Misconception:
Japan’s emotionless

Reality: He’s shy,
but far from emotionless.

Due to his hikikomori phase, he became used to
communicating with others by reading their minds – he has clairvoyant powers.

Ex: Italy and
Romano initially believe that Japan doesn’t like them because of how contained he
was.

Ex: He’s an
introvert that taps into his extrovert side for business. He’s able to smile and
keep up with pleasantries. Like a true introvert, he’s drained after these
interactions.

Additionally, Japanese cultural display rules for emotion
are vastly different and more reserved than Western nations.

Fun fact: Nowadays, nations that are more reserved
emotionally in public tend to express themselves online in private more,
especially through the use of emojis. The Japanese
have some of the most innovative and creative use of emoticons.

Japan is very active online and has an Instagram account.

He
also has an appreciation for cute things, although he doesn’t realize it.

Ex: When he offers to wash Berlitz, he goes a bit overboard.

Ex: He asks to take a picture of England and America after they put on cat ears.

Misconception: He’s
weak because he doesn’t voice his own opinions.

Reality: He’s
tactful and is extremely careful with what he says out loud.

Ex: Following
WW2, he agrees with what America says, likely because it served to his own
benefit.

If you think about it, it’s amazing how within a decade
after the dropping of the atomic bombs, the Japanese were able to emerge as an industrial power large enough to compete with the United States.

Japan’s intelligence and resilience should be looked at as a
source of strength. It’s also important to mention that before his defeat, he
had pretty much ruled the Eastern Pacific.

Japan’s not always composed either. It’s said
that because he keeps his opinions to himself, he’ll “explode with 100 years
level” and that caution should be taken when this happens. [x]

Ex: He vehemently
opposes the idea of Germany forming an alliance with Russia during WW2.

Misconception: He’s
anti-social.

Reality: He’s extremely social, albeit not overtly.

Ex: He takes great lengths to set aside time to visit his
friends.

Ex: Japan has his own way of expressing
his happiness.

Misconception: He’s
inconsiderate.

Reality: He goes
out of his way to help others. It’s for this reason that he’s probably the most
considerate and sincere APH character.

Ex: He learns Western greetings and attempts to practice
them despite how much it sparks up his anxiety over maintaining his personal
space.

Ex: He helps England with artistic design during the Second
Industrial Revolution.

He also makes sure to praise and commend England for his
efforts, not to mention that these compliments are all genuine.

Bonus facts:

Due to his old historical chronological age, Japan’s body,
while appearing young on the outside, is actually old with age.

He’s a photo-lover.

Although Italy doesn’t remember this, Japan first
communicated with Italy in his dreams. This is the first time we see Japan’s
clairvoyant powers depicted.

He works so hard that even Germany worries about him.

He’s able to perform cleansing and purification rituals.

A pretty neat and complicated character, eh?

Considering that the nations are described as “odd beings”,
many aspects of their existence are either left open-ended or unanswered. It’s probably
meant to be like this, as it allows Hima to have more creative leeway.

On the other hand, there’s a consistent logic in the process
of how the nations are born that I’d like to go over.

How Are They Born?

For the most part, the nations are born as babies.

Ex: Egypt and his mother, Ancient Egypt.

This excludes…

1) The micronations, who are noted to be anomalies outside
the rules of nationhood.

2) Germany, who’s born as a young child given that he
already had an existing body (I’ll get back to this in a moment).

We know from Iceland that the nations spontaneously gain
consciousness and come into existence. It’s not a formal birth process. They’re also instinctively able to tell that they’re different from humans.

What signifies them?

What signifies a nation as a baby is the nightgown they
wear. Personally, I don’t believe that the nightgown has any real significance
other than the fact that it acts as a plot device to distinguish the nation’s
young age.

How do they know who they’re related to?

Just like the nations are able to sense each other, the baby
nation is also able to sense their biological sibling.

This is seen with Iceland when he’s born. He sensed that
Norway was his brother upon gaining consciousness.

Norway also senses Iceland.

Likewise, we also know that later on, Iceland takes a DNA
test–in this case, it’s a land excavation–to confirm that there were no
Icelandic natives. Instead, the first people to settle in Iceland were
Norwegian.

That’s why Iceland and Norway are related.

On the other hand, America was colonized by several nations at once, not to mention that there
were already native tribes living there. As such, he’s referred to as an “ingredient.” He represents a mix of several cultures. [x]

Further, America doesn’t ‘sense’ an older brother from the pool of countries colonizing him. Instead,
Finland, France, and England deliberate over who will assume the role of America’s older brother.

It’s also important to mention that “onii-chan” in Japanese
does not always literally mean older brother. It can be an expression of “endearment” or “adoration.”

There are different cultural connotations that are
unfortunately lost in direct translations.

Despite this, America does, in fact, have a biological brother: Canada [x]

Germany’s ‘Existing Body’:

As mentioned above, most nations are born as babies. Germany
is an exception to this rule as he’s born as a young child…or is he?

Disclaimer, I’m going
outside canon now. This next part is theory based on canon fact.

Many people have speculated that Germany’s ‘existing’ body
means that while Holy Rome died, his body remained. Germany then resumed this
body after German Confederation.

The ‘existing’ body, then, would be the fact that Germany’s spirit
inhabited Holy Rome’s old body, hence the reason why he wasn’t born as a baby.

This perspective doesn’t make sense to me, as we know that
it’s possible for nations to live past their date of dissolution. More
importantly, Holy Rome lived past his dissolution.

Another problem with this perspective is that the nations’
bodies don’t remain when they die, but rather, they fade away. The nations are
personality-based, meaning that when their culture dies, so do they. [x]

Put another way, culture doesn’t die definitively. It fades
with time – A nation’s path to death is reflective of this.

This would explain why Holy Rome didn’t die right away, albeit being ill. The
German culture he represented was still alive and well.

Meanwhile, my take on Germany’s ‘existing body’ is vastly
different. I’m of the mindset that Holy Rome lost all his memories when he
became Germany. [post on that here].

In other words,
Germany wasn’t born as a baby because he was already existing, as in he had a living body.

In sum, while many questions about the nation’s existence
are left unanswered, there is a relative level of consistency regarding the
ages in which nations are born as well as the role that evolutionary instinct
plays in how they find their relatives.

Can we have some aph Babies?

Always.

The time’s come to begin delving into the older characterizations
in the series, those of which owe Hetalia much of its poor reputation today. What
doesn’t help is that those in the fandom either deny the mistakes that Hima
made in the past or ignore them completely. Both of these actions do more harm
than good.

To be as objective as possible, it’s important that we
acknowledge the series’ early, but nonetheless problematic past. In doing so,
this then opens up more avenues to discuss how the characters have evolved and
changed for the better. Put another way, it’s more effective to air out the
dirty laundry as opposed to letting it [rumours/ misconceptions] sit there in
an unresolved mess.

Another point to hit on is that it’s pivotal that we
recognize that Hima has learned from his past errors. The characterization of
the nations has moved way past the unfunny middle school sexual humour that
used to define them. While things went too far in the past, the fact that they
don’t today is enough to hold Hima into account.

Creators grow and learn from their mistakes. If they prove
to learn from said mistakes, there’s really no reason to continue to shame them
for something that was created years ago
– in this case, a decade.

That said, let’s get into it.

I’ll be blunt. The humour in the early strips is incredibly offensive.
I’m often reminded of how this type of humour was normalized back then. Not
only that, but I remember making some of these jokes myself without really understanding
the meaning of what I was saying. Of course, this doesn’t make any of this
right.

Some of these jokes would include France stripping and groping
other nations.

A good part of this content was owed to the fans as well, who
encouraged and requested nations to do these sort of things [x]. At the time, the
humour was supported because that was the joke culture. It wasn’t as connotatively
aware as it is today.

Briefly, as I’ve already touched on, France’s stripping
doesn’t stem from a French stereotype of sexuality. Instead, it stems from the
stereotype that the French tended to swoop in for fresh pickings of territories
after European conflicts. The best way I can describe it is that they were like
scavengers; they stripped the losing nations to the bone.

Ex: This is seen when France strips Austria clean after the
War of Austrian Succession.

The reason I’m going over this is simply to point out that
France’s stripping did occasionally have a logic to it, bizarre and problematic
as it was.

Likewise, since a nation’s body is a physical embodiment of
their geographic landmass, each body part respectively represents a certain
territory (e.g., Austria’s ahoge represents Mariazell).

This would explain why France ‘rubbed’ Italy’s chest when
his economy was doing poorly. He was seeking territories to profit from.

Like I said, bizarre and problematic.

Even so, there were still boundaries in place for France’s
early characterization. The running gag of the old humour was predicated on
recognizing that France’s behaviour was outlandish.

Ex: He was once arrested for his lewd behaviour.

Ex: In the first chapters of the original webcomic, he states plain
as day that love shouldn’t be forced on anyone.

Ex: For a supposedly territory-happy nation, he’s once shown to have grown uncomfortable at the prospect of imperialism.

Ex: Similarly, when Italy hadn’t covered himself properly,
France had no trouble pointing this out to him.

The humour may be perverse, but France wasn’t always
perverted. This is especially the case in
later strips, where this lewd behaviour has disappeared completely and for a
good reason.

There was a clear recognition that France’s characterization
was not up to par, and over the years, he’s blossomed into something truly beautiful.

The present France is the mouthpiece for exploring several
dark subjects in the series.

Let’s go over a few.

France gives us the best insight into the reason why nations
exist.

…

We implicitly learn from him [his citizens] the pain of constantly seeing loved ones die should a person possess immortality.

The angle then shifts to France, who gazes at a young family. How just a handful of panels can convey so much emotion, longing in particular, is beyond me.

There’s this one moment with Lisa, Jeanne d’Arc’s
reincarnate, that always sticks with me.

France felt betrayed by God in how
unforgiving history was for letting Jeanne die so tragically. When he first saw
Lisa, he believed God was playing a cruel trick on him.

When he realizes that Jeanne has been born into a much
happier life, the peace of mind on his face is undeniable.

It took remarkable strength for France to confront this resentment
and pain, let alone to have the heart to let go and accept that history has
paved a better course for Jeanne, albeit it being in a different life.

Given how rough his own history has been, the ability to
forgive and love reflects on how truly resilient and strong he is as a person.

France also acts as a great father figure to America, having
originally helped the latter gain their independence.

He comes to America’s centennial celebration. The genuity of
the gesture is what truly matters here. America wasn’t just a vessel for France
to spite England, contrary to how his government perceived this conflict as an
opportunity for. There’s a true supportive relationship here.

I’ll end on this. While France’s character may have been
poorly characterized in the past, that shouldn’t take away from how he’s
enjoyed now. He went from a character ‘stripped’ of meaning to a personality
teeming with complicated thoughts, emotions, and life nuances.

There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the prior mishaps
of how he was depicted so long as it’s recognized that he’s since changed and
grossly at that.

France: I’m not THAT high maintenance

England: *looks at the camera like he’s in the office*

Okay but France and England clearly hate each other

No, they don’t. They’re long-time frenemies that bicker a lot but are nonetheless able to get along with each other. [x]

Does England know that he’s a poor parent figure?

It’s more like it’s a recurring joke that others call him out for this and he denies it.

It’s not a stretch at all. In fact, this is something about
America’s characterization that has been consistent way back into the early
years of the series.

While it’s not controversial, this can trigger a lot of
people. Of course, I will give a trigger warning again, but for anyone who is
struggling/ has recovered from an eating disorder, please take care of yourself
first. I would rather you not read this and would happy to provide a summary if
you feel like this would cause you to lose progress and fall back on your old
habits.

Full disclosure, I struggled with an eating disorder for
four years. This isn’t something that I intend to take lightly, and the last thing
I want is to trivialize a subject as serious as this for the sake of angst. What
I do aim to do is explain why and how America is characterized like this.

Post coming up tonight.

Q & A

Q: If
the UN has a personification does that mean the EU also has a personification
or is it not significant enough to have one? Another question is that why do
you think certain countries haven’t been given a personification in the hetalia
series, countries like aph Indonesia and Hawaii, is there a reason for this or
is it just a creative choice by the creator?

A: The EU does not have a personification.
There’s no real reason for this. It doesn’t have anything to do with
significance.

As for creating other characters, Hima typically cites that he
wants to travel to the country in question before he personifies them.

Q: How
much does France like anime?

A: A
significant amount considering that it’s so popular among his people.
Characteristics of the population are often reflected in the personification’s
attitude, behaviour, habits, and overall personality.

Ex: He’s
involved in a debate over anime voice actors with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Q: Any
theory of why France has some perverted tendencies? I know that he just likes
to show affection to others, but sometimes it goes too far.

Q: Why does France strip people, like that’s a pretty recurring
theme from the napoleon strips he was shown to have the thing stripping people from their clothes
and during the Christmas event of 2007 he stripped a bunch of nations naked.

A: It
did go too far. The old characterization of France is pretty awful. However,
the sexualized humour of it is not what people think. It’s honestly just bizarre,
but it does have a logic to it.

France’s stripping of people doesn’t have to do with a French
stereotype of sexuality from my understanding. It’s a historical representation
of how France picked and reaped at leftover territories after European conflicts…
a scavenger if you will. A good idiom in relation to this would be stripping something to the bone.

Just like France stripped Austria for winnings after the War of
Austrian Succession, this was likewise translated into how he interacted with
other nations – by stripping them. [x]

Hopefully, this makes sense, yes?

Q: Do
you think that England has some “big brother” trauma?

A: 100% he does.

Ex: England tears up when he’s faced with the prospect of
becoming America’s guardian. At first, he actually hesitated in accepting the ‘big
brother’ label because of how poorly he was treated by his own older brothers. [x]

The bad memories of his older brothers’ treatment of him that England doesn’t even accept the label of ‘big brother’ at first when he assumes responsibility for America.

Also…

Q: Are
the nations’ homes and/or things provided by the state or they work and earn
money themselves to pay for their own stuff?

A: It’s not clear whether the state provides anything for them.
All we know is that the nations work for their bosses and that the wealth of
the country is reflected in how much money the nation has (e.g., GDP).

Ex: France’s wallet is empty as a result of his economy’s poor performance. [x]

The personification is a physiological embodiment of their nation. Each city/ landmark is reflected in one part of their body.

That’s why, when France ‘rubs’ Italy’s chest during an economic recession, he’s looking for territory to leech money off.

Do you see what I mean by bizarre logic?

Q & A

Q: What I really want to know is why people ship Canada and
Netherlands,,, I’m not judging it, it looks quite cute but I don’t??
Understand???? Could you help out?

A: It’s a historically-based ship. During WW2, the Dutch Royal Family fled to Canada. When Princess Margriet was born, they declared the maternity to be Dutch territory so that she would retain her Dutch citizenship. Every year as thanks, the Dutch government sends close to a million tulips, and in return, Ottawa hosts a tulip festival every year. I’ll make sure to take some pictures since I live there.

Q: Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you have any information on
Ireland, Scotland, or Wales? I know they’re not official characters yet, but is
there anything on them?

A: You’re not bothering me! However, I’m not an information blog. If you’d like access to information, there’s an English translation of Hima’s blog, Bamboo Thicket. It’s an excellent resource if you’re looking for facts about specific characters.

Scotland and Ireland are undesigned characters but do have some character notes [x]

England is the son of four siblings, which includes North Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. He also doubles as the UK in representing them [x]

Q: For characters like Iceland, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Estonia
, micronations and other young/ teen characters ;do you think they live by
themselves or with a physically older nation and would they go to school or no?

A: The only school that all nations attend is the World Academy. It’s like a mini AU within the series. [x] Nations only live with each other if they lack independence.

Q: England is my least favourite Hetalia character. Enlighten
me and change my opinion, I don’t want to be the only tea-hating heathen in the
fandom!

A: I’ve done a lot of posts about this 😉 [x] [x] [x] [x]

You’re not a heathen, by the way. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

Q: It looks like Romano is getting over his inferiority complex
in recent years, in Liechtenstein strip he certainly is confident even when
Veneziano points out their grandpa’s inheritance to both of them.

A: I’m not so sure about that. Romano still consistently refers to Veneziano in a demeaning manner. He needs to stop calling Veneziano “stupid/ idiot little brother” if he’s to truly get over his inferiority complex.