[discussion] APH helps you study?

[oichibi-chan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, to Mods, if this is inappropriate in anyway, please feel free to take down if you all wish.

Ok, so I'm sure mostly everyone should know that Hetalia is mostly  inaccurate  historically, politically, etc. and should never, in most situations anyway, be used to learn/teach history from. But despite the major inaccuracy, there are a few things that can be learnt from the series. For example, some little current events in comic strip foot notes or actual major events for those who might not have known beforehand like the Austrian Succession, 7 years' war, etc. Sometimes, even fans contribute with fanworks that also contain little historical foot notes and use hetalia to represent those little bits of information. There are also instances where even if it was never shown in the series, some go and do extensive research on certain things just out of curiosity.
An experience me and my friend have had, for example, is that we now tend to check out history related books on various countries (mainly the Germanic and Scandinavian countries for us) from our school library for long periods of time and take notes, even when none of it is related to our academic studies. (although, we tend to get occasional stares and questions on why we keep doing it. XD;;;)

To the point, what I'm asking is:

Has APH actually taught you some things that you didn't know before hand? If so, has it ever prompt you to research more in depth on those certain event to see if it valid or not?

Has the series ever prompted you to go out your way and research about information that has never shown up in the series, whether it'd a nation's culture, language, or history? Basically, a more in depth research.

Has the series given a more broader interest in our world or just a few countries specifically? This can count for people who have already had interest in such matters or if they didn't before.

I'm curious as to what everyone's experience is with the matter and if I went off track somewhere or if I have offend anyone with my questions,  I apologize.

Comments

[lady-black-cat.livejournal.com]

I first learned of the Greece-Japan diplomatic relationship from Hetalia, so that's something. :D

And the way France and England are depicted when it comes to their ally/foe relationship.

Despite the show's inaccuracies, one does learn a thing or two and in a comical way. XD

My answer: YES and NO

[raindiae.livejournal.com]

Well, Hetalia has given me the urge to go research more and in a sense reawakened my love for history, it's a nice refreshing perspective of current/historical events aside from having American history being shoved down your throat since Elementary school. But, by all means, I am well aware that a lot of it is inaccurate - and I think for a lot of fans it gives them more of a desire to go more in depth of the "plots" their fandom happens to circle around.
Honestly this school year was the very first we actually bothered covering any significant historical events outside the US, starting with of course, WWI and WWII - FML I WISH WE HAD A EUROPEAN HISTORY CLASS AT MY SCHOOL HNGHH ;3;

Haha, this is an interesting question, I have to say but I wouldn't go around saying "Oh well, I learn a bulk of the random history facts I know from this anime.." - I have to give it to Hetalia, it made me want to learn more and appreciate certain cultures that I really didn't give a flying fuck about before.

Also, I have liked a lot of countries in the past and appreciated their history, contribution to history, etc.. but yeah again Hetalia got me to look even further into them, doing extensive research (for fun might I add WHO ELSE DOES THIS?) and so on~

Re: My answer: YES and NO

[mcsourface.livejournal.com]

Response to bold: I DO THIS!!! 8D

[xenpher.livejournal.com]

Oh yea... and those books that you bought from B&N spontaneously.

Yea...well I do have interest in culture...just it widened and deepened later when Hetalia came in. Can't say it hurts now that i know more about culture...i won't make a fool out of myself if i ever go abroad for travel, etc.

Oh and history....i never minded reading history books on my own...though now i'm like propelled to do so for some countries XDDD

Oh yea about point one...totally....>3> i had a total three day brawl finding out the relations as to why Spain was so ardent to capture/win back Italy...found half an answer..still has some unanswered notions...

[roundabout225.livejournal.com]

*nod nod* yes to most of those..and it's actually influenced my life. i swear, i've always thought i was going to become a doctor, but after i got into hetalia, i REALLY started paying attention to the world. (also, i'm kinda sick of science) it was then that i realized how much i love debating, politics, and current events

i've gotten really into politics because of hetalia, and am thinking of majoring in international relationships *giggle* and poli sci, and then trying to get into politics.

and it all started with hetalia. so thank you~<3

also, it got me a 5 on APUSH...srsly, it motivated me to at least cram, and really helped me remember shit.

[shadow-sprinter.livejournal.com]

Hetalia taught me about relations I never knew existed and also about countries I never knew existed like Seychelles XD And there are some accuracies, as my friend who is a history major pointed out. I feel I've learned at least some from the series~

[piekalla.livejournal.com]

I can locate and name all the European countries now thanks to Hetalia. It's pretty cool. Map projects in school have never been easier.

[snogginnoggin.livejournal.com]

*high five*

Me too man!

[sara-rojo.livejournal.com]

I've learned a lot with Hetalia, mostly little details concerning countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and some details about historicla conflicts. The strips have made me more interested in Russia in general. I also like the Christmas Truce strip.

But it's with the fanfics that's I've truly learned more; I've learned more about the Cold War than 9 years of sporadic history lessons ever could teach me. I've learnt more things about Prussia than I ever knew before. I've finally sorted out the French-English relations during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. I've become extremely interested in the Founding Fathers. I've become a fan of Elizabeth I. I learnt about Simo Hayha and Finland's awesome powers of badassery. I've started wathcing an Emmy-winning series about World War II in great depth. I've learnt Hungary and Greece were under Turkish control once. I first heard about the Poland-Lithuanian commonwealth here. I've remembered Canada.

[zomg-lolz.livejournal.com]

Truthfully, Hetalia has helped me a lot. About a year ago, before Hetalia, I would do average in my world history class, getting mostly B's and C's on assignments, but after I had read and watched it, I started aceing assignments. My friend actually found a fan comic on WWI, which to me isn't very exciting (I mean come on, it's a war over absolutly nothing), and after reading that, I got like a 95% on a unit test the next day.

Also, before hetalia, I was never good at geography and foreign affairs, but the relationships in the show help to clarify a lot of that. If I hadn't have read Hetalia, I probably would still think, "What?" whenever I would hear about Sealand, Seychelles, Liechtenstein, and even the Baltic countries. It's made me want to learn more about the Baltics, and maybe visit them. And, know, I actually no why Spain had such a big influence on Southern Italy. Things like the Spanish-South Italian relationships, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Austrian-Swiss relations were never things that we went over in class, but I now what to learn more about.

Plus, Hetalia just makes history interesting and funny.

[ksiezniczka11.livejournal.com]

Actually, I came into the fandom cos of being a history nut, not the other way around. (I'm a history minor actually.) So I knew most of the stuff. I think the only thing Hetalia taught me is the difference between the "Baltic" and "Balkan" areas which I always used to mix up on map tests. Now since Lithuania is one of my favourite characters I NEVER mix them up.

Also I finally learned about Sealand, which has never been taught in any of my courses, haha.

[onionrice.livejournal.com]

Hetalia has taught me that a country called Lichtenstein and Sealand? existed on this planet.
When i was in the library for research material the book of flags caught my eye. I stared at it on the shelf for 10 seconds before bringing it to the table and reading the whole thing.

[afteryoru.livejournal.com]

Hetalia to me is just fun facts. It simply makes your study more interesting and funner.
Say the character Rome helped me a lot in Roman history, the sack of Rome, the Triumvirates, the barbarians (Germanic tribes). Shit, I won't even remember them if it wasn't for hetalia.
Currently I'm reading about Estonian history after finishing the Kalmar Union, just for fun. I would be standing in my school library reading about the Berlin wall when should be volunteering.
A lot of fanfics, dojins and art works are very in-depth and historically accurate. I've a 400+ page Chinese fan-novel of accurate Soviet Union history, and the authors made another two books like that too. I was completely blown away by the amount of research some people dose. You can find fics with footnote that goes on forever.

[firebird-88.livejournal.com]

I seriously did not know that Russians actually jumped out of airplanes without a parachute. O_O;

...And there's a few other ones in there as well, but that one stuck to my head. ^^;

[maikyaera.livejournal.com]

I've fallen in love with Nordic countries (there's a store a few minutes away from my house called Simply Scandinavian that's like a mini IKEA and I spazzed out so much when I saw all the flags for the first time xD). I've also learned a ton about Prussia through research (and before Hetalia all I knew about it was that it sounded like Russia) and I can impress people by being able to name most of the countries that used to be in the Soviet Union (even my science teacher, when we were learning about the space race, only knew that Russia was part of it). Plus I can tell everyone about Sealand :D
and this year in my social studies class we haven't done much with history, but for next year I got into honors world history, which I am very excited for.
and whenever I see flags or I see the name of a country in the newspaper or something, I freak out and have a fangirl moment.

[musubi7.livejournal.com]

The War of Austrian Succession always gave me a headache in high school, and now I just get it.

Hetalia is a great mnemonic device. It's helped me out in conversations so many times, especially some of the historically based fan fics. I know I've quoted The Chosen End several times. :P I know a good chunk of the European map as well, and the difference between Swiss and Swede.

[kogetoasty.livejournal.com]

Yes.
It also makes taking notes for classes easier if there's a strip that represents a certain event. (AND HOMG surprise!! Some strips are actually somewhat-accurate!?!?!? /le gasp/) I'll write down the strip that'll help me remember, then I'll get an A on the test ;DD

Discussions in classes are also hilarious now. My French class has a bunch of random discussions on countries. They... are so great.

Well...

[kapusta17.livejournal.com]

Last year I developed an absolutely pathological obsession with Prussia. Which is kind of funny, because I'm Polish, so basically I've been taught from Day 1 that Prussia is A Very Bad Thing. My research actually did not change this view (in part because of the crazy right-wing nutjobs that nowadays think they're "Prussian") but I still find Prussia, the nation-less state, quite fascinating. Of course I don't think everything connected to Prussia is bad, I don't mean it like that.
I suppose it's like a sort of twisted attraction to a giant poisonous spider? ^^;

And then I did an oral presentation on Prussian history for my German class... that ended up being WAY TOO EXTENSIVE AND DETAILED... OTL

These days I've really gotten into the Nordic countries and their history. I actually... would really like to learn Icelandic or Norwegian, depending on which country it would be easier to hook up a study-abroad relating to my major. Of course I'd love to learn both! I have trouble being realistic. But for now the price tag is sort of making me cry.

Also, thanks to Hetalia I have become a Financial Times whore. I freakin love that newspaper. A couple of months ago they even had an article titled "US-Japan: An Easy Marriage Becomes a Ménage à Trois" (relating to the entrance of China into that political relationship). XDDD

[haruhichanx32.livejournal.com]

Hetalia has really changed my life. I'm interested in SO many different Countries now! I've always had an interest in Japan, but now it's like all over the world! I do read my history books for fun..my friends are very freaked out. xD

One Country that really caught my eye in Hetalia...Prussia. His character is so..so AWESOME! I really wanted to find more about his Prussia's past. I started to look up information about Prussia and how it originated. I got this really good book called Iron Kingdom, the Rise and Fall (OH NOES! ><) of Prussia. It is SO interesting to me! I really do see why Prussia's character is the way he is. Prussia is truly awesome. I recommend this book to Prussia fans!
On a side note, Sweden was totally ruthless to Prussia at first. So mean! D<
(From real history, of course xD)

[socialninja.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't know that Sweden and Prussia had a bad relationship. I must investigate this immediately!

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

That fanwork about Bulgaria during WWII got me super-interested in the country, enough that I want to take a course on Eastern European history. :D

I think Hetalia has made it easier for my brain to remember history facts--sort of shortcuts, or cheats. But I did like history initially, so it's not like I had to learn to be interested in it. :P

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

Ah, I forgot.

The Stock Market Crash was something that never quite made sense to me in history class, so when it was explained in Hetalia, it was like an "A-ha!" moment.

[nupinoop296.livejournal.com]

I learned a whole lot from Hetalia, and it has really made me start thinking more about the world.

I already liked history, but Hetalia has developed it into a love~<3

[lunarshade29.livejournal.com]

I learned of the Anglo-Japanese alliance and other alliances I never knew about. I have learned which countries are the Baltic states. I learned what Sealand was.

It has also caused me to like history class a bit more. You know, there were a lot of things that were kind of “meh, it’s okay” but now it’s like “holy shit, they did that?” sort of thing. Does that make sense?

It helps that the things I’m learning this year is WORLD history rather than just American history. Next year though… hamburgers will invade my mind… O.o

Oh, and it’s given me an urge to learn different languages like Russian, French, Japanese, Chinese, etc. I probably WON’T end up learning them though…

I’ve learned so much about the Cold War that my school would go over because of the fandom. I’ve also learned how Finland had a civil war with Whites vs. Reds like Russia had.

I actually explained to my history teacher that yes, the ruble still exists and no, Turkey is NOT part of the EU yet and no, English is not a romantic language it is a Germanic one.

I've learned so much more too... just can't think since it's late.

[miezen.livejournal.com]

In a way, yes. I've always been interested in history in that I'd look forward to history classes, but I never took the initiative to study history on my own outside of class. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure why, since I've always loved reading.

After starting to read Hetalia, however, I've been reading practically nothing but history books (and manga for light reading, but that's always been the case), and have a mountain of them waiting for me.

It also gave me more interest in certain countries. I've always been fascinated with France, Germany, and the other German-speaking countries, but from there I didn't have many specific interests. Hetalia got me curious about Hungary, Korea, and England, to name a few.

[hime1999.livejournal.com]

It made me know the Nordics more than their names. Hell, I didn't even know that Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark were called Nordics. I learnt a hell lot about them. I started learning Finnish even though it nearly killed me by brain aneurysm.

Oh, and I started learning Spanish too. Because apparently I have fallen for the Oyabun too. >_>;;;

It also made me regret my 4 years in college, bacause the college has people coming from literally all over the world and what did I do instead of interacting with them? I essentially became a hikkikomori (but then again, if I hadn't gotten so involved with the Internet at the time, I wouldn't have known this series later too). Oh, and all those Japanese and World history lessons FINALLY have context now. *used to sucked at it*

And those were just about a fraction of things that I got from Hetalia.

[fuzzlekins.livejournal.com]

I've always been interested in the cultures of the world, and not so much about history, but now, I really love history. It seems interesting now, and I've actually learned various things from Hetalia and my own personal research inspired by it.

Lately, I've been really obsessed with learning about Prussia and Sealand, since I have never heard of them before Hetalia. Mostly with Prussia history-wise, since there is more about it. I was actually rather disappointed when we skipped over the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. It was one of the rare times when I wanted to learn about something in class, and didn't.

[pinkydbzfan.livejournal.com]

Hey i never knew that russia had a botched air force expirence. I just about peed myself when i saw that and then found out it was true XDD

[pinkydbzfan.livejournal.com]

And it has really made me love my italian and polish heritage ^^