Hetalia (anime)

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Hetalia: Axis Powers is the anime adapation of Hidekaz Himaruya's manga, which premiered on Animate.TV on January 24th, 2009. Directed by Bob Shirohata, the series is scheduled to run for 76 episodes. It is animated by Studio DEEN.

Most of the storyline takes place between the 2 World Wars, however there are segments taking place in earlier times and the modern day as well. The anime is adapted from the published version of the manga, rather than the original webcomic, so early events like the forming of the Axis Powers have been condensed, though some storylines from both versions of the story have been trimmed or left out completely.

Although originally planned for 26 episodes, it was announced on April 15th, 2009, that the series had been renewed for a second order of 26 episodes, bringing the episode count up to 52. The second season of Hetalia began airing on Animate.TV's mobile phone service on July 24th, 2009, with its webcast following three days later. A third season was later announced on December 10th, 2009, but was later rebranded with the title Hetalia: World Series. It premiered in March 2010.

Though FUNimation Entertainment had originally passed up the license for the anime in early 2009, the title "Hetalia: Axis Powers" later appeared on a poll of possible titles on their blog. On January 8th, 2010, FUNimation announced that they had licensed the first two seasons of the series, for release later in the year.

Characters

These are the characters that have appeared, or are slated to appear in the anime:

Axis Powers

Allied Forces

Others

Episodes

Main Article: List Of Hetalia: Axis Powers episodes

Both of the first two seasons span 26 episodes, with the first mostly adapting from Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1, though some arcs and strips are sequenced out of order from their original placement. A few "Extra Stories" from the webcomic were also adapted into segments, as well as minor portions of chapters 2 and 3 from the webcomic's main storyline. The third season (treated as a new series by DEEN) marked a change in both the tite and episode count, with it consisting of 24 episodes.

Most of the episodes had no titles when broadcast, unless they were shown in a next episode preview with a title listed, as was the case with the fifth and seventeenth episodes of season 1.

The anime is notable for the fact that its episodes are extremely short, with each running approximately 5 minutes in their broadcasts.

Staff

Voice Cast (Japanese)

  • Narration and English Vocals ("America's Cleaning Of The Storage" previews): Jun'ichi Kanemaru

Soundtrack

The first season of the anime series spawned eight image song CDs, each one for a member of the Axis Powers or Allied Forces. Each CD contained two songs and a mini-drama CD segment. A full-length single version of the first ending theme, Marukaite Chikyuu (English title: The Rotating Earth) was released on March 25th, 2009. The single to the second ending theme, Hata Futte Parade (Wave a Flag and Parade) was released on June 23rd, 2010.

Interval Drama CD

Shortly after the announcement of season 2, the character CDs for UK through China were pushed back, in part due to an "interval" character drama CD being announced for the series:

Hetalia: Sound World

Main article: Hetalia: Sound World

Another soundtrack was announced for release in November, as a limited-edition holiday CD. It contains 27 tracks, including a cover of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by the Axis Powers.

DVD Release

The first season was collected into four DVD volumes, which were available in both standard and limited-edition deluxe releases. Each deluxe release contained a bonus CD with two alternate versions of Marukaite Chikyuu:


  • Volume 1: Released April 24th, 2009, collecting episodes 1-7. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Germany version and re-arranged Piccolina techno remix) by Hiroki Yasumoto and Daisuke Namikawa.
  • Volume 2: Released May 22nd, 2009, collecting episodes 8-13. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Japan and UK versions) by Hiroki Takahashi and Noriaki Sugiyama.
  • Volume 3: Released July 24th, 2009, collecting episodes 14-19. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (France and America versions) by Masaya Onosaka and Katsuyuki Konishi.
  • Volume 4: Released September 25th, 2009, collecting episodes 20-26. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Russia and China versions) by Yasuhiro Takato and Yuki Kaida.

Shortly after the announcement of season 2, four more DVD volumes were solicited and released:

  • Volume 5: Released October 23rd, 2009. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Holy Roman Empire and Chibitalia versions) by Jun Konno and Aki Kanada.
  • Volume 6: Released December 22nd, 2009. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Switzerland and Liechtenstein versions) by Romi Park and Rie Kugimiya.
  • Volume 7: Released February 25th, 2010. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Poland and Lithuania versions) by Kazutada Tanaka and Ken Takeuchi.
  • Volume 8: Released March 25th, 2010. Bonus CD contains "Marukaite Chikyuu" (Austria and Prussia versions) by Akira Sasanuma and Atsushi Kousaka.

Hetalia: Axis Powers Fan Disk

A special DVD, Hetalia: Axis Powers Fan Disk, will be released on May 25th, 2010. It contains full-length compilation versions of Chibitalia and America's Cleaning Of The Storage, plus an unaired episode (My Awesome Diary with Prussia) and a music video collection. The DVD also contains teaser footage for the theatrical film, Hetalia Axis Powers: Paint It White.

A bonus CD included with the special Animate edition contains another version of "Marukaite Chikyuu", sung by Go Inoue (Spain).

Hetalia: World Series DVD Releases

With the rebranding of the third season of the anime, the first four DVD volumes were solicited under the World Series label:

  • Volume 1: Released June 25th, 2010.
  • Volume 2: Released August 25th, 2010.
  • Volume 3: Released October 22nd, 2010.
  • Volume 4: Released December 22nd, 2010.

Related Materials

Storyboard Guides have been released in conjunction with the anime, detailing the storyboard sketches that were used in production:

  • Hetalia Axis Powers: Storyboard Guide Vol.1 (Season 1, episodes 1-13)
  • Hetalia Axis Powers: Storyboard Guide Vol.2 (Season 1, episodes 14-26)
  • Hetalia Axis Powers: Storyboard Guide Vol.3 (Season 2, episodes 27-39)
  • Hetalia Axis Powers: Storyboard Guide Vol.4 (Season 2, episodes 40-52)

The third is notable for also containing storyboards to scenes that were scripted but unused in the second season of the anime, including one involving Sweden that would have been in Episode 33.

A guide to the first season of the anime, Hetalia Fanbook: World Wide Walking, was also released. A Character CD Guide was later released, detailing the production stories behind the making of the character songs of the Axis and Allies.

Theatrical Film

Main article: Hetalia: Axis Powers: Paint it, White

A theatrical adaptation of the series was announced on September 24th, 2009. The film remained shrouded in secrecy, though its full title was eventually revealed to be Hetalia - Axis Powers on the Silver Screen: Paint it, White. It is slated for release on June 5th, 2010. It marks the animated debut of Iceland, among other characters.

A promotional single for the film is also slated to be released in conjunction with it, entitled Mein Gott. It is sung by Atsushi Kousaka, the voice actor for Prussia (who plays a part in the film and who has been used for advertisements and merchandise pertaining to it).

The original soundtrack to the film (Silver Screen Hetalia: Sound World) will be released on June 9th. It also includes the theme song for the film, sung by the voice actors of the Axis and Allies.

Controversy

The anime was originally slated to broadcast on Kids Station on January 24th, but the television airing was cancelled due to "various circumstances". It is believed that the South Korean protests of the series (and reported death threats to the TV station) played a part in the cancellation. The protests arose when an online petition was created to ban the series, due to complaints that the South Korean character was an offensive stereotype. The South Korean government proceeded to declare the series a "national crime", though Kids Station responded that there was no Korean character in the series.

A preliminary character design of South Korea, however, was shown in the early promotional images for the series, suggesting that at one point, he was slated to be included. South Korea can also be seen in the ending sequence, among the other characters on top of the world.

External Links

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