You’ve sort of touched on this before, but what are your thoughts on the older strips? From what I’ve heard they’re pretty bad. I’ve seen this come up a lot lately…

Some of the content in them are more than bad. They’re
unacceptable. There’s no mistaking that, and it’s something that I’ve
consistently pointed out in my posts. The early fandom’s offensive behaviour
didn’t emerge in a vacuum either. It came from the inappropriate ‘humour’ in the
original content itself – obviously, humour is used very loosely here.

If Hetalia was the same as it was back then I wouldn’t be in
this fandom. I won’t deny that there are several times in the past where I’ve
been revolted and disturbed by certain characters, otherwise I would be lying. What
I’ve also pointed out is that those strips are from over ten years ago. The characterization
has changed dramatically and Himaruya has since – very clearly – learned from
his mistakes.

It’s from
approximately the third volume beyond where the series takes a shift for the better.  Harmful tropes that you saw before were
completely discarded. It’s the fact that they’re not seen again that allows me
to appreciate the series for its later creations – about eight years worth of
it.

What I want to stress is that content creators are capable
of growth. I’m not saying to completely disregard the old characterizations. It’s
not helpful to ignore them if we’re to recognize how far the series
has come.

On the other hand, to
hold past characterizations as a standard to measure the characters today is
ludicrous to me. The cherry on top is that people who bring up old evidence of these characterizations don’t
even give context in the occasional case where it’s needed. They just continue to slander a character without giving a full explanation, all to suit their own narrative. I’m not disputing that these earlier depictions are blatantly wrong. They are and some can never be justified, but not every example I’ve seen used is delved into in full. That’s a big problem.

What’s also wrong is to show one side of the character with the intentions of baiting people, stirring up an unnecessary frenzy, perpetuating
old stereotypes about the fandom, and just overall irresponsibly presenting information.

That said, I will continue to address and condemn these
older characterizations. At the same time, I can still enjoy and admire recent characterizations. This is just my opinion in how I approach the series.

image
image

As stated in “In just 2 minutes, you can grasp the exterior of
the European Economy,” a nation’s health is dependent on two factors – the
stability of their economy and their politics.

This post will examine what happens to a nation when their
political situation lacks stability.

Let’s go through some examples.

America: 

The recent divide between Republicans and Democrats have
been a cause for concern for America’s health. The fighting between the two
political parties is enough for England to comment that the 2016 election must
have been exhausting for America [x].

image
image

America denies this, claiming that his body is strong enough
to handle the infighting.

image

The running gag is that all parties will bond over
how much they hate the new president once the election is over [x]. Point is, it’s
the fact that England’s worried about America’s health – stemming from his
political situation – that’s significant.

image

China: 

China’s rough history of ups and downs, consisting of many rebellions,
conquests, moments of prosperity and unification, and division was a lot for
his physical body to handle. The consequence of these political conflicts is
that he develops aches and pains [x] [x].

image
image
image

England: 

England is notorious for falling ill after/during political
conflicts.

Ex: After the American Revolution [x].

image

Ex: After the Napoleonic Wars [x].

Ex: During WW2 [x].

Germany:

This example is undeniably the most important one.

Remember that nations are representations of their citizens. 

image

They exist because of them. Said body of citizens encompasses all groups within
the population. A German is a German, regardless of their ethnic heritage,
culture, and race.

That’s why I believe that Germany is described to “tolerate
his way through pain” during WW2 [x]. German Jews were still his people regardless of their ostracization and the monstrous atrocities
committed against them. This all had to be felt by Germany.

Not everyone was favourable of the Nazi regime either
(obviously) – the executions of those who spoke out against Hitler, assaults,
raids, and surveillance carried out by the Gestapo created an immense sense of
fear and terror for many Germans. Combine that with air raids. The politics of
this time were far from stable.

image

As always, I must point out that the nations are
subordinates to their bosses and are forced into complying with their orders, often
against their own free will and conscience. Full post on that here [x].

Ex: Germany didn’t want to annex Austria, but was forced to
by his ‘strange’ boss [Hitler]. [x]

image

Ex: He’s screamed at by his boss, and yet, still takes down
notes. [Out of obligation.] [x]

image

Ex: Germany didn’t want to form an alliance with Russia. He
did so out of a sense of duty [x].

image

Ex: While joking, Finland darkly hints at the real
possibility of Hitler being capable enough of imprisoning Germany should he
complain too much about him. It’s more than just “boss troubles” [x].

image
image

Ex: When taken as a prisoner of war, Germany compares torture to a mosquito bite. This is because of the pain he experiences on a daily basis during the war.

With all this in mind, what I want to stress most is that
the nations feel pain for their people in whole, aside from whatever actions
their government decide to take.

image

I don’t know if this is insensitive but due to recent tensions would America get racist thoughts in his head and have to fight against them?

Asfklkdvgsfg no!!!!

The nations are representations of their people, ALL of
them. It’s not in their nature to discriminate against one particular group of
their population, even if their government has/ continues to do so in the
present.

Simply put, the nations represent their people. The irony
and complexity of the series is that by being forced to work for their
government [a populational minority], the nations may not serve their peoples’
best interest. Post on that here [x]. 

If anything, in canon, these tensions would cause America’s health to decline. If it’s serious enough, he would also feel pain. In canon, the stability of a nation’s politics affects the personification’s health. If their political affairs aren’t stable – e.g., there’s a large political divide and tensions are high – then the personification will become unwell [x]. 

Anyways, this strip is so important. I can’t stress it
enough [x]. 

image
image
image

Do you have any hetalia headcanons for any characters? You’re always pointing out canon facts(thank you so much for that, btw), and it would be cool to see your own ideas and impressions on the characters :D

I’m not particularly big on headcanons, but I sometimes do charts like this 😀

Most insecure nations

–

America, Canada, England, Germany, Italy,
Romano, and Poland.

Loneliest nations

–

America, England, Iceland, Prussia, and Russia.

Happiest nations

–

Denmark, Finland, Seychelles, and Sweden.

Most sarcastic nations

–

England, France, Norway, and Romano.

Nations we need more of

–

Belgium, Belarus, India, and Vietnam.

image
image

Not much is known about
this phenomenon, especially since most of the coverage of these events are
glossed/ skipped over. On the other hand, there are some things that I can potentially
clarify and shed light on.

First, let’s go over
some examples.

America: 

We get a brief – albeit shallow
–depiction of America’s Civil War in chapter 211 of World Stars. No insight is
given, other than the fact that America is visibly distressed [x].

image

Spain: 

We get two strips that
cover Spain’s Civil War.

One involves Romano
getting mad at Spain for not participating in WW2. Romano had fought in the Spanish
Civil War and got shot in the butt during the conflict. Meanwhile, Spain is too
poor to give a significant contribution to the war effort [x].

image

Another strip involves
Romano calling Spain after he and Veneziano were taken as prisoners of war by
England. Spain explains that he can’t bail the two out because he was too busy
making roses. This seems to occur at the end of the Spanish
Civil War [x].

image
image

Russia: 

We get a brief look at
Russia’s title change from Russia to the USSR in this panel here. It’s from one of
the first original webcomics [x].

image
image

Unpacking this information:

It’s a common headcanon
that during civil wars, a separate personification develops. For example, the
US Confederates would have developed their own personification.

While this hasn’t been
shown, rules in canon can potentially support this.

In chapter 1 of World
Stars, it’s stated that personifications can exist for as little as a few days
to several centuries – or millennia if you consider the Ancients, China, Japan,
and Turkey [x].

image

There’s also the
hypothetical example where Canada dreams of Quebec becoming an actual country [x]. What’s important is that the new nation is born after the secession is
legally recognized, thus differentiating the situation from the American Civil
War.

image

Something that’s always
puzzled me about this scene is its ambiguity. When Canada states “anything but
Montreal” it could easily be interpreted as Montreal – as a municipal personification
– evolving to represent Quebec as a nation. Given that states and Japanese
prefectures are personified, it’s not far-fetched for a city to be personified
as well. We just haven’t seen this yet in canon.

On the other hand, we
also know from the above panel that personifications can change their personalities
as a result of a title change. 

In that case, when two gov’ts fight for power in
a civil war, there isn’t a need for a second personification except in the case
where two legitimate states form. The end result is that if a new gov’t assumes
power and changes the name of the country, the personification can undergo a
personality change.

That said, since very little information is known about civil wars in Hetalia, it’s difficult to draw anything conclusive about them. 

image