14:49 In Hima's defense, when you're basically just some guy and your webcomic ends up causing a minor diplomatic incident, I do think the safest reaction would be to try and distance yourself from it in some way

It's funny how much the perception of Russia differs from one fan to another and from country to country. First of all, as a Russian myself I've had close contacts with the Russian fandom and used to be friends with many Russian hetalians. There are two positions: Russians either despise him or adore him, no in-between. For multiple reasons. Also the fandom image of Russia is so OOC but it's rooted so deep into the fandom that people forget what his canon personality is. Russia is manipulative and creepy but also naive and childish and honestly kinda cute. Screw that, said the fandom, let's make him the most depressed edgelord in history, let's make him swear every five seconds and be gloomy and hate his life and everyone in it. I understand that his canon creepy cute yandere personality is perfect for comedy but not really fitting for anything more serious so adding that OOC part when you absolutely can't avoud it makes sense. The thing is, his personality matches Russia as a country the way it is seen in the world right now but Russian people are very different so he's kinda inaccurate.

I think the reason why Hima made the Philippines male is that the nation itself was named after King Philip. Though I get why and many others are upset with his decision.

4:10
The way I see it, Ukraine as a PERSON feels a deep bond with Russia because they met when they were so little and they considered each other siblings.
She has fond memories of Ivan and wishes they could all be family and close like things used to be (Russia also shows this sentiment from time to time).
As Nations, however, they aren't supposed to be on as good terms.
Katya was shown having been advised by her boss not to see Ivan and she expresses sorrow for this, because she misses being close to him as a person regardless of politics.

Watching those anime episodes nowdays after the war started surely feels bitter, but I do believe it didn't actually age like milk, I've always thought what Himaruya was trying to convey there was their feelings as human beings and not as puppets by their respective governments.
Hetalia characters always have their own personality, feelings and wishes that don't necessarily overlap with their people's average or their government's wishes.
Germany not being a fervid Nazi during WW2 despite being forced to follow orders should've proven that enough.

We get all the Japanese prefectures but literally NONE of Latin America, a FEW middle east, TWO from Africa...bruhhhh 💀 like can we at least get countries like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kenya and Nigeria?? Like damn💀

As a portuguese I would like a lot more if Portugal was a woman, specifically because like ... PORTUGAL IN HETALIA IS JUST A CLONE OF SPAIN, but also because the Portuguese Republic in portuguese is female like the "gender of the words" is female and it would be really interesting to have another female character(also forgot to mention that the capital is always refered by the locals as a woman, THERE IS LITERALLY A SONG ABOUT IT("Lisboa menina e moça" for the curious)).

Also in your video 65 Facts About Every Single Hetalia Character I never understood why Himaruya decided that "you know what I'm gonna add that the person who taught Portugal how to fight Spain was England" when historically that doesn't make sense since Portugal and Spain have been fighting way before Portugal asked for England's help so ... yeah.

Unpopular opinion: Hima was right about making Ireland as a male instead of a female. If Ireland was a female character we would have got 1849021 fanfics about how Ireland got pregnant of England and how Northern Ireland was born, we already had a few fics where England was like very bad with Ireland, can't mention here cause its sensitive topics when he wasn't even canon, so now that he is canon, I'm glad he is a male, I think you guys dont realize the AMOINT of England x Ireland or Scotland x Ireland if Ireland was a female so it's a big no for me.

But I agree with Philipinnes not being a woman as for Portugal I don't really him either

We got all the Japanese prefectures. And yet no rest of the Americas or Africa

At this point I just have decided that the whole regions are body parts aspect of Hetalia isn't canon and hasn't been for almost a decade. It was never a good edition to the series to begin with.

Wasn't one of the first instances of this Hima making Corsica Italy's nipple? And he only did that just to have France molest Italy. Nevermind the fact Corsica is a part of France today so does that mean France owns Italy's nipple? Probably. It wasn't funny in 2007 and its not funny now. This lore can die, give me region personifications instead.

glad someone is talking about this 4:04. also egypt and cyprus so so true like those people in these countries who are LOUD anyways, especially as someone who lives with people from both countries. and poland is soooo true haha i feel the same and he’s my favorite

12:00
Poland didn't disappear for the same reason why Italy somehow existed through all the centuries when Italy as an actual Nation didn't exist, and the strip you showed at 12:07 implies this very well: this strip is about the raise of Patriotic sentiment in the 1800s, which was a big factor in why the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire eventually crumbled from the inside.
Hetalia Personifications are mostly not linked to whether an Independent government exists or not, but to whether they have people who recognize themselves as part of a set of traditions/cultures/language/history and perceive themselves as 'something else' compared to all other existing Nations.
Poland disappeared as an independent Country, but Poles did not. Much like Italians, being ruled by foreign Nations only made their patriotic sentiment burn more strongly, which allowed their Heta-Self to survive.

Philippines, Ireland, and Portugal is quite a troublesome in History if those characters happens to be female. Especially with the Philippines because of the treacherous history with Spain, America, and Japan. Are you aware of the consequence of the shipping controversy that may be tied with History? Himaruya with the given credit that took so long is because he wants to prevent a "Korea Controversy Scandal" where ironically Korea was omitted in the Anime. Many Filipinos who i know do not give a DAMN if the country was portrayed as a Man as long as the history is not inaccurate, lately in the country has been struggling with History Inaccuracy and History Revisionism for decades now. Also the country was named after a King of Spain.

For Ireland, it is also again with history that may be more troublesome with England with England's wrongdoing with banning of Ireland's Culture and Language which messes up that not all Irish People speak Irish as their Main Language apart from English. Portugal also ties with History too with Spain

Again i could go on, but given where credit is due to Himaruya, he does take time to do research with History and not to offend a lot People. Sometimes a Female character is not suited due to insensitive History and depiction of stereotypes. Korea is not in the anime, isn't it that not enough? i ain't sexist but i wish some characters were female too like Poland, Croatia, or Romania for example. There's a saying goes "This is why we can't have nice things!"

0:55 as filipino i went from "oh no, the boi is in the dishonorable mention" to.."actually valid reason fr fr"

Your opinion on Russia is sad, but valid. Even though I joined the fandom pretty late, I knew he was a controversial character. Lots of reasons to love him, but also lots of reasons to hate him. He's always been kind of hard for me to define, especially because his actions and behaviors contradict his thoughts and intentions many times. A seemingly deliberate writing choice, but one that I'm not sure Hima has executed that well.
I like Spain and generally think he's funny, but he's not much of a favorite of mine. The Romano stuff is a pretty big reason why, but I also think his personality is kinda boring lol
I completely agree with you on the Ancient Nations. Their designs are so cool, but I could not care less about them.
All that aside, your dedication to the series has always been admirable. I consider myself an avid fan of the anime, but have admittedly not even caught up to the most recent season. I don't even read the manga. Meanwhile you're like the Hetalia encyclopedia lmao. It helps that you also draw upon your own historical knowledge and worldly experiences.

So painful that you got frustrated with your most loved character...I felt this pain through the screen, i've never had this experience thought

I totally agree with Poland. He had so much more potential in the series and history that could of been used, but they didn't use any of it

Hard agree with Germania. The only time I ever cared about him was in someone else's fancomic where they actually gave him character. And this is coming from someone who loves the Germanic nations as characters

Latvia's been smol his whole life!

The points you made about some countries, especially Egypt and Cyprus, make me think of how probably not having official post-Yugoslavia countries + Albania may actually be a blessing in disguise, as I fear they could be made into something basic like these poor guys... Egypt and Turkey would probably be your typical loud salesmen guys next to which Denmark looks like a calm person, and Cyprus would be just as intense as Greece about his excavations and history and would boast about it quite often (and for a good reason). I'm not from either of these countries, I'm just reading about their history and people, that's the idea I'm getting from what I've heard and seen so far.

2:11
The heights Hima released recently are supposedly the ones they have in current times.
140 cm was the height Latvia was mentioned to have under the Soviet Union and he did mention that he should be 10 cm taller but his height was compromised by Russia constantly pushing down on his head.
Since now the USSR is no more and Latvia is an independent Country, it only makes sense that Hima made him 15 cm taller (155cm).

The fact that some of their heights changed from the 20th to the 21st Century based on historical events is furtherly proven by the strip where Romano notices that Italy grew taller than him despite being shorter during WW2.

Hetalia characters' heights aren't simply based on average height in their Country, it's also (if not mostly) based on their history, geopolitical behavior and economy.