hetalia | Question About Anime

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Question About Anime

I'm really sorry to be asking about this really unconfirmed thing, but it kind of got me confused.

I saw a comment on this drama CD at YouTube that said:

皆さん、アニメ化に妨害が入りました。公式サイト、原作者様に抗議が入るとの情報です。今現在「我が国、我が民族、我が文化、そして我が伝統を軽んじることは容認できない」とアニメ化に伴い韓国で抗議活動と署名活動が行われてます。

Long story short, this person is saying that there is a disruption in the anime making process. According to this, Korea is protesting that they will not accept the "degradation" of their culture, country, people, etc., and is starting petitions.

Would this be legit? I would think it's too late to start something like that, but then again, it kind of sounds plausible.

I just thought I'd ask for other people's opinion, since this comm's members are much more well versed in this than I.

Here, too.
I would understand about the petitions in S.Korea, but would it be plausible to stop the animation just for that?

Edit:

1: アニメ「ヘタリア」に怒っている韓国ネチズンがいる？(IT Media News)
2: 「侮辱だ」韓国ネット、アニメ「ヘタリア」放映中止求める (読売新聞)

12:05PM Eastern Time

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Ooh! Really? Huh! Weird. o.o I highly doubt they can stop the animation. In fact I don't believe they can at all. It's plausible that they could ban the anime in Korea, but beyond that, it's kind of up to the laws in the country that it's being produced in, right? Is the anime being produced in Japan? Because if so Korea really can't tell them to stop, it's not their call. Just like it's not up to them if someone in another country starts spreading propaganda against them, which Hetalia is definitely not doing, but all the same.

I think they ought to include S. Korea anyways. I mean, every Hetalia character has their faults, S. Korea's aren't any worse than any of the other characters'. If France will be all right with Francis dashing about with a rose over his privates, and if Russia's not complaining about Ivan being a maniac, then I don't think Korea really has a right to complain...

If push comes to shove I'm sure the anime could get licensed under American copyright laws or something. Because we will produce anything here. That's not even a good thing. But it's true. :D

I guess, legally, they can't. :O

They need a sense of humor. ;w;

TRUFAX indeed.

I don't think Korea really has a right to complain

The problem with that example is that neither France nor Russia were colonized by Japan. Japan's relationship to Korea isn't an easy one, I think they do have a right to complain especially if they're worried about what could come up in an anime about World War II. Not a highpoint of Japanese-Korean relations, that.

True, true, true, but still...it's a parody. D: And history's history. It happened. I figured it was about the way S. Korea was portrayed as a character, I didn't really take into account their history together...

The only other example than, striking out the France and Russia one, would be maybe Pearl Harbor. But to be American is to be offended. I would be sorely unimpressed if someone in America complained.

xD 'Xcuse me for butting in, considering the fact that the petition itself would be pointless and too late at this point.

However, I suppose the issue with the S. Korean portrayal in Hetalia is that people are reading too deep into the characterisation of S. Korea and believing that the Japanese believe them to be weak, mindless, perverted idiot, etc. ~~Everyone, I suppose, has their bit of nationalism, which is why historical/political parodies are always walking on thin ice at best.~~

I myself was a bit disappointed in the portrayal at first since I'm a Korean-American, before I ended up shrugging and liking the character for itself. Like you said, it's a parody, no need to take too much of an offence for it, right? Taking offence drains the fun right out of the parody! x:

And on another note, I suppose that comparison with the Pearl Harbor is hardly a good enough comparison to the Japan-Korean relationship. >.o

Just to clarify though, I agree that petitions would be too late at this point, and pointless for the fact that for more than obvious reasons, animized production of Hetalia will most likely stay in the country.

I just don't agree with the point of veiw you're coming from.;;

...askdhaoid SHIT. Okay, I suppose I was a bit nationalistic here.

~~I'msorry.~~

Oh no, I agree, the example's not a good one at all, I just can't think of anything better. The point I'm trying to get at is that there's a little in Hetalia to poke fun at everyone, Japan itself included (though...a lot of that is fandom) so...you know, everyone gets made fun of equally. For that reason I don't feel like it should be this big a deal.

And my point of view on this is that it's a parody, it can't be taken too seriously. o.o And yeah, I agree with you, nationalism and all that. I do think they're reading too deep into it. It's just...it's all fun and games. D:

I doubt petitions would do much. Myself, I'm a strong proponent of just--if it offends you, don't look. Maybe it isn't that easy. o_o

My point exactly. ;P You can't really compare it to anything in American history, so it's hard to understand, I suppose.

While I suppose I could say that yes, everyone should be made fun of equally, not all countries have the same history, and therefore, will be offended on very different degrees. So the practical application of that idea doesn't work that well in history~

As for the big deal thing... you wouldn't happen to know their relations very well, would you? o.o

However, if this were to be no a more serious-based level, I suppose I'd end up as angry as those serious-minded protestors myself. The only thing keeping that away is the fact that it's humor, I suppose. xD;;;;

Fun and games, yeah? ♥

xD Yes, it's that easy. The protests themselves are harmless, so I suppose my words would be more along the lines of "Let them do as they please" kinda thing. I personally adore Hetalia and all.

...If I'm getting too offended or nationalist for your or whatever, tell me. >.>

Not too bad, no. XD; And no, I'm sorry to admit I don't know their relations very well, just that they're strained. I know enough World War II history to know that.

Maybe my problem with this is that from the point of view of your average American--your average Floridian--nationalism just isn't...there. I can't speak for my entire country of course, but where I live there just isn't a hell of a lot of patriotism I guess. So I can't imagine being that patriotic I suppose. It makes sense, I agree, to get offended perhaps not because of S. Korea's characterization itself necessarily, but because it comes from Japan? It makes sense in that I can see why it would happen but I don't particularly agree.

The problem is, WWII is still recent enough that its issues are carrying over into today's world. Especially with China and Korea, there is an issue about Japan accepting responsibility (the textbook issue, for example, where Japanese textbooks downplay the negative effects of Japanese imperialism during WWII). Obviously, this doesn't mean every Japanese person feels this way but there is tension between the countries.

The Japanese not only colonized Korea in 1910, but tried to erase their language and culture (school children were punished for using Korean and were only taught in Japanese, Korean families were stripped of their names and all forcibly given Japanese surnames, Koreans were given the worst industrialization jobs and their food resources were sent to Japan). Even today, Japanese-Koreans are still discriminated against in Japan as there are social/economic/political inequalities regarding minorities in Japan. [/brief history lesson]

Now, I don't know what exactly this petition can/cannot do. But I certainly would take Korean complaints about Hetalia more seriously than any of the wank-ish complaints at

fandom_secrets. Historical sensitivity is something we need to keep in mind as a fandom, imo.

Aaah, I see. :D Thank you for the lesson. I can understand the distaste, then. And I've never been to fandom_secrets, no good huh?

fandom_secrets has a very negative view of Hetalia. Basically, that we are all racists/historically insensitive fangirls who get off on porn about other people's suffering. Unfortunately, they've been able to screenshot a few examples from

hetalia_kink that make it appear that we are :|

!_! Oh. Well that's stupid. o_o On the contrary, what impresses me about this community so much is that it seems to be full of intelligent, open-minded people. I love being able to come here and meet others from across the globe. There are much, much worse fandoms. D:

Every country has a right to complain, and Japanese-Korean relations are strained enough, their history complicated enough for Koreans to take offense.

Still, if it was an official complaint (which is pretty much the only thing that could get the anime in trouble) there would've been announcements, it would've been on the news, etc.

They have a right to complain, (that was phrased badly) but I don't think they have the right to suppress Korea as a character in Hetalia...and they could never get it off the internet.

I'm not very familiar with Japanese-Korean relations, I admit...sorry. D: I'm also not familiar with global laws regarding entertainment, i.e. what a country can do if they're offended by another country's entertainment. I would think just not show it in Korea at all...I mean, I've heard Spain won't show American football (not just because it has no revelance) but because it's too violent. I don't know...it's something to think about I guess.

Well, banning movies (books, etc) is pretty much the only thing a country can do, short of raising a diplomatic storm, if they feel offended by it... (My country was pretty good at this back in the Communist days :D though that was mostly about protecting the people from sick, deviant, capitalist ideas.) But as others have mentioned, it's unlikely that South Korea would officially raise concerns about Hetalia, and even if they did so it would be difficult to actually get the show off the air.

(As for Spain and American football, I don't know about tv but Spain has many American football teams, so...)

...I can't imagine this raising a big enough stink to actually get diplomatic protests going. Oh God, if it did, I'd...I'd...I dunno. I'd be pretty damn shocked. It just seems so minor to me.

Someone else mentioned that they thought Hetalia was destined never to become mainstream for this reason. I kind of agree. Would it be better you think if it became an internet anime strictly, like it is a webcomic right now?

Heh, it was me who said that. :D Actually, I think the best choice would've been an OVA. That way it would reach only those who are interested in it (sure, people would still upload it on the 'net but at least it wouldn't air on TV). Also, an OVA would've been an easy way to test the waters and see the reactions of various people and media. I think this time the producers weren't careful enough... Ah well, it's too late now.

The Japanese fans' paranoia about the series and their fanworks might be a bit annoying sometimes but they do have a point. Like it or not, this is not the sort of series that everyone can just accept.

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