Episode 18

The eighteenth episode of Hetalia: Axis Powers was broadcast on May 22, 2009. It is an anime-original story, picking up where Episode 05 and Episode 06 left off in their storyline.

Plot Summary
The story of Ancient Rome is detailed again, as the same shot of him from Episode 01 is shown.

Allies Attack!
The Axis Powers are sitting around their campfire on the beach, but Germany and Japan quickly sense that they are being watched. As they throw off their jackets, Italy rouses from his sleep, wondering what is going on.

The Allied Forces stand atop a small cliff overlooking the shore, an individual shot of each member following as Germany notes their presence. He pulls out a pistol, while Japan unsheathes his katana. Italy simply pulls out a white flag and waves it about.

America sends China down to attack the Axis. Germany and Japan brace themselves, while Italy frantically waves his flag. China leaps down, wielding a wok and ladle, and starts to spar with Germany. He manages to quickly fell Germany with a blow to the head from his wok, then sends Japan flying back with another blow from it.

China then spots Italy, who quickly becomes frightened and waves his flag more. The other Allies approach the defeated Axis, as Italy cries out for someone to rescue him. A loud and sudden rumbling from the ocean causes the Allies to stop in their tracks. Germany and Japan get to their feet, only to freeze in their tracks as well. A large, shadowed figure bursts from the ocean as opera music begins to play.

A light shines down on the figure as it sings, revealing it to be Rome, clad in his armor. The Allies and Axis can only remain frozen in their positions as they listen to his song:


 * "In Hell, the English are cooks, the Germans are police officers, the French are engineers, the Swiss are lovers, and the Italians are bankers."

Rome's song finishes, and an invisible audience applauds as he fades away. Italy smiles, recognizing the singer as his "Grandpa Rome". America nervously laughs and orders the rest of the Allies to retreat. They do so, screaming and running away as fast as they can.

The Second Raid
The Axis are back to sitting around their campfire, but Germany and Japan sense that they have company again. As they throw off their jackets and Italy rouses from another nap, the Allies are revealed to be at the top of the cliff yet again, America making his presence known by his loud laughter and stating that they won't go easy on the Axis this time around.

China is sent down to fight the Axis a second time, as Germany and Japan brace themselves once more for the battle. China manages to quickly dispatch both of them with his wok and ladle, and advances on the panicking Italy. As Italy cries and waves his flag about, the singing voice of Rome halts the fight.

The gathered Axis and Allies can only watch as a giant ghostly barge fades into the ocean. Rome, surrounded by several beautiful women, proceeds to sing another song as he strums a ukulele:


 * "In Heaven, the French are cooks, the English are police officers, the Germans are engineers, the Swiss are bankers, and the Italians are lovers! Something like that, woohoo!"

An invisible audience applauds for him, as the barge and its passengers proceed to fade away. Italy smiles again, recognizing his grandfather's presence. America orders the Allies to retreat, and the five of them run off screaming...

Post-Credits Teaser
The Axis are seated around their campfire once more. Japan wonders what the apparition meant, while Germany has no clue. Italy bids goodnight to his "Grandpa Rome".

"To Be Continued" is shown, with a chorus of children reciting it.

Character Appearances

 * Italy
 * Germany
 * Japan
 * America
 * England/UK (non-speaking)
 * France (non-speaking)
 * China
 * Russia (non-speaking)
 * Ancient Rome

Voice Cast

 * Italy: Daisuke Namikawa
 * Germany: Hiroki Yasumoto
 * Japan: Hiroki Takahashi
 * America: Katsuyuki Konishi
 * China: Yuki Kaida
 * Ancient Rome: Hozumi Gōda

English Dub Cast

 * Italy: Todd Haberkorn
 * Germany: Patrick Seitz
 * Japan: Christopher Bevins
 * America: Eric Vale
 * China: Clarine Harp
 * Ancient Rome: Christopher R. Sabat

Trivia

 * This episode is notable for its several reuses of animation from previous episodes: The prologue scene with Rome, as noted above, comes from Episode 01, while the campfire scenes are reused from Episode 06. The episode itself reuses its own animation for the majority of the second segment.


 * This episode marks the first speaking role for Rome in the anime series, though Hozumi Gōda had previously voiced the giant panda in Episode 16.


 * The episode is also infamous for being the start of Studio DEEN reusing the "island battle" footage as filler. The sequence would wind up reused at the end of Episode 26, as well as in Episode 28: :) In The World.


 * Rome's songs are based on an old ethnic joke about Heaven and Hell, which was illustrated by Himaruya in the "Extra Stories". An updated, full-color illustration of the joke was later used for the opening pages of Axis Powers Hetalia volume 2.


 * In the scenes with the fallen Axis, the flags used to represent Italy and Germany are the modern ones, rather than the flags for the Kingdom Of Italy and Nazi Germany. Although the original webcomic used the historical flags for the characters, later-produced media have used the modern flags even in the WWII setting, presumably due to the negative connotations of the Nazi Germany flag.


 * In its Animate.TV broadcast, Episode 18 ran 5 minutes and 30 seconds due to pre-show and post-show bumpers with Italy, as well as an advertisement for the third Hetalia character CD.
 * In one part, America yells, "China, I choose you!!!" This could be a possible Pokémon reference, seeing as both shows are Japanese.