Hetalia in its original form is a webcomic with a cast made up of human representations of countries. One could say the characters are like gijinkas for territories. They each embody several qualities common to their people but they also have their own free wills and additional personality traits that make them their own unique selves. The nation characters live at least as long as their country or territory exists, physically aging at varying rates based on national power and population. Most characters are easily over a hundred years old but have the body of a young adult. It is unclear exactly how a nation can die but it is possible at least for them to “disappear.”
Hetalia is a comedy (mostly), poking fun at the facepalm moments of history and serving up culture shock jokes. Characters interact in ways that vaguely represent historical events or simply end up in comedic situations together. At the same time, the series has its serious moments, addressing issues such as the nation characters’ experiences with loss and war, the confusion of being human but not human at the same time, and immortality in a changing world. Perhaps a better description for the cast of Hetalia would be “spirits of the nations.”
A description of Hetalia for those who are canon blind ;3
Hetalia is a comedy (mostly), poking fun at the facepalm moments of history and serving up culture shock jokes. Characters interact in ways that vaguely represent historical events or simply end up in comedic situations together. At the same time, the series has its serious moments, addressing issues such as the nation characters’ experiences with loss and war, the confusion of being human but not human at the same time, and immortality in a changing world. Perhaps a better description for the cast of Hetalia would be “spirits of the nations.”