{"id":145,"date":"2008-09-07T07:20:45","date_gmt":"2008-09-06T23:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=145"},"modified":"2010-11-23T22:47:06","modified_gmt":"2010-11-23T14:47:06","slug":"walking-the-thin-line-between-humor-and-oppression-axis-powers-hetalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2008\/09\/07\/walking-the-thin-line-between-humor-and-oppression-axis-powers-hetalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the thin line between humor and oppression: Axis Powers Hetalia"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got another chance to write again for the national broadsheet, The Manila Bulletin<\/a>. This time though, I took a chance to sit through my thoughts about one of my favorite web comics to date, Hidekaz’ Himaruya’s Axis Powers Hetalia. <\/em><\/p>\n

Walking the thin line between humor and oppression: Hidekaz Himaruya’s Axis Powers Hetalia<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Khursten Santos<\/p>\n

Comics are nice cheap fun. Rarely do we take comics seriously for their content, enough to make us laugh and smile for a day.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But there are some that just poses questions in our head.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, a friend of mine introduced me to a Japanese web comic shouting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153CountryxCountry\u00e2\u20ac\u009d relations. I checked the website only to immediately fall in love with it, not only because it is a comic about countries, but also a parody of nations during World Wars I and II.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The comic is called is <\/span>Axis Power<\/em>s Hetalia<\/em>, Hidekaz Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hilarious vision of historical international relations. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The story of <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> revolves around the three Axis Powers during World War II: Germany, Japan, and Italy. Himaruya leisurely tells the difficulties that Germany and Japan experience for bearing with their useless comrade, Italy.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Stories such as how much Germany always saves Italy when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in trouble, how Italy is always the first one to leave in battle, and how much he believes that with pasta, you can survive any war — are some of the jokes throughout the series. Italy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ineptitude as a military leader garnered him the nickname <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> — an abomination of the name Italia and the Japanese word for \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcuseless\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, <\/span>hetare. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, how can there be a war if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the three of them? Eventually, Himaruya-san expands his <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> empire and adds the Allied Powers (America, Great Britain, France, and Russia) and other countries that caught the snare of the World War. Only when these characters were added did Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/span>Hetalia <\/em>did become a true international affair. Now you can say you have the whole world at war in her comic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hilarious Stereotypes<\/strong>
<\/p>\n

The comedy of <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> rides on Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understanding of national stereotypes and historical facts. It does not help that Himaruya draws these nations as soldiers in battle.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For example, Germany has a strict demeanor yet occasionally acts crazy when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drunk from beer. Then there is America, who acts typically American with his sense of heroism and love for burgers. Britain is tight-lipped and often sarcastic. And Japan is steeped in tradition and order. When these nations interact with each other in his panels, Himaruya takes these stereotypes to her head and imagines hilarious conversations exchanged during particular points in history. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It helps if you have a base knowledge of a nation’s stereotype because it makes things tons funnier than it already is. If you have traveled or encountered foreigners of the same nationalities as those in <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>, you might find their attitudes strikingly similar and real.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conception of these characters and how he makes them interact make this work brilliant. It is not hard to imagine Italia as a guy who loves to greet other people with kisses. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not hard to imagine France throwing roses with his sheepishly perverted grin. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not hard to imagine Russia drunk over vodka. Mix these stereotypes together and you have one hilarious comic. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There was one comic strip I read which immediately made me cry laughing with the series. The story goes that Germany has taken Italy as his prisoner during World War I. During that imprisonment, Germany was surprised with how Italy was completely unfazed with the situation and just rolled around the floor eating sausages and dreaming about pasta so much so that it irritated Germany, who proceeds to kick him out of prison.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The strip is an oversimplified representation of Italy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defeat against the unified Austrian and German armies in Caporetto during World War I. Of course, Himaruya does not detail the war but rather banked on that one little detail and made a funny comic about it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to find humor in a historical event is a mark of his genius.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a teacher of mine once said, it takes great understanding and wisdom to make something funny out of a tragedy. And the World Wars were such a tragedy that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to chronicle it with a smile on your face.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At most, you can smile faintly, or have a terrified grin once you toiled through readings. But there are those who are brave enough to show us the lighter side of the war. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen it in Roberto Benigni\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/span>Life is Beautiful<\/em> and now we also see it in Hidekaz Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, what is amazing about <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> is how you can actually laugh and poke fun at the nations as they plot their military conquests and fail over during these World Wars. Sometimes Himaruya presents it in such a way that you actually forget the tragedy of the situation that you just laugh at what she presents to you in a platter. It is that funny. <\/span> It is a comic after all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not supposed to make you think too much. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

History Forgotten?<\/strong>
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But for this girl who spent four years of her life studying history, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard not to put two and two together and notice a little problem in this comic. It makes you forget. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never good for history.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is troubling with <\/span>Hetalia <\/em>is how it tries to dilute the meaning of an event because the author gives priority to the punchline more than the event at hand.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Those who understand what historical event he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s referring to would immediately connect the <\/span><\/span>two together and see that event in a new light. And this is where I find the comic amazing and notable at times.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, for those who are unaware of it, they could take the comic at face value and believe things happened that way. That Japan was simply a rude and selfish boy that he just took advantage of China. That Lithuania has a penchant for suffering. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The ease in reading this comic, along with the historical notes of the author can easily make the readers take the comic as the truth and just accept it. Many of my generation who would rather read something funny about a war rather than read 50 pages on a tragic battle. Some might even comment, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because France is such a pervert and he thrives in bringing England pain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the uneducated, <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> has the ability oppress the historical meaning of an event. And that is sad because as much as <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> is funny, it is historically flawed and not all people can recognize this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upsetting to see the reactions of people on how they forget the reasons behind some of <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s panels. How can you easily laugh at Lithuania\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scars? Or how can you love Russia so much for his sadistic tendencies? In our lifetime, marred visions of history have brought about thousands of flawed revolutions asking for the wrong things and wanting the wrong changes. <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>, although it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a comic, can have that power to change opinions. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of friends of mine went into a debate trying to put ourselves on how we feel about <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>. I for one love it and thinks that Himaruya really did a great job in putting a new perspective to some events in history.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, I have friends who are sound in voicing their concerns for the comic. It pushes the line of insult and oppression and I completely understand their concern (even I felt that way for some of her strips). I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen and read how without thinking the comic over, you can easily create prejudices and even build a flawed history about nations.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In my opinion, <\/span>Hetalia<\/em>, despite its brilliance as a comic, should be taken with a grain of salt. Behind the humor lie stories, real stories, of peoples and beliefs that are important to our historical being. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the responsibility of the reader to discover these stories, why Himaruya wrote it in this manner and why he presented him in this way. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I think that Hidekaz Himaruya may have presented <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> in this manner so that we can question our understanding of history. History is never about the cold facts, names, and dates of people that all of us are accustomed to in our school. History is a living breathing story, being written and rewritten everyday as we discover more and more about our past. One has to note that <\/span>Hetalia<\/em> is Himaruya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own exploration of history. The challenge here is to find our own.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Original Japanese: Axis Power Hetalia<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Translated English: Hetalia Livejournal Community<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got another chance to write again for the national broadsheet, The Manila Bulletin. This time though, I took a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[185,162],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-featured","tag-hetalia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/byonhon.jpg?fit=294%2C252","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26e5y-2l","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1757,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2014\/05\/13\/recovering-from-the-awesomeness-of-blush-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":145,"position":0},"title":"Recovering from the awesomeness of BLush 2014","author":"khursten","date":"May 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I always say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m too old for conventions but I guess I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m never too old for Boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Love conventions. 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My friend Anne, gave a link in her journal on what she said to be was CountryxCountry slash. 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The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/poster-211x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2007\/12\/10\/spotting-the-difference\/","url_meta":{"origin":145,"position":4},"title":"Spotting the Difference","author":"khursten","date":"December 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I checked out the Pasko ng Komiks Komiksibit in U.P. which is part of an event co-organized by our group. 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