I think it comes from the fact that he starred in a hair iron commercial.
He’s literally such a goofball, I can’t handle it.
Hmmm. I’ll go with the less obvious and underlying ones.
-The Italy Brothers’ eyes
-Germany’s inability to smile.
-Germany’s love for Italy’s climate and culture + his deep interest in Roman history (*cough Holy Rome)
-Japan’s clairvoyance abilities + his limited memory
-Russia’s curse
-America’s dual personality
-China and Japan’s old age
-England’s alienation
-France’s loneliness and overcompensation as a Big Brother figure
What would you say if I told you that a lot of the nations had
Roman look-alikes – more like clones –
in the far past? Insane, right? Well, believe
it or not, it’s true.
First, there’s Augustus and Agrippa.
It’s crazy to me how uncanny they both look to North Italy
and Romano respectively. Despite some personality differences, they also share
a lot in common. Augustus is charming, charismatic, and weak at fighting.
Meanwhile, Agrippa
wasn’t given the inheritance he expected from Caesar (the title of Emperor). We
see the same thing happen with Romano and North Italy, as the latter inherits
most of Ancient Rome’s wealth once he passes on.
Further, Agrippa also shares Romano’s reserved nature, and
is only kind to those whom he is close with.
There’s also this picture that Germany draws of Italy. It’s almost
identical to the facial expressions Augustus makes.
Note: It’s manga Germany is referring to, not a textbook.
Now here’s Augustus again:
But it doesn’t stop there. There are plenty more Roman look-alikes.
Here are just a few more examples.
Tiberius looks scarily similar to a Sweden without glasses. He
is also feared by those around them and is perceived as anti-social.
Mark Antony looks a lot like Denmark.
Japan resembles Ancientus quite a bit too.
Gothicus looks like Genoa.
Probus too looks a lot like
Norway, and is even stated that he perplexes people and is often misunderstood
for this.
Now, I know what you’re all
thinking, and as much as I want to blow the whistle and say that there is, there
actually isn’t any reincarnation present. Sorry to disappoint. Anyways, what’s happening
here is extremely strange, but also fascinating.
In a brief inter-text character
note, it’s stated that Quintillus is able to break dimensional boundaries and
travel through time. For example, he’s visited Japan and China before. What I want
to talk about more is Quintillus’s recent visit to Germany.
Prior to Quintillus’s visit,
Germany was doing research on Roman history, reconstructing it to make old records
more accurate. It’s for this specific reason that Quintillus visits Germany; to
clarify that his older brother Gothicus wasn’t as bad as people have portrayed
him to be.
Of course, true to his love for
science, Germany doesn’t believe that Quintillus is the ghost of a real Roman
emperor and dismisses him. What’s odd is that in the last panel,
Germany says, “That Roman boy is interesting.”
I don’t know, but to me this
indicates that Germany might know that Quintillus is a supernatural being, but
is only able to acknowledge this in private. You’ll see with Hima that he’s
obsessed with linking Germany to Italian culture and Roman history. Another
Holy Rome hint perhaps?
Nonetheless, let’s get back to the
proof against reincarnation. One would think that maybe as Germany is reliving
history, he imagines it with the faces of those around him, hence the
look-alikes. A sound argument, but the strips prove
otherwise.
Here,
Ancient Rome is seen talking to Probus, Norway’s Roman look-alike.
Then, Gothicus, Genoa’s Roman
look-alike enters the scene and talks about how he’s not positively talked
about in modern textbooks. This confirms that the look-alikes are in fact real
and are not just a product of Germany’s imagination.
If I had to guess, I’d say that they’re
all in heaven in this scene, since they’re long dead. If they exist seperately now, then
clearly, they haven’t been reincarnated into their nation look-alikes.
Still, I can’t help but wonder why
Hima has made them look so uncanny to one another.
Note: This is not a theory. I’m simply just presenting canon information to answer a question.
Despite some inconsistencies regarding Prussia’s first
personification, all of them are German. That said, my answer to this question
is no. Prussia may have conquered territory that held indigenous Baltic peoples
(Old Prussians) but again, his starting points are all rooted in German
ancestry.
In “Liechtenstein’s Journal of Swiss Dopiness” we learn that
Prussia began as Margraviate of Brandenburg (1157-1806), which is considered to
be the ancestor of the Kingdom of Prussia. Brandenburg-Prussia was a leading
state in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. It later incorporated the territory of the Teutonic Knights.
However, what I’m more willing to accept as his starting
point is this panel, as we see him depicted more frequently as such in the strips.
It states that Prussia began as St. Mary’s order and then
became the Teutonic knights (1190 – Present). I believe this might be a small
error, as St Mary’s Order is short for “The Order of Brothers of the German
House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem”, which was more commonly known as the
Teutonic Knights.
There’s also the
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (or State of the Teutonic Order), which
was an actual state formed by the Teutonic knights (Teutonic Order) in the 13th
century.
What Hima also does is leave how Prussia became Prussia from the Teutonic Knights
open-ended. All this put together only ends up causing a lot of confusion, as
well as a problematic timeline. Either way, the personifications mentioned are
still nonetheless German.
The reason why some people believe Prussia used to be a Baltic is likely
because of the 13th century German invasions of
the original Baltic tribes (Old Prussians) that resided in Prussia. The
Monastic State of the Teutonic knights were then formed to conquer more
territory. Prussia was actually a name taken from the Baltic people originally
living in the region, hence the term Old Prussians
The point to reiterate once again is that Prussia’s stated origins
are all German, not Baltic.
One last thing. It’s not really related, but it’s been
speculated that Prussia once represented Livonia too. I disagree with this
theory. In “Lazy Comic Country” Japan has trouble remembering who Lithuania is,
despite knowing that he’s likely a Baltic.
Japan ponders if Lithuania is Livonia, but in the end, can’t
figure out who he is and decides to use a
more general greeting to avoid any awkwardness.
We also see in “Opening a Country is tough, too”, that
Prussia is one of the few countries that Japan allows into his country during
his recluse period and even signs a treaty with him.
Point is, Japan doesn’t show any lapse or uncertainty in his
memory when he sees Prussia, and if he at least remembers Livonia in the other
strip, then I’m sure he would recognize Prussia as Livonia if he truly was
Livonia – I don’t think he is. Livonia’s likely a separate personification that
has yet to be created.
Either way, given the information provided for in the
strips, I don’t believe that Prussia was a Baltic. He seems to be German
through and through.
Before, I’ve speculated that the reason Italy has his eyes
closed is that he doesn’t see the truth of the world. First, he was sheltered
by the protection his grandfather provided for him and didn’t realize how
brutal the world truly was.
Then, I argued that after the traumas of being conquered and
losing Holy Rome, Italy kept his eyes shut as a conscious decision. In other
words, he refused to see the truth around him.
Following said logic, this would explain why Italy rarely
opens his eyes in front of Germany. Perhaps this is him not wanting to
acknowledge his uncanny appearance to Holy Rome. He may even realize that
Germany is connected to Holy Rome in some way or another, but chooses to ignore
it, sparing himself from the painful reminder of his first true love.
However, that’s not what I want to talk about in this post.
What I do want to talk about is that the Italy we know and love is hinted at
hiding another side of himself…a scary one too.
In the Christmas 2011 event, Italy is requested to keep his
eyes open for a long period of time. Italy’s shocked response prompts Germany
to comment that it can’t be that difficult for him to do so.
What I find suspicious is that Italy conveniently falls
asleep in the following panel, almost as if he doesn’t want to open his eyes.
Given the context, it also wouldn’t make sense for him to fall asleep during Christmas,
as he’s known to love being around people and adores any kind of festivities.
This is completely out of character for him.
Even stranger is that when Italy does open his eyes, he
later remarks that it’s best if he keeps them closed. Okay…
So, what about this side of himself he’s hiding? Well,
there’s one strip that disturbs me every time I think about it, that being
“Mind-reading Binoculars.”
Here, Japan invents binoculars that reveal what
people are thinking. After pointing it at Italy, Japan doesn’t believe what he
sees and concludes that the binoculars are defective. On the contrary, I think
this was purposefully done and that they do in fact work properly.
Scary, right? And yet, it also makes sense for Italy to
possess such a dark side (rather than his excessively cheerful, albeit insecure
one) to him given how brutal his history has been. Once again, we return to
this motif of truth and hidden secrets. Hima’s definitely going somewhere with
this…but…
Would you believe it if I said he’s been planning this other
side of Italy right from the very start?
When Germany first meets Italy, Italy is hiding in an empty
tomato crate and pretends to be a fairy. Germany’s word choice is quite eerie
in this particular scene.
I’m sorry, but “show your true self” (?!). Why so
specific? That is, unless the word “true” has an alternate meaning in terms of
Italy hiding parts of himself.
If so, that’s quite possibly the most brilliant
foreshadowing I’ve ever seen.
I’ve also noticed that when Italy opens both
eyes, it functions as him reassuring someone and/or telling them the truth of
his intentions/ actions. Roughly speaking, it’s comparable to Pinnochio…
Pin-eye-chio… Nah, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Back to the Christmas Event, this also might explain why
Germany immediately covers Italy’s face once he opens his eyes. How I see it is
that it symbolizes how Germany may indeed know about the truth of his past, but
decides to cover it up and ignore it as opposed to confronting it.
Anyways, every time Italy tells the truth, his eyes open.
So, is he living a lie then? I really do think Hima’s going somewhere with
this, and encourage all of you to look at any examples where Italy opens both eyes.
I’m still not too sure about this one, but since this is
also another thing that’s been heavily requested, I have no problem explaining
what little I do understand from it. That is, if there is even any thing to
make sense of…
We’ve seen that the nations can transport or travel across
borders in a short period of time. The first thing I’ve noticed about this
ability is that it requires some sort of connection. In the “We’re Shipwrecked”
strip, since China has villas – China towns – all over the world, he’s able to
use them as a method of transport, travelling as far as the island of
Seychelles.
In the Christmas 2011 Event, this idea of connection comes
up again as Russia proposes to Japan that they build a bridge in order to
connect their houses, making it easier to travel.
However, there are times when transporting is difficult for
the nations. In my opinion, I think distance is the key factor here. For
example, we see that Italy travels to Germany by crossing over through
Switzerland on foot.
In the 2010 Christmas Event, we also see Finland travelling
to Sweden’s and Germany’s houses without any difficulties. On the other hand,
when asked to interview Seychelles and Greece, Finland either mails or texts
them.
For Seychelles, Finland states that “her land is a bit far.”
You also likely have to factor in the obstacles of water (or mountain ranges,
deserts etc.) in travelling, as not all countries are connected by land, or if
they are, it’s not always flat and easy to travel across.
It seems that distance and connections between landmasses is
what allows and/or inhibits the nations to travel on foot, as opposed to more standard
means.
Note: While I
disagree with a lot of South Korea’s characterization in the series, his shortcomings are not the intended focal point of this post, as designated by the
title. Just wanted to acknowledge that and make it clear.
South Korea’s curl is said to represent his soul…probably.
However, knowing Hima, I think this may just be a pun for South Korea’s capital
– Seoul. It’s often said that a capital city is the soul of a nation; they’re
cultural and political hubs that show off its best features.
It’s also been speculated that South Korea’s curl represents
the yin-yang symbol on their flag. I believe Hima incorporates this sort of
symbolism more so in how he characterizes South Korea’s polarized personality.
The red half (Yang) symbolizes positive cosmic forces, and
is often associated with the sun and warmth. The blue half (Yin) symbolizes
negative cosmic forces, and is often associated with the moon, darkness, and
coldness. Taken together, the yin-yang is supposed to represent the balance of
the Universe, as well as the mind, body, and yes – the spirit (i.e. soul).
What I’ll be arguing here is that South Korea is given two
distinct personalities in the series. He’s either very joyous and full of
energy, or there are other times where he seems insecure and unsure of himself.
The running gag with South Korea is that he falsely claims
to invent things. He’s very cheerful, and often bugs China and Japan.
On the other hand, there are plenty of times where he’s not
depicted this way. For example, Japan shows confusion at the fact that South
Korea willingly makes Japanese food for other countries and mimics his behaviour,
despite the fact that South Korea ‘hates’ him.
There’s another instance where he gets Japan to watch
one of his K-dramas. To me, it seems like he wants Japan’s praise to act as
some sort of validation. He’s mimicking Japan, and appears to be vying for his
approval. Given their economic relations after WW2, I wouldn’t say this is too
much of a stretch.
South Korea’s hidden insecurity is revealed further in the
strip where Japan creates mind-reading binoculars. After using them on China,
South Korea refuses to believe that China doesn’t want him around and denies
the truth of the binoculars. He thinks they don’t work properly.
In terms of his appearance, South Korea’s photogeneity and
obsession with photoshop is likely a reflection of the cosmetic and plastic surgery
culture in his country. South Korea has one of the highest plastic surgery
rates in the world, and as such, this is often linked to their extremely high
suicide rate, especially among young adults. Beauty is everything in the
country, and it would seem this is important to South Korea too as he
photoshops every-day photos of himself, perhaps unhealthily.
There’s also the fact that whenever a photo is taken of him,
it’s impossible for it to be unflattering. He’s naturally photogenic, and yet, he
still takes great lengths to perfect his appearance. Again, I think this is
just reflective of his nation’s notion of beauty and self-care.
Lastly, South Korea is shown to have an uncertain relationship
with America. In an uncompleted strip, he immediately agrees to whatever
America says.
Then, in another strip, South Korea mentions making a movie
and showing it to America. Once more, we see how he may possibly be trying to
gain respect and validation from the other nations.
Overall, it would seem that South Korea isn’t simply a happy
and flat character. Instead, his personality is notably polarized, and there
are indeed moments where his insecurities reveal themselves. It just so happens
that his curl might symbolize these opposite personalities.
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