Based on a popular web-released manga series by Hidekazu Himaruya, this has been described as a "cynical gag" story set in Europe in the years between WW1 and WW2 (1915-1939), using exaggerated caricatures of the different nationalities as portrayed by a gaggle of bishounen boys. For example, the Italia Veneziano character is into pasta and women. The Deutsche (German) bishi loves potatoes and sausages, and Nippon is an otaku boy. Installments of the manga have jumped back and forth in setting from the ancient times to modern-day geopolitics. The manga's title comes the Japanese words for "useless" (hetare) and Italy (Italia).
Categories
Canada
The great white north.
China
Very big, cheap Rolexes, everyone does kung-fu.
Comedy
Anime whose central struggle causes hilarious results. These stories are built upon funny characters, situations and events. A comedy anime is laced with humour and sets out to provoke laughter from the audience.
Japanese humour can be a bit strange to westerners, so if you`re new to this type of humour, just bear with it; it`ll most likely grow on you if you`re a fan of other kinds of comedy.
Earth
That big mud ball that most of us live on.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world`s seven traditional continents.
France
no description set yet
Germany
Germany is a country in Central Europe.
Historical
Historical anime have clear ties to our history and usually occur in a particular epoch.
Italy
no description set yet
Japan
Last stronghold for humanity, if Tokyo falls, it`s all over. Tokyo tower will undoubtedly fall anyway.
Military
The anime concerns an organised armed force, and its members. Said body should have both the equipment and hierarchy found in military groups, and should ideally be actively utilising their power against an opponent. Characters are either employed as professional soldiers or enlisted on a volunteer basis, for ideological reasons.
Original Work: Manga
Manga is the lifeblood that drives the anime industry. Everything and its mother is based on manga. However! There are exceptions where the manga was not the basis for the anime.
It`s common practice to make manga adaptations of many popular anime, there`s a manga based on Evangelion, and two (one shounen and one shoujo) based on each of Escaflowne and Mahou Tsukai Tai. Also it`s quite common to release manga and anime versions of a story in parallel, for instance Nadesico and Shoujo Kakumei Utena. There are also cases where an anime continues in a manga, or reverse, as in the case of Angel Beats! and Angel Beats: Heaven`s Door.
Parody
Anime that imitate other stories (can be from TV, film, books, historical events, ...) for comic effect by exaggerating the style and changing the content of the original. Also known as spoofs. It can also refer to when whole elements of one work are lifted out of their context and reused.
Plot Continuity
Consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the viewer.
A single linear focused plot is highly continuous.
A truly random plot is highly discontinuous.
Russia
Russia is the largest country in the world. This includes the Asian part, with Siberia as its far-east part and the European part before the Ural mountain range, with its capital Moscow.
Stereotypes
Then there is the question of the character set presentation. Is it completely original, or is it your usual stereotypical character cast. Both choices have their merit, for example it would not really make much sense to reinvent the wheel for a harem anime. Fans of that genre come to expect their favourite stereotype protagonists.
Super Deformed
A caricature style often seen in anime when the character shows extreme emotions, like fear, anger, happiness, surprise, or shame. Seen as cute, as part of humorous comedy. The character`s face suddenly turns into a simplified version, the body will usually also deform into that of a small child (oversized head, short limbs, extra-large tears).
Time: Past
Anime that takes place in the past or clearly seems to take place in the past in case of an alternative universe. This category should almost always go together with one of its sub-categories, because the past can either be a depiction of a historical event(s) or not, in which case it would be alternative past.
United States
The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district.
United-Kingdom
The nation that once ruled half the globe (British Empire). Origin of the English language.
World War II
This category is for anime that take place during or around World War II, including the prelude to the actual war when Hitler came to power.
