Hetalia: Axis Powers—Paint It, White!

This 2010 feature-length film is spun-off from one of the most peculiar anime series ever (even by the surreal standards of the genre): Hetalia: Axis Powers, which presents young male characters as anthropomorphic representations of the main nations involved in World War II—America, England (representing the United Kingdom), France, Russia, and China on the Allied side; and Axis powers Italy, Germany, and Japan. Although the series barely followed the wartime trajectory and included deliberate distortions—such as the addition of the fictitious postwar micro-nation of Sealand—the show built enough of an audience to warrant this follow-up, in which the Hetalia characters (including Sealand) temporarily put their conflict on hold and team up to face the Pictonians, a bunch of weird-looking extraterrestrials who abruptly arrive from outer space. The Pictonians are seeking to pursue their own version of Lebensraum by turning people into grayish-white, faceless beings. Unfortunately, the narrative quickly degenerates into standard-issue sci-fi, with a fairly predictable save-the-Earth-from-aliens storyline recalling countless 1950s B-movies—a terrible fit for the idiosyncratic antics of the Hetalia crew. Presented on a dual-language disc, rated TV-MA, DVD extras include an audio commentary, outtakes, and the original theatrical ending. Not a necessary purchase. (P. Hall)