Are Seborga
and Genoa related to anc.Rome too? Since They have the curl.
(The Italy brothers use a curl as proof of a
blood relation to Rome [x].)
By the logic vested in the manga, I would say
so. It’s similar to how Himaruya approached the German states. They were all
considered to be brothers.
In your opinion,
are there any secret/low-key stoner characters?
No one is confirmed to be a stoner lol. However,
Canada has smoked pot once.
Source: Christmas 2010 Event, page 5.
Although he’s never been shown to smoke pot in
canon (therefore it’s not canon), Netherlands would be another contender. There’s
a panel even depicting how some “coffee shops” in his country sell it.
Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, February 24, 2015).
Is there
enough evidence to say that Prussia is an albino? Or Iceland or someone else in
the series for that matter
This is actually a mistake I’ve made in the
past in my own fics. Pale eyes and hair doesn’t automatically make someone an
albino, even though Prussia is sometimes depicted with characteristic red eyes—point is, it doesn’t automatically make him an albino.
Source: Christmas 2007, Hetarchive, page 5.
Canon evidence has actually pointed otherwise since
Prussia’s color scheme varies. He’s had blond hair and blue eyes, and his eye
color can range from hues of red, blue, and purple.
Edit: I’m aware that albinos can have blue/ purple eyes, but the fact still remains that Prussia hasn’t been confirmed as one.
Source: Bamboo Thicket (Eng trans., Hetarchive, Nov 22nd, 2011).
slightly
personal question for mun: what do u think the most endearing trait of your
favorite character is?
I don’t have a favourite character!
…The first character that comes to mind is
Finland.
He’s just a genuinely wholesome person that can
cheer up anyone [x].
Where did the
Netherlands and Taiwan ship come from? Is there any interaction between them in
canon?
There is no interaction between them.
I’m not favourable of the “they must have an
interaction in order to be shipped” mentality, though. People are free to ship
what they want, and they shouldn’t have to justify it based on canon material,
ya know?
This is something that I always emphasize: use discretion.
When it comes to older portrayals and newer ones, the rule of thumb that I use is piecing together what aspects of the characterization have remained and which haven’t. What is it that remains true to the character?
Ex: Is France still an aggressive, deplorable pervert? No.
You don’t ignore the insensitivity and inappropriate shock humour used in the past completely but rather you acknowledge that Himaruya has grown past this and has evolved as a creator.
For those curious,
it’s 116 f or more up there. Yikes. I’ll take our 83 to 96 f later today. I
wanted to ask yesterday, but the ask box didn’t seem to
be connected to the server (at least that’s what it told). How do you think the
Republic of Ireland is related to the UK brothers? It’s not been stated they
are a sibling, or even a relative, so that makes me curious. Happy Canada Day
up there 🎆
[Thank you! The ask box situation has been fixed, but the
read more coding issue still hasn’t been resolved! I’m so sorry, but I can’t
always answer asks right away….]
Himaruya isn’t sure what to do with Ireland, so no relation
has been confirmed [x]. Thus far, we only know that England is the son of four
siblings, including Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland [x].
If I’m to speculate here, they could be siblings if Himaruya ever decides to elaborate on the
character. Aside from historical relations, geographic proximity is
occasionally used as a defining factor for sibling relationships.
Given that Northern Ireland is England’s sibling and was originally
partitioned from Ireland, I don’t think this is too much of a stretch. Things get even
more complicated when you see that Northern Ireland is listed as England’s older brother… what a can of worms, eh?
Do you happen to know why people say APH
England doesn’t know how to swim? I’m pretty sure that was a joke in the comic
strips, but everyone seems to consider it canon.
Like you said, it is a joke, stemming from how British
people in horror films have a tendency of not being able to swim. I know I’ve
talked about this before, but my opinion has since shifted. I personally wouldn’t
consider it to be canon given the context [x].
Which Hetalia character has the biggest amount of
ships/harem? Why is it that a lot of the characters can be shipped with everything?
(including fridges apparently).
(Fridges aren’t even the
brink of some of the madness in the fandom :P)
In my experience of
reading fanfiction, I would probably say England. He’s very versatile and fits
well in several dynamics. (e.g., FrUk, UsUk, AsaKiku, EngSey, EngBel, EngIta, and SpUk).
People have different tastes; of course it’s going to vary.
How do you think the Eastern European countries (Ukraine and
Hungary in particular) would interact with their Romas/Gypsies? What would
their relationships be like?
From what I can recall, there is no canon
depiction of this. It’s difficult to say due to the fact that citizenship in one country
doesn’t have meaning in their way of life.
However, given that the nations
represent all people within their territories, including those of different
ethnicities, race, religion, and class, Hungary and Ukraine would personally treat them the same way as they
would with any other citizen, even if they don’t possess citizenship. Citizenship
is a social construction. I believe what’s more important is the fact that
these people live in certain jurisdictions.
I know you said Luxembourg was referring to Belgium and
Netherlands as older siblings are terms of endearment rather than him being
biologically related but, do you think he could at least be related to Belgium
considering that a lot of his former land now belongs to Belgium and their countries
have close relations? (sorry for this being long.)
(Please don’t be sorry!)
The corroborating source
I mentioned in an earlier post [x].
It’s complicated because
as I mentioned before, the Bamboo Thicket post and the corresponding Hetarchive
page state two different things. The post is listed as a rough
translation, but the fact that Himaruya refers to Luxembourg using terms of
endearment instead of directly confirming a sibling relationship to Netherlands
and Belgium in the question is pretty clear.
I don’t know what else
to say. If it doesn’t claim that they’re biological siblings, then they’re not. I’m not a translator and don’t speak Japanese either. Still, what I would like to look into more is why that translation is cited
as rough…
Do you think America trusts his own gov?
currently only 18% of the us trusts the gov and the rest doesn’t. I’m not really
sure if they’ve gone over that in hetalia, the only time I can actually think
of one time were america was unsure(??) of his gov, is that one ep where he
finds Tony but his boss or gov tells him that he can’t tell anybody and that it
didn’t happen. Maybe I haven’t found anything yet or I’m just looking too deep
but yeah I was kinda wondering that.
It’s not clear on
whether he trusts them or not, not that he really has a choice on obeying them anyway. Nations are
forced to comply with their bosses’ orders regardless of their own will/
opinion over the matter [x].
You’re talking about the
Roswell incident where he was deliberately lied to about the UFO by his boss
(the president) and was instead told that it was a weather balloon. (Source: Assault☆The neighbor’s Roswell Incident.)
Because
that’s one of the minimal scenes where we see him interacting with his boss
(another example would be in the “Black Ships have sailed” strip), there isn’t
enough information to form a solid conclusion on what you’re asking.
@amuamoami asked: Are
there any other african (black) characters in hetalia besides Seychelles? The
only issue i have with hetalia is that I dont see much color diversity.
There
is color diversity (e.g., Ecuador, the Asian nations, Spain, and Portugal— not to be confused with race, which doesn’t exist in Hetalia).
Cameroon is the only other official black character with a full
design [x].
There’s an unconfirmed female who may or may not be an African nation that visits Seychelles in Volume 6 (most people speculate that it’s Madagascar due
to the use of third person in one panel).
Lastly, there were some “chibi head”
illustrations that appeared in Gauken Hetalia [x].
I understand your sentiment. On the other
hand, Himaruya does have a habit of travelling to countries before he creates a
character for them. There’s also the whole matter of how messy and complicated
it would be to try to depict the subject of colonialism intersected with race.
It would be pretty unavoidable if he were to create these characters.
What are your personal opinions on Czechia and Slovakia?
They’re some of my favourite characters!
They’re hilarious
together! I love them! Taken out of context, this scene is even funnier for
some reason [x].
There isn’t much to base
my opinion on, unfortunately. There are very few interactions between them.
Ex: India comes to
England’s aid after the American Revolution and heals the latter [x].
Do you have any particular mischaracterizations of Hetalia
characters that you absolutely hate? This can also include falsely portrayed
relationships and such.
Hate is a strong word, but I definitely get irritated.
People’s inability to reconcile the idea that
deleted material is deleted material and that the shock “perverted” humour used
in the past by Himaruya, while incomprehensible, is no longer incorporated in
the series. France, in particular, would be a prime example of this.
As mentioned, the colony system in the manga doesn’t have the colonizing nation live with their colony 100% of the time. Instead, the colonizer visits the colony in the latter’s home.
Ex: England visits America at his home. Long gaps of time pass between each visit.
Ex: In his character song “Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman”, England mentions that he has holiday homes – presumably in India and Hong Kong given the lyrics.
“Curry, Chinese cuisine, my holiday houses’ meals.” [x].
What you’ll see is that the word “home” is also used generically to refer to a piece of land/ territory/ settlement. It’s just like how nations will refer to their entire country as their house.
(e.g.,“My house [country] has the best food!”)
Another example would be Finland and Sweden’s colonization of America. They make a settlement [home] in America, only to have it taken from them by Holland. In this case, the strip is making a reference to New Sweden, otherwise known as Delaware [x].
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.
Misconception: He
hates Spain
Reality: He hated
Spain but puts up with him now [x].
While Netherlands may be annoyed by Spain, they’re not
hostile.
Ex: Spain and
Netherlands are spotted together during the 2010 Christmas Event. Spain wants
to take a photo and Netherlands’ is reluctant. Netherlands’ threat to flip
Spain over is actually pretty funny [x].
Further, when they’re attacked by parallel France, Spain
comes to Netherlands’ aid.
Ex: They
coordinate their costumes during the 2011 Christmas Event, along with Belgium
and Romano [x].
Ex: Having been there
for part of Romano’s childhood, it’s Netherlands who points out how unaware the
latter was of the sacrifices that Spain made for him. In this case, Spain spent most of his money on Romano.
Ex: He helps lift
Spain onto Romano’s back as Belgium cheers them on [x].
Ex: Spain teases
Netherlands by putting on glasses to make himself more approachable and
suitable for business [x].
Misconception: He’s
rude
Reality: He’s kind and an older brother type.
On
the other hand, he can also be crabby and has a ‘dirty side.’
Ex: He attempts to help Belgium and Luxembourg, who were at the
mercy of other countries, through diplomacy. The running gag is that all of his advice is about money, albeit well-intentioned [x].
Ex: He teaches Luxembourg the business skills that propelled him
into the thriving economic state that he’s in now.
Ex: He’s in his element when he’s surrounded by tulips [x].
Ex: He socializes and involves himself in a discussion on gardening [x].
Netherlands’
personality is complex in that he has faults. He’s not rude all the time. Like
everyone, there are moments where he loses his composure.
Ex: He tends to lose his composure when it comes to economic
matters relating to Greece in the EU. He’s still noted to usually be a
pleasant coworker [x].
Ex: His sister declaring independence from him made him cranky
when he visits the then isolationist Japan for trade.
Nonetheless,
like other Dutch merchants, he respectively adopted the customs of his business
partners and engaged in them during transactions.
Side note: I’ve seen enough people take a dub line
as canon, so I want to clear it up.
In the “Before an International Meeting” strip… [x].
What
Netherlands does not say: “What? Do
you envy my scarf?”
What he does say: “Yo, good morning.”
It’s a big
difference.
Misconception: Business is everything.
Reality: Business isn’t everything, but it’s extremely important. It’s what taught him how to thrive.
Ex: Witnessing the wealth of his younger sister, Belgium,
motivated him to evolve past his agrarian roots.
Ex: It’s for this reason that Belgium believes that he’s become
so stingy and obsessed with profit.
Ex: He exchanges weapons with Spain while they’re at war.
Ex: He has no problem mixing his business and personal lives
together.
Ex: When the prospect of the nations’ memories being full of
gaps is introduced, Netherlands is able to recall business transactions from the
last three hundred years, as well as European countries’ weaknesses.
His
relationship with Denmark is good enough for him to offer the latter a cheaper “buddy
price.”
He’s extremely
neat and tidy – he won’t eat in his kitchen despite cleaning it + doesn’t like
messy gardens.
As such, these compulsions, along with his obsession with money, is likely why he is described as neurotic in a character note.
In sum, while
Netherlands may appear to be rough on the edges, stemming from his occasionally
“rough’ business practices, he’s far more than that. He’s kind and is more than
capable of sharing close relationships with others. It’s not that he’s
unfriendly either. He has a stand-offish appearance. Meanwhile, he’ll stand up
for himself and those close to him.
Ellawritesficssometimes 