Hetalia: Axis Powers - Reviews

This animation is by far my favorite, mainly due to its historical background, that deals with history and culture alike. I am a huge History geek and It was unbelievably fun way to learn about history. For those who do not think of it as a History animation, I can give you one tip. The true history is in the detail, and if you are a true history nerd like me you will notice it straight away. Like "rock those shorts like a hugo boss" mainly because german nazi soldiers were made by hugo boss, or when  america come in super late during war in Africa and claiming they won, when England already won it themselves. Therefore I believe it is a very accurate anime that shows history in the most fun and enjoyable way.

The animation at the begining was quite meh, but then it actually developed really well in the newer series, which were more appealing hehe

The sound, I personally prefer the english dub, mainly due it having the accents right for each country, and that you can learn a few words and sentences in the given language, mainly Spanish german japanese French and Italian. Also I found the english voice actors much more funnier and nicer to listen to, especially Romano Prussia Spain and England.

The characters represent the countries sterotypically, many are faulty like poland and finland in my opinion, but the rest is quite accurate at least sterotypically wise haha They have an indepth and more complex personalities, were england sees unicorns and faires, italy has anxiety and paranoia? and russia has a some weird bi-polar disorder, in general I enjoy the series as they are short, each episode is 5 minutes long. They kept me entertained and are nice to rewatch, I might have rewatched them so much that I know most quotes from it haha but yeah this is my Number 1 anime and I highly recommend! well unless ur over sensitive with Italy being fascist and germany a nazi, or maybe u get offended by how your country is portrayed then no do not watch it XD

I may be slightly biased as I'm pretty much in love with the subject History, but I absolutely adored this series.

I stumbled across this anime a few months ago, and thinking it sounded a little... strange... I passed. But I did recommend it to my friend, who is as much as a history freak as I am, (probably more so). However, after attending TokyoPop Recon, where it was recommended, and there was even someone cosplaying as Italy (!), I decided to give it a go, and became instantly hooked.

The story, I think is a very original one. I mean, who could have thought of an idea of countries represented as young boys/men? (well apart from the genius creator of this manga...) Although at first, I thought it may not have worked, but it does!

Basically, for those who do not know at all what it is about, it focuses on the character Italy, for most of the storyline, who is a cowardly, pasta/pizza loving wimp and his "friend"/ally Germany and their adventures in the past. Most of these adventures, are set in WW2, however some are not, most notably for me, the Olympic Games! Studio Deen, in a nut shell takes events in the past, and twists them so that the characters fit in and turns it into a light hearted comedy.

I think, although I didn’t find it confusing at all, it could be confusing for some people as the storyline jumps around a lot, (this is just going on what my friends say...), but its remedied by the fact that each episode is only five minutes long, and it spreads out over a lot of episodes.

I don’t really know what to say about the animation. As far as I can tell, its better than a lot of anime out there, although it certainly isn’t the best, it’s still enjoyable enough for me to watch, as I’m the type to get annoyed at old school style animation. The colours were vibrant and pretty and I can’t really complain about anything.

Okay, the sound, at first, kind of did annoy me. Italy’s voice really irritated me, however after a few episodes I just learned to roll with it, and learned to accept that it’s an aspect of his character; I don’t think he would be Italy without his annoying child-like voice. As far as the other characters go, I think all of their voices were spot on (bearing in mind I watched the sub).

The music I thought was just awesome! Although, like Italy’s voice it was so annoying at the start and it shocked me quite a bit with the Marukaite Chikyuu at the end, but after an episode or two, I ended up loving the song, and actually singing along with it, (it’s surprisingly catchy). I ended up downloading all of the different versions of Marukaite Chikyuu, and my favourite is Japan’s.

As far as I can tell, music plays a vital role in Hetalia: Axis Powers, I think it’s just utter cuteness at the ending song, and Italy with his song for Germany is just so funny and refreshing, (and in Hetalia: World Series, I did love the extra songs such as the tomato song).

The characters are the only thing I’m marking this anime down for. Fair enough, I loved the characters, and their stereo-typical aspects, such as Germany with his Aryan looks, or Italy and his pasta loving personality, (the only thing I didn’t understand is why England appeared to have four eyebrows... or maybe they were just meant to be thick...), but to be honest, I found it a bit confusing with all the minor countries at first. Actually, I still do get Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia mixed up, especially since most of the characters seem to have blonde hair! Although my geography at naming countries has definitely improved (not good since I took Geography at GCSE... yeah Miss Reynolds, if you’re reading, IM NOT GOING TO GET AN A*), in one episode in particular it was so confusing that I had to keep going back to the description of the video just to keep track.

All in all, I actually love this anime, (it’s my favourite!), and have re-watched it a number of times, and it still doesn’t get old. I still end up laughing my head off, and even weeks after having last watched it, my friend and I, still talk about it a lot

I would recommend this anime to anyone, even if they hate history. The adventures that Italy gets up to is just hillarious, and the five minute episodes are handy as well, so that I can watch one episode quickly before I go to school; I’m sure someone else found that helpful as well.

Anyway, thanks for reading... it’s my first review ^_^

-Story-

The thing that I love about Hetalia is that it takes the stories of History, and gives it to the characters, and makes it funny. Hetalia is one of the few Web Animes that I actually find really enjoyable. Most of the story is about history portrayed through the personifications of the nations of the world. Since it is a web series, it has to make due with 5 minutes of time for each episode, which proves to be a great amount to make each episode a joy to watch. The humor is great through out the series, and provides a good laugh into some of history's darker times. The series focuses around the character of Northern Italy, and his friendship with Germany and Japan during the WWII era. It does branch out to encompass other parts of history, and it also deals with the allied powers in WWII also. The humor and satire makes Hetalia a great show.

-Animation-

I loved how each character had a unique look to them, with some of the appearance based on stereotypes of the nations that they represent. Russia is all decked out in all of this winter gear, and America stole Indiana Jones' jacket and put a star on it. They characters just look great.

-Characters-

Even with the great story of Hetalia, the characters are what most people really love about Hetalia, which can be proven with the excessive amount of fan art on the web, especially by yaoi fangirls. (On a side note, I'm tired of seeing America and England together like that). The characters are just rememberable in several ways. They are often based on stereotypes of the people from that country. America is a prime example of this. He talks loud, has an ego bigger that Texas, dreams big, and can be seen eating a hamburger on most occassions. One of my favorite scenes with him was when America was trying to find Japan on a map of the United States, making fun of the stereotype of Americans not knowing anything about Geography. I love all of these characters, with my favorites being America, Canada, England, and Germany.

-Overall-

How can one not fall in love with Hetalia, Its funny and has a whole cast of awesome characters. This is definately in my top 10

Hetalia is a brilliant anime and though it might not be for everyone I encourage you to give it a try, It is very humorus and I enjoyed watching it immensely. I think they might have gone a bit off the rails in season 5 'a beautiful world' but other than tht I highly recomend it!

Story: I hate history. It's my least favorite subject but I just find it incredibly boring. However, Hetalia made me want to go look up WW1 and WW1 and everything in between just so that I could understand all the references. That's really saying something. It was hilarious and the skits were just priceless. It was offensive but funny at the same time. I loved the relationships and chibitalia is just the cutest thing on the face of anime. I also don't like shoenen-ai at all but I found the hinted romance within the show just endearing. I am really sad that I don't understand the references but that's one of my only flaws with this. The show is also a good length for it's content. Small about 5 minute episodes made the show go by quickly but it's great if you need a small break. They definitely should show Hetalia at school because it just makes history so much better.

Animation: Hetalia isn't the epitome of animation but it does a good job with what's it's going for. The character designs are fitting and memorable. The scenes are colorful and the ending is one of my favorite endings. I loved the ways the characters looked and moved. Nowhere close to perfect but easy on the eyes. Very enjoyable to say the least.

Sound: Hetalia has an AMAZING VA cast. All the seiyuus fit their roles do the characters so much justice. They may not have accents but they embody the character heart and soul. The background music was generic but the ending was terrific. I loved how they had personal touches whenever a different VA sang it. It's so nice to hear.

Characters: I love them. All of them. They all have their little niches but they're all so likable and stereotypical but funny. There may not be a lot of development with some characters but I don't really find it necessary. The relationships that do need developing are done and done quite well. They happen to be one of my favorite casts.

Overall: I heard a lot of hype about Hetalia and it's well deserved. It's got comedy and knowledge. Who knew you could learn so much like I never knew Sealand was actually a micronation. You can learn and laugh and be throughly entertained all at once. Go check out.