There’s so many subtle hints and Easter Eggs that Hima
includes in his story-lines that I just have to talk about, since they appear to
be dismissed very easily. The amount of detail he puts into each strip, the
placement and sequence of the panels, the symbolism, and the foreshadowing he
uses to connect seemingly random strips together is sheer brilliance. With that
said, let’s start this new series!

In the “Lithuania’s Outsourcing” strips, Lithuania moves in
with America after WW1, as his economy had been experiencing a serious economic
recess­ion.

Immediately,
England gets suspicious, and being the nosy person that he is, he decides to
investigate if Lithuania’s being treated right by America. To me, this just
seems like a subtle form of jealousy in the sense that America is spending time
with someone else.

Anyways, America greets England by serving him coffee, which
is noted to be out of spite due to his lingering grudge from the Revolutionary
War. It’s a petty way of getting the last laugh over the situation.

Later, in the “Cleaning Out the Storage” strip, America reminisces
about said war and experiences several flashbacks. What Hima does next wraps
everything up subtly, and that’s what makes me admire his craft so much. You
can either enjoy Hetalia for its superficial face value, or you can look deeper
and find nuanced little details…well, everywhere.

Regardless, the scene ends with Lithuania serving America,
yes, coffee. This is the perfect conclusion in my opinion, as it reveals how
broken and fragmented America and England’s relationship is. It’s just the
right amount of conflict: 

You can see how
fond America is of his early days with England, and yet, it’s clear that he’s
not ready to let go of his grudge just yet.