Axis Powers Hetalia (manga)

Axis Powers Hetalia is a webmanga by Hidekaz Himaruya, that began in 2003 and continues to run on his website "Kitayume". It has been adapted into print form, several drama CDs, and an anime series.

The series involves anthropomorphic representations of the world's nations, with the main storyline taking place in WWI and WWII, though there are stories set in earlier and more modern eras. The series is named for the main character Italy, with "Hetalia" being a portmanteau of the words hetare (useless) and Italia.

Main Storyline (Webmanga)
The main storyline so far involves six stories:

Hetalia Chapter 1

 * The formation of the Axis Powers
 * First appearances of Italy, Germany, and Japan
 * First mentions of Russia, England, and France
 * First and only appearance of Egypt to date

Hetalia Chapter 2: Allied Forces

 * The debut of the Allied Forces
 * First appearances of America, England, France, Russia, and China

Hetalia Chapter 4: Pact Of Steel

 * First appearances of Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romano, and Poland
 * First mention of Belarus

Chibitalia

 * First appearances of Holy Roman Empire, Austria, and Hungary

Published Manga
A print version of the manga came out in 2008, and has been collected into two volumes so far. The published version differs somewhat from the original online strips, with several events being retold or redrawn for better quality. New strips exclusive to the volumes were also included. Some scenes have also been cut or edited from the originals for content (ie: Holy Roman Empire kissing Chibitalia in the "Chibitalia" arc).

The first volume was released on March 17th, 2008, with the second volume being released in December.

Characters
Main article: List of Axis Powers Hetalia characters

The Hetalia series is notable for its large, colorful cast of characters. Each of the characters represents a nation, complete with the stereotypes attributed to it. The original webcomic initially focused on the nations of the Axis Powers vs. the Allied Forces, with the cast quickly expanding to include others.

Drama CDs
There have been three drama CDs released for the series so far, with a fourth to come.


 * Hetalia Drama CD: Prologue, released as a Comic Market 74 exclusive on August 15, 2008.
 * Hetalia Drama CD: Volume 1, released on October 24, 2008.
 * Hetalia Drama CD: Prologue 2, released as a Comic Market 75 exclusive on December 29, 2008.
 * Hetalia Drama CD: Volume 2, to be released on April 22, 2009.

The first two CDs feature the Axis Powers, Austria, and the Allied Forces, with the absence of China, who wasn't cast at the time. Instead, Lithuania is included in the main cast. China however, did make his debut in "Prologue 2" along with Hungary. Sealand is slated to appear in "Volume 2", though his voice actor has not yet been announced.

Anime
''Main article: Axis Powers Hetalia (anime)

An anime adaptation of Axis Powers Hetalia was announced in July 2008, and premiered on January 24th, 2009 on Animate.TV. It was originally scheduled to air on Kids Station, but was pulled from the lineup due to "various circumstances". It is scheduled for 26 episodes.