dickinson.elouise - 2016-03-21 13:11:36

Critic’s Log - Earthdate: December 2, 2014. Review #91 - Hetalia: The Beautiful World

There are a lot of things that go on in this world and it can be complicating sometimes. There are some assholes in the world but there are several nations that have come together to co-operate as part of the United Nat….

Screw it, I’m aborting the intro… Here’s Hetalia: The Beautiful World!

Italy was once home of the strongest empire in the world. Now it has changed. Italy is now a cowardly pasta loving fool, and his friends also go through strange moments in World History. This is becoming redundant because it’s the same *BLEEP*ing ZHING I SAID ZHE LAST COUPLE TIMES I REVIEWED HETALIA!!! I was only kidding on the angry part, but you know the drill. It’s the same formula as the past seasons of this series. However, there are some additions such as Romania, Cyprus, India, New Zealand, and even Australia. There are some other additions in this season but listing them all would just drag on this review.

To be technical, this is a Studio DEEN production and even though I haven’t seen a whole lot of Studio DEEN’s other productions to form an overall impression on the studio itself, I will instead focus on the anime I’m reviewing and comparing it to past seasons since I have reviewed them in the past. The Beautiful World is actually an interesting case as of recently. It is very likely you know what I am about to talk about, but I’ll say it anyway. When I first saw the promotional posters online, I was skeptical about this new season. I noticed it looked drastically different from everything before it. The logo, the character designs, everything got a makeover. I may piss off some Hetalia fans but… I LOVE THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE. This season may look drastically different and even though it is stylized as shiny and sparkly. It is the most vibrant looking season that Studio DEEN has put into this show. Sorry Hetalia fans, but I thought the show looked cheap before The Beautiful World! But I gave Hetalia an exception for this. All the episodes were 5 minutes long and that is because Hetalia was an “Web Series”. I have seen flash animation web series before and they are roughly around 5 minutes long as well and the animations I’ve seen didn’t necessarily need to be of high quality. Hetalia isn’t any different. Now the overall design of The Beautiful World might not meet everyone’s liking but personally, after I saw this season, I actually liked it after all. It might not look perfect but that’s okay. For this being a web series, I am totally okay with it.

There is no need to go over Background Music, because there really isn’t much of a soundtrack for this anime. But I do want to go over the brief opening and the closing theme on this one. I do miss the “Also Sprach Zarathustra” sound-alike opening from the past seasons. The opening of The Beautiful World on the other hand… I’m not really a fan of it. It’s ok I suppose. Now for the closing theme of The Beautiful World “Turning Earth Round”...I found this closing theme boring.  Okay, before any Hetalia fan gets their panties or tighty-whities in a bunch. Hear me out! Marukaite Chikyuu was a very catchy closing theme and I really liked it. Hata Futte Parade was a decent follow-up in World Series, “Turning Earth Round” (or “Marawu Chikyuu Rondo”) didn’t do much for me. The previous two closing themes were energetic, this one didn’t feel as energetic. Granted, Italy’s dancing is a little amusing to watch. If you liked it, that’s fine. The closing theme in The Beautiful World was not my cup of tea.

If you went through my previous reviews of Hetalia, what I am about to say regarding voice acting will not be that much of a surprise. The Japanese cast is fine as usual. Daisuke Namikawa is just as charming as Italy, Hiroki Yasumoto sounds just as usual as Germany, and Hiroki Takahashi sounds natural as Japan. The Japanese casting is nice for the most part. Now why do I not sound enthusiastic about the Subbed Version of Hetalia? It is because (really this is no surprise). I am extremely fond of the English Dub of Hetalia. The dub has the proper accents (even if it is intentionally stereotypical), and even though there are some liberties taken with the original dialogue compared to the dub, I still had a lot of fun with this anime thanks to the dub. My only problem with the dub is the adaptive script on a minor scene or two and this involves Funimation’s unnecessary subtitling changes, What do I mean? Well, there is one episode of Hetalia where in the Subtitled Version has Japan’s thought-quote bubble saying “Discussing Politics”, now in the Dubbed Version, it is subtitled as “Political BS”. Which makes it feel like an intentional mis-translation just to make a joke. If you don’t believe me, if you find the scene I’m referring to, change the subtitle options on the same scene when you find it. I know this may sound like I’m getting worked up over a minor issue but that really annoys me when cases like this happen. If anyone is translating from Kanji, I would expect a proper translation as close as possible and not an intentional mis-translation of something that isn’t what it really says. Funimation isn’t that bad of an anime distribution company but I cannot tolerate stupid shit like this. Putting that aside, I should actually talk about the dub itself. Patrick Seitz is still wunderbar as Germany. Christopher Bevins sounds stereotypically great as Japan. As for Todd Haberkorn...He takes a little getting used to this time around which is kind of weird considering he was terrific as Italy in the past seasons. He sounds unintentionally obnoxious. Again, this time around… It will take a little getting used to a different direction that Todd Haberkorn was given this time around. Now this may sound pointless for the review but since I call the shots on what I say in my reviews. I hope you don’t mind a little story I would like to share, I have met Todd Haberkorn at my local convention twice and over the years, I have really appreciated the time he takes on not only appearing at conventions, but the time and effort he puts into his work. Even though I’m not really a huge fan of Fairy Tail and Sgt. Frog, he sounds like he has a lot of fun in voicing Natsu and Keroro in their respective series. Hell, I hate Sword Art Online and he legitimately surprised me with his role as Oberon. My favorite role of his is actually Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood with Death the Kid from Soul Eater as a runner-up. Even with those big roles of his, I think it’s fair to say that not every role of his is perfect and that’s a given to most voice actors and even actors in Hollywood and elsewhere. I know it sounds a little different in vocal direction but Todd really isn’t to blame on that. Now it’s kind of interesting considering that the Japanese voice cast feels the same with all the upgrades this show got whereas Christopher Bevins was tasked as ADR Director (In the past seasons, Scott Sager voice directed the Axis Powers dub, and World Series had Jamie Marchi, Mike McFarland and Scott Sager as ADR Directors) The point is... The dub is still enjoyable because the other voice actors are still fun to listen to. Eric Vale is still a riot as America, Jerry Jewell is still the good ol’ big boy Russia. Scott Freeman is still a fine chap as England and J. Michael Tatum… Need I say more? He’s still merveilleux as France (feel free to google “merveilleux” if you wish) The dub is still as enjoyable even though Italy can take a little getting used to, and honestly... Todd Haberkorn still did  the voice like before so if anyone’s gonna complain, just be grateful that someone else didn’t voice Italy because it wouldn’t be the same if that were the case.

The characters/nations from past seasons are the same old characters you know and love. There are some other additions but I will let you see it for yourself. In all seriousness. Where’s Africa?

Now, you should know by now that Hetalia was never known for its plot because it is a historical satire and it’s a comedy series. If you have tried or seen past seasons of Hetalia, you know how this franchise operates. I must say that I had fun with this series from the first season onto this one and I still hold to my opinion that this is worth seeing in groups than watching it alone, although with the latter, you can still enjoy it the same way. If there is one thing I actually got annoyed with this series is how completely random it got at certain points. The Beautiful World is another random season but it plays out differently than the past seasons. My point is, I found it obnoxious when there were segments teased or had a portion showed but it gets sidelined by other segments (Save for Chibitalia and Nekotalia). It was difficult to keep track on what was going on. Sure, this fits the zaniness of the series but it is really distracting. Well… All of that is F***ING GONE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD. HALLEJUHAH. This season is easy for me to follow and even though they jump from one skit to the next, it plays out without having to jump back and forth. I wish the past seasons would have done this in the first place. Now, like the character design makeover. There was a special touch that does not return this time around. Remember when a skit ends and you get a brief translation of the show’s logo and hearing “Hetalia!” from a chibi version of whatever country is displayed? Well, that is changed with brief transitions of “Mochi versions” of the countries doing...whatever. It is not easy to adjust compared to past seasons but I do miss the quirky “Hetalia!” shoutouts. Even with all the skits in the show as a whole, this season is not perfect. There are some skits that are “just there” but that’s a given with Hetalia in the long run. The only major drawback I have with Hetalia is that The Beautiful World had the shortest run time compared to last seasons. Axis Powers stuck around for a year, so did World Series… But The Beautiful World was nearly half as long and only lasted 20 episodes and its run ended. But rest assured because Season 6 was announced, and I look forward to its arrival.

Before I reach my verdict, I would like to inform you that Hetalia: The Beautiful World is available by Funimation. I already mentioned supplemental material in a previous review of Hetalia but feel free to look the series up on Wikipedia for that information. I will at least state the previous entries. Hetalia: Axis Powers, Hetalia: Paint it White, and Hetalia: World Series are all available by Funimation.

Hetalia: The Beautiful World is… a vibrant season and the series’ game changer (At least, just the anime for all I know). It may be different than the past seasons but it still managed to be just as fun as before. In my personal experience, I had the most enjoyment out of this season for being straightforward with displaying its segments whereas the past seasons were sporadic while going back and forth with them. Because its a Web Series, I would find the animation superfluous but not exactly. It is an upgrade considering I myself thought the past seasons looked cheaply made even though I excused it due to Hetalia’s format as an anime. It still is nice to see the show change for what I think is for the better. For Hetalia standards. The additions are nice to see, and it was a fun ride. Sure, the closing theme is boring to me but that is minor compared to how much I enjoyed the fifth season of Hetalia.

With everything said and done, I give Hetalia: The Beautiful World an 8.1 out of 10. it is VERY GOOD!

Feel free to leave a comment and enjoy some Pasta, Bratwurst, Sushi, Hamburgers, Stroganoff, Chow Mein, Crepes, or Tea and Biscuits. Anything!