Hetalia Axis Powers is really that rare creature: although it's a series of shorts aired on the web, it's still a full-scale anime production by Studio Deen...and yet it's cleary doing pretty damn well. A third season was just announced at Animate.tv , and the series will begin in March 2010. The Hetalia anime has an odd history. Based on a manga revolving around personified nations, a flurry of whining from South Korea about the character based on their nation resulted in the shorts going web-only, as opposed to the TV airing that they were supposed to get. In spite of that, or perhaps in part because of it, Hetalia has its own fandom within the fandom that always surprises me-- they're not super LOUD fans, it's not like you run into them all the time and they evangelize the way fans of Naruto, FMA, and other fandom-within-a-fandom types sometimes do...and yet, I remember at Anime Expo seeing this whole big circle of girls in Hetalia cosplay doing a song and dance that was sort of their own sub-sub-niche equivalent of Hare Hare Yukai. So, you kinda always know the Hetalia fans are there, but their vehemence surprises you when you see 'em since they don't make a big fuss all the time. Which is kinda cool.
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