Episode 01

The first episode of the Hetalia: Axis Powers anime series debuted on January 24, 2009, on Animate.TV in Japan. It was originally to air on Kids Station on the date, but due to complications (while South Korean protests are thought to be the reason, the station denies this), the television broadcast was canceled.

The episode adapts the following strips from volume 1 of the published manga: Meeting Of The World, Prologue, and Chibitalia.

Meeting Of The World
America suggests that a giant robot be built to shield Earth from global warming and Japan agrees with him, much to the aggravation of Switzerland. England opposes America's idea, however, and France just opposes both of them. China attempts to break up the fight by offering them snacks, which they refuse. In the meantime, Russia is busy bothering Lithuania and his fellow Baltic states, only to wind up stopped by Poland, who threatens to make his capital Warsaw.

Germany finally puts an end to the fighting, ordering that each nation present their data and that they will have eight minutes each to speak. Italy offers to speak, only to yell out "PASTA!".

Prologue
The story of Ancient Rome is detailed. In the present day, Germany finds himself in a forest and preparing to deal with Rome's heir. Instead, he comes across a crate of tomatoes.

Chibitalia
We begin the story of Chibitalia, Italy in his youth. After having spent time with his grandfather, Chibitalia returns to find that the other children have become bullies and that the Holy Roman Empire wants him to become one with him. Chibitalia runs off crying, with Holy Roman Empire chasing after him.

Post-Credits Teaser
Germany is staring at said crate of tomatoes with a confused expression.

A note reads "Until next time".

Meeting Of The World

 * Italy
 * Germany
 * Japan
 * America
 * England
 * France
 * Russia
 * China
 * Belgium (non-speaking cameo)
 * Spain
 * Sweden (non-speaking cameo)
 * Finland (non-speaking cameo)
 * Switzerland
 * Lithuania (non-speaking cameo)
 * Belarus (non-speaking cameo)
 * Latvia (non-speaking cameo)
 * Estonia
 * Poland
 * Greece (non-speaking cameo)

Prologue

 * Ancient Rome (non-speaking)
 * Germany

Chibitalia

 * Narrator
 * Chibitalia
 * Chibiromano
 * Holy Roman Empire
 * Ancient Rome (non-speaking cameo)
 * France (non-speaking cameo)

Japanese Cast

 * Italy, Chibiromano: Daisuke Namikawa
 * Germany: Hiroki Yasumoto
 * Japan: Hiroki Takahashi
 * America: Katsuyuki Konishi
 * England/UK: Noriaki Sugiyama
 * France: Masaya Onosaka
 * Russia: Yasuhiro Takato
 * China, Narrator (Chibitalia): Yuki Kaida
 * Switzerland: Romi Park
 * Spain: Go Inoue
 * Poland: Kazutada Tanaka
 * Estonia: Atsushi Kousaka
 * Chibitalia: Aki Kanada
 * Holy Roman Empire: Jun Konno

English Cast

 * Italy: Todd Haberkorn
 * Germany: Patrick Seitz
 * Japan: Christopher Bevins
 * America: Eric Vale
 * Britain: Scott Freeman
 * France: J. Michael Tatum
 * Russia: Jerry Jewell
 * China: Clarine Harp
 * Switzerland: John Burgmeier
 * Spain: Dave Trosko
 * Poland: Ryan Bijan
 * Estonia: Mike McFarland
 * Chibitalia: Brina Palencia
 * Chibiromano: Ian Sinclair
 * Holy Roman Empire: Chris Cason
 * Narrator (Chibitalia): Jamie Marchi

Meeting Of The World

 * In the manga version, Greece has a small speaking role, while in the episode we only see the shot of him sleeping.
 * South Korea and Austria are excluded from the sequence, although a character design of Austria in his "Meeting Of The World" outfit was shown in promotional images and turnarounds for the series. A character design of South Korea also existed, but was later removed from the official site after he was written out of the series.
 * Some further dialogue between characters is trimmed out for time constraints, most notably the part with England apologizing to Germany and Austria's entire role.
 * In the manga version, Italy's haircurl was shown to be in the shape of a heart when Germany called on him. This detail was not carried over to the animated adaptation.
 * This segment is notable for its reuse of animation when it comes to Germany's part: The close-up shot of his mouth, the panning shot of the room, and him slamming his hand down are three such scenes that are repeated.
 * In the gg fansub version (popular before the license of the series), there were a few notable errors: When Poland is threatening Russia and protecting Lithuania, the subs above Lithuania's katakana name are incorrect. They are meant to be "Lithuania", though they read "Latvia" instead, a fellow Baltic. The subbers also translated Russia's reply to Estonia to make him say that bullying was fun, while the official subs and other translations instead reveal that he was calling Estonia annoying.

Chibitalia

 * The first part of the Chibitalia strip where France, Spain, and Holy Roman Empire bully Chibitalia for his art and land, is not included, as it was cut from the published version of the manga.
 * Ancient Rome in the original Chibitalia strip is depicted as an elderly man when he takes Chibitalia to live with him. In the anime adaptation, he appears as the younger warrior version that is shown in the prologue.
 * While the younger Romano (later referred to as Chibiromano in the anime to differentiate from his older self) is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa for his cameo in this episode, the role would later be recast and given to Aki Kanada in the third season (World Series). In the dubbed version of this episode, the role was given to Ian Sinclair, who also voices the adult Romano.