Hmmm. Since I both agree
and disagree with this, I’ll play devil’s advocate 😈 😉

The series is based on
stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations predicated on the culture and
society in which you grow up. That said, it’s inevitable that stereotypes of
different nationalities are going to vary across the world. They’re also
inherently biased.

As you said, coming from
an Eastern society, this influences how Hima conceptualizes these national
stereotypes. To say that Hima’s stereotypes are inaccurate is a self-defeating
argument. They’re accurate from his point of view, and again, are inherently
biased.

It’s self-defeating in
the sense that anytime you attempt to apply stereotypes, it’ll be based on
where you’re from. With that logic, any stereotype someone comes up with will
always be seen as inaccurate to another person, who holds a different view of
what that stereotype consists of.

That’s where the fandom
comes in. Because stereotypes are so wishy-washy, it’s impossible to
characterize them accurately, not to mention that a stereotype is a generalization;
it’s function isn’t to pay attention to small details. This flexibility of stereotypes allows fans to mould characters to fit their own
understanding of their culture.

In other words, the series
wouldn’t function well if it wasn’t based on stereotypes.

However, regardless of
the presence of stereotypes, this series is a historical comedy. While they may
be a few misunderstandings and limitations of language spanning across diverse audiences,
Hima should still be held to account for the research he incorporates into his
writings.

If you check out his
blog, he does do quite a bit of research and travelling. Obviously, he’s human and
mistakes will happen, but since the series’ initial premise was historical in
nature, he should be aiming to be as accurate as possible.

The series gets a lot of
criticism, understandably, for some of his earlier characterizations of the
characters. In my opinion, I think what happened is that Hima never imagined
that the series would grow so big, and so he just did whatever he wanted with
them. If you notice, later characterizations are more culturally-sensitive, but
these older depictions will still haunt him and be brought up from time-to-time.