Suicide Squad ISEKAI, or Isekai Squad as I prefer to call it, wasn’t on my anime bingo card, and it sure wasn’t on my to-watch list for the Summer 2024 anime season. An anime version of Suicide Squad that, for some reason, involves isekai? I’m not convinced that such a show really needs to exist, and Suicide Squad ISEKAI’s first three episodes haven’t done enough to change my mind either.
In case you’re a non-comic book reader who hasn’t seen the two Suicide Squad live-action movies and the recent video game, the titular team consists of imprisoned supervillains who are forced to do the dirty work of ruthless government official Amanda Waller. They’ve got no choice but to obey, because if they don’t, they’ll be blown up by an implanted explosive.
The three-episode international premiere for Suicide Squad ISEKAI makes sense, because the third episode’s ending, which establishes that our main characters will be dealing with other familiar supervillains and not just fantasy fodder, feels like the only narrative element that’s vaguely interesting. The first episode is all setup, establishing the capture of the Joker’s lover/partner-in-crime Harley Quinn so that Waller (whose English VA sounds too young for the role) can force her and other supervillains (Deadshot, Clayface, Peacemaker, King Shark) on a mission into a fantasy world of beast people and humans that Waller has her sights on (we soon find out that it’s all about natural resources). We get to see the Joker in the first third of this episode, but considering that his monologue made my mind wander off, I don’t think I want to see him again.
The Suicide Squad members are much more welcome company, but not particularly endearing either — the simple-minded but brutal King Shark is one of the characters that stood out more in James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad, which you should watch if you haven’t already. Though there’s acceptable banter between straight-man Deadshot with the self-important but unsuccessful actor Clayface and the inscrutable, peace-obsessed Peacemaker, the anime’s depictions and dialogue aren’t able to get me invested in these misfits. The princess of the fantasy world’s human kingdom, who seems to admire Harley and wants her people’s conflict with the beast people to end quickly, has the chance to be a character of note, but this early portion of the series hasn’t given her much to do yet.
The mostly unremarkable writing has the (good) side effect of making the highlights (which are all in Episode 3) stand out, at least. In one scene, Rick Flag, one of Waller’s subordinates, inadvertently offends a balding, pink-haired knight (one of the recurring characters from the fantasy side) due to his imperfect knowledge of the fantasy world’s language. We also get to see Deadshot earnestly attempt to get a film about rats mating screened in a prison theater, because he genuinely believes that the rat-controlling Ratcatcher can only be turned on by the sight of the animals doing it. These moments balance out the decision to give Deadshot a rehash of Will Smith’s infamous and much-memed “What? We some kind of Suicide Squad?” line from the 2016 Suicide Squad movie.
I’m willing to put up with an uninteresting premise if the visuals and action can pull their weight, but while Suicide Squad ISEKAI occasionally hands out tasty cuts of character acting and isn’t shabby with the action animation, the aesthetic of the show is decidedly average in quality, giving me even fewer reasons to care about the bland isekai setting. When Episode 2 attempts to make its fantasy prison break sequence visually fancy with lurid, pulsing colors, it only succeeds in feeling unpleasant and sickly. The series would look so much better if it had half the visual quality of the opening animation.
None of the episodes so far have felt exciting with their execution, but the first one, which has storyboards and direction by the series’ director Eri Osada, had moments that made me go, “Hm, that felt a bit odd.” These moments include the first reveal of the fantasy world’s warring inhabitants with a very nonchalant cut and zoom out with no build-up. Another example is how the episode takes pains to hide Peacemaker’s face with a sack mask, but spoils his regular helmeted look with a brief character intro anyway. The animated transitions into and from these frames are decently slick, though.
The biggest disappointment in Episode 1 is a rooftop fight between Harley and her probable series rival Katana (who, along with Rick, looks distractingly young in this show). This should’ve been an energizing action highlight, but although it tries, the end result feels lethargic thanks to a reliance on distant, lingering cameras; an uninteresting flow; and a number of strangely slow movements. The other fights are not so disappointing, but are even less memorable.
Suicide Squad ISEKAI doesn’t make a horrid first impression, but based on these first three episodes, the only parts of it that are truly worth the effort of watching are the opening and the fun ending sequence that give us a sassy, dancing Waller. I was already prepared to call it quits after the first episode, and making it through the rest just makes me wish I’d spent the time re-watching The Suicide Squad instead. Having said that, the glimmers of fun in Episode 3 provide faint hope that the rest of the series might eventually find its feet, and the eventual appearance of other supervillains like Enchantress and Killer Croc could enliven the show too.
Where to watch: Max/Hulu (United States), ANIPLUS/LAFTEL (South Korea), HBO GO (Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), ADN (France), Bilibili (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia), iQIYI (China), AnimeTimes (India)
Staff
• Director: Eri Osada (Blade and Soul co-character designer and co-chief animation director, Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 6 director et al.)
• Screenplay: Tappei Nagatsuki (Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, Re:ZERO author)
• Screenplay: Eiji Umehara (Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song)
• Character designer: Naoto Hosoda (Seiren character designer, The Future Diary and Juni Taisen: Zodiac War director)
• Character designer draft designer: Akira Amano (Psycho-Pass)
• Music composer: Kenichiro Suehiro (The Eminence in Shadow)
• Animation production: WIT Studio
Cast
• Anna Nagase as Harley Quinn
• Yuichiro Umehara as The Joker
• Reigo Yamaguchi as Deadshot
• Takehito Koyasu as Peacemaker
• Jun Fukuyama as Clayface
• Subaru Kimura as King Shark
• Taku Yashiro as Rick Flag
• Chika Anzai as Katana
• Kujira as Amanda Waller
• Reina Ueda as Fione
• Mamiko Noto as Aldora
• Jun Fukushima as Cecil
