Horn Drill
ヘタリア!
I'm surprised that there is not a thread about this here. Hetalia has become extremely popular recently. I would have to admit that I am completely hooked, and while I don't really care about most other animes at all, I am completely obsessed with Hetalia. I sometimes feel like a fangirl for what could actually be considered a bishie anime. ;
Anyway, the anime is based on a web manga by Hidekaz Himaruya. I have never really read the manga, but it's available in English somewhere on the Internet. The anime itself is composed of 54 episodes (and counting) which are five minutes long each. A new episode usually comes out every week. It's not hard to find these online with English subs either.
The theme of the series is that each nation of the world has been personified, and historical events and relationships between the nations are played out with these characters. The major timeline of the series is set in World War II, with Italy, Germany, and Japan as the Axis nations and America, England, France, Russia, and China as the Allied nations. Currently, season three has changed its title to "World Series Hetalia" and will supposedly focus on more of the other nations rather than just the Axis and Allied ones.
So, has anyone seen or heard of this series before? It's actually rather odd because it appeals to both history buffs and anime fangirls alike. The episodes are pretty funny and offer mostly tongue-in-cheek humor about history and the world nations. Funimation is supposed to release seasons 1 and 2 (episodes 1- 52) on DVD later this year. Personally, I can't wait to watch Hetalia in high-definition rather than the terrible quality videos that are available to non-Japanese fans online. Any episodes watched outside of Japan are basically ripped from cellphone-downloads. :/ The series was broadcast on Japan's childrens' network, but now it is only shown online due to the government of South Korea deeming the Korea character offensive and complaining about it! Controversy!
Funimation Hetalia page:
http://www.funimation.com/hetalia/
The official Hetalia website (for those of you who can read Japanese):
http://hetalia.com/index.htm
Himaruya's blog:
http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/
Hetalia would probably have to be my favorite anime at the moment, but the bad thing about it is that it actually tries to make light of WWII, which I would consider the gravest event in human history. I doubt any WWII veterans would be watching it, though, so it dodges the bullet there. Still, it is an extremely entertaining series, and I highly recommend it to anyone. It's very easy to get into since the episodes are so bite-sized.
Anyway, the anime is based on a web manga by Hidekaz Himaruya. I have never really read the manga, but it's available in English somewhere on the Internet. The anime itself is composed of 54 episodes (and counting) which are five minutes long each. A new episode usually comes out every week. It's not hard to find these online with English subs either.
The theme of the series is that each nation of the world has been personified, and historical events and relationships between the nations are played out with these characters. The major timeline of the series is set in World War II, with Italy, Germany, and Japan as the Axis nations and America, England, France, Russia, and China as the Allied nations. Currently, season three has changed its title to "World Series Hetalia" and will supposedly focus on more of the other nations rather than just the Axis and Allied ones.
So, has anyone seen or heard of this series before? It's actually rather odd because it appeals to both history buffs and anime fangirls alike. The episodes are pretty funny and offer mostly tongue-in-cheek humor about history and the world nations. Funimation is supposed to release seasons 1 and 2 (episodes 1- 52) on DVD later this year. Personally, I can't wait to watch Hetalia in high-definition rather than the terrible quality videos that are available to non-Japanese fans online. Any episodes watched outside of Japan are basically ripped from cellphone-downloads. :/ The series was broadcast on Japan's childrens' network, but now it is only shown online due to the government of South Korea deeming the Korea character offensive and complaining about it! Controversy!
Funimation Hetalia page:
http://www.funimation.com/hetalia/
The official Hetalia website (for those of you who can read Japanese):
http://hetalia.com/index.htm
Himaruya's blog:
http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/
Hetalia would probably have to be my favorite anime at the moment, but the bad thing about it is that it actually tries to make light of WWII, which I would consider the gravest event in human history. I doubt any WWII veterans would be watching it, though, so it dodges the bullet there. Still, it is an extremely entertaining series, and I highly recommend it to anyone. It's very easy to get into since the episodes are so bite-sized.
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