Adult animation has often had to walk a pretty fine line: it should be grown up enough to appeal to an older audience, but it should still utilize its medium to the fullest extent.Human Resources, the animated spinoff from Netflix’s sex-focusedBig Mouth, probably leans too far into the term “adult” to be enjoyable to most viewers, but beneath all of its crass, gross, and often overbearing jokes there’s a solid story with great characters and surprising emotional heft.
AvidBig Mouthviewerswill already recognize many of the strange creatures featured throughoutHuman Resources, including lovebugs, anxiety mosquitoes, and of course, the hormone monsters. All of these creatures, which ironically represent various facets of the human condition, work together in an office setting, sharing human clients and facing conflict in their own interpersonal relationships.
RELATED:Star Wars: 5 Minor Animated Characters That Should Get The Live-Action Treatment
The show’s main focus is lovebug Emmy, played once again by Aidy Bryant. After her boss, Sonya is fired under mysterious circumstances, Emmy is assigned to Becca, a woman who just had her first baby. Emmy is a mess both at work and in her personal life, and it’s her character arc that makes up most of the season. Despite the fantastical nature ofHuman Resources, its story arcs,which also include at least two love triangles, are fairly down-to-earth.
The series also does a great job in using both serialized and episodic storytelling. While the episodes are distinct enough to be watched on their own, the season arcs are prominent enough to keep everything connected in significant ways. This really helps to ground the show and keep it relatable, but it also serves to distract from what keepsHuman Resourcesfrom being great.
Much likeBig Mouth,Human Resourcesdoes not shy away from crossing every line when it comes to humor. This results in a lot of overly gross and immature moments, most often featuring Maury and Connie (voiced again by Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph, respectively) and the rest of the hormone monsters. Since their main area of expertise is sex, there happen to be a lot of jokes built on that theme. There are a lot of sex-based puns, running gags about body parts, and bits involving every bodily fluid that can be imagined.
This is by far the show’s biggest weakness. Anyone familiar with its predecessor will already know that these series never shy away from these subjects, but they are presented in a way that is so over-the-top that it’s hard to imagine new viewers sticking around to watch the entire season. That would be a real shame, though, because in the back half ofHuman Resources, something pretty great happens.
Gradually, the show scales back on the sex jokes (they’re still there, but not quite as prominent) and begins to focus on real issues. While this is a show about magical monsters, there is no lack of heart, emotion, or drama in these later episodes. These storiesdeal with difficult topics like mental health, grief, and the often unspoken complexities of long-term relationships. It’s unfortunate that a lot of this is hidden so late in the show, but anyone who sticks withHuman Resourceswill be rewarded with some truly compelling and heartfelt moments. What the show does very well is allowing these scenes to feel earned, rather than shoehorning them in for some cheap emotional manipulation. Like some ofthe best animated shows for adultsthat came before it, such as Netflix cousinBoJack HorsemanorFuturama, these moments land really well and aren’t undercut by obnoxious jokes to break the tension.
As there should always be with animation, there are also a few musical numbers. While these are performed with a lot of enthusiasm, they don’t always land, nor do they really become earworms like some of the best animated musical numbers. Still, they offer some fun breaks in the action and allow the cast to show off their musical chops.
In fact, one of the show’s greatest strengths is its cast. Often when an animated projectrelies too much on celebrities rather than voice actors, the performances can feel somewhat weak, but not here. Each of the performers, rather than just relying on simple name recognition, really imbues their monsters with a unique voice and character. This includes both familiar faces like the shame wizard (played by Harry Potter’s David Thewlis) and anxiety mosquitoes (Maria Bamford, channeling her best anxious performance), and new additions like Pete the logic rock (who is given an air of intelligence and awkwardness byWandaVision’s Randall Park) and ambition gremlin Petra (played byBirds of Prey’s Rosie Perez, who masterfully channels her aggressive energy into a hilarious performance).
Human Resources, like many great animated shows before it, utilizes its medium well. The design of the monsters is imaginative and there are plenty of visual flourishes in their office environment that keep it from being too generic. The show also does a decent job in balancing more dialogue-heavy humor with visual gags that would be impossible to pull off in live-action. It could have maybe pushed its visual boundaries a bit further with more interstitial gags (though there are some peppered throughout the show), but overall its style finds a good balance.
Human Resourcesisn’t going to be a show for everyone, let alone every animation fan. Those who like their comedy with a lot of raunch will find plenty to appreciate here, but they should also take some time to appreciate the show’s more serious and ambitious moments as well. If it had a little bit less of that signature humor, it might be a better show, but it also wouldn’t be the same show, and that might be to its detriment. Overall,Human Resourcesis an imperfect, but ultimately rewarding watch that delivers enough humor and heart to overpower some of its weaker aspects.
MORE:5 Forgotten Sci-Fi Shows From The 2000s
Human Resources
Human Resources is an animated workplace comedy that serves as a spin-off to Big Mouth. It features numerous characters and locations from its parent series, including Tito the Anxiety Mosquito and Connie. They’re joined by original characters like Emmy and Pete, who are played by Aidy Bryant and Randall Park respectively.
