Monday, July 12, 2010

Hetalia: Axis Powers of Edutainment

Recently I've become aware of a certain Japanese webcomic that became a manga that became an anime. This particular specimen of the probable millions that could fit that description is "Hetalia: Axis Powers" , which proposes to poke fun at the participating countries in World Wars I and II by portraying them and their unique foibles in human form.

Hetalia is a portmanteau of "hetare", Japanese for "useless" and "Italia", or Italy. Italy is the protagonist of the series, and as TVTropes rightly claims, Fascism has never looked so cute!

Italy is portrayed as weak and cowardly in the extreme, in contrast to Germany and Japan, who are both hardworking and capable. Italy often calls for Germany's help in such ways as, "Germany! I'm in North Africa and I can't tie my shoelaces!"

Adding to the hilarity is the fact that trades and treaties between countries are sometimes depicted as romantic relationships between the characters. For instance, France's attempted merger with England is shown as France attempting to force England to sign a marriage contract. "France, what are you talking about?! This isn't April Fool's Day!"

"For Mature Audiences", but examples of this are few and far between. The only I've seen so far is a single instance of the F word, along with some scattered damning.

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