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[Note: This review will encompass essentially all of the series, not just Axis Powers with the exception of the Paint it White movie, Beautiful World and World Twinkle.]

Many people look back on Hetalia as a sort of cringe-worthy period of anime fan history, and with good reason. However, this isn't something that should stop you from watching the series (unless you wish to pursue the very open, extreme love for the anime that many people had back in the day, which I don't recommend - not from personal experience, but it does give off a lot of second-hand embarrassment) especially if, like me, you are ... a fan of culture and history.

First of all, you must understand that Hetalia is based on a webcomic of shorts making light of historical events and cultural stereotypes that happened to get fairly popular in Japan - that being said, they are disjointed comedy skits pertaining no particular storyline besides clipped segments based on things about the world that the author thought was funny or interesting, with each episode including several different segments and only spanning roughly 5 minutes. Oh, except for the romantic subplot most predominantly present in the first season of the anime between two countries as children; something I personally disliked.

Regardless, the humor is silly and immature (which explains the premature fanbase, of course), with several sexual jokes thrown in; nothing sophisticated like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei's remarks about the state of Japan, but I believe that the context of what it is separates the show from most. It's very much an adult anime shrouded in child entertainment.

It cleverly incorporates elaborate jokes about world history, which is the entire reason I decided to rewatch it. For example, in the early fraction of WWI, the French army had to change their outfits because the bright blue and red was easily spotted by the enemy - this is represented in-anime by frequent references to France's 'flashy' and useless outfit in the WWI segments. It's not truly chuckle-worthy humor, but the subtle historical allusion to small insignificant things like this made me grin and guided my interest through the entire series. All 6 seasons, even if the first season is fairly dry. Another thing that piqued my interest was the intriguing ways the country proxy-characters are portrayed. The mangaka incorporates both modern-day stereotypes and the history of that specific country into their development; like Russia's loneliness and ghastly personality having been caused by the hardships Russia has faced all throughout its existence. It honestly makes me happier than it should, but also means that if you're one that dislikes stereotypes and can't handle fun-poking at your or another nation's expense, then this series is obviously not for you.

And last but not least, I have to praise the fantastic dub. The horrendous over-exaggeration of the accents of each country make the show worth watching in itself solemnly because it may be the only series that it would ever ACTUALLY work with. If they didn't have the accents it would be much, much less entertaining. It may just be the best dub that Funimation has ever done.

I suppose, all-in-all, if you're a world-history fanatic, some sort of linguistics major, somebody who wants to see what the world is like from the eyes of a Japanese guy that writes comics about things he likes in his free time or someone who has it in their heart to laugh at silly, basic humor, there's no harm in giving this anime a go - and I recommend waiting for the later fraction of the second season to give it up, skipping ahead a few seasons if you're not a fan at first, or even just reading the webcomic instead (a much better-suited format than an anime, for this one, I think). The composition and a lot of the characters' actions in the first season or two were particularly boring to me, but I gradually found it more interesting as I watched more. Also, I genuinely wish the episodes were longer - loading a new page for every 5-minute episode is a pain.

As a major fan of surrealism, I love this movie more than I can express.

This is exactly what this movie is. An adaptation of an amazing (now deceased, sadly) mangaka who's works centered around her subconscious. Even the characters depicted are based off her dreams, her trademark characters.
Anyone familiar with her stories would not be surprised about the content of this movie.

If you enjoy surreal, dream-like tales and the sort of morbid world that can only come from the subconscious mind, you will love this movie. I've watched it 3, maybe 4 times in the past 6 months. The imagery and mysterious atmosphere of ... the movie invoke an astonishing lonely and wholesome feeling as you watch a small cat traverse his wacky, unbelievable world to attempt to save his sister all the while remaining silent near almost the entirety of the film.

There's something childlike and innocent that creates an amazing contrast between the dark and macabre setting of the story; yet it retains this innocence throughout it's entirety. It has the mysterious, nonsensical element that can only be seen in surreal works.

Even though I amend it, I can see why casual anime fans would dislike this. The way this anime is, when compared to the checklist applied to 'everyday' anime, could not even compete in interest. You have to criticise this movie as a work of postmodern art, rather than an anime meant to entertain in the ways more popular anime does. The storyline of this movie, for example, when applied to any other setting, would probably come out dull, lame, and unbelievable. When it's applied to Cat Soup? I wouldn't have it any other way.

In the end, this movie will be/is loved by fans of nekojiru, people that want to remember her for her unique works, and fans of surrealism. Casual anime fans, however, will probably have no interest nor appreciation for something like Cat Soup.

The first time I watched pupa, it was on a day I'd stayed home from school and gotten ill. I binged the whole series in one sitting and passed out without giving it another thought (it's possible, the entire series only goes for around 50 minutes).
If it isn't obvious, I just brushed the existence of this anime off as an extremely strange, dark fever dream (it would not be the first). Months passed, and eventually, I got curious about whether or not the series actually existed. To my deepest regret and confusion, it did.
Now that my pointless flavor text is out of the way, ... my proper review:

Pupa, in theory, sounds like it holds a gritty and morbid storyline that many other series' lack the guts to imitate. It sounds like it has potential. It sounds like it could lead to something unmistakably memorable and no doubt horrifying, or at least psychologically scarring. However, the execution of this anime is unbearably terrible. I haven't read the manga, so I can't really compare it to it, but the way everything is haphazardly crushed into small 4-minute episodes is disappointing. It feels as though we are only getting teasers of a full series, and even if played all together in compilation the storyline is jaggedly arranged. They could accomplish what they did in 6 of the episodes in just one full-length one.

Now, aside from that, I do have to say that some of the character designs are especially ridiculous. It's not that they're over-the-top (except for one character, who looks like some sort of weird Schrodinger's cat witch thing) but they try to achieve simplicity in their designs and still stand out, and fail. It ends up with them wearing their designer's try-hard effort to create an original character on their sleeves. Even the way their backstory, at least in the anime, is executed just ends up coming across as cringy.

Also, it's worth noting that this anime has incestuous undertones if that isn't your thing (it isn't really something that I enjoy seeing). The original storyline makes it seem like it's intended to be a play on the sis-con concept by completely juxtaposing it, but ends up playing into it in certain scenes.

The whole anime in general just feels alien to watch, it doesn't drag you in or relate you to the characters (but how can it, really, with only 4 minutes to show for?) and is absolutely appalling in quality.

All this aside, of course, this anime is amazing. It's amazing not because it's a beautiful, quality anime that tells an intricate and heartbreaking story that drags you along for a ride, but for the complete opposite reasons. It's so bad, that it's absolutely hilarious. I recommend everybody watch this solemnly for the fact that, if you can stomach it yourself (the gore isn't too explicit and most of it is censored, but some of the 'eating' scenes are extremely laughable in their intimacy), watching the reactions of your friends as you force them at gunpoint to binge the entirety of Pupa with you is an experience you won't want to miss.