Oct
15
Axis power crack, anyone? With yonkomas too!
Filed Under Features
Tags: doujinshi, hetalia, hetaria, webcomi
Rarely do I feature doujins because of their apparent inaccessibility. However, a WebComi doujin shouldn’t be so bad. For my first WebComi doujin feature, I present… Hetaria!.
My friend Anne, gave a link in her journal on what she said to be was CountryxCountry slash. At first I thought how that’d be funny, so I gave it a check only to realize that it was more than just your usual CountryXCountry slash, but rather a WW Axis Power Country slash, even with appearances of Allied powers. Hidekaz Himaruya… YOU ARE A GENIUS!!! m(_ _)m
Himaruya-san created a Web Comic called “Hetaria”. Hetaria features an anthropomorphication of the different Axis countries as they fight in the first World War (and later the second World War). Or that’s what it’s trying to present, but the insanity revolves in the little exchanges that happen between the countries during the war. The story generally revolves around Italy who was, as illustrated, a good for nothing country. Hence the pun on Italia by giving the name “Hetaria1 ”
2 …. I know. Having been a History major, I know first hand that poking fun at historical events has its own dangers. Change of perspective. Change of details. And the danger of transmitting wrong information to the next generation (Hello, Showa Kids!) But when it says it’s just comedy, it should be taken lightly. It’s not like it’s propaganda or something.
Hetaria is closer to a parody of nations than it is a historical outtake on WWI and II and some bits before and after that. Having studied these guys, it’s funny how well Himaruya captures the country’s attitudes during the World Wars. Example, Italy is helpless without Germany’s help. He is often whiny, clumsy, and often apologetic of his actions. Germany is deeply annoyed at Italy’s whimsical attitude but since they’re allies, he has no other choice but to help. Japan is very straightfaced and often curt and direct. He even goes to the extent of saying “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you.” as a line to capture Japan’s then inability to freely communicate their thoughts.
The representations are hilarious, and maybe even BL friendly, if you take the crack further. The stories somewhat follow history (esp. how Germany saves Italy’s ass all the time). And for me, as long as the historical connections go well with the crack, it works fine by me.
The art for Hetaria is cute and wispy. The mangas can be a little rough and sketchy and well… I find some of the kanjis hard to read, but it’s a funny read nonetheless. If you love to take a crack at history, Hetaria’s one funny comic you should start reading.
Hetaria. I love you. You have set my heart ablaze with your insane Axis power crack and insanity. *bows*
If you’d like to read more Hetaria, you can just click on the image below. :3 (( DISCLAIMER: I would like to pose no claim to the art featured in this website. This is Hidekaz Himaruya’s work and I don’t own it.))
———-
Translation for the comic above.
[ Why is this guy so useless? ]
Italia: I ate a really stinky pizza in this place. It was made by some Englishman3
–
[It was the Imperial blood that drew us in but, it wasn't originally this bad, right?]
Italia: Hey check that out, Germany. What’s going on there.
–
Board: Why the world don’t need Italy
Professor: Tomatoes have been a key ingredient in their motivation for global conquest.
Professor: The continuous consumption have rendered them useless as a consequence.
–
Italia: Oh, the old guy’s saying some stupid things.
[ I see...]
- Hetare means useless. [↩]
- you can read the translation of the comic below [↩]
- Thank you Mieko for the translation! [↩]
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5 Responses to “Axis power crack, anyone? With yonkomas too!”
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Otaku Champloo is...
a small serving of bittersweet manga bits by a manga addict named Khursten.
She currently digs mangas about boys who live to be men. -
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OMG, you make me want to read Japanese.
…I’m guessing USA is an uke.
Hi, just happened to find your post on Hetaria while googling.
I believe the Kanji in question in footnote 3 is “野郎” (yarou), slightly derogatory term for “guy”, “bloke” or something like that. The whole line reads
“I ate a really stinky pizza the other day, it was made by that
Englishman*…” (*anthropomorphied England, the country)
Thank you for visiting Mieko! YAY FOR A FELLOW HETARIA FAN! And thanks for saying what that kanji is. ;A; I really should get my glasses soon! ;w;
You keep making a very embarrassing mistake by continually referring to the wrong war.
Hehehen. Anon has hit me. :3 I wonder if this was my old teacher… lol. He’d probably kill me. XD But I don’t think he reads japanese though. ;A;
Well, Hetaria’s comics started in WWI and Himaruya-san just extended all the way back during the 1400s forward to the 1950s. I just followed how the story began in sequence. :3
I can be more detailed about it on how, in WWI, but as I said, Hetaria is a parody of nations. It is an imagined story of the past. An outtake. It need not be historically correct, for one history is heavily warped in this story. Nonetheless, it is still a funny read and presents a hint of historical reality. Especially the way they act. lolz. :3
Although I do admit of the mistake of calling it WWI Axis Power Slash. lol. Axis powers didn’t even exist in WWI, lolz… but it’s a shorter way of saying Japan, Germany, and Italy. :3 Edited though. o> Thanks.