I just spent six and a half hours listening to a youtuber I really like ranking and dissecting every hasbin hotel song Not by how they sound (though he Does go into what he thinks of the music and why, it's quite delightful. he sings along to quite a few of them and I'm very much so still getting used to the fact that he's apparently really good at it), but how successfully they push the story Forwards.
and I have to say that I now have opinions on hasbin hotel despite never having seen it jklfasdkjlfsda
I'd really suggest the video to anyone who's a fan of the series, he even took the hit to monetization to play all of the songs in full so he could analyze them properly.
I think I really do understand Why this series took off the way that it did. yes it is a series with some pretty deep flaws, but I'd argue that the vast majority of them come down to the time limitation.
I think it's safe to say that they had a ton of ideas that they desperately Wanted to cram into this first season, but they didn't have the episode count to fully explore them (or really do more than Introduce them in some instances).
and I Do think it's likely that they made the choices that they did because a second season wasn't a guarantee. if they decided to be more conservative with their first season, let it take its time with less on its plate, they might have never gotten the chance to share some of these ideas At All.
and I do genuinely think that this is Part Of its success, at least in terms of fandom.
there are lots of fandoms for lots of media, but I feel like some of the most prolific have been for flawed series that have Potential. that have Ideas and themes and characters that resonate with people, that people can see More in, but don't stick the landing in the way that they could have for Whatever reason.
and I say this as someone who has Been in those sorts of fandoms near exclusively. it's Fun. it's Fun because it turns this story into a sandbox that you get to play with. to fill in the details yourself and see how Other People would as well.
and the key here is that there are parts about it that Must be likeable, you can even like All of it, while still feeling like there's room for that reinterpretation and Play. and I feel like a lot of people grow even closer to a character and to a world through doing so.
have you ever seen the fan content that homestuck inspired? It's That. it's that exactly.