Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hetalia, Paint it, White Review Pasta Anyone?


Hetalia - Paint it, White - The Movie (Limited Edition)

If only the real world could follow the countries personified into people in this anime.

We'd be a nuclear war.

Petty, childish, idiotic our different nations, but as an anime hilarious. Hetalia: Paint it, White is a strange comedy to say the least. What's Hetalia? Well, if your into anime, it's all those girls dressed as boys, yelling at the cons. For new people it's simple and like I said at the start the anime personifies each nation into a human being that interacts with other personified nations. History lessons and strange facts or sayings about countries are brought up through horrible conversations with each other.

Paint it, White starts off simple enough, aliens are changing the world into a white bland mess with no distinctions, everyone looks the same.
How will anyone fight each other and know whose German or Japanese or Italian?

Luckily, a top notch team of well known nations has come together to take on this threat, too bad they can't get along for a second and are bunch of crazy weirdos. America's the hero who can't stop eating or even listen to others. Russia is just creepy. France is the Jersey Shore cast all in one man, minus the pecks. China knows what's best, because it's China. England just hates everyone for being idiots. Japan believes in personal space and being courteous. Italy is simply a moron. Germany, Germany yells a lot.

Spoilers
As other nations falter, all matter of weapons from the superpowers are ineffective, turned to white gooey versions of the former selves. The brave nations I mentioned go on the offensive together in probably one of the most mismanaged covert missions that becomes an elegant celebration of how those countries celebrate. Vegas and girls for America!

This peaceful display of customs and cuisine  fails after some very bad scones from Britain and has our heroic nations finding themselves lost on a island together. Eventually, the dark white forces come in to take them on. The bravely fight to the end, except of course Italy. Italy seeing all his other nations transformed into white aliens with green glow balls on their heads can't stand it and uses a black marker to draw stupid faces on the other nations. This brings them back and their differences and squabbles can be brought back out. So really stupidity and differences saved the world as the aliens like being different. Time for a dance number.
End of Spoilers

The hatred and characterization between the nations is funny enough and it's great to see nations made fun of so silly. Poor, poor Canada, no one remembers you. It was great to see Sealand again, a tiny British oil rig that in the real world is trying to be recognized as a nation. In the movie he's a little boy in sailor uniform.

Some minor problems, might have been the reuse of old footage. The movie uses some old segments, which is strange in a brand new movie. Hetalia as an anime series is short segments, going long seems to be hard for the actual movie. The long story with not taking any prior historical facts kind of lacks the back history needed for the overall plot.  Hetalia: Paint it, White could have had an overall better story arc or been done in a better format, but it's random oddball characters might win you over.

Pcik it up if your a fan and can't get enough of nation on nation action.

Then coming in January is  Hetalia: World Series 1 Season Three (Limited Edition)
 which brings back the old format I like of history lessons and cultural differences.