Axis Powers Hetalia

[Kinokokao]

Since Maxine and I have totally hijacked the yaoi thread to discuss this series, we've agreed to just start a new thread here.

This is for discussion of all things Hetalia related, including and not limited to the webcomic, anime and manga, the various canon and non-canon pairings, fanart, fanfiction, etc.

For those who haven't heard of Hetalia, it started as a webcomic and has become and internet sensation. Season one of the anime aired as a webcast. Season two is in production. The premise is the story of World War I and II as told with anthropomorphic realizations of the principle nations. The series has expanded to cover ancient and modern history as well.

Helpful Links:
Web-comic: http://www.geocities.jp/himaruya/hetaria/index.htm
Official Anime: http://hetalia.com/top.htm
LJ Scanlations index: http://sites.google.com/site/hetaliaindexes/Home
LJ community: http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/
Himaruya's Blog: http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/

Since Hetalia has a huge cast of characters I will try to keep a comprehensive list here:
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This is currently a WIP since I'm finishing up finals. I will expand and edit this as I have the time
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The brief list is as follows:
Axis Powers: Germany, Japan, Italy (Northern)
Allied Powers: US, UK, France, Russia and China
Nordic Countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland
Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Other Europe: Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Prussia, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Sealand, Southern Italy
Others Nations: Turkey, Egypt, Canada, Cuba, Seychelles
Other Asia: Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong (Vietnam, Thailand)
Ancient Nations: Germania, Rome, Holy Roman Empire

[Maxine MagicFox]

Er.. Kino... in episode 11... what the hell was that thing with UK and the fairy tale creatures? I... don't think I got the joke....

[Kinokokao]

XD I know, right? UK is crazy for magic and fairytales, especially if you consider that UK represents Scotland and Ireland as well. (Although apparently there is a separate Scotland character, I've only seen him in fanart, though) Anyway, in the comic, Hidekaz explains that UK sees the creatures because he is "pure" whereas America cannot see them because, well, we're jaded bastards. (Although America does have an alien buddy due to there being a Roswell storyarc)

Anyway, I couldn't find the specific comic I'm thinking about, but that's basically it. UK is crazy for magic/fairy-tales.

[Maxine MagicFox]

^_^; somehow it shouldn't surprise me that the alien-buddy thing would get stuck in here somewhere.

Aww, I see... I didn't pay much attention to "who" came up on UK as he was conversing with this buddies. I was too focused on trying to figure out UK - maybe that he was mentally insane? One too many to drink or something?

[Maxine MagicFox]

You know, though, if you think about it, the joke could apply to much more than that, too. Such as most popular fantasy books always (well, not always, but I'm generalizing here) seem to be written by some english person (Rowlings... Tolkien... Eddings)....

Americans seem to tend to frown on the idea of "having your head in the clouds". Innocence aside.

[Kinokokao]

Also, 19th and even earlier writers... Yeats, Tennyson, Jacobs, Spenser...

There's so much stuff of UK with his unicorn <3 So cute.

[Maxine MagicFox]

Favorite strips (spoiled for length):

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[Kinokokao]

VOOOODKAAAAAA!!!

XD

That's one of my favorites, too.

My absolute favorite is Poland and his ponies XD

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I also like this one, in which Finland gains his cute puppy:

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[Maxine MagicFox]

XD I never imagined Finland would be bad for naming a puppy.

:3 Any IRL history of Finland being bad with the naming of things, I wonder. ^_^

[Kinokokao]

Hm, not that I'm aware of especially. Sweden's horrified face is so awesome XD Gaah, I love Sweden/Finland for how amazingly cute it is.

ETA:

You know what else is cute?



This picture of Italy.

[Maxine MagicFox]

[Twat]

[Riseatrance]

[Kinokokao]

Elys, I did the same thing, sorta. I tried to watch the anime but it's just like "WOAH WHO IS WHO??" at first. I found it way helpful to read through the comics first before tackling the anime again.

I'm stuck at work without my picture folder... dammit. I had some cool new pics to share.

[Twat]

Pretty much read anything and everything I can. These days, all that's left is to dig for art. :o

Also:
http://yaoicrazy.blogspot.com/2009/01/h ... k-you.html
0/10

Obviously hasn't read far into it. So many things wrong with this article. I don't think Japan is glorified at all. I think the stereotypes and especially the flaws of each country are portrayed equally. I mean, yeah I love my country but it's not like I am offended by Canada being unacknowledged. I think the author of that article also leaves out the fact there are a lot of countries. It's very hard to keep them all interesting characters.