Q & A

Since when was Canada and Romano best friends?
Apart from the brief encounter when Canada asks Romano about independence,
there has been no interaction that shows them as friends. In fact, isn’t Romano
one of the ones who forgets Canada unlike his brother, Veneziano? I know he’s
friends with America, but only acquaintances with Canada, or an I missing
something?

They’re not friends? I’m
as confused as you. Like you said, they had that interaction in WS where Canada
asked Romano how he had gained his independence [x].

Not exactly. I think you’re
referring to the Christmas 2011 event. Veneziano recognizes Canada but we don’t
get to see Romano’s reaction [x].

do you believe that
monaco and france are siblings the way that norway and iceland are? like…
biologically (even though biology and nations is an iffy thing lol)

It is an iffy thing lol. I’m still in the process
of putting together a model, but to avoid a slippery slope, Himaruya has made
it so that descendants aren’t necessarily biologically related (e.g., Bulgaria
and Romania aren’t considered to be Rome’s grandsons, even though Romania
strongly insists otherwise).

Anyways, as for your question, no. Monaco is referred to as his protégé in a
volume 4 character note [x], although I’ve seen printed English translations where she’s referred to as his sister in the same note…

In Volume 6, she’s referred to as his “kind-of sister.”

She and Italy refer to France as big brother;
however, we know that Italy uses it as a term of endearment and given that
Monaco is his protégé, I would apply the same logic [x].

Hey, so, before some wars in the 1700s, the French and
Spanish had A LOT more colonized land in North America than England, so in
Hetalia, wouldn’t that make France more of a parental figure? Before the wars
in 1700s at least. (I got this from my AP US History book)

Hetalia isn’t historically accurate, so it’s not the best
lens for analyzing relationships between the characters. Use the original
source material for interpretation (i.e., the manga).

I’ve done some posts that highlight the paternal
relationship that France has with America

[x] [x], but it still stands that England was
his primary father figure/ mentor. Even so, we know that because of England’s
long absences it was minimal.

Ex: America is jealous of kids who get presents from their fathers on Christmas [x].

Hello! Can you tell please in which period of
time strip “While you were gone” takes place?

I think it takes place
during the intermission period between WW1 and WW2. Both Lithuania and Poland
were independent, but Lithuania still warns of political tensions and the
likely possibility of Poland being targeted. Italy had also just gained his independence [x].

I’m very
sorry to hear that.

In the series, what
we’ve seen is that if ordered to, the nations will promote propaganda despite
not necessarily believing in it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t characterize them as you wish either.

Ex: Germany is
morally opposed to annexing Austria but is forced to [x]. In a later strip, he’s
seen promoting the annexation with other officers [x].

I hope this helps. All the
best, and thank you for sharing your voice and permitting me to comment.

I’ve already done posts on this subject. You can find them in my post directory [x] [x]

Q & A

I strictly base my
opinions on the information presented in the manga [x].

From what we’ve seen,
Norway can see and communicate with fairies (including England’s fairy friends), and Iceland can see these creatures but chooses not to let people
know this to avoid being seen as childish and weird [x].

There’s no indication
that they can perform magic, unlike Romania and England who are in the magic
club in the Gakuen AU and are depicted with spell/fortune books in other blog updates [x] [x]

Given the legends, it’s
possible that Himaruya will decide to give them the ability to cast spells, but for now,
no. That doesn’t mean you can’t headcanon this, though!

Russia and America are distinctly
singled out as the strongest as the nations, but Germany is noted to possess
significant strength and muscles too [x].

This doesn’t go to say that
Germany wasn’t strong enough to defeat America or Russia in different battles (obviously), but
Himaruya has been consistent in elevating Russia and America’s strength above
other nations [x].

As a title of endearment, yes [x].

Do you have some favorite Finland strips?

The fact that he cuts Iceland’s hair [x] and his love for nature [x].

Which Hetalia mochi or
cat would you keep as a pet?

No mochis
for me. Too much of a hassle.

I like
Spain cat because he’s super cute and Franchat, mainly because of the pun.

I couldn’t disagree more.

These are just a few examples. Of course, I’ll
go into them in more detail later.

Hungary:

Magyar raised her just to be like him, which is why she uses
a more male language.

She has a complex over settling down, having previously
represented an equestrian hunting tribe, and has fears about her fighting
skills getting rusty [x]

Despite this, she’s described as “probably the manliest
person in the comic.”

She kicks ass.

Belgium:

Belgium’s ‘plainness’, as in she doesn’t stand out much in
comparison to surrounding countries, is what makes her more complex.

Any insecurity, weakness, or flaw adds depth to a character’s
personality.

Belarus:

As one of the most neurotic and incomprehensible APH character
to unpack, she’s the antithesis of plain.

She breaks Lithuania’s fingers during a date [x]. It lasted three minutes.

Her obsession with Russia became so strong that she forgot
her own language.

Monaco:

This lady packs a strong punch in the world of business and gambling [x].

It was also just recently revealed that she fears losing her
nationhood. Remember that personifications represent their citizens and only exist
because of them.

As such, since most people in Monaco’s country are tourists
(transients) she doesn’t have many citizens to call her own. It’s the tourists
who create the need for her existence.

The threat she faces is that if criminal
activity keeps increasing in her country, tourism rates will decline.

All in all, to say that the female nations are plain is
unwarranted. Even though some of them could definitely use more fleshing out,
they still have distinct personalities, quirks, insecurities, and weaknesses.

I think it’s important to recognize that it’s the quality of
their characters that matters most here; not the quantity of what we see.

“What do you think of the new strip?”

I think it’s very
interesting, mainly because it confirms earlier conceptualizations of
nationhood!

Since Monaco isn’t a big
country and has a small population, they mainly rely on tourists to sustain
themselves.

However, because the
country is resort and luxury-based (i.e casinos, hotels), it doesn’t attract a
ton of people, as not many people can afford going there.

Instead, it attracts for
the most part richer classes, both good and bad. What Monaco and France are
discussing here with regards to public safety is that the corrupt rich people Monaco’s
attractions bring in threaten the possibility of other people wanting to visit
her country.

When she says that she
won’t exist if she’s not safe, she’s basically saying that she’s nothing
without people visiting her. Likewise, because she doesn’t have a large
population, her existence is heavily dependent on tourists.

So, it would follow that
Monaco needs to dispose of the dangerous classes by getting rid of them,
therefore upping her country’s safety and making it a more desirable place to
travel to.

This strip echoes what
we saw back in chapter 307, where France confirms that their nationhood derives
from their citizens.

In sum…

A nation is nothing
without their people. But, because Monaco is tourist-based, they comprise a big
part of her population, albeit temporarily.

She “doesn’t stop
worrying” because if corrupt tourists with money keep visiting her, it can act
as a disincentive for other tourists to visit.

There’s also an issue
with expensiveness that she has to tackle if she’s to attract more kinds of
people to her country.

Note: This post will be looking at potential hints of female pairings or same-sex attraction, as requested. For the most part, the nations I will be mentioning have in fact shown attraction to males too. A more complete post on the nations’ sexuality will eventually be made, though. The examples shown are not all of them either. There are plenty of them, believe me.

Okay, let’s get it out of the way right now: Monaco and Taiwan
are hitting up the charts with their heavily hinted – but not confirmed – attraction
to girls. It makes me incredibly happy to see this possible representation in the
comics, and I’m even more excited to share it with you all.

First, there’s the 2011 Christmas event. There, Taiwan
states that she is unable to concentrate due to the amount of cleavage the Western
female nations are showing. Monaco then reassures her and sweetly waves it off.
Taken alone, this may not seem significant, but you certainly see progress with
Taiwan as you flip forward into later strips.

Now, let’s go over some panels included in the Halloween
2013/2014 event. After spotting Belarus from afar, Taiwan literally exclaims “Gorgeous
lady at 12:00 o’ clock!” and then proceeds to complement Belarus with notable
excitement.

And then comes Ukraine.

I mean, there’s really not that much to say. You can see it
for yourselves: there’s a clear blush on Taiwan’s face and she looks just a little
bit too happy to see Ukraine’s (breasts), don’t you think?

Don’t believe me still? Here’s Taiwan blushing, complementing Vietnam,
and just looking plain elated to be surrounded by them. She doesn’t seem to be
so shy about these feelings anymore.

There also appears to be this scheme where Taiwan purposefully
made Vietnam’s costume smaller and tighter than what it should be, as the costume
is her size as opposed to Vietnam’s – Taiwan is significantly smaller than Vietnam.

Lastly, there’s Monaco, who comments that Ukraine looks “modestly
sexy.” Again, when taken on its own, it doesn’t seem like much.

However, when asked if she would wear a revealing costume,
Monaco says that she’s better at being an onlooker and is then compared to an
old man by Taiwan. I don’t know, I read this as Monaco embodying something akin
to a male gaze…an appreciative male gaze. There’s also the stereotype that old
men are more perverted; obviously this isn’t the case, but it’s a pretty common
gag.

Take what you want from what I just presented, but I personally
believe there is enough evidence in the strips that at the very least hint at the
existence of same-sex attraction among the female nations.