User blog comment:TheAbnormalFreak/Regarding the capitals/@comment-2004850-20101022102025

Hey, chill, we won't go out and attack ya ;)

Well, some of the characters fit within the high school age spectrum--in some schools, people may be 19 by the end, depending on when they enlisted in elementary. The rest can just be assumed to be younger than what their physical age indicates. (Though they could possibly fit a high school student in any case.)

Ah, but the main reason they are used is because...Well, people know and love them. Fans wants to see France and Japan and America, rather than Paris, Tokyo, and Washington DC. The main character, Seychelles, acts a bit like the main player: we're new, we don't understand ourselves or our situation very well, and now we're interacting with these wacky peers. Also, keep in mind that using capitals would mean having to design a cornucopia of new characters---energy that could be used to make new nation-characters. Capitals just can't be seamlessly implemented into Hetalia in any great number. The plot revolves around countries interacting, so all of the capital characters would, in essence, be useless.