Hidekaz Himaruya’s Hetalia – Axis Powers manga is set to receive its third stage musical adaptation this summer, as announced at the “Hetalia~The Fantastic World~ Blu-ray Disc Release Commemorative Event.”
The musical is scheduled to be held at the Nippon Seinenkan Hall in Tokyo, Morinomiya Piloti Hall in Osaka, and the Kyoto Theater in Kyoto, marking the first time the stage production will be presented in three cities.
The upcoming musical is part of the new series of Hetalia musical adaptations. The initial installment, titled Hetalia ~The world is wonderful~, premiered in December 2021, followed by the second musical, Hetalia ~The Fantastic World~, in April 2023.
Notably, both of these musical stage plays were showcased in Tokyo and Osaka. The Hetalia franchise has a history of inspiring stage musicals in Japan, with the previous one, Musical Hetalia Final Live ~A World in the Universe~, running in March 2018.
The latest anime adaptation of Hidekaz Himaruya’s Hetalia World Stars manga made its debut in April 2021. Hetalia World Stars is the most recent addition to the Hetalia franchise, originally launching in Shonen Jump+ on the same day the online manga service was introduced.
The manga went on hiatus in April 2018 but resumed serialization in Shonen Jump+ in April 2021. Shueisha has released four compiled volumes for the manga. In addition to Hetalia World Stars, Himaruya started a new manga about Japanese prime ministers in Shueisha’s Jump SQ. in December 2020.
Himaruya’s original work, Hetalia – Axis Powers manga, personifies countries and regions worldwide, portraying them as anthropomorphized (mostly) bishōnen characters. The manga was released in North America by Right Stuf in collaboration with its former English-language publisher, Tokyopop, and its Japanese publisher, Gentosha Comics.
