Jul 19, 2013
Hetalia: The Beautiful World is the fifth season of Himaruya Hidekaz's Hetalia, a webcomic turned Anime which features anthromorphised countries as the characters and historical trivia and cultural comparisons as it's main presentation.
Story: Rating- Not Applicable
- Since Hetalia doesn't really follow any plot or have a presentation that has a purpose of following a sequential narrative, it will be only fair to put the story rating into "not applicable".
Art: 8
- The character illustrations and animation are crisper, more detailed and had a lot more differentiation than they got in the past seasons. The background is still a bit dull. However, it's good that it does
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compliment the main subject and makes good of its purpose of not taking the viewer's attention away from the characters.
- They still make use of the swirl and grunge-like type of textured backgrounds to aid the sudden mood change of a character. In the past, it is observable how it lacked artistry in its design but it's all nice to see that they had put a lot more effort in making them this season.
- In respect to the episodes with scenery, landscapes and architecture in them. It is noticeable that the illustrators still fell flat on these areas. The building awnings, doors and windows still appeared inorganic just like in the past seasons. Anyone familiar with the detailed Mont Saint-Michel would notice how the Hetalia version of it lacked architectural details.
Sound: 8
- The voice actors are spot on for their characters and delivers quite great just like they always had. The opening theme is new and still grows a bit tediously annoying as time goes by and it might only make a viewer skip it out.
- It can be heard that there are quite a few new themes thrown in for the characters (like something that sounds like Mozart's Turkish March at one scene where Turkey was shown) but apart from that, they still used almost the same character themes for the most part.
- The new ending theme (Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo) was indeed fun, softer and a bit more balanced-sounding than Marukaite Chikyuu and Hatafutte Parade. However, it doesn't sound as catchy.
Character: 7
- The characters are still funny and in-character as they have ever been. In respect to the real main characters, each of them still holds this strong and noteworthy personality that is unique to them. It is also great to see that France's character got a lot more depth this season than in the past. There were a few new characters that had a debut appearance this season.
Enjoyment: 10
- Hetalia: The Beautiful World is still effectively comedic like how its precursors were. It still makes watchers laugh their hearts out loud and as a bonus, it even includes a few more surprising scenes that are fanservice-like (i.e showing of skin etc).
Overall: 8
- Overall, it is still an excellent watch for those people who have always enjoyed what Hetalia is— a silly, lighthearted allegory of different cultures, historical trivias and world views that will add a little bit of knowledge in a fun way. It is also recommended for people who appreciates this type of work and to those who are open to see an animation work that is a bit different from the others. However, to those who take a little harmless national and cultural satire a bit too seriously, I will only advise you to pick another title.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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