Hetalia: Axis Powers: Season 1
“Ethnic jokes might be uncouth, but you laugh because they’re based on truth.”
– ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist’; Avenue Q
The time is World War I, and we join Germany discovering Italy (a.k.a. Hetalia) hiding in a box of tomatoes. Upon taking him as a prisoner, Germany’s life is turned upside down as the pasta-loving Italian never leaves his side, even as the First World War ends and Germany starts gathering armies to start World War II.
If the minimalist artist designs on the cover and the “Italy hiding in a box of tomatoes” line in the above sentence isn’t enough to tell you, Hetalia: Axis Powers is a comedy. It was originally published in the format of a web comic in Japan before making its way into ‘Original Net Animation’ in 2009. Hetalia Season 1 composes of twenty-three episodes, each five minutes long, that tell the random tales between an (almost) full cast of men representing countries across the world. The men reflect each country’s culture, attitude, and nature, whilst interacting during both World Wars in a satire and comical nature. Some get more focus than others (Germany, Japan, Britain and America for example) but considering the number of countries in the world plus the fact that the entire first season is just over two hours long, you can expect some to receive more abuse than others.
Ok, maybe the correct word to use isn’t ‘abuse’; but taking into consideration the sensitive nature of international relations, the time period Hetalia is set in, each country having a different set of standards, religious backgrounds and long histories of conflicts between certain nations – the jokes hit many delicate areas, and often more than once. To the outsider who might be simply reading the script or have little to no intolerance for such humour, it’s easy to point fingers and call out ‘prejudice’, but of course it’s all done with the most light-hearted of jests possible. It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you come from, you will be going from one episode to another, jumping from one reaction to the next. The first episode will most likely provoke the same reaction as Excel Saga’s debut episode: complete and utter confusion. But as soon as the break-neck pace sets in, you’ll burst out laughing in regular intervals, gasp in disbelief at what the show simply winks at and moves on, wince at areas you may think went a bit too far, chuckle with a sense of guilt because you know you shouldn’t be amused by that particular gag, and so on. With the cheerful atmosphere throughout the show, not a vindictive spirit in sight and the voice actors sounding like they’re having a blast whilst recording the lines; it’s very hard to hate or stir up controversy when you are sold on the particular style the show goes for. The two hours I spent watching the series the first time through were the weirdest, most random and in some ways most joyous time of my anime journey so far, the feeling of love settled in very quickly, and it’s easy to see why the show is as popular as it is and why fans burst out ‘PASTA!’ to represent their fondness for the show.
Hetalia’s format and structure are unique. I want you to imagine a daily newspaper comic strip, which is usually three to four panels long, all leading up to one punch line. Now imagine about four of those back to back in animated form. That’s roughly how each five minute episode of Hetalia is structured. Sometimes the stories share a similar theme or cast, others have little to nothing in common, but each ‘segment’ of each episode is broken up by the title card (with a member of the cast shouting ‘HETALIA’ that never failed to make me laugh at least once per episode). There is a sense of ‘continuity’ in several episodes with recurring strands between certain characters/countries but there are plenty of times where it goes off the rail and pull something out of the hat to throw you off of any feeling of familiarity.
The humour is mostly delivered in quick wit fashion with some historical facts shown in text form to either back up the joke to give it meaning or just to provide a little education (not the kind of facts you were taught in school, however.) Each episode is scripted in a way that allows viewers to dip in and out of it freely with no particular heavy plot arc to weigh it down, but it’s deliverance of humour and fast pace is meant for the opposite. You’ll notice from the very first episode that it starts at 100mph and doesn’t stop; that kind of speed is something you need to get into the flow of in order to follow what the characters are saying and settle into that comedy mood. Excel Saga had the same flow but that series had twenty-four minute episodes that allowed more time to settle into the state of mind required to get most of the dialogue, Hetalia gives you five minutes to get up to speed before hitting you with the end credits. If you watch it in dribs and drabs you’ll lose that flow. This isn’t helped by the fact that the series likes to chop from one timeline, moment, or theme to the next, some jokes are set up and not continued until several episodes later, a few episodes having very abrupt endings (especially the last one on the disc that I thought was the weirdest episode to end on) and some gags just being completely out of the ordinary that it can be alienating for an audience not gripped from the get-go. It doesn’t matter how cute Hetalia is, there will be those who will fail to keep up with Hetalia’s erratic nature, or will not be sold on its bizarre concept and it’s equally surreal delivery in humour.
The animation style sticks with Japan’s comedy staple of minimalist character designs and bright, colours and Hetalia is not a stranger to re-using movements, even within the same episode. However for what is essentially a ‘gag’ show, when the show needs to move or sparkle, it does quite well and better than a lot of other shows of similar genre.
The score isn’t really anything I picked up on apart from helping carry the affectionate and amusing attitude of the programme across. The opening song reflects the FOX films fanfare to give a grand opening to each five minute trip. The ending theme however (“Marukaite Chikyuu” translates as “Draw a Circle, There’s Earth!”) is an instant hit upon first listen with its cute yet peculiar lyrics and accompanying hyperactive singing voice. I dare anyone to listen to this track and NOT smile; it’s impossible, trust me!
The DVD extras have a nice selection of episode commentaries, director’s comments on the show (to help clear up the weirder moments and give thoughts on the entertaining ending theme), textless ending, and the hidden history of each chapter. Both the English and Japanese dub come in the package with the subtitles in thick yellow lettering with a black outline, making it very easy to read.
Hetalia is unlike any other anime, cartoon or programme you’ll ever see. It’s an affectionate take on the history of the world and its countries’ relations, mixed with jokes that no other company or culture outside of Japan would dare touch. It’s a show that must be witnessed for the subject matter but loved for the adorable characters and its approach to such themes. It’s unique comical style will not be to everyone’s taste and several ‘crossing the line’ gags may offend those who may take it out of context, but a treasure like this doesn’t come round every year; it’s a disc to pick up and sit with your friends, and at the end of it, turn to each other and wonder, ‘What the hell just happened?’ with big grins on your faces.
