Hetalia: Axis Powers is a Japanese comic, later adapted as a manga and an anime series, by Hidekazu Himaruya. The series presents an allegorical interpretation of political and historic events, particularly of the World War II era, in which the various countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters. Hetalia is a portmanteau combining hetare (Japanese for "incompetent") and Italia. This is to make light of Italy's apparent cowardice during World War II.

Himaruya originally created Hetalia as an online webcomic, and so far three tankōbon have been published by Gentosha Comics, the first on March 28, 2008, the second on December 10, 2008, and the third on May 20, 2010. The series was later adapted into drama CDs, and an anime series created by Studio Deen has also begun streaming online. As of January 8, 2010, the anime series' international distribution is being handled by Funimation Entertainment.

The main historical events portrayed in this work occur between World War I and World War II. The series often uses satire and comedy to address well-known historical events as well as historical and cultural trivia. Historical, political, and military interaction between countries is allegorically represented in Hetalia as social and romantic interaction between the characters; the webcomic version in particular depicts military and economic incursions using various innuendo.

 

Informations Source: Wikipedia