Ironically (or perhaps purposefully knowing Hima), in the strip
“It’s a Treasure Box of Countries,” we get a treasure box of information
regarding the rules of nationhood.

We learn two things that happen to a nation when their
country’s culture or personality dies/ disappears. The personality is to be
understood in terms of a group of people uniting with each other under a common
identity.

The two rules go as followed:

1) “Usually, when the culture of the country’s
personality dies/ disappears, the country would gradually disappear or entrust
him/herself to the country that takes over him/her.

2)  Or, “There are also cases that him/her is not a
country but continues to live leisurely as a state representative.”

Okay, simple enough. Either they fade over a long period of
time, or they become active in politics. However, there’s another rule I want
to go over that explicitly confirms that the nations are able to become human.

That requires going into the details of the Republic of Niko
Niko’s existence.

Basically, Niko Niko was a middle school student who
obtained micro-nation status. He represented a section of a city in the
Fukushima prefecture.

It’s also important to note that Niko Niko is declared by
Japan to be a rare, anomalistic case. Regardless, we still learn a lot from
him.

For one thing, after obtaining micronation status, Niko Niko
stopped aging and his health became dependent on how his economy was doing, similar
to what the full-blown nations experience.

We also know that Niko Niko eventually relinquishes his
status as a micronation and reverted back to a normal human again.

For example: He resumes aging and is able to have a son.

Tying this back to the rules of nationhood, we finally learn
that Niko Niko’s ability to shift from human to micronation to human again
wouldn’t be as easy for the other nations to undergo.

How I interpret this is that because Niko Niko personified
such a small area, his country’s personality and sense of identity isn’t nearly
as strong as that of a much larger nation. In other words, it would be harder
for the other nations to become human because their people’s sense of national identity
and cultural heritage isn’t something that can just disappear all of a sudden.

But, what about full-blown nations? Are there any hints of
them becoming human?

There sure seems to be.

During the Great Depression, a sickly Lichtenstein wishes
that she could have remained as a country for just a little while longer. Given
that her population is so small, it wouldn’t take as long for her country’s
personality to fade.

Now, for the more obvious and well-known example: Prussia.

I’ve speculated before that Prussia has fulfilled option 2
of the rules listed above. That is, we know for a fact that he attends world
meetings, and since it’s still unconfirmed whether he represents East Germany
(it’s painfully obvious, I know), it’s very well possible that he’s become a
state representative.

There’s also the fact that it’s been proven that he doesn’t
heal from his injuries quite as fast as the other nations do.

He also openly lies about this to Germany.

In sum…

–  Niko Niko’s rise to nationhood is a rare case,
but his transformation still provides us with useful information on how it
would be difficult for a normal nation to become human.

–  There have been hints here and there of the
normal nations losing their status as personifications and becoming human.