative. Part of the joy for me really is just getting a bit of a familiarity with these characters and not getting overwhelmed with the more serious side to it all. Perhaps this can be the gateway into some comics for me!
As for whether this seems like something a typical DC or Marvel fan might enjoy, I have no idea. You may have seen all the films and then hate this. Whereas it may be the opposite for me. But I think if you're tired of the current trend of, and I put them in quotations again, "adult" animations, this might fill that space with something a bit more serious, but also silly and entertaining.
