[identity profile] wishywashie.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
Oh I just saw this! I really wonder what they're talking about... Google-fu's saying that Pakistan apparently appeared somewhere behind India during Halloween, or something like that...
LET IT BE SO HIMAPAPA
We can never have too many new characters! :D

Italy and Japan look very cute!

[identity profile] rosetteroulette.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh, I'm curious about Pakistan and Bangladesh.

And that Itapan pic is cuuute!

[identity profile] xxmapsyrxx.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my.

Did someone say something about volume 7? 0_o

It kind of sound like Pakistan or Bangladesh is a guy...hmm....just kind of....

BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] seraphoftales.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
I really would rather Himaruya not... include Pakistan and Bangladesh? Well, Pakistan more than Bangladesh... Since I think we're veering a little too close into current events territory? And that could be a real sore spot, you know? Things are tough over there for Pakistan and India... I just um, yeah... I sincerely hope Himaruya doesn't? And he's just mentioning it, cause he tends to mention lots of nations but you know, never does much...

Because... well yeah... Ahahahahahaha ^^;;

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] zacloud.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 06:51 am (UTC)(link)
On the contrary, if more about Pakistan as a whole, its cultural history and past, and its individual people's humanity were to be shown to us, it might really help in the long run. After all, there's more to them than their evil leaders and the current tension. It might be a good thing to remember that.

But, it would have to be done just right, so it might indeed be too easy for him to slip up or something. Then again though, in my opinion he's done quite well so far. Still, I understand your hesitation.

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] seraphoftales.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, see there's the thing... I also fear what the fans may think. They might downplay his character as tsundere or something like that. And that's not understanding the country at all. That's viewing them through the lens of Himapapa, who tends to make everything well cute. But I don't want to make this cute. This isn't a cute story.

There are some real bad things going down. And yeah, the audience may no longer view Pakistan as so bad but at the same time, I feel they might end up becoming ignorant to all the shit that's happening over there.

You know? I mean I've already seen some iffy portrayals of India from the Japanese fandom I wasn't so sure about, you know?

And technically, he's been treading some warm water with those Euro things of his. And this is also another one of those complicated issues.

Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] aselav.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
>India made his first appearance during Halloween, so are his younger brothers Pakistan and Bangladesh being personified?

Pakistan was probably dancing in that Halloween party too and s/he was surely having thoughts like "That bastard..." somewhere at the back.
Once you study the history of India, you would be amazed by great interactions between them.


>Does Germanymochi only move in a straight line with uniform velocity?

That's probably how it moves.


> Will there be Hetalia Volume 7?

Why Volme 7? (laugh)
With this pace, I think there probably will be one.
There will be a lot of happenings next year so I will enjoy it while trying my best!


Please try personify Himaruya-san sometime in future!

I'm human~! I'm human~!



↓Thank you for your thoughts. Here are some spoilers on the comic that will be published in Birz.↓

----------------------

I'm sorry that I can't at least give a rough translation on this part, they are a bit too tough for me. Orz I hope a better translator will do it.

It's about Samurai and Italians and them being cute. Also, Himaruya-sensei mentioned that he was asked to draw the cover of the issue next month so please look forward to the next next issue (?). Not sure about that. The last line is about Chibisan's next chapter - something about being able to beat someone (?).

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] seraphoftales.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 08:00 am (UTC)(link)
thank you for your work

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] rosetteroulette.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

And it's silly, but his response to the volume 7 question excites me. Waaah, I wonder what those "happenings" are going to be. 8D

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] pixelmicrocat.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 09:44 am (UTC)(link)
There will be a lot of happenings next year so I will enjoy it while trying my best!

OMG I'M SO EXCITED!!!! 8D
I can't wait for volume 20~

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] wafflesama.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 09:48 am (UTC)(link)
I AM SO EXCITED AAAAHHHH!
AND
"Please try personify Himaruya-san sometime in future!

I'm human~! I'm human~!"

MY GOD HIMARUYA YOU ARE SO CUTE.

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] zacloud.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you sooo much for letting us be able to follow along!

Hehe, yeah, you keep telling us you're human, Alpaca-san! ;)

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] zacloud.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
"I can't wait for volume 20~"
My lol'z, you has them. XD

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] zacloud.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 11:10 am (UTC)(link)
Tsundere? Why? Just because of current conflicts?

Pakistan, depending on how you look at it, either has one of the longest and most dynamic histories in the world, or is extremely young and still trying to find itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pakistan

All that history, all the way back into pre-history, is credited to Pakistan as a country. Surely all that can't be overlooked in favor of only a few recent decades. There are plenty of other time periods that can be added into the 'personality' of the country. And Hetalia tends to happen at various points in history, and incorporate all those different phases.

If you instead go by when Pakistan named itself and truly became its own modern territory, however, then that makes him even younger than America. I'd imagine him as a teen constantly being pushed around by various caretakers (the government changes), still trying to find stability amidst the bullying of gangs.

You can compare it to Italy and the Mafia. The Italian government is chock full of corruption, and the Mafia practically own a lot of the country, gripping people there with fear and mistrust. But did Hima-sensei focus on only that? No, he found other parts of history to base the Italys on (and of course, silly stories).

There's plenty of Pakistan that's just awesome, and could make an awesome character. Only seeing what's in the news here, is what makes Middle-Eastern people just as afraid to live in America; always accused of being terrorists, when that's only a tiny number, while the rest are just regular people with favorite foods, songs that get stuck in their heads, and favorite actors who make their hearts flutter. There's redeeming qualities to every country, even Afghanistan, even South Africa, that might be easier to find if they're portrayed as likable characters.

Yeah, fans can misinterpret or not do their research. However, that'd be their individual faults. But yeah, it IS a slippery slope if things get too recent. But with India and Pakistan's friction, it's been ongoing, so it'd be just plain factual to establish and symbolize.

It can depend on the fans just as much as Hima-sensei's methods. For example, I was brought up with the American suspicion of Russia, due to the whole Cold War thing, and the fact that we so often have Russian badguys in movies (which really is offensive if you think about it). And since my grandma lost many loved ones to Russians and Germans during WWII, that pretty much cemented negative instincts, even if I didn't actively THINK badly of them.

Then Hetalia comes along, and while Russia does have that dark side, he also has child-like innocence and other redeeming qualities. Which ones are focused on are up to the individual. But he acknowledges many sides of his history, the good and the bad. And despite that seeming like a losing formula, it helped me appreciate that there are tons of Russians who didn't want to go along with Communism, artisans of the past, engineers of the future, peace between the wars. I love and respect them just I now do all other countries.

We shouldn't forget the ugly parts, it's important to learn from. But we shouldn't forget the good parts either. And by only allowing bad news to seep in through the cracks, we risk the latter. Peace can only be accomplished if we acknowledge the humanity of our enemies.

Wish I hadn't lost track of my anime-fan friend from Pakistan I used to chat with, wonder what he'd think of all this. ^_^;; (Ack, sorry for writing a whole friggin' novel too, I went off on a tangent...)

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] lethal-bonbon.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
As an Indian I can go ahead and say that he should make a Pakistan.
It's not the country as whole which is 'bad' or full of tensions. India and Pak are pretty chill with each other otherwise. We share music, movies, strong trade and many, many cultural aspects.
Recently, Pak even chose us as their 'Most Favoured Nation'.

Border troubles and tension WILL be there and WILL persist everywhere, not just between Indo-Pak.
And they shouldn't have anything to do with this wonderful series called 'Hetalia'. It is a completely different entity and I think that having a Pakistan will give some helpful historical insights over it to those, um, really derpy fans who write/draw downright disturbing things about him/her and portray the country as a crapsack desert. Such people need to be aware that there is so much more to Pakistan than just terrorism networks or border disputes. :)

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] pookie-mookie94.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] nodokaotonashi.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 11:29 am (UTC)(link)
Such people need to be aware that there is so much more to Pakistan than just terrorism networks or border disputes. :)
THANK YOU. I'm one of those fans who want to see Pakistan (Mughal Empire plz), and no, I don't think Himaruya will go into territorial disputes or whatever.

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] nodokaotonashi.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 11:34 am (UTC)(link)
If Himaruya didn't go on Holocaust in the main plot, he certainly won't talk about Indo-Pakistani wars. No one complained about Turkey and Greece's relationship, after all (even if I don't know if you can compare them to the same scale). As a half-Iranian, I'd love to see how Himaruya views Iran, in example. Same as for lethal_bonbon and Pak.

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] nodokaotonashi.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
May I love you for all what you said ? Yeah, Pakistan is kinda difficult to define, especially since when he was around : you can see him as the ex-Muslim community of India, which was on the fore of the scenes several times since Delhi Sultanate. He would also be the brother of India as the only difference in Hindi and Urdu is vocabulary. He could be either a crossover between Turco-Mongol, Indian and Persian culture. I don't see him as being Indus Valley : the civilisation isn't Indo-Aryan. Some theories point they were closer to Dravidian (South Indians) or Elamites rather than Indo-Iranians.

About some fans, sadly, this isn't new, mostly due of JapanxChina fanworks or disaster fanworks. If Indo-Pak is done tastefully, I have no problem with. I just don't want to see someone saying that Partiton of India of Indo-Pak wars (especially the third) were "ttly kawaii omg". Same as some India OCs that weren't well researched to be nice, and were nothing but "englandchans luv n kwaii gurlfriend who's ttly liek amerkachan n_____n". Luckily, India doesn't seem to be that kind of character.

Re: Rough translation on the Q&A part

[identity profile] nodokaotonashi.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
HIMA'S ON A ROLL, YEAH ! Do your best, sensei ! :3

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] cosplay-thief.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I know that as good and well thought out Pakistan's character will be the haters and general populace will mostly if not only base their judgement on fanart and fandom headcanons. Which might end up as nodokaotonashi said. So I junderstand seraphoftales unpopular opinion. I hate to say it but the general non fan opinion rarely cares about "historical accuracy or (god forbid) educational level". Let's face it, we all open the TV or click on reviews for the negative bad aspects of things and the whole "hetalia makes young people see WW2 and nazi as cute 'gay-ish' and in a positive light" idea was on most non fans for quite some time. Adding more recent conflics will only fuel this minset.

That said. I would welcome Pakistan even with mixed feelings because I'm sure I will learn something out of it.

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] lethal-bonbon.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Fellow Iranian-ancestry bro here!

omfg how badly I want to see Iran's characterization in Hetalia..:D

I always viewed India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan as empirical bros who somehow fell apart after some historical squabbles!

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] lethal-bonbon.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
WORD, my friend!

But I'd honestly love it if Himapops shows some silly arguments between India and Pak over cricket! That'd be hilarious XD

Re: BEWARE THE UNPOPULAR OPINION

[identity profile] nodokaotonashi.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
IKR ? That's my headcanon too. QAQ Nice to see family around <3

[identity profile] raz2b.livejournal.com 2011-11-30 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
WAT
WAT
PAKISTAN
ASFGDHFJKLJHGFDS

OHMYGOD
YESSSS

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