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 Hetalia has been on the rise in popularity this year among American fan girls. You could tell by the girls dressed like boys dressed like WWII soldiers carrying around enormous flags at every convention this year. Either that, or the same group of six girls were carrying flags at all the East Coast conventions I attended.
For the uninitiated, Hetalia started off as a Japanese web comic before being collected into manga anthologies and adapted as an anime series this year, with a second season in the works. In the series, World War II era countries are represented as cute boys.
In the December 2009 issue of Otaku USA (the one with the Tsubasa cover), I wrote a brief Import Report on Hetalia. In the letters section, someone named Taylor demands we review the show. What Taylor didn't realize is that the show hasn't been imported for the North American market yet in any official capacity.
However, you could totally buy the Japanese volumes of the Hetalia manga at Kinokuniya's booth at any large American anime convention this year. (Only volumes one and two have come out so far.) I spoke with Shingo Nozaki, a manager at Kinokuniya, in the Otakon Dealer's Room.
 Two crates of Hetalia manga were prominently on display in Nozumi's booth at Otakon. Nozumi sold around 100 copies of Hetalia at Anime Expo, Anime Central, and Anime Next. "I guess everyone likes that title," he said. The box was also in the front of the booth at NYAF on Saturday.
Nozumi went on to say that Hetalia has also been selling well in the New York City retail store. For several months both volumes of Hetalia got special outward facing placement on the wall.
Hetalia fan art was also popular in Artist Alley. At Otakon my table was right next to a girl selling a lot of Hetalia fan art. All weekend cosplayers approached the table asking if she had this or that country. "I love Poland!" they would squeal. (Well, maybe not Poland specifically…)
I chatted with a group of Hetalia cosplayers at Anime Boston. One girl explained she had dressed as Russia because she has Russian ancestors. Other girls in the group said similar things, except for the girl dressed as China. She wanted to be a different country, but her friends insisted she dress as China because she's Asian.
Although Hetalia takes place across different time periods, much of the focus is on the two World Wars, as seen through the lens of present-day stereotypes. America chucks down dozens of hamburgers and bosses around the other Allied forces. Even American public school students who slept through history class can tell you America arrived late to WWII. Author Hidekaz Himaruya seems less concerned with actual history than he is with doing it for the lulz.
My husband and I have an ongoing debate. Does Hetalia make fans more interested in real history or not? (By the way, if you're interested in a Canadian webcomic mocking history, be sure to check out Kate Beaton's Hark A Vagrant). We asked the Hetalia cosplayers at Anime Boston point blank, and they said they were indeed interested in real history. (You know, like Angus McLeod's "World War Two: Simple Version".)
I would like to post the question to you, Otaku USA readers, because I have a cheese sandwich riding on this bet. Check out the poll on the front page and give us your answer.
>> Hannah (Monday, February 15, 2010)
This may be late, but I'd like to comment on the subject.
I adore Hetalia and its affect on the world. I've seen people from all ends of the Earth say they are fans of this take of our history, and it makes me smile how much more popular and accepted it is.
To be on subject, Hetalia has made me more interested in history. Usually I can never differentiate countries or wars between countries without forcing myself to remember names or dates. But with Hetalia, I can now see and remember things so much more easily. I would never have learned much about the ex-soviet countries as they display in Hetalia in a classroom (at least I haven't yet, and US history is next, so I'm severely doubting I ever will). It also, like others said, helps myself and even others immerse into a totally different culture and actually encourages me to learn more about said country (I've gotten a big interest in Finland lately, the language sounds so nice).
I think the best thing about Hetalia is that it doesn't center itself on the devastation of war and coerce us to think certain countries are terrible. It doesn't need to use senseless violence and propaganda to shove the thought of war into our minds. Sure we should know how bad and serious war can be, but isn't it much better that we're learning of peace and uniting with each other? Hetalia brings people together, it's becoming a great step toward world peace amongst fans. I personally think this would be better for people to grow up with than the history of our war put into grotesque detail. Stereotypes may be bad for people to grow up with, but it's easy to rid yourself of and it's better than continuing our violence.
I think Hetalia is helping a lot of people, not just with history dates and interest toward our pasts, but with our futures and our views of the world (the positive ones I mean).
>> Joseph Luster (Wednesday, February 03, 2010)
Nice, I was hoping people would come back to this article once comments were up. I haven't seen Hetalia myself, but it's interesting to read these fan perceptions of it in the context of history.
>> Megan (Tuesday, February 02, 2010)
I love history a lot, but I have always hated WWII. Watching how the countries interact according to their stereotypes allows me to overlook the (in my opinion) horribly boring war they are parodying.
>> Kiran (Friday, January 29, 2010)
Hetalia generally should not be the only reason one comes to love history; that I agree with. But sometimes, it can help students who nomrally hated rattling off dates and names to survive history class - and even look forward to that class. And of course, it also provides slight nudges in one direction or another; my public school has never mentioned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but it was mentioned in Hetalia. Curious ("How dare my school not mention this!"), I began to extensively research the Commonwealth. Hetalia doesn't mention the Union of Lublin, the three-pronged government, the clan wars of Lithuania, or the Cossaks and their Uprising, but Hetalia did mention the Commonwealth, something I'd never learned about before, and pure curiosity combined with a pre-existing interest in history spurred me to learn more. For this reason, Hetalia can be considered educational.
Of course, there are fans who don't take Hetalia with the pinch of salt it should be read with. I've seen a couple fans who seem to think Poland and Lithuania should still be one country today, because they're "cute together". I wonder if they've ever heard of - or care about - the Polish-Lithuanian War, or realize that in reality, Lithuania was subordinate to Poland during the Commonwealth. I haven't seen these fans often, but they're out there. It is around them that I want to pull my hair out and shake them until they come to their senses.
But in general, I think seeing teenagers be able to spout off dates and specifics of history and understand how the world came to be the way it is today - while ENJOYING it - is something that really can't be a bad thing.
>> Jennifer (Friday, January 29, 2010)
I have always had a huge interest in history, but Hetalia has only multiplied that interest by a million. It's so much fun to see real history portrayed as bishonen characters and it also makes dates and countries and time periods easier to remember as well! I only wish Hetalia would have been around when I had world/US History classes!
Not to mention that now because of Hetalia, I want to see the world now. My hope is to someday visit every nation in Europe and Asia, and to live in England (He's my favorite character in the entire series!). Sounds lame, but I love it, and so therefore, it works for me!
>> Brad (Friday, January 29, 2010)
I believe it makes fans more tolerant of history? There may be an ulterior motive (boysboysboys) but the motivation is there to dig in or pay attention more. And it's not only an interest in history, but culture, language, fashion, etc. Fans are proud of their heritage and/or their country of residence. Some are too eager to correct, give source of, or elaborate the stereotypes and past of their nation, while others are equally eager to use it. You know, rather than just being fixated on the Japanese aspect of it (and the cliche that only Japanese or Asians do fanworks/cosplay right), this is one series that generally accepts that people from all over the world can contribute to make the series 'whole'. Even though a simple world news story may forever leave fans with the mental imagery of two (or more) pretty boys reenacting the article's content, I think the raised awareness and interest is an overall good effect of a series that started out so simple and is mostly based in humour.
>> Bri (Friday, January 29, 2010)
I am a huge fan of Axis Powers Hetalia. It's cute, funny, and it has a huge fan base. I find myself a lot more intrested in history (and understanding it a lot more) after this webcomic-turned manga-turned anime. History class was boring for me, and now, I just picture everything as if it was in anime form, and I remember history. Sounds a bit lame, I know, but hey, it works!
Not to mention, the anime episodes are wicked short, only 5 minutes each, that even when it seems like I'm pressed for time, I can always fit in at least one episode at some point in my day.
I would definately recommend this show to anyone that likes comedy and cute boys.
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