Hetalia: Axis Powers

Hetalia: Axis Powers
Cover of the first manga volume featuring (from foreground to background): (North) Italy, Germany, and Japan.
ヘタリア Axis Powers (Hetaria Akushisu Pawāzu)
Genre	Comedy, historical[1]
Manga
Written by	Hidekazu Himaruya
Published by	Gentosha
English publisher	NA: Tokyopop (2010–2011) Tokyopop and Right Stuf Inc. (2012–present)
Imprint	Birz Extra
Magazine	Comic Birz
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	2006 – 2013
Volumes	6
Manga
Hetalia: World Stars
Written by	Hidekaz Himaruya
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Jump Comics+
Magazine	Shōnen Jump+
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	September 22, 2014 – present
Volumes	5
Original net animation
Directed by	Bob Shirohata
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation UK: Manga Entertainment
Released	January 24, 2009 – March 5, 2010
Runtime	5 minutes
Episodes	52 (List of episodes)
Original net animation
Hetalia: World Series
Directed by	Bob Shirohata
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation UK: Manga Entertainment
Released	March 26, 2010 – February 21, 2011
Runtime	5 minutes
Episodes	48 (plus 4 OVAs) (List of episodes)
Anime film
Hetalia: Axis Powers - Paint it, White!
Directed by	Bob Shirohata
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation UK: Manga Entertainment
Released	June 5, 2010
Runtime	77 minutes
Game
Gakuen Hetalia Portable
Developer	Otomate
Publisher	Idea Factory
Genre	Adventure game, Slice-of-life
Platform	PlayStation Portable
Released	March 24, 2011
Original net animation
Hetalia: The Beautiful World
Directed by	Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation
Released	January 25, 2013 – June 21, 2013
Runtime	5 minutes
Episodes	20 (List of episodes)
Original net animation
Hetalia: The World Twinkle
Directed by	Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	NA: Funimation
Released	July 3, 2015 – October 2, 2015
Runtime	5 minutes
Episodes	15
Original net animation
Hetalia: World Stars
Directed by	Hiroshi Watanabe
Written by	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	Funimation
Released	April 1, 2021 – June 17, 2021
Episodes	12

Hetalia: Axis Powers (Japanese: ヘタリア Axis Powers, Hepburn: Hetaria Akushisu Pawāzu) is a Japanese webcomic, later adapted as a manga and an anime series, by Hidekaz Himaruya. The series' main presentation is as a comedic allegory of political and historic events as well as more general cultural comparisons. Characters are personifications of countries, regions such as Hong Kong, and micronations. Both positive and negative cultural stereotypes form part of each character's personality. Hetalia (ヘタリア) is a portmanteau combining hetare (ヘタレ, Japanese for "useless" or "pathetic" in a cute or endearing way) and "Italia" (イタリア, Italia, Japanese for "Italy").^[2]

The series started with a focus on World War II, although presently it has broadened beyond that. Most of the comics take place during other historical events, modern holidays, or at no specific time whatsoever. The manga and most recent season of the anime run on the title "Hetalia: World Stars."^[3] The character roster is large, but the main cast is still primarily the countries which made up the Axis powers and Allies of World War II—namely Italy (North Italy in particular), Germany, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Canada.

The series often uses satire and light-hearted comedy to reinterpret well-known events as well as less common historical and cultural trivia. Historical, political, economic, and military interaction between countries is generally represented in Hetalia as social interactions and misunderstandings between the characters.

Himaruya originally created Hetalia as a webcomic, and so far six tankōbon have been published by Gentosha Comics, the first on March 28, 2008, the second on December 10, 2008, the third on May 20, 2010, the fourth on June 30, 2011, and the fifth on July 31, 2012. English translations of the first two volumes have been published by Tokyopop in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Both printed volumes published so far have topped The New York Times manga best seller list.^[4][5] As of May 2012 the English-language version of the manga was published by Tokyopop via Right Stuf Inc.^[6] The series was later adapted into drama CDs, and an anime series created by Studio Deen has also begun streaming online. As of January 8, 2010, the anime series' international distribution is being handled by Funimation. Hetalia is very popular and has a cult following.