Axis Powers Hetalia (Licensed by Funimation)

[Netto Azure]

Original Thread: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=201545&page=1

In heaven, the police are British, the lovers are Italian, the food is French, the engineers are German, and the whole thing is run by the Swiss.
In hell, the police are German, the lovers are Swiss, the food is British, the engineers are French, and the whole thing is run by the Italians.

​

Once upon a time, the Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean. Then it collapsed, leaving his grandson Italy in his place. But all he wanted to do was cook, draw, and flirt with women.

Cut to World War One. Germany waits at the Italian front, ready to face the heir to the mighty Roman Empire...
He finds Italy hiding in a tomato crate. Poor Italy is scared and has NO idea of what the Hell is going on, so Germany takes him under his wing, where he remains until World War II. At the same time, the "Allied Forces" are getting ready to counter attack... if they can reach an agreement, that is.
A popular Japanese series that is an allegorical tale of the history of Europe, especially during World War Two, with anthropomorphizations of different countries and the various stereotypes associated with them. Axis Powers Hetalia is at once educational, irreverently silly, occasionally touching, and potentially offensive. Starting off as a webcomic, Hetalia garnered a strong fan following, and was eventually published in print form. A series of drama CDs were made later; an anime adaptation has been released, but broadcast on television was canceled in favor of alternate means. The word Hetalia is a portmanteau of hetare and Italia (Itaria), which means hopeless Italy, as Germany soon discovers. Hopeless in a cute way. You know, with the Axis powers, it's not bad to be bad at being bad.

As you guys will probably know. I do have fallen in love with this series due to my love of history. I know, the fans are rabid. But aren't we all? ;D

So apparently the series has been licensed by Funimation for both subbing and dubbing of seasons 1 & 2 (52 Episodes)

And seriously will anyone subscribe to that?

Anyway's sadly with the Censorship police sniffing around, this might lead to another "South Korea controversy" as people might take offense at it. But hey one can hope~

Oh well, I really do like this news as the fandom (Big as it is already) will get more attention, and hey I want High Quality Subs. I'll definitely buy it.
And...there's the issue of dubbing. The running joke since Friday's announcement has been "Will there be accents for each country?" Now that would be a bit cheaper than the average anime dub as the series is only 5-minutes long. :O

I hope we get a History channel broadcast. >B:3

 

[Taemin]

Thank god FUNimation got to it! Phew. ; ;

Just the other day I was wondering why Hetalia hadn't been dubbed yet, considering how popular it is already. Who knows, maybe different companies were fighting over it. xD This is rather awesome news, though. I'm curious to hear all of their voices, but it also makes me wonder.. Will it air on TV? Doubtful, since the episodes are awkwardly short.

 

[Sarah Paliner]

I wonder what its rating is going to be. .--.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I'm curious to hear all of their voices, but it also makes me wonder.. Will it air on TV? Doubtful, since the episodes are awkwardly short.

I'm also curious as to who they're going to put in the cast. How much do you want to bet that Vic Mignogna and/or Travis Willingham will be in it somehow?

As for the series actually airing on TV in the United States and Canada, I wouldn't bet on it. On the off chance that it does get picked up for broadcast, however, Adult Swim would be the most likely suspect, though it'd be pretty damn awesome if the History Channel got its hands on it. Even though the individual episodes are only five minutes long, they could be strung together in fives to fit a standard half-hour block, plus commercials.

 

[Bay]

I'm also curious as to who they're going to put in the cast. How much do you want to bet that Vic Mignogna and/or Travis Willingham will be in it somehow?

As for the series actually airing on TV in the United States and Canada, I wouldn't bet on it. On the off chance that it does get picked up for broadcast, however, Adult Swim would be the most likely suspect, though it'd be pretty damn awesome if the History Channel got its hands on it. Even though the individual episodes are only five minutes long, they could be strung together in fives to fit a standard half-hour block, plus commercials.

*bets a million bucks Vic Mignogna will be in it and a million more he'll be France*

Hm, I too am curious about how the casting and voicing will fair in the dub. Funimation is cool though, so I think it'll be good. As for airing on TV, most likely not due to the episodes very short like others said. True, the episodes could be put together, but the episodes don't go in order. Even the events in a single episode are not related to one another. D:

 

[Cherrim]

I lol'd hard at the LJ community simultaneously breaking out in a widespread panic at this announcement. :( I don't participate in the fandom but lol people took this seriously.

Apparently people are predicting Vic for either America or Italy... but I dunno if he'll even want to touch this series because he wouldn't be able to pull his typical "EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE CAST OF THIS SHOW IS 100% STRAIGHT" crap here lmao. (I really want to see this shitstorm... does that make me a bad person?)

I'm happy. I might be able to get more friends into this and, if the price is right, I'll even be picking up the DVDs myself. I already stay a bit aloof from the fandom, as I said. I think it's crazy enough to begin with so I doubt I'd notice the influx of new fans that everyone's worried about.

I JUST REALLY HOPE THEY HAVE HORRIBLY STEREOTYPICAL ACCENTS. I WILL BE SO DISAPPOINTED IF THEY DON'T. THIS IS NOT SARCASM. DDD:

I don't think anyone will pick this up for broadcast on television though. Too much potential to offend. I'm almost surprised it was picked up for localization at all.

 

[digi-kun]

I JUST REALLY HOPE THEY HAVE HORRIBLY STEREOTYPICAL ACCENTS. I WILL BE SO DISAPPOINTED IF THEY DON'T. THIS IS NOT SARCASM. DDD:

^ This

Really, I just hope they make those voices as stereotyped as possible. That's probably the only way I'd ever watch the dub for this

 

[Vanilla Kitsune]

I'm not so happy Funi got it but hey, what can I do? I was leaning more towards Bandai.

As for the accent things, I'm kind of for and against it. I love stereotypical accents, but honestly, I feel I might become annoyed with the voices after a while. Plus, there are those people that might get offended. (I could care less really) If they give England an English accent, I will die. I want them to so baaaad.

This was pretty amusing livejournal.

 

[Cherrim]

People are saying the dub is gonna suck anyway so... if it's gotta go that way, at least make it so bad it's hilarious and the only way to do that is with horribly bad accents.

(Except even if the dub is superb, I will still be disappointed if I don't get those accents.)

 

[Netto Azure]

People are saying the dub is gonna suck anyway so... if it's gotta go that way, at least make it so bad it's hilarious and the only way to do that is with horribly bad accents.

(Except even if the dub is superb, I will still be disappointed if I don't get those accents.)

So we all can agree that we need horribly stereotypical accents eh? XD

 

[Cherrim]

I do believe so.

Although now that I say that, I'm absolutely paranoid that Canada will get a Newfie accent. :(

 

[Netto Azure]

I do believe so.

Although now that I say that, I'm absolutely paranoid that Canada will get a Newfie accent. :(

Newfoundland accent?

How does that work? :O

 

[Jack O'Neill]

Newfoundland accent?

How does that work? :O

Canada has regional dialects and accents of its own, though it isn't as noticeable to people here in the States. Newfoundland English is quite bizarre-sounding, to say the least, with significant deviations in vocabulary and pronunciation from standard Canadian English.

Needless to say, I'd be very surprised if the folks at Funimation actually do make the actor they choose for Canada speak actual Newfie dialect; they'll probably just make him use a stereotypical Canadian accent, complete with Canadian raising and liberal application of "eh?" at the end of all of his sentences.

 

[Axєl]

So we all can agree that we need horribly stereotypical accents eh? XD

I say 'Yes' to that.

If they don't have stereotypical accents, I'll be sad. xD;

As for people mentioning Vic being the dub, I find him to be fairly awesome, but I'm tired of hearing his voice in everryyything. Because he sounds the same everrryyytime. Don't mean to bash the guy, but he does. I can't picture any of the Hetalia cast sounding like him much, and yeah.. I don't know what to expect from the dub, but I really hope Vic isn't it. Unless maybe he has a minor role, or can succeed in changing his voice enough. 8D;

 

[Azumi]

Oui to horribly stereotypical accents!

Please, no more Vic Mignogna. I liked him as Edward, but I don't see what character he can voice here. I plead that he would never lay a hand his voice on Feleciano. D:

...okay that sounds so weird.

 

[Chikara]

BECAUSE MY RANTS MEAN SOMETHING

inb4 chris sabat plays germany.

inb4 luci christian is italy.

inb4 they give america to freaking todd haberkorn instead of vic.

inb4 vic mignogna joins the cast anyway.

inb4 jason leibricht doesn't even get a role.

inb4 they give him a role, but make him an extra.

INB4 CHRIS PATTON IS LOVINO. lol.

inb4 they're incredably lame and cast vic as spain.

inb4 i turn off the TV and walk away if that happens.

/rant rant rant rant.
I do think Vic would make a good Austria though 9_9... I dunno who I'd be content with doing England. I don't think I'll ever be satisfied, but I'm a VA nerd so.

Also, I'm kind of hoping they decide to just release it in Japanese with subs. That would make my life. Then prease to be releasing the manga over here.

 

[Netto Azure]

/rant rant rant rant.
I do think Vic would make a good Austria though 9_9... I dunno who I'd be content with doing England. I don't think I'll ever be satisfied, but I'm a VA nerd so.

Also, I'm kind of hoping they decide to just release it in Japanese with subs. That would make my life. Then prease to be releasing the manga over here.

It is going to get subbed LOL. XD

 

[Cherrim]

Yeah, they specifically said it was going to be both dubbed and subbed so... if you hate the dub voices, you can just switch the language. :3

 

[Jack O'Neill]

inb4 chris sabat plays germany.

inb4 luci christian is italy.

inb4 they give america to freaking todd haberkorn instead of vic.

inb4 vic mignogna joins the cast anyway.

inb4 jason leibricht doesn't even get a role.

inb4 they give him a role, but make him an extra.

INB4 CHRIS PATTON IS LOVINO. lol.

inb4 they're incredably lame and cast vic as spain.

inb4 i turn off the TV and walk away if that happens.

Chris Sabat as Germany would be among the absolute worst casting choices Funimation could possibly make; either Troy Baker or J. Michael Tatum would be more appropriate for that role. As for Mr. Sabat, he could play Russia instead, but even then that's rather dubious.

Does (North) Italy necessarily have to be played by Luci Christian? If they want the character to sound young, they could just get Greg Ayres for the role instead; Chris Patton and Todd Haberkorn would be possible alternatives if they can't get Greg to do it. (By the way, I saw what you did there with Luci Christian as North Italy and Chris Patton as South Italy.)

I agree that Todd Haberkorn as America would be another bad casting choice on Funimation's part; he could be a possible alternate for either of the Italies, however.

If Vic Mignogna absolutely has to be in the cast, the general consensus is that he'd only be appropriate as either America or France. As for Jason Liebrecht, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what role he could play. Your guesses are as good as (and probably better than) mine, but I'm willing to wager on a wide range of characters; personally, I'm leaning towards the minor European powers, like Switzerland, Greece, and/or any of the Baltic states.

There's also the rest of the male actors working for Funimation, like Travis Willingham, Sonny Strait, Eric Vale, Mike McFarland, Chuck Huber, Justin Cook, and Dameon Clarke. Where should they fit in the grand scheme of things?

As for the females, I'm tempted to say Colleen Clinkenbeard as Hungary, Laura Bailey as Liechtenstein, Caitlin Glass as Seychelles, Kira Vincent-Davis as Belarus, and Christine Auten as Ukraine, but again, your guesses are as good as (and probably better than) mine.

 

[Chikara]

Chris Sabat as Germany would be among the absolute worst casting choices Funimation could possibly make; either Troy Baker or J. Michael Tatum would be more appropriate for that role. As for Mr. Sabat, he could play Russia instead, but even then that's rather dubious.

Does (North) Italy necessarily have to be played by Luci Christian? If they want the character to sound young, they could just get Greg Ayres for the role instead; Chris Patton and Todd Haberkorn would be possible alternatives if they can't get Greg to do it. (By the way, I saw what you did there with Luci Christian as North Italy and Chris Patton as South Italy.)

I agree that Todd Haberkorn as America would be another bad casting choice on Funimation's part; he could be a possible alternate for either of the Italies, however.

If Vic Mignogna absolutely has to be in the cast, the general consensus is that he'd only be appropriate as either America or France. As for Jason Liebrecht, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what role he could play. Your guesses are as good as (and probably better than) mine, but I'm willing to wager on a wide range of characters; personally, I'm leaning towards the minor European powers, like Switzerland, Greece, and/or any of the Baltic states.

There's also the rest of the male actors working for Funimation, like Travis Willingham, Sonny Strait, Eric Vale, Mike McFarland, Chuck Huber, Justin Cook, and Dameon Clarke. Where should they fit in the grand scheme of things?

As for the females, I'm tempted to say Colleen Clinkenbeard as Hungary, Laura Bailey as Liechtenstein, Caitlin Glass as Seychelles, Kira Vincent-Davis as Belarus, and Christine Auten as Ukraine, but again, your guesses are as good as (and probably better than) mine.

Don't get srsly srs about that, dude. inb4 is meant to be retarded predictions.

And with the Luci Christian and Chris Patton thing, I don't think there's an American voice actor who can ninja voices like Daisuke Namikawa. If there is, which there might be, it might sound awkward.