Q. Hi, would you like to introduce yourself?
Hi! My name is Guppyroll and I’m an artist born in the land of Uruguay, I’m really into role-playing video games, model kits and old useless technology. I also play the guitar (sometimes).
Q. How would you describe My Hellish Life for someone who hasn’t seen it?
My Hellish Life is a story about a guy named Alan, a young man who unexpectedly reunites in real life with Valerie, a girl he once knew through an online video game called “Angels and Demons Online”. The two spent countless hours together in the virtual world, forming a bond that Alan never truly forgot. Seeing her again gives him the chance to reconnect with someone who meant so much to him, and perhaps turn the feelings he once had online into something real.
As Alan and Valerie navigate the awkwardness of having 2 lives inside and outside the game, the two become entangled in new friendships, emotional struggles, and strange events that blur the line between coincidence and something far more mysterious.
Q. What were some inspirations for you when you made the pilot?
I think the most obvious ones are Scott Pilgrim, Home Movies and Earthbound. But for the most part it’s just experiences I had when I grew up, Online games where friendships formed through chat, guilds and late-night gaming sessions, it’s a very cozy and nostalgic feeling for me and I think a lot of people will feel the same. I also love coming of age stories, like Linda Linda Linda and Juno, I don’t know why, I think I just connect with those type of stories ’cause I’m an awkward person hehe.
Q. What is your ambitions with the project? How big do you want the show to be in scope?
My biggest ambition isn’t to create the next huge franchise or the biggest animated show on the internet. More than anything, I want to create a story that people can genuinely connect with. As I said, My Hellish Life is loosely inspired by real-life experiences, and I hope viewers see a bit of themselves in the characters, their relationships, and their struggles. If the series resonates with people and builds a passionate community over time, that would mean more to me than anything else.
Everything beyond that is simply a bonus.
At its heart, the show is a love letter to my wife. It’s loosely inspired by our story and the emotions we experienced, transformed into a fictional world with its own characters and mysteries. More than anything, it’s my way of preserving those memories and sharing the feelings behind them through animation.
Q. You have previously both made a comic and a game, do you have a preferred medium and how did you land on animation?
I don’t think I have a favorite medium—I love them all for different reasons. I still enjoy working on POWER POW! from time to time, and The Repair Man was a completely new experience for me. I’d always wanted to make my own video game, so it was exciting to finally do it.
That said, My Hellish Life is the one project that I genuinely feel wouldn’t work in any other medium. The story relies heavily on subtle character acting, facial expressions, voice performances, music, fantasy elements, and comedic timing—things that become much more powerful when they’re all working together through animation.
One of the things I love most about animation is that you don’t necessarily need a huge budget to create something special. More than anything, it takes time, patience, and a lot of passion. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with animation, it allows you to build entire worlds and bring characters to life with enough dedication and creativity.
Q. What previous experiences do you have in art and animation?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but I really locked in when I was around 14 years old. That’s when I became fascinated by the behind-the-scenes side of movies, video games, and animation. I realized that people could actually create these worlds themselves, and that completely changed how I looked at art.
Since then, I’ve been teaching myself by making things. In 2021, I started a comic called POWER POW, which is still ongoing. It’s another coming-of-age story, this time about three friends who form a rock band to fight the evils of the music industry. Working on it taught me a lot about storytelling, pacing, and creating interesting characters.
Over the years, I’ve also made a lot of short animations. You can probably still find them on Newgrounds and YouTube under my old username, “wasabitoo” Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything of real value there anymore, (they’re pretty rough) but if you’re curious, they’re a fun way to see my progress as an artist.
Q. How long has the pilots production been? What has the production looked like?
We started production on the pilot in March 2025 and finished it in December 2025. I created most of the pilot myself. I wrote, storyboarded, animated, edited, and directed the project. My wife helped supervise the script, giving feedback that made the story stronger and more coherent. I also found an incredibly talented cast of voice actors through a voice acting website, I honestly feel like I got very lucky there, I also received some help with coloring on a few scenes.
A lot of people assume that Episode 2 will involve hiring a large team of artists, but for now, that’s not the plan. I’ll still be handling most of the animation myself. I enjoy being closely involved with every part of the production, and I want to keep that consistency while the project is still independent. Hopefully, as the series grows and we secure funding, I’ll be able to bring more people on board without compromising the vision.
Q. Did you face any difficulties with the production? If so, in what ways?
Actually yes, it’s an interesting thing, basically the original version of the pilot wasn’t even in English, it was made in Spanish and released in four separate parts on my old YouTube channel, which had around 14,000 subscribers. I was really confident it was going to do well.
It didn’t.
After a month, the pilot had only reached around 5,000 views. I was devastated. It felt like nobody was really connecting with it. The comments were about 50% positive and 50% people clearly uninterested in the project. At that point, I honestly gave up on doing anything else.
But something kept telling me that the pilot was actually good—that there had to be an audience out there who would connect with it. After seeing how well The Repair Man was received, I decided to give the pilot one last chance. I translated it into English, uploaded it to my brand new channel, and aimed it at a worldwide audience.
It worked far beyond anything I expected.
It almost felt like a Final Fantasy moment—where this was going to be my final attempt if it failed. Thankfully, it didn’t.
Q. Who else has helped with the production of My Hellish Life? What did they do?
My wife, Ruvale, has been the most important collaborator on the project. She helped me refine and perfect the script, and she’s also the inspiration behind the story itself. More importantly, she was the one who kept me from giving up after the pilot’s first release. If it weren’t for her encouragement, I honestly don’t think My Hellish Life would have gotten a second chance.
The coloring artists Otoloto and Brianclaus also played a huge role by helping with the coloring process, which made production much faster and allowed me to focus on other parts of the animation.
The voice cast was another essential part of bringing the series to life. Eddie (Fluffbat) and Unique (UniqueParadiseVO) gave incredible performances as Alan and Valerie. They added so much personality and emotion to the characters that they quickly became the definitive voices I had imagined in my head.
And then there’s Jasperravenm, he created all of the background artwork for the pilot. He’s an incredibly underrated artist and a great friend of mine. To put it simply, he saved my ass—I cannot do background art to save my life. His work gave the world of My Hellish Life a level of depth and atmosphere that I never could have achieved on my own.
Q. How do you feel about the finished pilot? Is there anything you would have wanted to do differently?
I’m really proud of the finished pilot. Of course, when you’ve spent so many months working on something, you start noticing every little mistake and every scene you wish you could improve. I think that’s just part of being an artist.
Q. How does it feel to have so many eyes on your work? Was it expected?
Not at all. When I uploaded the English version of the pilot, I genuinely thought it was going to be my last attempt. I figured that if people still didn’t connect with it, then maybe the project just wasn’t meant to be.
Seeing it take off the way it did was surreal.
I’m incredibly grateful that so many people have embraced the show, but I still try to approach it the same way I did when nobody was watching. At the end of the day, I’m just making the story I wanted to tell—the fact that other people care about it is something I’ll never take for granted.
Q. You are currently selling a plushie of Alan, would you like to explain a little on how you’ve been at funding this project?
Since My Hellish Life is an independent project, funding has always been one of the biggest challenges, I was lucky enough to find incredibly talented actors who believed in the project.
I realized that if I wanted to keep making it while maintaining its quality, I’d need support from the community. That’s why opportunities like the Alan plush mean so much to me. It’s not just merch—it’s a way for fans to directly help fund future episodes while getting something fun in return.
The biggest source of support now is Patreon. It’s what allows us to keep working on the series while staying independent. Every pledge, no matter how small, goes directly back into the production. Whether that’s paying voice actors, hiring animators, or covering the countless other costs that come with making an animated series.
I’m honestly grateful that people believe in the show enough to support it. Every Patreon member and person who shares the series makes it possible for me to keep telling this story.
Q. What can would you say this show is about and what can we expect from the next episode?
At its core, My Hellish Life is a story about love, nostalgia, and growing up in your 20s.
As for the next episode, expect the world to grow much bigger, inside and outside of the game. The pilot was mainly about introducing Alan, Valerie, and the central premise, but Episode 2 starts exploring the larger cast and the mystery surrounding the digital world.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but if you enjoyed the emotional moments and character interactions in the pilot, I think you’ll have a lot to look forward to. Episode 2 is where the “hellish” stuff really begins.
Q. Where can people find you online?
You can find me pretty much everywhere as Guppyroll!
The best place to support My Hellish Life is my Patreon, where I post behind-the-scenes updates, production progress, and exclusive content. If you’d like to help the series continue, that’s by far the biggest way to support the project.
You can also find the show on Newgrounds and YouTube!
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