Forum - View topicREVIEW: Hetalia: Axis Powers Season 2 DVD
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barrelroller
 Posts: 104 Location: Maryland |
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I'll just go ahead and say it: Why is this anime so popular around fangirls? Being a guy, I guess I can't really say much since I assume it's aimed towards girls, but I can't see what made this anime so popular. Looking at the covers and reading this review really makes me never want to watch this anime.
But hey, I'll give anything a chance if I'm convinced enough. Can anyone give me a good reason to watch this? |
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Kimyo
 Posts: 101 Location: In my own world. |
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You should watch if you like to laugh. I adore this show! I hope they don't take too long releasing the next season! |
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2282 Location: In front of my computer |
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But really, just watch it for the laugh factor. It really is amusing as heck. Of course, the dub may offend you, so it may be easier to stick to the sub if you're a first-time watcher. |
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Rukiia
 Posts: 1897 Location: British Columbia, Canada |
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I felt the same way as barrelroller over why this series is so popular. I watched one episode and thought it wasn't very funny, but after giving it a fair try I found it to be hilarious. My roomate and I now watch it for the lulz. Yet I confess that I hate the massive fanbase it has as alot (not all) of the fans can get pretty scary and aggressive at anime conventions. I like Yaoi (and Yuri) myself, but I don't think that all the characters in the show are gay for each other. I only like/support canon couples.
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KENZICHI
 Posts: 1101 |
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one of the best reviews for hetalia ^^
i seriously LOVE the english dub i laughed 10 times more than i did watching it in japanese borders had just mailed me my second season so hopefully i'll get it by the end of this week and i'll get to watch it during winter break 
there's always a hand full of nutty fangirls in every fandom, but truthfully the hetalia community is one of the nicest and laid back communities i've ever been in (okay i haven't been in alot lol). really the only times people started to freak out was when the english dub was being revealed (some found it offensive, of course, and others found it hilarious, like me), and when some stupid fans dragged their flags while cosplaying 
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Not really fair, are you? Why do guys like Strike Witches or any of the countless shows popular with dudes involving cute girls? Now we're past that, it provides a certain amount of history. There are a certain amount of history fans out here, you know. It's funny. The original Japanese is really less racist as some seem to scream about & more friendly ribbing. Yeah, it plays with stereotypes, but it's not mean or biting like some American stuff such as South Park. It has some great Japanese VA's. The relationships are, at their core, often pretty sweet as Carlo noted between Switzerland & Liechtenstein. My roommate says she's had a soft spot for Germany since the ep when he comments Italy is his only friend (the Diary as I recall). Some of the nastier national stuff is explained away this time as the various "boss"-characters. Hitler is Germany's boss. We see America's boss-the President. It also conveniently explains shifts in leadership such as in Russia, etc. Russia is Russia, but the Tsars, etc. would be bosses Russia has had.
The whole basis for the title is how useless Italy is, so it sounds as though you're not sold on the title's basic concept. There's nothing to do about that. The author in the back of the first volume of the manga said he was looking for a useless hero to base a manga on & kept seeing internet jokes about Italy (their army, etc.). It wasn't just WWII. It was the Italian air team that caused the chain reaction crash at the Rammstein base in 1988 causing one of the worst airshow disasters killing 70 & injuring 346. One could easily argue Italy is bad luck for Germany. I still find the Canada joke funny in the context of the show. And he stood up for himself this time. OK, tried to which was so adorable. Yeah, it's the same VA as America which is part of the joke. I seem to recall Colbert has his share of Canada jokes. So does South Park. I did love the little America bit this time out, but it's also related to last time's America's Storage Shed or Closet or whatever they called it. Again, the sweet little relationships between the countries. There was barely any Chibitalia this time. We also get the explaination certain parties assumed Italy was a girl. I think it was the Switzerland/Liechtenstein one I found maybe went on too long, but it just shows the title can appeal to a varied audience by offering a variety of stories. I noted Italy seemed to have less screen time this set in favor of showing other countries. I know each ep is supposed to be 5 minutes so it's amazing they can cover so much in that time. One ep can have 3 different skits in that time. The horror thing about America was so dead on. America insisting Japan watch a scary movie being so scared & Japan thinking "He doesn't have to watch this. He doesn't have to watch this" is sooo American. We ride roller coasters screaming the whole way, watch scary movies on the edge of our seats, jumping at the slightest loud noise, and then we find the scary monsters in video games "cute".The fact America has an alien following him around is adorable. MiB. Yeah, not all the jokes work, but whatever. I like various Sunday funnies, but that doesn't mean every single one I like hasn't failed to amuse me on more than one occasion. I do agree it's hard to keep all the characters apart, particularly all the blonds. Maybe the flag stamp in the one Canada ep was a good idea extended to all of the characters. The whole 5 minute eps thing means the whole thing keeps moving on. It doesn't have time to really drag out a joke like a 30 minute sitcom. It does get harder the longer a title runs to keep things fresh, but this one had its fair share of laughs. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1323 |
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This review fairly sums it up.
I was hesitant in checking out Hetalia due to the ridiculous hype, but when I did I was surprised how much I liked it real quickly. The series is meant to be nothing more than silly, goofy fun done well, so I couldn't really dislike it. The cleverest episode to me was the one where we see how Japan reacts to wintertime in serenity, as compared to America who does nothing but whine and complain. I can't say I really know what it's really like in Japan during the wintertime, but how America was depicted greatly reflected how I see people act every wintertime. And of course, nobody noticing Canada feels pretty darn true. Lastly, I also think the serious stories are a highlight. It reminds me of the Galaxy Angel series. Like said title, Hetalia is mostly a gag series, but when the serious stories happen it just makes you notice them that much more and give its own special impact than if it were in a regular drama series. So yes, watching Hetalia, liking it, looking forward to Funimation getting the next series and the movie however long that'll take. |
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sepherest
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I think this review did a good job of nailing what's wrong with the anime adaptation. Personally I prefer the manga way over this because I don't have to wait for a joke to explain itself, and since you can read a book faster than watching an anime it never really got boring to me. I also was really put off by the animation, but that pretty much explained itself when I found out it had been animated by Studio Deen.
As for why people actually watch this? It has cute characters and (most of the time accurate) historical notes. That's why I like it anyway. I couldn't care less about any of the OMG YAOI~ people keep trying to throw into it. |
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Jaymie
Posts: 915 |
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It's a yaoi fangirl's wet dream. Unless you're attracted to men, you won't find any interest in this show. Heck, I'm a heterosexual female, and I detest this show. It depends on what your Anime preferences are, I guess. I hate yaoi and I hate fanservice, so I steer clear of Hetalia. |
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JuniorMintKiss
 Posts: 81 Location: Utah |
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All-in-all, a very well rounded review. Thanks! I didn't think I would like Hetalia all that much, simply because I prepared myself to hate it when I first heard what the premise was behind it. But I told myself that if I didn't like it, I could just turn around and resell it and forever ban it from my mind.
Now, that simply won't happen. Hetalia is very much the entertaining, witty anime. And I find myself loving Germany and Britain. I recommended this to a friend of mine, who has never seen any anime title before, and she absolutely loves it. I recommend English dub over the Japanese, because as stated before, the English has so much more to offer, in terms of inside jokes, offensiveness, puns, running gags, and more. And I think the shoddy animation plays a part in distributing the hilarity around. I found myself comparing it to Cromartie High School in it's almost minimalist approach to the movement of the characters. Good writing, cute characters, serious moments, and funny commentaries (anything J. Michael Tatum comments on I listen to wholeheartedly!) |
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mufurc
 Posts: 612 |
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I wonder where people keep getting the Hetalia = yaoi fanservice thing from. There are some jokes which are always played for laughs and are usually based on misunderstandings, the characters are not even pretty (cute? I guess, though I prefer the manga artstyle by far), and many male characters =/= yaoi (unless now Naruto and Bleach are BL manga, too). Just because it has a sizeable yaoi fandom doesn't mean the show itself is yaoi or even does fanservice. I know the dub added extra innuendo, but seriously... |
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garfield15
 Posts: 1516 |
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Yaoi Fangirl influx. Scared me too until I actually tried watching it. Really there isn't really a lot if any. People just freaking blow this crap out of proportion. |
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ArsenicSteel
 Posts: 2370 |
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Yet another mismatch between the descriptions of voice performances and the given scores.
Bad accents, randomly mispronounced words, and hard to understand lines are all fine and dandy since the English cast sounds like they are having fun. This is not high school drama where people get an A for effort or intentions, in this case a B. I don't hear a B performance from professionals on this DVD. Knowing they are getting a kick out of hamming it up does not improve my listening experience. |
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garfield15
Posts: 1516 |
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I sure do. |
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mglittlerobin
 Posts: 1071 |
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I'm a girl, and I don't get it either, so you and me are in the same boat buddy, I just think it's really strange to satirize World War II, especially since it was really, really bad in real life. |
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