Some might remember the Beginner’s Guide to Axis Powers Hetalia from a while back. Nowadays, chances are you’d hear more about Polandball in the West, than personified countries in the vein of Hidekaz Himaruya’s work. However, it looks like 2020 has a few more pleasant surprises: with the announcement of both a new season and manga, the infamous series is springing back to life.
As revealed by both official sources and Natalie.mu, on October 25th, conveniently on “World Pasta Day,” a new season of the Hetalia adaptation, Hetalia World Stars, is slated for a Spring 2021 premiere. In addition to the manga resuming for the first time since being put on hiatus back in 2018, Studio DEEN is once more handling production — having handled the previous seasons, the last being 2015’s The World Twinkle — with director Hiroshi Watanabe, script supervisor Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, and character designer Mariko Oka involved in the upcoming project. Even many of the original voice actors have been mentioned as reprising their roles. From the quips coming from Daisuke Namikawa (Italy), Hiroki Yasumoto (Germany), and Hiroki Takahashi (Japan), you get the impression that despite the pandemic, they’re enthusiastic about delving back in.
再始動まで、あと…３✨#日丸屋秀和 #ヘタリア #カウントダウン pic.twitter.com/lSS4RatmFK
— 日丸屋秀和 公式 (@hima_kaz) October 22, 2020
The spike in popularity and attention following the original mangaka’s appearance on Twitter suggests that the Hetalia fandom is still alive and well. (Source: Twitter)
Even before the new anime’s reveal, the news that Hidekaz Himaruya himself had created a Twitter account, complete with new official Hetalia art, had already set the seemingly moribund fandom alight. While it’s still too early to tell at this point what’s in store, years of rumors, waiting, and generally being away from the limelight, are finally coming to an end.
The new year just can’t come fast enough.
