Hetalia Review
When I first heard about Hetalia, I automatically assumed that it would be highly offensive. Hetalia is based off of a Japanese webcomic by Hidekaz Himaruya. The main characters are anthropomorphized countries of the the Axis Powers, hence the title, during WW1 and WWII. Just in case your history isn't very good, some very bad stuff happened during WWII. That was issue number one.
Issue number two was the fact that the show revolves around stereotypes. Italy is portrayed as weak, cowardly, and loves pasta. Japan is socially awkward and a loner. Germany is stuck up and follows rules all the time. When we meet the allied powers, England is a mage wannabe who can't cook, America is a fast food loving fool, France is a creepy rapist, Russia is just creepy, and China is constantly trying to sell cheap goods to other characters. With those issues, you'd think the show would be very offensive. When I first heard of it, I figured there was no way in hell it would ever get licensed here.
All of those potential issues? Not really issues if you actually watch the show. Hetalia is hilarious. Each episode is five minutes long and chronicles either historical events in a lighthearted way (such as the Russo Japanese war, or portraying England's constant annoyance at America's independence) or simply pokes fun at the behavior of the stereotyped nation (America is constantly eating burgers, England consistently torments Italy with his bad cooking). No mention of potentially controversial subjects is ever made, and that is a good thing for this show. The only historical event the show addressed in a serious way was the Revolutionary War, and even then it was simply to show how it affected the character of the nation, not the people of the nation.
That is the reason the show works so well. The anthropomorphized characters are embodiments of their respective countries, and thus are pretty innocent of anything. They aren't active characters, in a way. The viewer knows that it's the people of the country, not the country itself, who really affect events. All of the characters in the show are practically victims of their people and bosses, so what they do can never really be judged as their own actions. When you watch the show that becomes internalized, so watching the character of Germany during WWII becomes far less potentially charged. As for the stereotypes, none of them are anything that would ever be hurtful, and the show is so obviously comedic and over the top that nothing can be taken seriously, not even by someone who's looking to be offended. The characters represent their countries, yes, but they are also very far removed from the actual reality of their country.
So now that we've learned that the show needn't be dismissed just for content, how good is it? The show has multiple high points, and the first and most important is that most of the characters themselves are portrayed as very handsome young men (known as bishonen, or beautiful boy/man). As a result, the show has a very dedicated female fanbase. Even if a joke falls flat, the appeal of the characters makes watching the show worth it. And most of the time, the jokes work, and you laugh at poor Italy as he gets captured in succession by every enemy and calls Germany for help, or as England tries to get America to stop eating hamburgers and focus on the meeting. The world is portrayed lightly and divisions between countries are minimized. Even countries who are long time enemies in real life fight as friendly rivals, not as two people who truly hate each other.
Hetalia is a wonderful escape, a show you watch to enjoy comedy both on the shallow level, watching crazy characters interact, and on another level, when you have knowledge of the history or can laugh and say “yeah, a lot of Americans do that.” The knowledge of the country in real life serves as character introduction, so it becomes much easier to care about certain characters.
Of course, Hetalia isn't perfect. There are segments of the show that are just plain boring (Liechtenstein, anyone?) and at times the jokes can get quite repetitive. Whenever an episode focuses on a character I don't particularly care about, it's suddenly not as fun. Also, a large segment of the early episodes involves Italy's early history where he was a child, called “Chibitalia,” basically Little/Mini Italy. These segments are incredibly cute, but there isn't as much humor and the over the top cuteness could be off putting for some. And of course, if you don't like watching Bishonen, Hetalia may lose quite a bit of its appeal.
Of course, a lot of the flaws are salvaged by the fact that each episode is five minutes long. Didn't like one episode? It's very likely that next week's will be better. Sometimes each episode is made up of two or three sketches, so even if one doesn't work for you, it's likely another will.
Hetalia gets an 8/10. It's not perfect, but it's definitely doing something right, as it's the only comedy anime I've ever really enjoyed. Take away two points if you don't like bishonen, though.
Extra info-The anime is licensed by Funimation with streaming episodes available on their website and via their channel on Youtube.Hetalia World Stars is being released once a week.
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