Is Suicide Squad Isekai the Crazy Anime You Expected?

Suicide Squad Isekai is a wild adventure featuring DC Comics’ villains, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Peacemaker, Clayface, and King Shark. The twist? The anime is set in an isekai world!

Is Suicide Squad Isekai worth your eyeball time? Step in front of this “totally safe” mini truck (license plate “1SEK41-ME”), and let’s find out.

An Unexpected Isekai?

You can’t swing a batarang without hitting an isekai anime. In 2024, isekai series must either use the genre well or do something unexpected to get attention. When Suicide Squad Isekai was announced, we expected the unexpected.

But, while the premise in Suicide Squad Isekai might seem unexpected — because it’s a DC Comics anime with “Isekai” in the title — the series sticks to what American animated hero shows do best. Marvel and DC fans who grew up watching animated Spider-Man, X-Men, or Batman shows will recognize the pacing and story beats. That’s because this isn’t an isekai story. It’s a supervillain story set in an isekai world. There’s a mission and a big bad to beat.

Telling a New Story with DC’s Antihero Toys

Will WIT Studio’s trope cocktail alienate anime fans? Maybe. Will it bring in DC Comics fans? Probably. Harley Quinn, Venom, and Deadpool are all hot properties now. Fans love the antiheroes. Deadpool & Wolverine proved that, grossing $205 million (USD) at the box office over the weekend. One weekend.

The real question is: how comfortable are you with American-born superheroes (and baddies) in your anime? It’s good for the industry and fans when competent animation studios, like WIT Studio, get a cash injection from a company like Warner Bros. Animation right to the vein. Give talented creators finances and a popular intellectual property (IP) to work with, and you might get a memorable anime that raises the bar.

Suicide Squad Isekai is the work of talented professional Japanese creators playing with the DC character stable. Eri Osada directs the anime based on the screenplay by Tappei Nagatsuki (author of Re:Zero) and Eiji Umehara. Naoto Hosoda adapted the character designs of Akira Amano (Reborn!). Kenichiro Suehiro (Re: Zero, Goblin Slayer) produced the soundtrack for Suicide Squad Isekai.

A fresh take with some of Japan’s best creative minds reimagining DC’s Suicide Squad is welcome. However, some eggs might need breaking. Hardcore anime fans, take note. The conventions that define anime might go up in a blaze of fire. It’s not a bad thing.

Is Suicide Squad Isekai for You?

Suicide Squad Isekai is a new take on the isekai genre and a high-quality anime by a talented team. Would I bet money on the likelihood of a second season? Nope. The anime community will move on from the series and never look back. J-List fans who need their daily dose of “plot” have juicier fish (and french fries) to fry. But I may be wrong.

ARGUS agents capture Harley Quinn and throw her in a cell. Of course, there wouldn’t be a story if she didn’t get out somehow. Amanda Waller, director of ARGUS, has a business proposal for Harley and friends: step through this portal into another world, complete a deadly mission, and the bombs in your neck won’t decapitate you spectacularly. No matter how you look at it, it’s a suicide mission. And so, the Suicide Squad is born.

I’m not a DC Comics fan, and Harley Quinn is an annoying psycho I can do without. Still, Suicide Squad Isekai is entertaining and unique. If you’ve got time to ignore all the bouncy Plus-Sized Elf dark elf fanservice on offer this anime season, give Suicide Squad Isekai a shot. It streams on Max and Hulu. I give it a solid four out of five Chibi Megumis.

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Are you watching Suicide Squad Isekai? Which DC character would you love to see making a cameo appearance this season? Are you a fan of pig orcs? Tell us in the comments below or on social media.

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