Hotel Inhumans – Episode 1

Content Warning: Blood, Gun violence

What’s it about? Hotel Inhumans is staffed by Sara and Ikuro, two aides to their very particular clientele—assassins. Offering world-class dining, entertainment, and space to kick back and relax, this hotel on the edge of the shadows of the underworld is ready and willing to do whatever is needed for its dangerous residents.

I think it’s important to contextualize this review. I’m watching this immediately after The Shy Hero and the Assassination Princess, which admittedly takes a more “comedic” twist to an assassin anime. That is decidedly not what Hotel Inhumans is doing. Everything points toward a much more serious anime set in a more gritty reality, filled with desperate people willing to do whatever is necessary to stay alive and make their own ends meet. It is also less of a fantasy. There’s no magic spells of superhuman strength. Instead, everything feels incredibly grounded in reality.

Question is, will I end up favoring this over a story about one man, his shyness, his constant bloody noses, and the three assassins that want to kill him? All indicators point to yes, but you’ll have to read until the end of this review to find out!

Episode 1 opens by immediately showing its hand: this is a show about the underbelly of society. Guns are readily used and backstabbing is the name of the game, and in a world where being at the top means stepping on others, it seems like many assassins are more than willing to do so. Whether the head of a group or a woman protecting her child, everyone seems to be one step away from the desperation that making killing for hire a viable means of paying the bills.

Enter Hotel Inhumans, a safe space for one group in particular: assassins in need of a reprieve for the outside world. Working on a belief that one never says “no” to a request, Sara and Ikuro, its intrepid concierges and owners, welcome in guests—starting with a young man named Shao in search of his sister, Mao…

I’ll give up early: I really liked this. As a fan of Gunslinger Girl and stories where humanity is centered as a part of why someone might pick up a gun and turn it against their fellow man, I was hooked by Hotel Inhumans from the start. Banger opening aside (shout-out to imase, one of my favorite singers, for providing the song), I found that the more serious look at the world of assassination and the inhumanity in the act of taking a life for pay really intrigued me. I think this might actually be my favorite premiere thus far, though there’s still many more to come.

Additionally, I really think the more grounded opening served to set up this story and the actual introduction of the titular hotel. Rather than feeling like it came out of nowhere, Hotel Inhumans feels like a natural segue into yet another aspect of the underworld of killer for hire. Balanced against Sara and Ikuro as the hotel’s staff, this is shaping up into a story that I think will stick with me.

So far, I’ve reviewed a lot of shows that really are across a spectrum of quality. That’s not a ding against them, because I also understand that while I’m a critic and reviewer, my personal preferences are always going to be a factor. Still, I think I can objectively say there’s a lot of series this season that feel more like just putting something out into the world than thoughtful, actually engaging pieces of media. 

That’s thankfully not the case here with Hotel Inhumans. It grabbed me from the start and dug its claws into me, and for that, I’m grateful. I don’t want to let it go: heck, I didn’t want the episode to be over. But all premieres must come to the end. Thankfully, there’s always next week.

I’m so genuinely eager for the next episode to come out. Hotel Inhumans was really great, establishing an engaging story that, while gory, relies on genuinely good storytelling and establishing its rules and foundation over a blaze of bullet glory and flashy weaponry. I can’t tell if this is going to be episodic or have an overarching story, but either way, I’m really into this premiere. Safe to say that I’m hooked and here to stay with this series.