IMPORTANT: Clearing up a Misconception about the "New" Characters.

[fh14]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but better that it came sooner rather than later.

It has come to attention that the designs for the characters Portugal, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Luxembourg that Himaruya posted on his blog the other day, in reality, aren't character designs at all. In actuality, they are people that Himaruya has encountered in his life of that particular ethnic origin or simply had characteristics that he identified with that country. If they can be interpreted as nation representations at all, they are extremely rough drafts that are nowhere near finalized, thrown out there as "possibilities", and very likely to change.

From what I understand, parts of the Japanese fandom were confused as well, but most were outright confused by the explosion that happened over here in response to the blog (a few were particularly weirded out that we got tags and fanart for them so quickly. What can I say, western fandom works fast.) Yes, Japanese fandom watches us, for those who weren't aware. *Waves hi to Japanese fandom*

This isn't the first time misconceptions have been made *cough*Philippines*cough*. Also, a couple of years ago, Himaruya posted a similar blog with draft sketches for a Czechoslovakia character where he also mentioned people he knew, and had initially designed and did a few drawings of a female South Korea.

There is a bright spot to this though - it means that Himaurya is thinking about these characters, and we may very well see an official design for them somewhere out on the horizon. :)

/hides behind a large rock

(Links removed. Seems JFen didn't particularly like being linked to. Sorry. Look but don't touch policy still in effect if you happen to still have access to the links.)

Comments

[jamminbison.livejournal.com]

Himaruya has the cushiest job ever. He needs to get off his ass and design the remaining countries not alone the ones that were ?sorta? released of Portugal, etc. It'd be beneficial to him, considering more people become fans of the show when their country appears in it


Just putting it out there, lol.

[calavasas.livejournal.com]

Well this is disappointing...and surprising, since I wasn't aware that the Japanese fandom also watches the western one. xD
Oh well. It's worth the wait for new characters.
And at least this way, fanworks for the countries that have not yet appeared in Hetalia can still continue without too many restrictions, until that character becomes canon. =)
*still waiting for Scotland design and for Mexico and India to become canon but mostly Mexico* 8D

[souslelys.livejournal.com]

Haha, the Japanese fans must be so bewildered by us XD. I hope people aren't too disappointed about this though.

[elysiumspirit.livejournal.com]

Well... I should have known. There was just something different about how these characters were drawn, but I ignored my suspicions and chose to believe they were the actual designs for the characters.

Sad. But, I hope he doesn't change Indonesia's design much- I like it. :D

[vitani]

Am I the only one glad that they aren't the official versions? I wasn't very taken with them.

[che-stadium.livejournal.com]

/laughing.

[vivi314.livejournal.com]

[standardtastic.livejournal.com]

Oh well, not a big deal anyhow.

[rainbow-toaster.livejournal.com]

Ah well, I should have known. Four brand new characters on the same day? I was too excited though :C

OH! Hello Japanese fandom!

[alliterations.livejournal.com]

So.

Disappoint.

[anubismito]

Yup, I saw it, but since these are requests, and according to the notes he put, Portugal and Luxembourg will be (at least once) in Hetalia, but he's still designing them.. That's my interpretation of this blog.

Some months ago, when a Holland strip was released, Hima promised to do Holland and Belbel's sibling, so we can have the Benelux.

Also, in Spain story, Portugal is quite important, for that, he added him too (In Portugal notes, he says that the importance of Portugal in Europa's history, possibly he will be in Hetalia).

About Indonesia and Malaysia, maybe she is like Australia or Kameroon, they where designed but they didn't appear in the strips yet.

But well, Czech and Slovakia designs were too rough... Now, these four countries have at least colour and well defined the gender....

[kawaiisyringa.livejournal.com]

No same here, actually.

*hopingforacutemaleLuxembourg*

[vitani]

Actually, the thing I would like the keep about them is the fact that some are women, haha. But I wanted Portugal to be a woman too, so.

[slytherin-slash.livejournal.com]

Where do they talk about us? I wanna seeeee~~~

[standardtastic.livejournal.com]

So what if he did what he wanted with his series? There's no reason for him to follow the demands of pushy fans.

[slytherin-slash.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see the links. Thank you!

[kawaiisyringa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, okay. I agree with that as well. We need more women!! :'D

But a friend of mine told me how she would see Luxembourg and now I can't unsee.. XD (a small pimp with sunglasses)
But I wouldn't mind Lux being a girl... just as long as she's young and cute. /okay, I didn't mean to make that sound so pedo-ish.

[jamminbison.livejournal.com]

I'm not being pushy, lol, I could care less. I'm just saying for someone who has a pretty awesome day job, he doesn't seem to contribute to it as much as most manga-ka do. Just saying.

[standardtastic.livejournal.com]

People who couldn't care less probably wouldn't be making posts like that. They'd just shrug it off.

And so what if he doesn't? He's made a lot of characters - really, a lot, and he could retire tomorrow if he wanted, and still have a lot of fans appreciating his works.

[flamefox324.livejournal.com]

PFFFFFF---

I <3 u for putting up that GIF. ;w;

[jamminbison.livejournal.com]

Sorry if my tone didn't come off right in my first post. I meant to basically say 'oh man, he has a cool day job, if I had his job, I'd be making cool shit all the time so I wonder why he doesn't do the same when this is sorta most artists' dream'. That's really all I meant. Then again, I don't know how he even gets paid or by who or how his copyright over the property works over there.

[kisaragifan.livejournal.com]

*waves Japanese fandom too*

Well, considering Hidekaz is not finalizing Vietnam's hair accessory in the canon world, I can understand the slow pace he's going.

...there are 190 plus countries in the world, and those were just the UN confirmed accepted ones... it's gonna take awhile for anyone to personify them.

Would like Philippines to be represented, but am also eager to see Mexico, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South Africa.

I AM hugely excited he's gonna consider Portugal's place in shaping Europe back in the day in a future strip. But I would also be waiting for more of Denmark as a very persistent Viking too... ack, History, why so awesome?

[haro.livejournal.com]

...Hetalia is not his only manga. He puts out Chibi San no Date in a magazine.

He does as much work as a lot of other mangaka.

[jamminbison.livejournal.com]

Copy pasta:
Sorry if my tone didn't come off right in my first post. I meant to basically say 'oh man, he has a cool day job, if I had his job, I'd be making cool shit all the time so I wonder why he doesn't do the same when this is sorta most artists' dream'. That's really all I meant. Then again, I don't know how he even gets paid or by who or how his copyright over the property works over there.

[jamminbison.livejournal.com]

Copy pasta:
Sorry if my tone didn't come off right in my first post. I meant to basically say 'oh man, he has a cool day job, if I had his job, I'd be making cool shit all the time so I wonder why he doesn't do the same when this is sorta most artists' dream'. That's really all I meant. Then again, I don't know how he even gets paid or by who or how his copyright over the property works over there.