Hetalia: The Beautiful World

Hetalia is an offensive and brainless show that is just the right amount of trashy for an easy rewatch. As strange as it is, it never fails to entertain me. If you're looking for a genuinely good anime with thoughtful writing and stunning animation, this isn't really the one.

Story: 5
Hetalia doesn't really have much of a story, rather it exists as a collection of nonsensical historical retellings.

Art: 6
Although the animation isn't exactly striving for anything revolutionary, the sketchy art style fits well with the overall crackhead atmosphere.

Sound: 3
The OP and ED are fun to listen to, but other than the soundtrack is not that special. ... You could probably replace it with royalty free music, if that isn't already what is being used.

Character: 7
The characters of hetalia are what makes it what it is. Every character is offensive, weird and mostly two dimensional, but they are the reason this show is so incredibly fun.

Enjoyment: 10
Brainless but enjoyable.

The Beautiful World is the fifth season of Hetalia which was aired in 2013. Major changes in the artwork as well as the episode format were implemented along with the new ending song. It really lived to its title aesthetically, but does it have what it takes to entertain its fandom for the last four seasons?

Story: 6/10

The Beautiful world still does not have a major plot but it benefited from the changes in the episode format. A whole story (as against to spreading the strip for two or three episodes) is told every episode which gives it an anime with slice of life theme feel. ... It continues to include personified countries and their daily hijinks. While not bad, it is as if the historical parody which makes this series very hilarious was set aside for the character quirks. The Beautiful World focused more on ala K-On! moments with only male counterparts using cultural differences as jokes for most of the time.

The humor is an improvement from the World Series which honestly I find a chore if Prussia or Turkey is not there. Gakuen Hetalia, where the nations attend school and the main trio (Germany, Italy and Japan) has to make an article regarding the clubs is laugh out loud funny (a tsundere England never gets old). A close second is Hetalia of the Dead segment which contrasts country's horror movies mainly thanks to America's hero complex and India's tendency to drop unnecessary moments in the middle of a crucial event. Episodes including Netherlands and Belgium are funny enough to garner a laugh or two.

The Beautiful World also takes humor on the sidelines at times and pull heartstrings for once in while. The two France-centric episodes (the soldier asking who he really is and him meeting the reincarnation of Joan of Arc) are poignant with us viewers left asking if we are watching the same show. The next episode, we are shown a typical Hetalia episode.

All other mini-arcs are of the same Hetalia vein, homoeroticism filled, cultural jokes and relied more on character interaction than on the plot. It should be also noted that the homoeroticism in Hetalia is tolerable as it was toned down for most of the time except for that fanservice episode.

If I am asked, it comfortably sits in the middle of the first two seasons of the Axis Powers and the World Series.

Art: 8/10

The artwork dramatically changed for the better and the nations finally look different from each other. It gave a very sparkly feel that does not distract the viewing experience and the humor but it may add fuel to the fire of fujoshi lovers shipping nations 24/7. The animation also improved and I can certainly say that these two play as the strength of this series whenever the jokes miss.

Sound: 8/10

To say that the series improved sound-wise is an understatement. Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo is the catchiest Hetalia song ever with Italy prancing around as if he can dance.

Characters: 8/10 (a low 8 to be exact)

What made me nervous in this series is the continuous build up of characters which took others for granted. This hurt the World Twinkle which will have its separate review later. Sealand's appearance with all other micronations was appreciated but they were not given much time for the viewers to enjoy their presence. Other mishaps of the very limited episode count were the female characters of Hetalia.

I really find America annoying for the first four seasons yet the Christmas episode, Estonia's problem with hackers and Hetalia of the Dead benefited greatly due to his appearance and his usual antics. Greece, which I find a snore in the World Series became passable thanks to the ever awesome Turkey. England's tsundereness and his cynicism never get old and the main trio still retains their quirks and their usefulness in the show.

As much as I love the characters in Hetalia in general, the nonstop increase in the body count without giving them ample time hurts this series. The Nordics, which I personally find the coolest group in the show (sorry Prussia) was not given enough time and looked generic due to this circumstance. Australia and Romania have the worst case since they only appeared in a single segment. Even the main trio (Germany, Italy and Japan) was almost relegated to the sidelines. I can only hope that Hidekaz-sensei would at least focus on them at times for proper development.

Enjoyment:

Although I did not enjoy this as much as I did the first season, this is a commendable entry from Hetalia. Do I like it? Yes. The only major flaw I see in this series is it might not be able bring new fans but heck, who cares if this is good?

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 ... 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.