Many people have bashed Hetalia for seemingly having zero substance. They believe that because the manga has no overarching plot, it is automatically bad. Well, I disagree, and I will try my best to defend my stance.

Hetalia is technically a political satire, but it can also be seen as a slice-of-life of sorts. In each of the short chapters, historical events are reframed as fleeting moments in the lives of the personified countries. These are more often than not comedic and lighthearted in nature regardless of the significance of the real historical events they are based on. Some chapters also show the personified countries partaking in certain activities in order to reflect the actual practices and traditions of the real-world countries they represent.

That being said this series is highly character-driven. Fortunately, the characters are exceptionally endearing. Each character is based on the various stereotypes of their respective countries making the series incredibly accessible and easy to understand, but that does not mean that the characters are dull. Most of the characters have unique designs and personalities; thus, the characters themselves along with their interactions with one another are highly memorable.

In regards to the comedy, I would say that it is pretty good. I would not call it stellar; it seems like the creator dialed the humor down as the series went on to make it a bit more advertiser friendly, but the show makes up for it with the aforementioned slice-of-life aspect. In other words, comedy is not the only appealing thing that this series has.

In conclusion, Hetalia is a great series for those who enjoy both comedy and slice-of-life manga. Now, the downside is that because this series was originally a web comic, the release of the chapters and general content was inconsistent; thus, keeping track of the entire web comic is quite difficult if one has not been following the series from its conception or at least its peak in popularity.