Review - Suicide Squad Isekai (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Suicide Squad Isekai is an anime series co-produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Japan, and WIT Studios, based on the comic book team by DC Comics. The series streamed it's ten episodes on both MAX and Hulu, released with original Japanese audio, followed each week by the English dubbed version. 

        The series centers on Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad, who are sent through a portal to another world, a more medieval one known as an Isekai. The squad lineup consists of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Clayface, King Shark, and Peacemaker, who work with Rick Flag to deal with another Suicide Squad team gone rogue. Along the way, the squad must prove themselves to some of the locals, who believe that they are part of an opposing force, which the rogue squad is working with. Also, the microbombs in the heads of the squad need to be reset, as they're on a seventy-two hour timer, and the only way to reset them is a sky portal linking back to their world. 

        I gotta say, that the animation by Wit Studios is really good. Also, the English dub cast was absolutely fantastic. Karlii Hoch gives easily one of the best versions of Harley Quinn since the original version by Arleen Sorkin, and her scenes with the Joker, voiced by Scott Gibbs, were absolutely fantastic. And, yes, Harley talks about the Joker quite a lot throughout the series. Also, Harley gets her own "magical girl transformation" scene, which is awesome. Jovan Jackson, Sean Patrick Judge, Brandon Hearnsberger, and Andrew Love were all really good as Deadshot, Peacemaker, Clayface, and King Shark, and the banter between them is hilarious. Also, I'm gonna give props to both Jeremy Gee as Rick Flag and Jasmine Renee Thomas as Amanda Waller. The likes of Genevieve Simmons as Katana, Christina Kelly as Enchantress, and Jay Hickman as Thinker were all really good, as well.

       The action and humor are both on point. I really enjoyed a number of fight scenes between King Shark and Killer Croc, especially the fight with the two of them in a water fountain. I think that the writing team of Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara took the characters from DC Comics and put them in a scenario that is not very common in American comics, but is so common in anime that it has its own subgenre. Isekai anime like Gate, The Eminence in Shadow, Sword Art Online, and pretty much the entire Digimon franchise are pretty common, and it's kinda neat to see the first anime series to be co-produced by DC also be an anime that is part of one of the more frequently used subgenres of anime. 

        Let's face it, the Suicide Squad team has been overplayed by DC over the years, with their appearances on Arrow, two big screen movies in the old DC Extended Universe, and a divisive video game from the studio behind the acclaimed Batman: Arkham trilogy. But, I think that Suicide Squad Isekai is one of the better outings for the Suicide Squad we've gotten to date. Not only does it put the Squad in a situation there may be no coming home from, but it also keeps the characterizations of the characters in line with their initial comic book counterparts. And, I would say that this is easily one of my favorite new series of the year, sitting ahead of Fallout, but coming in at a close second behind Hazbin Hotel. So, I'm giving Suicide Squad Isekai  a rating of 5/5. Log on to either Max or Hulu and check out all ten episodes either in Japanese with English subtitles or in its English dub version. 

       This is Chuck signing off, guys, and I'll see you guys next time.