Forum - View topicNEWS: Korean Protests Call for Hetalia Anime's Cancellation
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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While we're at it, remember THIS show's lovely view on the USA?
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Aikoh
Posts: 96 Location: United States |
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I understand, and despise, the fact that Japan likes to play the part of the victim while refusing to provide a sincere apology to its Asian neighbors. But, really, shouldn't we be more worried about manga with truly hateful intentions? Like this, for example?
I admit, lately I find myself becoming more of a Europhile than a Japanophile, and I love the German language and German history. The German characters of Hetalia, Germany, Austria, and Prussia, are my absolute favorites, particularly Prussia. Ludwig, or "Germany", pleasantly surprised me, because he wasn't casted as a typical Nazi bigot and doesn't go around Sieg Heil'ing.
I, uh, I probably would have bought that too. |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Translation: "I have no sense of humour, but I do have a burning desire to appear holier-than-thou, and being offended at a joke about WWII is an easy way to do it. Also, I have no personal stake in that war, since it happened long before I was born. Nor do I really know very much about the war -- or for that matter, about Hetalia. No problem, though. Being ignorant just makes it easier to pontificate about it, since I don't have to worry about all those messy facts getting in the way."
Translation: "Since I'm really doing this to look I have the moral high ground, I'm not really debating, just pretending to. Nothing you say can make any difference, because this is not a dialogue. Oh, and I still don't have a sense of humour." I see right through you, malik_chan, and what I see really isn't very pretty. - abunai Genuine historian, with a genuine sense of humour. |
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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Hypothetically, what if Japan had been represented as a chibi mech or a moe school girl?
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beastofbloodgaara
Posts: 6 |
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Uh.... no. Japan's not even that huge of a character. The series is about Northern Italy and how useless he is. Why are people so intent on trying to make Hetalia out to be some huge atrocity? OMG THEY'RE BISHOUNEN. IT MUST BE YAOI. YAOI MAKING FUN OF THE HOLOCAUST. nooooooooooo. |
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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Why is Italy the useless one?
....shouldn't that be France? 
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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If everyone started taking into concideration everyone else's feelings and wants, we'd all be in grey cubicles drinking dishwater.
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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Uh...isn't that a typical 9-to-5 day for most working-class citizens anyway...? |
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ArielTsuki
Posts: 178 |
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Because of Italy's military fail in the WWs (although Italy did some things without screwing it up though). Although, there are two Italy, Northern Italy, the main character, and Southern Italy, his older twin brother. France is still militarily useless too, although he's there to antagonize England and sometimes America, and he's a lover of all things.
Whoa, whoa. Just hold on there. Hetalia isn't a shounen-ai comedy. If there were shounen-ai jokes, it's just a joke but it isn't centered on that. And no, Hetalia steps away from mentioning any war atrocities, Japanese or otherwise, to keep it a comedy. It's actually more concerned doing trivia and rumors on World History than to renact WW2. So no, you will not get Germany kicking a Jew's ass for lulz. Or America imprisoning Japanese Americans in cells. And Christ, if you think Hetalia is the only series to make a comedy out of a war, you prolly never seen 'Allo 'Allo, McHale's Navy, MASH. Hell, even Mel Brook's movies which had skits like 'Springtime for Hilter' or a (completely awesome) showtune about the Spanish Inquisition. Not to mention Monty Python's hilarious skit. Also, I think some people have the wrong idea of what the nations in Hetalia are as well and why that people could love them. Germany in Hetalia is not Nazi Germany in the sense you think he is. The nations' personalities and the such are made up in part of their political relation, national stereotypes (which are made fun OF in the series), a huge part of their country people's mindset of the time, and an unique personality that is all their own. Like an avatar of something. They work as high ranking officers or the whatnot in their government and have to answer to their "Boss" and they really have no say against them. I guess it's their disassociation with the government helps. They are characters of their own right. Although I am shocked that Japan can be shown to act like a tool with China sometimes, like attacking China without provocation in one of the strips. Even I'm not shocked some conversatives in places in South Korea is up in arms over it. I mean, the series never goes as far as Afganis-tan where the Al-Nyaida or whatever their name was, "bit America". Or, like you mentioned, Strike Witches where the girls who wear no pants and wear kemonomimi are personifications of WW2 planes and have their last names after the people who piloted the real plane. Last edited by ArielTsuki on Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Ahh.... you do realise that Italy was on the winning side in the First World War, don't you? They fence-sat for a while, then joined the Triple Entente in April 1915. That's hardly a "military fail", though they didn't really profit by it in the long run. Not that the Italian military ever really amounted to much, in either of the two wars.... Not many people are aware of the fact that Italy has one of the ten greatest military budgets in the world today, spending more money (USD 40 billion in 2008) even than significant military powers like India or Turkey. - abunai |
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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abunai: I know you said it can be OK to be comical even about wars, but WWII is still such touchy subject matter. Concentration camps, Nazi cruelty and crimes, the atom bombs, Pearl Harbor...
I don't think it'd be enjoyable to see any of these things mocked or taken lightly (although Michael Bay did a good enough job mocking the last one that no one else needs to cover that territory). |
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ArielTsuki
Posts: 178 |
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That's why I said that they did some things without screwing up because I know it was exaggerated. Although we have to see in an actual war to see if they can lose the moniker though (something I don't want to see to pass). Having a huge budget doesn't necessarily mean that you have a good army although it helps. |
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Zinv72
Posts: 5 |
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Wow,
I'm South Korean myself, and I must say... Those ****ers need to take a chill pill. What? They're allowed to make fun of every other nation, but when there's a anime that could have possible offensive material about them, they throw a fit? *claps* Way to make the Korean race look like a bunch of ***s. Bravo my fellow Koreans. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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First: it's people without a sense of humour who start wars. If you can laugh about the past, the chances are that you can also get past old enmities and move on. History is relevant and instructive to the extent that it shows us which mistakes not to repeat. However, using it as a crutch for maintaining old hatreds and bigotries is wrong. Any time I hear someone talking about "what the Germans did" or "what the Japanese did", I am tempted to remind them that their own ancestors were equally guilty of atrocious behaviour -- it's only a matter of looking far enough back in time. Why stop with World War 1 and 2? What's to stop me from being personally OFFENDED that one of your ancestors killed one of mine, back when we were still homo erectus (statistically probable, btw)? There is no statute of limitations on war crimes, in terms of the lifetime of the criminal himself -- but we're not living in Old Testament times, here. We do not have a right to visit the sins of the fathers upon their children, or their children's children. And that's all that this World War 2 moralising is. It's old issues, being rehashed by a generation which has no actual involvement in it. It's absurd and unreasonable. Second: I don't see Hetalia joking about concentration camps or atrocities. So it's completely beside the point. People just have a giant stick up their collective arse, that's all. - abunai I'd like to remind any British subjects reading this post that Great Britain was the first country in the world to terror-bombard a civilian population. My home town, incidentally. The American readers are welcome to think about the Indian Wars. Etcetera, etcetera. I'll see your atrocities-committed-by-others, and raise you atrocities-committed-by-your-country. |
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yojimboray
Posts: 108 |
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Shame on you- you're an editor for ANN, and whether you agree or disagree with the poster, you adopt this mocking/snarky tone for your reply? Very unprofessional. |
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