The Boys Presents: Diabolical

This animated spin off from 'The Boys' features eight ten minute episodes, each of which tells a complete little story. The stories vary in style and tone but it is safe to say none are suitable for younger viewers thanks to the level of extremely gory violence and robust language. It is set in the same universe as 'The Boys' so it is likely to appeal most to people who have seen and enjoyed that... while many things can be enjoyed by new viewers it wastes no time re-introducing familiar characters.

Overall I really enjoyed this series, although it must be stated that some episodes were better than others. It started well with an episode featuring a scientist trying to save a baby that shoots lasers out of its eyes and ends on a real high with a story about Homelander's first mission. For me the weak point was the fifth episode; when 'South Park' had a talking poo twenty years ago it was childishly amusing but here it was just weak... at least it was only one episode and things improved again later. The animation is solid and the voice cast, which includes an impressive array of well-known actors does a fine job. As stated before it is pretty violent with lots of characters meeting a grisly end... if you've seen anime like 'Elfen Lied' you'll be familiar with such matter. This certainly won't be for everybody but if you enjoyed 'The Boys' then I'd certainly recommend this; if you don't enjoy it you won't be wasting too much time.

It's nowhere near the quality of either Boys or Invincible. Some episodes are entertaining but gore seems to be only thing it is going for. There is no plot, every episode is another story and... Just give us The Boys. Or another Vought newsletter. That was really unnecessary.

Irreverent, bloody, violent humor like The Boys series, but amped up a bit with animation. It is focused on getting quick laughs with its short stories, so it is mostly missing the non-comedic heart that The Boys series has.

The first toon, "Laser Baby's Day Out", is by far the best. The gentle retro flavor, combined with OTT violence and gore, is brilliant. Highly recommended.

The other toons vary greatly in quality. They're ALL watchable, but expect some to not be to your taste, as there is a lot of diversity here.

One wonders what someone new to the Vought universe would make of all this (hmm ...).

I do think it's great that folks like Awkwafina (The Farewell), Christian Slater (Archer), Aisha Tyler (Archer), Nasim Pedrad (SNL), Andy Samberg (SNL), and so many others helped.

I rate this at six (6) stars overall. The Boys and Gen V are better.

I actually really enjoyed most of the episodes. 1,3,4,6,&8 were all great. They range from cute and charming to brutal and sadistic. The show really gives us a better look at how Vaught as a company affects the lives of citizens and families. 2&7 were also rather enjoyable and a bit more personal in terms of scope. The 7 episodes mentioned all have solid voice acting, animation styles and music that support the premise, and intriguing characters (some of whom we've seen before). My main issue lies with episode 5 which is the worst episode of any show I have ever seen in my entire life (I'm not even joking.) This episode singly handedly lowered my rating from a 7.5. The concept is somewhat unique, but where the episode decides to go is just disgusting and stupid. The voice acting is hideous (it's mostly just Awkwafina) and it felt like an episode that belonged in a different show entirely. I hated it and highly recommend you save yourself fifteen minutes by skipping over it. The other 7 episodes are worth watching, but I have to grade the season as a whole.