Suicide Squad Isekai premiere review: DC's iconic villains break the mold in this near-perfect Wit Studio production

The Suicide Squad Isekai premiere came early for certain regions, like the US, on Thursday, June 27, 2024, and had plenty of hype, excitement, and momentum behind it. While fans were skeptical of what the crossover anime’s final product would look like, the three-episode early premiere served as a great litmus test for the series’ quality.

In some ways, the results were very promising, with the Suicide Squad Isekai premiere doing a fantastic job of alleviating some key concerns. One of the most notable is Wit Studio capturing the spirit of these iconic DC villains, doing so in a truly perfect way. The voice acting plays a specific role in this victory, with the demeanor, mannerisms, and tone of each character’s speech perfectly matching who they are both in the anime and the comics.

However, this Suicide Squad Isekai review does have a few bones to pick with the production, namely when it comes to the overarching narrative and plot development. Plot focus is also a concern, with the early episodes failing to answer one major question on fans’ minds. That being said, there is a caveat to these critiques, which, in the end, serves to highlight how high-quality the three-episode premiere was overall.

Suicide Squad Isekai premiere review: Faithful renditions, jaw-dropping animation, and its spirit are the positives

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One of the greatest compliments that can be paid in this Suicide Squad Isekai review is that, from its opening scenes, it feels like a DC Universe product. Opening with Harley Quinn and the Joker philosophizing about life in another world in the midst of one of their schemes and subsequent getaways is so DC, it feels like it was pulled straight from a comic.

Voice actors Anna Nagase and Yuichiro Umehara truly shine in their respective roles as Harley and the Joker here, bringing the characters to life in a way that feels straight off the page. This extends to the rest of the titular group as well, with Reigo Yamaguchi’s performance as Deadshot, Jun Fukuyama’s as Clayface, Subaru Kimura’s as King Shark, and Takehito Koyasu’s as Peacemaker all being praiseworthy at the same level.

Their performances particularly shine once they enter the new world they’re transported to, save for the Joker, whose status is unknown as of this article’s writing. For the others, however, the chaos that is a new fantasy world lets each shine in their respective roles. It also shows these characters at their most unhinged, which again feels very true to the antics they get into in the original comics.

Even the calmer moments in Suicide Squad Isekai serve as great characterization which brings the comic book characters to life faithfully (Image via Wit Studios)

The Suicide Squad Isekai premiere also does a great job of using this insanity to see them break the rules of the isekai genre. One of the most notable aspects of this is unintentionally making enemies on all sides, whereas most isekai will corral characters into supporting the side of “good” or “justice.” Beyond just breaking the mold, it helps to further emphasize that these characters are truly villainous, even if they are the anime series’ protagonistic group.

Likewise, their insanity as villains shines during episode 2’s prison breakout and takeover sequence. Production devolves into a splattering mess of colors and colored lights, as a pop-inspired rock song plays in the background. The scene even devolves into Harley finding barrels of paint and a broom, making a mess of the walls as she decorates them in her own insane way. Yet again, the anime’s strength is its faithful rendition of these beloved characters.

The Suicide Squad Isekai brilliantly parlays this faithful feel the series has into jaw-dropping animation, which does justice to any comic book artwork. Action scenes in particular stand out, with Wit's production being fluid and vibrant without relying too much on sakuga. It creates a well-balanced visual scheme that is enthralling and fast-paced, but not to the point where it's difficult to keep track of or digest what's actually going on.

Suicide Squad Isekai premiere review: A generic plot drags the series down early, but could be fixed later on

Amanda Waller and her A.R.G.U.S. Group are the anchor which currently weighs Suicide Squad Isekai down (Image via Wit Studios)

Easily the most pervasive and egregious issue so far is the series’ plot, in multiple respects. For starters, what fans are given in the opening episodes plot-wise is fairly generic, even if distinguishable from traditional anime series; essentially, the titular group was sent to prepare a new world for conquesting its resources, but after their mission goes awry, they’re stranded and trying to find a way home while also avoiding the detonation of the bombs in their necks.

While the introduction of the Queen and her army had some promise, there’s too little focus on them in these early episodes to truly argue that they’re now central to the series’ plot. The same can also be said, with much harsher criticism behind it, for the lack of focus on Amanda Waller, the A.R.G.U.S. Group, and what their true intentions are here if any ulterior motives exist. While we know what the titular group was told, Amanda’s true feelings have yet to be touched on.

Although some may argue it’s too early on to criticize Suicide Squad Iskeai for this, the introduction of Rick Flag somewhat invalidates this rebuttal. During his introduction, it’s clearly implied that Amanda has some sort of grand goal in mind by the reveal of this suicide squad being the second she has sent in. While this does help to set the stage for Harley and co’s battle with the first group, doing so just for this sake seems somewhat unnecessary and pointless.

That being said, the Suicide Squad Isekai anime has plenty of time to alleviate this concern, which is truly the only one worth picking a fight over thus far. In every other respect, Wit Studio has delivered a near-perfect anime series through the first three episodes, with the fourth in a great position to alleviate the above major issue.

Final thoughts

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In its first three episodes, the Suicide Squad Isekai anime undoubtedly has more positives to speak of than negatives, even with the harshest lens possible. It’s likewise encouraging for the series’ future, but does make the opening episodes somewhat difficult to get through at specific points. This rings especially true for the slower, more plot-heavy scenes considering nothing unique or truly enthralling has been introduced in that area thus far.

Yet even with that in mind, the series remains a can’t-look-away caliber of show by nature of how fantastic it is purely as a rendition of these beloved DC Comics characters. Combined with Wit’s fantastic anime production and a passable, but not promising, plot which does in some ways break the isekai mold, Suicide Squad Isekai is a near-perfect production three installments in.