Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Hetalia Axis Powers Vol. 2 by Hidekaz Himaruya LillyPadGraphics :the art and writings of Rachel Brazeale. Hetalia, Axis Powers volume two ranked 1 st place in the New York Time’s Best Selling mangas. “Okay,” you say to me, “But what’s Hetalia?” (Or maybe you’re a long standing fan and are gushing in your seat as you read.) Hetalia, Axis Powers (also known as “Axis Powers Hetalia,” “APH,” or simply “Hetalia”) is a webcomic turned manga/television series. Its creator, Hidekaz Himaruya, has captured the hearts of millions all over the world from his home in Japan. Himaruya continues to make new characters and draw up new short or long comic strips on his blog (which is written in Japanese, though often one can find translations on LiveJournal.) Currently, two manga books of the series have been released in America, and three have been released in Japan. The television series (anime) is currently 52 episodes long, 2 seasons running (each season running for 26 episodes) and a 3ed season has been confirmed. “Okaaaaaay,” my in-the-dark readers are saying to me, “But what is it? What’s it about, if it’s so good?” Well, now that I have confused your brain with numbers, I will tell you. As the more history savvy readers are aware of already, the title has already told you that this is a story about World War II. “Axis Powers” were the countries who opposed the Allies during WWII. The two sides were mostly remembered for looking like this: Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. Allied Powers: England, France, Russia, China, America, etc. Now, when I say this is a war story, I half lied. Yes, it is. But… it also really isn’t about war all that much. Predominantly, Hetalia is a comedy. Now, if you are not already a Hetalia fan, you are probably staring at your computer screen with confusion. “What? WWII and… comedy? How does that work?” Well… I suppose it just does . Anyway, I’ve avoided telling you the big twist to the plot long enough. Hetalia, Axis Powers is about personified countries during WWII. There are other strips that take place before or after as well, but the linear timeline is World War II era. Forget the epic tale of battles, death, and… probably pages and pages of boring you’re imagining. Though that is slightly alluded to throughout the series, the show is predominantly a comedy, and thus the darker side rarely makes an appearance. Instead, start picturing Ouran High School Host Club, A Very Potter Musical, and your history book all had a three-way relationship and produced a hyperactive, cute-as-can-be lovechild. Oh wait, I just described baby!America…. Hetalia puts history and cultural aspects in a humorous, easy to comprehend, non-frightening manner. Each character is different and everyone can find one they can identify with, even if it’s not their own country. Hetalia has a habit of bringing people together from all over the world. It fun, light- hearted nature draws people to it, and it also teaches some history, and encourages its fans to learn. All in all, it’s a hard to describe series, since there’s so much to it. Simply, it’s the allies and the axis and other countries having silly adventures, but it is so much more than that. Honestly, I’d say watch a few episodes, or read the manga or webcomic. With the television series, though there is a version for English, I would suggest watching it in Japanese with subtitles first. The English version, though has some great voice actors and is sometimes funnier than the original, is sometimes distasteful in humor and even less politically correct than the original Japanese version and may be a turn off for a new fan. So, if I have piqued your interest, I’ll be seeing you at the next anime con at the hetalia table. For more information, check out the HetaliaWIKI. Axis Powers Hetalia/Hidekaz Himaruya/WMG. Not only did he create an internet phenomenon, he created hoards of raging female fans, practically teasing tons of people wanting to join in on the fun, spawned countless internet memes that will eventually rot our minds, and sparked a huge controversy. If you were a regular college New Yorker that simply made a webcomic and caused all this. wouldn't you be just absolutely euphoric? In other words, this is one of the biggest instances of trolling ever. Well played. Hidekaz Himaruya is in on the whole thing. If this fic is any indication, he's one of the "scribes" observing the Nations since World War II. And he's using the knowledge learned as Japan's scribe to make the franchise. The catch is that they're supposed to be top secret. So he tweaks and waters down some details, passes his work as fiction and cover his tracks on the Internet. Even if he were to talk to another scribe about, say, Francis streaking during the Tour de France, none would be the wiser. On that note, so is humon. Only she's the "scribe" for the Nordics. Also, does anyone find it why there's next to nothing online on Himaruya himself (or at least pics of him)? On a second note, he's a capitol, and Japan tells him about meetings, stories, and such. Himaruya is an alpaca. So. it's canon? Alternatively, his day job is an alpaca farmer. Himaruya is gay. Hence the preference for Ho Yay in almost all of his works. Perhaps his characters are based on the gay community he encountered in NY One rumor goes he had a Fujoshi upperclassman who would make him draw what she wanted, and after that he couldn't shake off the Fujoshi mindset. Himaruya was conflicted on whether to make Canada or Mexico but chose Canada. He spent time in Canada, and got to know a lot of Canadians. Chances are, he doesn't know enough about Mexico yet to draw a Tan for it. Himaruya will release one or two nations every year, most likely a principality and will reveal a big nation only when he needs to promote something. Himaruya IS Estonia. Not an author avatar, but actually him. Eesti is watching the other nations and putting their antics in a webcomic For the Lulz. Does that make Estonia an Alpaca as well? areallAlpacas. Spain is Himaruya's favorite character. There's been so much of Spain in sketches on his blog and in the manga. Heck he was even the spokesperson for promoting book 3. Let's face it Himaruya is hot for Spain. There's been more Spain than usual as of late, but I don't think it comes close to how much he likes to deal with America and Japan. ? He said his favorite character was Estonia for what I recall. If I remember correctly, he was making a joke about how the Estonia design looked just like him. I think the comment was more along the lines of how handsome he was than that Estonia was his favorite. Estonia. Nyotalia harem . That is all. Himaruya works at a travel agency as his day job. Himaruya intended to troll us with Hetalia from the very beginning. "Hidekaz Himaruya" doesn't really exist. Let me explain. Japan one day gets really bored and starts doing some doodles of his friends. On a whim, he decides to make little comics of them. When he shows the others, they all like them, and someone (probably America) dares him to make a webcomic out of it. Japan comes up with the pen name "Hidekaz Himruya", and even designs "Himaruya", making him look a bit like Estonia for a laugh. Italy is the titular character because Japan is trying to hide the fact that he's the author - it'd be pretty obvious were Japan the main character - and the "hetare Italia" bit was a joke suggested by Germany that Italy hasn't managed to get yet. He's careful to make fun of himself a bit, getting tips from the others on how they see his quirkiness. Of course, he can't resist giving himself oodles of Ship Tease. South Korea gets a bit upset over it, but other then that, the others love the little comics. I mean, come on . Who would know history better then someone who had seen it first-hand? I mean, Japan can directly access primary sources for all sorts of historical events, and recent history is no problem for him. He's also seen firsthand what world conferences and G8 meetings are like. He came up with the cover story of "Himaruya" having gone to America and met lots of people from other nationalities to explain "Himaruya"'s knowledge of stuff to do with other countries. He won't make the Holocaust a KAWAII DESU YAOI FEST because he's not an asshole. Actually, this is pretty much confirmed in a way. He won't touch the Holocaust because there are just some things you can't DESU DESU up ever. I think he even said he wouldn't even go near the issue without serious consideration and with a very dark tone, and was rather disgusted by some of the holocaust yaoi popping up with Germany and Poland. Not that Hetalia is, per se, a KAWAII DESU YAOI FEST. When did he say that? Link please? Himaruya is going to start doing more serious strips.