Marukaite Chikyuu

About

Marukaite Chikyuu (Draw a circle, there's the Earth) is a meme that originated from the anime Axis Powers Hetalia. It involves people singing the aforementioned song with different lyrics to fit with different non-canon countries/states/etc. The songs are usually cute and bubbly with lyrics that generalize and/or stereotype the country they are singing about. Originally a meme that was started within the production company itself, the meme has since grown and expanded its influence to other people in different countries.

Origin

The song was used as the ending theme for the first and second seasons of the anime Axis Powers Hetalia. The song was originally sung by Daisuke Namikawa in the voice of North Italy. The song caught on quickly with fans due to it's upbeat tempo and cutesy, almost nonsensical lyrics. It was released as a single on the Marukaite Chikyuu album, the first soundtrack to the anime adaptation of the show, on March 25th, 2009. Not long after the release of the first soundtrack, the first DVD was released on April 24th, 2009. The first volume contained a bonus CD that included a version of the song that was sung by Hiroki Yasumoto in the voice of Germany. Following in suit, the next volume of the DVD was released on May 22nd, 2009, and contained versions of the song that were sung by Hiroki Takahashi and Noriaki Sugiyama in the voices of Japan and England, respectively. The trend continued with each release of the DVDs. As of now, there are 18 versions of the song, including North Italy's, that have been released officially. There have even been versions released for Chibitalia (Little Italy) and Holy Roman Empire.

Spread

Soon after the release of the remakes by the cast, others were inspired to create their own version of the catchy tune. This was done either by choosing a country that did not already have an official version, or by creating an entirely new entity and creating lyrics for them instead, such as US states or other provinces. The user could then choose to either simply translate the original lyrics of the song to the country in question's native language, or create new lyrics that fit with that country/state/province. One of the most famous and earliest fan versions of the song was posted on April 10, 2009 by YouTube user Rindou. The version in question was done in Finnish to represent the country of Finland.

Not long after, other YouTube users began uploading their own versions.

Hatafutte Parade

The second ending to the third season of the series (or the first ending for Hetalia: World Series) is similar in nature to its predecessor. Already there have been even more fandubs and parodies made for the song. The song is also sung by Namikawa as Italy. Studio DEEN has already begun releasing the official remakes of the song, this time including that of Italy's brother Romano, who did not receive an official Marukaite Chikyuu. He is also voiced by Namikawa.