Hetalia - Axis Powers Controversy

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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-01-13/korean-protests-call-for-hetalia-anime-cancellation

I'm pretty upset about this whole thing, considering I love the comic and think it deserves a faithful adaptation.

It sucks bad enough that Korea is being left out of the anime, but that doesn't seem good enough for many in Korea. :
 
If you read about how Japanese "colonized" Korea before WWII and how they ruthlessly tried to stamp out Korean culture. I'd think you'll understand why Koreans in general have such a low opinion of the Japanese.
 
I get that, but then the issue would be just as valid directed towarRAB ANY Japanese animated project.

They're calling for cancellation even though they removed Korea the character from the show (who was pretty non-offensive). I'm failing to see what is so offensive to them at that point other than it's nominally WWII themed and is Japanese in origin.

I get that relations between Korea and Japan are heated, but they still do a ton of business with one another, and anime is imported there regularly. Seems sort of unreasonable to be so upset at this show, considering there is no real offensive material in the show itself.
 
There's still a lot of negative feelings toward Japan in Korea. That Japan doesnt often seem to want to recognise the cause of these grievances doesnt exactly help matters. So yeah, they're a little touchy on things pertaining to Korea when it has a Japanese origin.
 
I'd never even heard about Hetalia until recently, but with all this drama going on everywhere I think I might avoid it. Is it yaoi? Because it appears most of the cast is male (I mean no insult, just curious).
 
It's a bishounen comic strip, akin to Azumanga Daioh. Short panel bits that have a general continuity, but keep things brief.

It's a fun, quirky comic and NO there's no yaoi. (other than fan doujin).

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I feel bad for the author of the comic, considering he's not even living in Japan anymore (works in NYC).
 
But that's the point; Korea isn't even IN it!

Demanding cancellation for offensive material is one thing, but if the offensive material isn't even there, it just gets silly.
 
No, they joke about it

But no it isn't yaoi

Personally in my opinion, people who get offended by Hetalia, just can't take a joke, and it makes me angry

Honestly I think it's hilarious!!
 
Yeah, but Korea's in the actual manga. Yeah, they ARE being a bit over touchy about it, but that's what the current issue is. There is still a LOT of negative feeling over Japan's treatment of Korea in the past, and you're seeing that more then any actual issue with the series itself.

I'm surprised China hasnt said anything about the series either.
 
1)Korea was going to be in the show

2)Korean outrage pressured studio to remove Korea from the show at last minute

3)Korea still outraged about show's existence, demanRAB cancellation

Seems pretty unreasonable to me, political tension or not.

If they wanted to be consistent about their problem with it, they'd have crusaded against the publication of the manga. They didn't/aren't, hence the hypocrisy.
 
Yeah, it's good thing China hasn't said anything about this, yet. It would certainly get worse.

About the Koreans being irrational about this. I hang around a board with a lot of Koreans. Given my time there, I'll say they seem to very sensitive about their image.
 
Are the people complaining about people who have even read the manga or online comic? I seriously doubt it. It's probably 1 person who started a campaign and then it was the whole "OUTRAGE AT JAPANESE!" movement that then jumped onboard.

Because I've read this thing and every single country represented comes off silly and the only ones I think who could complain are Italians because Italy is the stupidest, most cowardly character in it.

It's still hillarious though.
 
The fact that it's based of a comic written by a Japanese 20-something living abroad for education also sort of leaves me skeptical as to how bad it could actually be as well. The manga-ka is actively pursuing his education in the ultimate melting pot of America, New York City. I highly doubt someone bigoted or xenophobic would go out of their way to apply to a school in such a diverse town, so I doubt the manga is that stinging to anyone.

Lets be clear, Japan was horrendous in World War II, and unlike the Germans who had that guilt pounded into them as part of the Marshall Plan, it's still a pain to get many Japanese (especially those often in power) to admit that things like the Rape of Nanking occured. On the flipside though, blind nationalism, especially 60 years after the fact, serves no one well. It's bad when Japan tries to put it in a textbook, and it's bad Korea tries to lash out every Japanese mention of Korea in any medium. Anime like this should be seen as opportunity to foster a better dialogue between nations.
 
Oh, well, it's done.
http://hetalia.com/news/
The show's canceled, even though Korea isn't even IN the show.

S Koreans, You disgust me. You are little better than your brothers up north.
 
But there IS NO KOREA IN THE ANIME!!!!

Once upon a time, I used to think S Korea was a good country. But it appears the sheep skin has came off. Korea was once one nation for a reason; the North and South are the same.
 
I wouldn't blame the entire nation of South Korea for what is likely the fault of a few loudmouths (just as those hyper-distorted, lie-containing textbooks that were only used in a handful of Japanese schools.)

However, it's these moment of over-political correctness don't really help anything. You know things are chill when you can make fun of each other. That's when progress has obviously been made.
 
Compare that to S korean school projects where teachers tell students to draw art with the theme "I hate Japan"? And then had the children's drawings put up on public display?

http://aog.2y.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1550


A tonne more children's drawing in that link.
 
Considering Japan's only in the past few decades gotten more honest about it's war crimes, it's not shocking that Korea (and a lot of the rest of Asia,) is taking it's sweet time about getting over it. That's the kind of thing that's going to take generations to iron out. Considering it's 20-somethings and younger in Japan who tend to admit to Japan's war atrocities, it'll be another generation before South Korea (and China, and so on,) begin to get over them. The people who suffered under that regime have to all be in the ground, and so do their children probably.

Think of it in terms of slavery in the US - there is no one alive today who is was on either side of slavery, but the on-going issues in it wake have left a scar that still is left unhealed in someways. Japan's actions during World War 2 may take just as long to heal, especially since they have lack Germany's vigilance in keeping nationalism in check.

I mean, Japan is still an intensely xenophobic country in a lot of ways, and perhaps the only reason any sense of multi-culturalism has crept into anime and manga (outside of a generation of much more broad-minded manga-ka) is because Japan is enamored of western pop culture and because the insanely low birth rates have forced Japan's hanRAB in regarRAB to issuing visas to foreigners who want to work there, changing the cultural and ethnic make up of Japan. Take America's problems with people not wanting to do dirty jobs, then compound that with the birthrate being below replacement levels, and guess what: you have a lot of non-Japanese suddenly in the mix, and not just as Jet teachers. Characters like Chad in Bleach are based off of a very real trend in Japan.

Still, it'll take years of a multi-cultural Japan for the rest of Asia's view of the country to change on it I think, and it will take the old hardline xenophobes (too many of whom still hold seats in the Diet,) to die off for things to really change. It's what it's taken for things to change in the US, and we've had the advantage of heavier, immensely diverse immigration, active protesting and higher birth-rates marginalizing those narrow attitudes faster. The west has been active with being progressive - Asia in general has at points been somewhat slow (and not just on racism and honesty in history, but also on sexism, homosexuality and just about every other social issue you can dream up.)

And now I've made a whole bunch of generalizations too.
 
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