In essence, what it appears to be trying to teach us is that Italy has been, is, and always will be, rubbish. Well, thanks for the insightful and not at all stereotypical information Hetalia! To be fair, there is the odd vaguely educational vignette hidden away in here, but it's buried so far beneath the dim-witted, cowardly, pasta obsessed portrayal of Italy, you'll be lucky to find it.
In comparison, Germany circa World War I seems to be quite forgiving and curmudgeonly, because of course Germany was a very kind-hearted nation at that point in its history....
Now, I have nothing against leaning on stereotypes for comic purposes (witness Fawlty Towers' infamous "don't mention the war" episode), but when those stereotypes are so weak they don't even offer one joke worthy of the name, then you have to wonder what the point is. Thus, I find myself wondering what the point of Axis Powers Hetalia actually is. Still, no sign of any Koreans yet.
Posts
Anon