Why is Hetalia so popular?

I don't think Yaoi has anything to do with it. My sister LOVES Hetalia and she HATES yaoi.

You can't just watch one episode and judge the whole series off it. You have to keep watching it, get to know the characters.

I love Hetalia, because the character are so put together, the jokes are so funny and well thought up. I love the dept of the characters and their personalities. All their relationships and friendship with the other characters really got me into it. It's funny and a good story. I watch it when I'm depressed, so I can see that love and friendship is everywhere, that we all join together to make the world. I just love the message it gives, the characters, the story, the friendships, the partnership, and...just everything about it. It can teach you history and even make history more fun to learn. It's a comedy, but yet it can get you crying. Most people seem to ignore the history and just the deep beauty in this show. All the idiots of the fandom who just like it for yaoi and the boys. While others love it for what it really is, a beautiful and deep story. That can make you laugh, cry, and get you to learn about the world. It's just a beautiful anime and I love it. The world is not prefect we made it the way it is today. But together we can change it one country at a time. One person can change one thing, two can move mountains, but more can change a world

Let me give you some advice: Don't bother with Hetalia. Seriously, for the sake of your brain cells, you do not want to suffer through more than one episode. Hell, you already watched one episode too many, and I'm going to list some very valid reasons why you should just stop right there.

1. Story. There is absolutely no plot whatsoever to drive this shitty show forward. Then again, that could probably be attributed to the fact that it parodies WWII, which brings us to the next problem...

2. Parody. The fact that Hetalia parodies WWII is already a bad sign. Since it's spoofing and mocking a real world event, that alone gives it less freedom to develop a story and flesh itself out a little (should've followed Excel Saga's example and just parody a different thing every episode). Not only that, but it does a very poor job of spoofing, since not a single joke is funny. That brings us yet again to another problem...

3. Humor... or lack thereof. The only way you'll find Hetalia funny is if you like to laugh at movies such as Spy Hard, Disaster Movie, and Meet the Spartans (so in other words, if you're a fan of movies made by Friedberg and Seltzer, Hetalia is right up your alley). There is not a shred of good humor to be found. Let me ask this: How is some waste-of-space jerk-off stuffing hamburgers in his mouth funny? How is Britain putting together references to both Dumbledore and Dora the Explorer in a magic spell funny? It's like referencing the Milkshake song while making fun of the Milkshake speech from There Will Be Blood. It isn't funny. You know what it is? It's fucking stupid.

4. Animation. The 'cutesy' artstyle in Hetalia is painfully overdone to the point that it looks like what would happen if My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was animated by AKOM Productions. Also, I might add that none of the characters are unique in terms of character design, since most of them share the same hair-style and such. Speaking of characters...

5. Characters. This is probably Hetalia's biggest crime. NONE of the characters have any likable qualities whatsoever. You literally have no reason to like any of the characters. Italy is an annoying little bitch that needs to be tortured Hellraiser style, Japan has all the personality of a piss puddle, France is nothing more than a shit-eating rapist, Canada is basically a Redshirt character that never dies... I could go on. Not a single character gets any amount of character development, with the exception of America. However, even HIS development (or rather what little he has) doesn't help him much since it's spread out through FIVE episodes. A competent anime such as Cowboy Bebop would give each character reasons to be liked, character development, and would dispense them in usually just one or two episodes.

There. I just gave you five valid reasons why Hetalia sucks and you should avoid it. If you want a GOOD comedy anime, go check out Soul Eater.

The thing about Hetalia is you have to be able to endure extreme excessive randomness to like it. It also helps if you're educated in World History, because that's what the entire series revolves around. Certainly, the first episode was excruciatingly insane, and after watching it I had no desire to continue. The only reason I got into it was because my friend wanted to watch it and she made me watch five episodes with her. After watching it with her, I actually started to love the show.

Let me say, it doesn't get that much more serious after episode one. In-fact, it's almost impossible to comprehend unless you've learned about the events prior to watching it.

Think of it like adventure time. That show is so freaking random and stupid, and yet it has so many fans (me included ._.) I can understand where you come from when you say you don't understand why it's so popular. But the facts are, there are lots of people that enjoy mindless humor.

And plus, a lot of Hetalia characters are really cute ._.

At first I wasn't a fan of Hetalia because of the first episode but then a few months later I gave it another try and I somehow found myself finishing every episode of Axis in both Japanese and English because it was too Hilarious.
And Hetalia isn't a yaoi at all, I mean, there may be some funny reference but from my knowledge and looking back at all of the episodes there really isn't an yoai.
Though I'll admit that there are fangirls who make their own matching couples, which is hilarious.
But yeah, another thing people enjoy Hetalia is because it is a way they can see how their country is portrayed by other countries and the common knowledge sterotypes.
This is why i love Hetalia :)

YAOI is a huge reason for it being popular.

because It shows us a history on very easy way XD

all the characters look good :)

It's really cute and funny? lol i'm not exactly a huge Hetalia fan so i can't say.

Just because the first episode sucked doesn't mean the whole series sucks =_=

[Le adds more]

You wanna know why people are SOOOO Into Hetalia?

**YAOI**

You can get over 700 couples In Hetalia!!

The History is good too but we Hetalians care more about the Yaoi ~

Well you kinda have to watch them at once because its like the shows that if you watch out of order then you won't get it. I know that the episodes are really short though but they kinda lead into what the next episode(s) are going to be. Ya and also its because you can ship anyone in the series like France and England (FrUK) and America and England (USUK) are probably the most popular ones you can get out of the show, but there are others.

Hoped that helped : )

I'm not into it for the yaoi, okay? I only support 2 couples =_=

I haven no idea why it's so popular, honestly. I love it personally, because it's funny. It's cute. It's just flat out entertaining; and the thought of countries being people is so far-fetched and crazy that it just.... works :\

Not much of a fan myself.....

It's fucking hilarious and those boys are cute as fuck.

Well this was asked a long time ago but I'l answer this anyway...

Well sadly, lots of people are just into it for the yaoi the fandom offers. Even though in the actually show, it has nothing to do with that.

Here, I'll just leave you with this article. It does a really good job at explaining what exactly Hetalia is, and why me and others can't get enough of it~
link

To really enjoy and understand Hetalia, is if you know "some" basic history, because it's fun to relate the story, which is more comedic, to the real history, which makes you want to fall asleep and die during class. Once you take history class, you'll realize how much better Hetalia is.

Also, the Yaoi is necessary in Hetalia, because there's alliances and stuff made, and the only way to express it is through BL. Sorry if ya don't like it, but you have to face it to get it. Just freaking imagine that France and Italy is a girl or something!

I have no idea *sees pop-up in the corner reading a award that is called Veteran* Okay? o.O Anyway, I have no clue. I started watching it too since a few of my friends loved it and because of the amount of fanfictions on it (which is cause of the popularity) so I watched about 7 episodes. It was odd as fuck. I've seen A LOT of odd things, but that in a show takes the cake. I had no idea what I was watching, it was 5 minutes long, etc. I might just go finish it, only so I knew what the fanfics of it were talking about. (You know, that anime lingo. ;D )

Hetalia is not a yaoi. It's popular because for some reason, human countries are appealing.

Honestly? I think maybe they just love the plot and the characters.