Italia: country located in south-central Europe
Hetare + Italia = HETALIA
Alternate Title: ヘタリア Axis Powers
Studio: Studio DEEN
English Liscensor: FUNimation Entertainment
Episodes: 52 (season 1)
48 (season 2)
Demographic: Shojo
Genres: comedy
Related Content: Hetalia Axis Powers (manga)
Hetalia World Series (ONA season 2)
Axis Powers Hetalia: Paint it White! (movie)
Summary:
Imagine all of the world’s nations personified as a bunch of quirky young men (and a few women) trying to put up with each other on something akin to a reality TV show setting. Italy, once considered to be one of the world’s most powerful nations, has reduced himself to a pasta-loving coward whose only ambitions are to date lots of cute girls, eat, sleep, and mass-produce white flags. This is the story of Italy’s transformation, his relatives, and his relations with other countries as they all try and live through the strange moments in world history.
Review:
Who needs history class when we’ve got Hetalia? Historical political, economic, and military events are allegorically portrayed as social interactions between characters such as the Axis and Allied Powers (a.k.a the frienemies) of WWII. Basically, Hetalia has effectively reduced some of the most tragic events in human history to a bunch of satirical five-minute episodes riddled with bright colors, swirls, roses, and various innuendos. To some, this is what makes the web series extremely offensive; however, the message and purpose of the show is to bring people of different nationalities together by pointing out each country’s flaw or stereotype and making light of the matter.
Since its initial airing in 2008, APH has faced some problems due to its content, but this hasn’t stopped the largely female fan base from growing exponentially. Granted the animation isn’t the best in the world and several of Hetalia’s running gags get old fast, the anime’s inherent charm and creative re-telling of history can easily draw the viewer in. In truth, Hetalia lacks a coherent plot in general, but this fact becomes negligible after the audience gets past the first minute of episode one. I'd recommend keeping an open mind when watching this series, especially since serious moments are a rarity. Aside from that, the childish nature of the plot (or lack thereof) and cheap shots delivered throughout can be rather off-putting to most.
When in Japanese, the jokes and innuendos are not as noticable; however, FUNimation went wild when re-wording parts of script, making Hetalia MA for mature audiences. I'd say this is due to the nature of the English dub's dialogue and language. I must say, it uses quite a bit of that good ol' fashioned crude American humor, coupled with hilariously odd accents. Both the APH sub and dub have their pros and cons, but overall, I think the viewer should watch it in Japanese before moving on to the English version.
Overall, Hetalia can be a rather affectionate, light-hearted show with the potential to entertain the audience during each five-minute segment. I'd recommend it to those who are open to seeing a wide array of silly antics by characters like the self-proclaimed leader of the Allies and HERO of the world, America, or the flirtatious, egotistical creep, France. Oh, and let's not forget everyone's favorite tsundere*, England (called Britain in the dub), who loves surrounding himself with a group of mythical imaginary friends. While these three start to fight, Russia simply sits back and watches with a smile on his face...for all will be one with Russia, soon. Yes, Hetalia is a rather strange show and, oddly enough, a huge anime phenomenon. Love it or hate it, Hetalia seems to be a show that will potentially never end, so long as history continues to be made everyday.
Rating: «««
Click HERE to watch seasons 1 and 2 subbed or dubbed!
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