Q: i read on one of the hetawikis that italys curl was added as a last
minute thing to make him cuter, but himaruya said that now the curl is
“important.” any thoughts?
A: There’s one character note that states that the curl represents “the
sexual something of the Italians” [x].
Q: Your post on how fascism isn’t promoted in the manga was
extremely helpful, so thank you. Just wondering. Is there any strips that
depict how the people react to the war?
A: Disclaimer: This is
coming from someone who’s half Jewish. I shouldn’t have to say this, but
knowing the internet…
All that’s shown is how hopeful the people are [x].
You have to situate the context and realize that the German people had just
come out of a massive economic recession. The war promised them a solution. (Unfortunately, this solution and the many years leading up to it involved scapegoating, unjust persecution, assaults, and discrimination).
Point is, Hetalia never promoted Fascism. As
discussed in this post [x], all it does it situate the reason why the Germans
went to war – namely because of how stringent the compensation mandated by the
Treaty of Versailles was. It doesn’t tackle anything past that. Given the young targeted demographic, the atrocities committed during WW2 aren’t covered or touched on.
Again, there’s a difference between situating a
historical context vs promoting a horrible political ideology.
A: Thank you! I’m by no means a gun expert, but in one
of the first original web comics, he does appear to be holding a sniper rifle [x].
There’s also the famous Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä “White Death” from WW2 that might have made such a headcanon
to be taken as fact. Other than that, you’re right. I don’t recall any of his
character notes mentioning this ability. Most of them can be found here [x].
Q: What’s your favorite time Germany
wasn’t being “strict follow the rules never smiles” in the manga. ( I just saw
a picture of Germany putting on a puppet show for America and Russia and he
said “don’t nuke it out, hug it out” and I was like man I need more of this
side of Germany).
A: Chapter 20 of World Stars! Italy asks Germany
to help him clean Romano’s messy room. Germany seems looser here and even
returns some of Romano’s snark, although still being up to the challenge [x].
Q: Can Norway and England see General Winter?
A: It seems to be Northern countries who experience winter that have interactions with
General Winter.
What I’ve always found to be insane is that not
only is Finland immune to the cold, but he’s friends with General Winter [x].
The Rules:
Before, I used to dismiss the idea of time travel in
Hetalia. Looking back, I can see that this limited my understanding of several
bizarre and inexplicable occurrences in the manga.
In a fictional series
where the nations are immortal, being referred to as “strange” and “odd”
beings, it’s honestly not that far-fetched to consider that they’re capable of
time travel.
This is especially true given the facts that…
1) Time is experienced differently by the nations.
Ex: Canada spends an entire weekend staring at Kumajiro’s
eyelashes. It passes by without him realizing this [x].
Ex: If a human were to spend enough time around a nation,
their perception of time would become so warped that they’d go mad.
Ex: Pets don’t go mad when they’re around their nation
owners. Instead, their lifespans increase. Should they separate from the
nation, however, they would become normal pets again and resume aging [x].
2) Some nations are capable of magic,
fortune-telling, clairvoyance and other supernatural abilities.
Ex: England’s and Romania’s ability to cast spells.
Ex: Japan’s powers of clairvoyance and mind-reading [x]– I’ll
get back to this later.
Evidence of time travel in Hetalia is either extremely
subtle or so right in your face that it’s easy to overlook.
Could it be that the pets don’t age because the nations are beings that are able to transcend space and time? In other
words, what if time is bent around the nations, which, in turn, causes their
pets not to age?
They’re timeless beings in that they’re immortal. While they
do age, it’s very incremental. They still remain youthful, likely because time
is slowed for them. In that case, the reason that the pets won’t go mad by
being around a nation is that they don’t perceive time the same way that humans
are able to.
Are the nations able to time travel then?
Evidence from the manga suggests that they’re indeed able
to.
Let’s go over some of these examples.
Bizarre and Casual Anachronisms:
If you factor in time travel, this would explain the sudden
appearance of anachronisms when you least expect it. I used to think that these
were silly comic gags. My opinion has since changed.
Ex: When America pulls out a computer to google where
Germany is in 1942, England isn’t surprised. Instead, he’s able to pinpoint
exactly how far into the future the model is and reprimands America for showing
off.
Ex: Why is it that during the 18th century, Japan
appears to be listening to music…with earbuds? [x].
Ex: The Roman Emperor Nero is once depicted to be playing an
acoustic guitar.
They’re aware that it’s an
anachronism. Perhaps either Rome or Quintillus – another Roman Emperor who’s
canonically able to time travel – brought that there. I’ll get back to
Quintillus in a moment.
Japan’s Powers of Clairvoyance:
As mentioned above, Japan has been shown to be able to read
minds, see into the future, and establish contact with others without having
ever met them in person before.
Ex: Japan demonstrates his clairvoyant powers during the
Meiji Era. The fourth wall is broken as the scene pans in on
Himaruya scrambling to finish a comic.
Ex: When Japan first becomes acquainted with the Italy
brothers, they’re put off by how silent and reserved he is. Japan later admits
that he’s not used to speaking out loud with those whom he’s read the minds of [x].
If anything, this alludes to the fact that Italy and Japan
have technically met before.
Notice the title of the strip too. “A melody that transcends
history and reaches you…”
Japan’s ESP Contact with Italy + Dream Sequences:
After falling into bed with Holy Rome, Chibitalia has a
strange dream where he encounters a presumably divine being that leads him to –
yes, Japan. This confirms what Japan claims in World Stars. He did, in fact,
read the mind of Italy and communicated with him far before they formed their
alliance in WW2 [x].
That’s not it, either.
Italy in adulthood has a ‘unpleasant dream’ of a child that looks
exactly like him pressing to be acknowledged [x][x].
How I’ve interpreted this before is that it symbolically
represents Italy’s unconscious mind repressing memories from his childhood. Put
another way, he’s refusing to remember – acknowledge – bits of his past.
Taken literally, this could also mean that Italy’s child
self is transcending time and space to get him to remember his past.
Or, what about this scene? Italy encounters his child self, recognizes this, and feels ashamed for
lying about how [not] strong he’s become [x].
Germany also appears to have these strange encounters with chibis.
Ex: In the same strip, a child that looks
exactly like Germany/ Holy Rome presses to be acknowledged as well [x].
Ex: Germany’s once shown to be holding up Chibitalia.
“It’s me!”
What if this is Chibitalia traveling into the future
to get Germany to remember about his past as Holy Rome? At the same time, it could symbolically represent childhood memory repression. Of course, this is all making the assumption that Germany is, in fact, Holy Rome.
Quintillus:
Most obvious of all is that there’s a real character in the series
who’s physically able to time travel.
The play on Quintillus’ time-traveling abilities is that
because historical records about him are shifty, his timeline leaps back and forth.
Himaruya took this, made it literal, and gave Quintillus time-traveling powers [x].
Ex: We see Quintillus visit Germany in modern times making
sure that the latter’s research and re-writing of Roman history are accurate [x].
With all the evidence I presented, I truly do believe that
the nations are able to time travel. It’s not just limited to their ability to
slow time for those around them. They seem to be able to manipulate it too, being able to disappear on
a whim…
No. What happens is that America chooses China to attack the
axis so that he can assess China’s feats. How I interpret this is that America
is covertly analyzing China’s strength and possibly feels threatened by him.
Any strip that revolves around independence or revolution is
phenomenal in my opinion.
America – Fighting for independence from England [x].
The Baltics – Declaring independence from the USSR [x].
France – The fear of other European nations in response to
the French Revolution [x].
Italy– Fighting for independence from Austria [x].
I believe most of it has to do with Gakuen Hetalia. Fangirls got jealous – don’t ask– and hated Seychelles because she was the main character in the dating simulation with other male nations.
I don’t know how anyone could hate her, though. She’s always smiling.
Note: This is a
guide. It’s not meant to cover an exhaustive list of all relevant examples in the manga. If I did that, this post could
easily be a novel.
Before I get into the direct blood relations of the
characters, this guide aims to chart out and differentiate between the different
types of relationships that we see in the manga.
Biological:
Biological siblings, obviously, means that the nations in question
are blood-related.
Ex: America and Canada.
Ex: Greece and Egypt and their moms, Ancient Greece and
Ancient Egypt.
The best example of a biological relation is that of Norway and
Iceland’s.
Iceland had no native people. Since it was Norwegians alone
who first settled on the island, the two are directly related [x].
Iceland innately senses Norway when he’s first born.
Norway
also senses Iceland.
Likewise, DNA testing – in this case, a land excavation – is
done to confirm their biological relation.
Now, let’s do a comparison.
When America’s born, he doesn’t sense a biological brother
among the countries colonizing him. The reason for this is that he’s referred
to as an ingredient, meaning that not only were there native tribes living on
the land he represented but that America existed as a mix of several European
cultures [x].
The point to differentiate here is that America doesn’t have
a direct biological relation to these colonizing countries due to the large
volume of them.
Instead, what you’ll see is that the colonizing countries
fight over assuming the role/ title of being America’s big brother, or
onii-chan.
Onii-chan:
Continuing from America’s example, after he chooses England
over France, he asks England if he can refer to him as onii-chan – ‘Big Brother.’
As stated in the translator’s note, onii-chan can be used as
an expression of adoration and endearment. Put another way, ‘big brother’ here
has an entirely different cultural connotation. It’s a brother-figure relationship
and isn’t meant to be taken literally.
Not to mention the fact that England initially rejects the
label of onii-chan, claiming that “just ‘England’ is fine.’” The reason England
is hesitant to accept the label stems from the horrible relationship he has
with his own older brothers.
France is another example where the term Big Brother is used affectionately.
Ex: He claims to be the Big Brother of the world.
Ex: He’s described as a Big Brother-type.
Ex: The first thing that he does when he meets Lisa, Jeanne
d’Arc’s reincarnate, is introduce himself as Big Brother.
Ex: The reason that Italy refers to France as Big Brother is simply because they grew up in Rome’s house together for some time.
This title of endearment is confirmed in one of Hima’s blog
posts, where he clarifies that Italy and Monaco both call – as in refer – to France as Big Brother [x].
More examples of France’s use of the title ‘Big Brother’ can
be found here [x].
One last example of this is that of Netherlands, Belgium,
and Luxembourg.
Netherlands and Belgium are biological siblings. Meanwhile,
Luxembourg refers to Netherlands, France, Spain, and Belgium as Big Brother and Big Sister respectively [x].
While the translation is noted to be rough, the distinction
is nonetheless made very clear.
All that needs to be known is that when two nations
willingly unite – not to be confused with being conquered/ annexed – the personifications
involved are considered to be married.
Austria is notorious for this, being noted to have solved
all his problems in the past through marriage (e.g., the Austro-Swiss
partnership, The Hapsburg Monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire).
Ancestors:
In the manga, sharing similar ancestors doesn’t make the
nations involved biologically related. In this case, I’m talking about cultural
influence.
Ex: Spain and Portugal. (Chapters 77-79 of World Stars).
Both are noted to share a similar ancestry. As such,
Seychelles can’t tell which one is Portugal when she has a letter to deliver to
him.
Given the context in which the topic of their physical resemblance and relationship is discussed, if they were siblings, France would have attributed the reason for their likeness to this. He doesn’t.
Not once is a relation ever confirmed except for the fact that they’re neighbors.
Point is, it’s the similar ancestry that causes them to look alike.
While Romania may have inherited much of Rome’s culture, he’s
not related to the Italy brothers.
This brings me to my next point.
Influence:
While cultural influence often affects the physical
and personality traits of nations, it doesn’t make them biologically related.
Ex: Seychelles was originally designed to have one thick
eyebrow and one thin one to represent French and English influence.
Ex: As an amalgamation of several cultures, America
resembles bits of Finland, France, and England.
Ex: France’s influence prevents America, Canada, and
Seychelles from inheriting England’s bushy eyebrows [x].
Ex: Young Canada inherits France’s hair due to his
influence. This is before England had assumed control over him.
The House System:
When a country is conquered and their conqueror is on the
same continent, the conquered personification lives with the conquering personification.
Ex: France, Holy Rome, and Chibitalia living in Rome’s house (panel used above).
Ex: Chibitalia and Hungary living in Holy Rome’s house. Despite the rough start, they become so close that they refer to each other as family.
Ex: Romano, Netherlands, and Belgium living in Spain’s house.
In modern times, we still see this occur, albeit it’s a bit
different.
The Chinese provinces +
Macau and Hong Kong (under a one country two systems principle) all
live in China’s household.
The Colony/ Household System:
*Note – I made up the labels of house and household system
to better clarify and more easily distinguish between the two different living circumstances.
In canon, ‘House’ and ‘Household’ are terms used loosely and interchangeably in the translations.
The household system is separate from the house system in
that because the colonies are on separate continents, they’re part of a
household. In other words, they’re together and considered to be a unit despite
not living with the ruling nation.
Ex: England visits America, but America doesn’t live with
him in England.
Ex: England hosts a household meeting, requiring the colonies to travel [x]. (America is already independent here, by the way. He’s not part of the household.)
Ex: Likewise, England has holiday houses in Hong Kong and
India, as alluded to in one of his character songs [x].
“
Curry, Chinese cuisine, my holiday houses’ meals.”
Ex: Hong Kong, who used to live with China and referred to him
in a more intimate way [x], changed after he became an English colony.
When he becomes Chinese territory again, he refers to China
as teacher/ Mr., seeing him more as a mentor.
What I want to stress here is how fluid interpersonal relationships
between nations are in Hetalia. They’ve lived for centuries; how they view and
interact with each other changes with time. Their relationships – aside from
biological relations – aren’t as static as human patterns of organization.
Germany: I could never do modelling. I’m not photogenic.
The fact that Germany pretty much acts as Veneziano’s mother.
Misconception: He
hates Greece
Reality: They don’t
truly hate each other, even though they say they do. Their actions prove otherwise.
Ex: They’re
compared to cats and dogs.
Ex: They bicker
and get into fights whenever they see each other, often creating disputes out
of nothing [x].
+
Nonetheless, they have made some advances in their
relationship.
Ex: Turkey’s form
of ‘bullying’ Greece is taking the latter to a bathhouse and massaging his “stiff
bones.”
Ex: It’s also important to remember that Greece lived with Turkey for a considerable part of his childhood, up until he gained independence in the 19th century.
Ex: During the
Christmas 2007 event, Greece offers that France strip him instead rather than
taking off Turkey’s mask [don’t ask], even though Turkey later appears with the
mask off anyway. What matters is that it’s hinted that Turkey possibly isn’t
comfortable with taking off the mask – Greece’s expression is indicative of
that.
…
Misconception: He’s
the bad guy.
Reality: He was a
world superpower just like other European empires at the time.
What likely made him
‘evil’ in fanon is that he came between Spain and Romano.
Ex: There’s
literally no difference between Austria conquering Veneziano and Turkey’s
attempt to conquer Romano, and yet Turkey’s selectively depicted as the villain
in fanon.
He’s not
particularly malicious either.
Ex: He promises not to kill Romano (the weapon he brandishes is all show) and later leaves to get porridge instead of resuming his battle over Romano with Spain [x].
Misconception: He’s
obnoxiously cocky and arrogant
Reality: He was
cocky and arrogant in his prime but has mellowed out and become more docile
with age. While his stubbornness has remained, he has a sensitive side too.
Ex: Depending on the
character note, he’s either referred to as an old man or an uncle-type figure. Point
is, he’s considerably older than most of the other nations.
Ex: Despite his
old age, he still exercises feats of strength when least expected. In this
case, his success in stopping a pick-pocketer was enough to impress Germany.
Ex: He attempts
to force himself into an EU meeting. In other depictions, it’s also shown that
not being granted a membership in the EU is upsetting to him [x] [x]
His mask:
Not much is known about why he covers his face with a mask. Regardless,
there are times where he’s spotted without one. For the most part, when his
face is revealed it’s either shaded or partially turned to the side.
There are some times, however, where his full face is shown.
Hima’s linked to a couple drawings on his blog, where if you click on them, the
mask comes off [x] [x].
Bonus Facts:
He’s a good salesman.
In a bizarre fan request, Hima depicts Turkey – as the origin
of Santa – visiting Iceland dressed as Santa. It turns out to be a dream. Mental indeed,
Iceland [x].
Although, Hima also said that Turkey would be “just as fine”
with a bit of stomach sticking out and depicted him as such [x].
It’s completely normal for him not to be wearing that much
clothing.
He’s part of the Gourmet Food Club.
All in all, Turkey’s bad reputation stems in large from his
portrayal in fanon; it wasn’t the series itself that depicted him like this. There’s
literally nothing that differentiates him and his actions from other empires in
canon.
Ellawritesficssometimes 