An Eye for The Fandom: Hetalia
Hello there!
My name is Huggawugga2, Hugga for short, and this is the first in a series called An Eye for the Fandom, a set of reviews covering over aspects of a certain fandom/series that newcomers would want to know about before entering AKA a newbie's guide on how to survive. Basically, I'll be going over the good and the bad parts of a fandom, providing sound advice* along the way.
The categories of a review are as follows:
Main Overview of Plot
Important/Notable Characters
Fandom Overview
Shipping Dynamics
Possible Sources of Wank
Overall opinions
Useful Links
*soundness of advice may vary, please check with your doctor before listening
Anyway, without any further ado, let us review
AXIS POWERS HETALIA
Main Overview of Plot
The premise of Hetalia can be best summed up by this image.
Yes, those are indeed rainbows covered by fighter planes, tanks and a shirtless man with a tomato on his head.
If you've never seen this show before, your thoughts are probably best surmised by "Wow. This looks really gay."
Let me tell you, it is. Really, really, really gay.
I don't mean gay as in homosexual. I mean gay as in the old-timey sense, you know, happy.
Cause in this show, they can make anything happy THROUGH THE POWER OF RAINBOWS AND HOMOEROTICISM.
Yes, even World War Two. Did you even see the rainbows on that picture? Don't you feel happier already?
Okay, so plot time!
Basically, it follows the events of history (anywhere from medieval times to modern-day) and plays them out using anthropomorphic versions of the countries in said events. Of course, most of these events are a bit lighter and softer than they actually played out in history, for obvious reasons.
There really is no flowing plot-line like in other manga series or web comics, rather, it picks and chooses silly events from history and plays them for the lolz. It's a gag series through and through.
Don't be surprised if there's a few strips that make you tear up, though. History can't always be cleaned up well.
Also, this series has a bit of a reputation attached to it. People think this is an out-and-out BL (boy's love) series, when it really isn't. Sure, there are some gay undertones, but it's played for the lolz (sometimes political alliances can take a turn for the homosexual). This really isn't a romance series, therefore don't expect to see many characters in open relationships.
This series has gained quite a bit of controversy by doing this. Many people feel (understandably so) that history should not be sugar-coated in such a way to make it seem as if a terrible time period (World War Two, the British colonization period, etc) was not as serious as it was, and take great offense to this series. My only opinion on this is that this is not a show to take seriously. If you are offended by it, then don't watch it. Hetalia's purpose is to poke fun at the lighter side of history, not glorify the horrible atrocities that history has seen.
Moving along!
Important/Notable Characters
*Important Fandom Note!*
The characters in this series can be referred to by two names: The name of the country that they represent, and their human/citizen name. For instance, the character America/USA is also know as Alfred F. Jones, likewise, the character of UK/England/Britain has Arthur Kirkland as his human name. Therefore, a USA/UK fanfiction is the same thing as a Alfred/Arthur fanfiction. While these names haven't been used in canon (with one exception), they are considered "official" in that they used to be posted up on the author's blog on the character sheets.
Anyway!
Let's start with the main trio, also know as the Axis Powers! You should know this if you read the title.
From left to right, we have Japan, Italy and Germany.
North Italy/ Italy Veneziano (Feliciano Vargas): The main hero of the story. Found in a tomato box claiming to be a fairy. It goes downhill from there. Ditzy, goofy and lazy, this guy is the classic Too Dumb To Live Idiot Hero (trademark TVtropes). Utterly pathetic and cowardly in life and in battle, he runs away from anything that is above 5 inches tall. Has an unhealthy addiction to pasta. Gay best friends with life partners bros SOMETHING with Germany.
Japan (Kiku Honda): The only straight man. Often gets caught up in the messes that the other two make, and passive-aggressively complains about it the entire way. Doesn't get angry easily. Seriously. Burning down his house after you filled it with kittens would only get you a disapproving stare from this guy. Patient, quiet, and tries to fit in but kind of fails.
Germany (Ludwig): He tries to be the leader, but ultimately is not so above it all. Is the"GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 50" type drill sergeant, but when you have people like Italy and Japan in your training camp, you're more likely to herd cats than get anything done. Always by the book and a total neat freak, Germany is something of a control nut. However, he does let his softer side show. Has a...thing with Italy. He has an older brother named Prussia, who for some reason continues to exsist as a nation by hiding in Germany's basement and posting on his blog.
On the opposing...side, you have the Allied Forces! They are the ones to stop the "evil" of the Axis Trio using the power of Sexual Tension!
Okay, not really. It's hard to do that when you send China out like a Pokemon to attack Japan and Germany (armed with a sword and gun, respectively) with a wok. These guys sort of fail at living.
From left to right, we have UK/Britan/England (henceforth shall be referred to as England), Russia, USA/America (to be known as America), China, and France.
America (Alfred F. Jones): fuck yeah The self-appointed leader/hero of this travesty, he's oblivious, obnoxious and loves to eat hamburgers, like all Americans. He's brash and bold, but is always chipper and cheerful, if not somewhat deluded. Usually his plans to defeat the axis involved giant robots, giant heroes, or other sorts of giant shenanigans. Was raised by England as his little brother, and loves to egg him on because of it. It releases sexual tension
England (Arthur Kirkland): He's a fuckin' top class British gentleman, you bloody wanker. Crabby and snarky most of the time, he shows his affection in odd ways. He has a plethora of magical friends, not limited to pixes, unicorns and THE ALMIGHTY FLYING MINT BUNNY. Always skeptical of America's plans, he's the first to criticize the logic of it and therefore the first to fail epically. Still harbors a thing for America, but no way in hell is he ever going to admit it.
Russia (Ivan Braginski): In Soviet Russia, character describe YOU! I kid, I kid. Russia departs the stereotypical image of a totally ripped badass-looking batshit Russian dude by being a slightly-pudgy cute-looking batshit Russian dude. He's adorable to a fault: one moment you'll be getting the ^_^ face and the next you'll be running away from the crazy soviet with a lead pipe ready for ass-shoving. Has three subordinates (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) who he regularly subjects to his terror and two sisters (Ukraine and Belarus) who, at least for the latter, manage to even scare the shit out of him.
China (Wang Yao): The only female among them. Just kidding, that's actually a dude. Despite being over 4000 years old and having the experience to show it, China is the official buttmonkey among the allies. The guy can never cut a break. Normally cheerful, he can get mopey when he realizes just how old he is. He loves cute things, such as Hello Kitty Shinatty-chan and pandas. Can use a wok handily.
France (Francis Bonnefoy): He loves everybody. Really, really loves everybody. If someone is naked in this comic, chances are it's this guy. A lover of all things romantic, France can and will try to seduce everyone to his viewpoint. He is the reason why molestation is considered a legitimate way of passing the time in the Hetalia fandom. His FABULOUSNESS is only outdone by Poland. Has an intense rivalry with England, which usually just results in nudity.
Fandom Overview
This shit needs waaaaaayyyy more rainbows.
First things off, Hetalia fandom is HUEG liek xbox hueg. To date, there are about 31,000 members in the main Hetalia comm. Due to this vast membership, the fandom is incredibly active, with at least 20 entries per day on the comm.
The people here are very accepting and kind. They will sub your anime, review your art and fanfiction, molest you, translate strips and doujins, give you helpful advice and generally be a lot of fun. Despite having a large fanbase, Hetalians are in no way intense or petty. Pretty chill over here, yo.
,
As fitting for the series, the fandom is also notable for being very diverse. Despite LJ being a website that is largely American in users, people from all over the world belong to the Hetalia comm. It's very nice to see a perspectives on this multicultural strip from users in such places as Germany, Poland, UK, and many other places.
Deep discussions are quite common, from what the character's favorite shows are to how Hetalia has changed your perspective on history. Discussions can be serious or silly, but there is never a difference in depth for either. Even when people do not agree on a perspective, it does not usually result in fighting, rather, a "agree to disagree" situation. When there is an argument, people usually just laugh and move on.
Don't think we're all so serious, though. There are lolz to be had from even the most boring news article every, because all news can be made better by the power of GAY COUNTRIES. The best place for lolz is the Capslock Comm, where flying mint bunnies are worshiped and every Friday is a .GIF party (those things can get wild). Saying that everybody is pretty fucking crazy is about 50% percent of the way there. The fucking craziness is in the most FUCKAWESOME way possible, of course.
All in all, awesome fandom is awesome.
Shipping Dynamics
WORLD ORGY WOOHOO
Hetalia is a series full of handsome men with some homoerotic undertones.
Yaoi is king over here. Fo shiz.
A good 90% percent of the fan works are yaoi/shonen-ai based, but there is the occasional het (no pun intended) couple, hell, even yuri is seen from time to time (it's most often gender-bended male nations).
Refreshingly, there is no female-bashing in this fandom, as there usually is in a yaoi-filled fandom. Rather, the (admittedly few) women in the series are quite popular; there's hardly if any bashing of them simply for "getting in the way" of a yaoi couple. But as there are so few women in the series, even when they are paired off, there are still many other boys to ship with each other, no?
Since events in actual history can be used to justify couples, everyone can be shipped with everyone. No, seriously. Anything, absolutely ANYTHING goes here. No ugly shipping wars, hooray! Why spend time arguing over ships when there are historically accurate crack couples to draw molesting each other?!
Popular couples in the fandom are Germany/Italy (GerIta), US/UK, France/UK (FrUk), Russia/China (RoChu), and Austria/Hungary (AusHun) or Prussia/Hungary (PruHun) to name a few.
OTP France/Everyone
Possible Sources of Wank
Oh Noes! Russia caught you wanking! D:
...And now the not so pleasent part. :( Also, wanking (in this context)= Arguing and bashing within the fandom
Considering how large the fandom is, there is relatively less wank in it compared to other series with a similar sized fandom, as there are little shipping-wars and character-bashing. However there is the little issue of the character Korea.
Don't get me wrong, he's a liked character (for the most part). It's just a little controversy erupted over him that brought out some nasty stuff.
Basically, when Hetalia first aired as an anime series, it brought more international attention. Korean groups took offense to the behavior that the character Korea did in the strip (he has a thing for groping China's "breasts"), despite the character not appearing in the anime. When this controversy got bigger and bigger, the studio denied ever even having the character planned for the show (despite character reference sheets existing, as well as appearing in the ED), the studio pulled the show off of television and distributed it over broadband.
Needless to say, this made a great deal of Hetalia fans angry, so anti-Korea stuff started popping up, bashing started, and it was just generally a mess.
Nowadays, the controversy has died down, but it's best not to bring it up again, especially if you're new.
Another source of wank comes from outside the fandom from those who find the series offensive, but that has already been covered and has died down as well.
A tip for cosplayers: Cosplaying as the characters is cool. Cosplaying as the characters in military uniform at a war memorial with a lack of respect is not cool. There have been incendents. Please, don't do that. It's not appreciated within and outside the fandom.
Overall opinions
Slowly we trudge forward...TOGETHER!
For all the controversy that is put upon this series, it really isn't worthy of all the hate it gets. The series itself is hilarious and guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, and the fandom itself is wonderful. Even though the characters are stereotypes, they are all shown to be good at heart and all lovable. It breaks the tradition of manga by being multicultural and educational, giving a lighthearted look at the rest of the world. All in all, a wonderful series.
Useful Links
Main Hetalia comm
Author's blog
Hetalia Indexes (All strips translated)
Hetalia image archive
Hetalia wiki
Capslock Comm
And there you have it! A brief overview of Hetalia and it's fandom. There are so many characters, plot lines, fandom actives and much more I didn't cover, so get out there and go look! Have fun, and I hoped I help!
Peace out.
Huggawugga2
Questions/comments? Post below or message me! Thanks! <3
Edit: Made a few changes from the comments below. Thanks for your help, guys! It's always needed; After all, this has to be the most accurate portrayal of the fandom it can be.
Ah, what a beautiful world that can be seen with a paintbrush....
My name is Huggawugga2, Hugga for short, and this is the first in a series called An Eye for the Fandom, a set of reviews covering over aspects of a certain fandom/series that newcomers would want to know about before entering AKA a newbie's guide on how to survive. Basically, I'll be going over the good and the bad parts of a fandom, providing sound advice* along the way.
The categories of a review are as follows:
Main Overview of Plot
Important/Notable Characters
Fandom Overview
Shipping Dynamics
Possible Sources of Wank
Overall opinions
Useful Links
*soundness of advice may vary, please check with your doctor before listening
Anyway, without any further ado, let us review
AXIS POWERS HETALIA
Main Overview of Plot
The premise of Hetalia can be best summed up by this image.
Yes, those are indeed rainbows covered by fighter planes, tanks and a shirtless man with a tomato on his head.
If you've never seen this show before, your thoughts are probably best surmised by "Wow. This looks really gay."
Let me tell you, it is. Really, really, really gay.
I don't mean gay as in homosexual. I mean gay as in the old-timey sense, you know, happy.
Cause in this show, they can make anything happy THROUGH THE POWER OF RAINBOWS AND HOMOEROTICISM.
Yes, even World War Two. Did you even see the rainbows on that picture? Don't you feel happier already?
Okay, so plot time!
Basically, it follows the events of history (anywhere from medieval times to modern-day) and plays them out using anthropomorphic versions of the countries in said events. Of course, most of these events are a bit lighter and softer than they actually played out in history, for obvious reasons.
There really is no flowing plot-line like in other manga series or web comics, rather, it picks and chooses silly events from history and plays them for the lolz. It's a gag series through and through.
Don't be surprised if there's a few strips that make you tear up, though. History can't always be cleaned up well.
Also, this series has a bit of a reputation attached to it. People think this is an out-and-out BL (boy's love) series, when it really isn't. Sure, there are some gay undertones, but it's played for the lolz (sometimes political alliances can take a turn for the homosexual). This really isn't a romance series, therefore don't expect to see many characters in open relationships.
This series has gained quite a bit of controversy by doing this. Many people feel (understandably so) that history should not be sugar-coated in such a way to make it seem as if a terrible time period (World War Two, the British colonization period, etc) was not as serious as it was, and take great offense to this series. My only opinion on this is that this is not a show to take seriously. If you are offended by it, then don't watch it. Hetalia's purpose is to poke fun at the lighter side of history, not glorify the horrible atrocities that history has seen.
Moving along!
Important/Notable Characters
*Important Fandom Note!*
The characters in this series can be referred to by two names: The name of the country that they represent, and their human/citizen name. For instance, the character America/USA is also know as Alfred F. Jones, likewise, the character of UK/England/Britain has Arthur Kirkland as his human name. Therefore, a USA/UK fanfiction is the same thing as a Alfred/Arthur fanfiction. While these names haven't been used in canon (with one exception), they are considered "official" in that they used to be posted up on the author's blog on the character sheets.
Anyway!
Let's start with the main trio, also know as the Axis Powers! You should know this if you read the title.
From left to right, we have Japan, Italy and Germany.
North Italy/ Italy Veneziano (Feliciano Vargas): The main hero of the story. Found in a tomato box claiming to be a fairy. It goes downhill from there. Ditzy, goofy and lazy, this guy is the classic Too Dumb To Live Idiot Hero (trademark TVtropes). Utterly pathetic and cowardly in life and in battle, he runs away from anything that is above 5 inches tall. Has an unhealthy addiction to pasta. Gay best friends with life partners bros SOMETHING with Germany.
Japan (Kiku Honda): The only straight man. Often gets caught up in the messes that the other two make, and passive-aggressively complains about it the entire way. Doesn't get angry easily. Seriously. Burning down his house after you filled it with kittens would only get you a disapproving stare from this guy. Patient, quiet, and tries to fit in but kind of fails.
Germany (Ludwig): He tries to be the leader, but ultimately is not so above it all. Is the"GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 50" type drill sergeant, but when you have people like Italy and Japan in your training camp, you're more likely to herd cats than get anything done. Always by the book and a total neat freak, Germany is something of a control nut. However, he does let his softer side show. Has a...thing with Italy. He has an older brother named Prussia, who for some reason continues to exsist as a nation by hiding in Germany's basement and posting on his blog.
On the opposing...side, you have the Allied Forces! They are the ones to stop the "evil" of the Axis Trio using the power of Sexual Tension!
Okay, not really. It's hard to do that when you send China out like a Pokemon to attack Japan and Germany (armed with a sword and gun, respectively) with a wok. These guys sort of fail at living.
From left to right, we have UK/Britan/England (henceforth shall be referred to as England), Russia, USA/America (to be known as America), China, and France.
America (Alfred F. Jones): fuck yeah The self-appointed leader/hero of this travesty, he's oblivious, obnoxious and loves to eat hamburgers, like all Americans. He's brash and bold, but is always chipper and cheerful, if not somewhat deluded. Usually his plans to defeat the axis involved giant robots, giant heroes, or other sorts of giant shenanigans. Was raised by England as his little brother, and loves to egg him on because of it. It releases sexual tension
England (Arthur Kirkland): He's a fuckin' top class British gentleman, you bloody wanker. Crabby and snarky most of the time, he shows his affection in odd ways. He has a plethora of magical friends, not limited to pixes, unicorns and THE ALMIGHTY FLYING MINT BUNNY. Always skeptical of America's plans, he's the first to criticize the logic of it and therefore the first to fail epically. Still harbors a thing for America, but no way in hell is he ever going to admit it.
Russia (Ivan Braginski): In Soviet Russia, character describe YOU! I kid, I kid. Russia departs the stereotypical image of a totally ripped badass-looking batshit Russian dude by being a slightly-pudgy cute-looking batshit Russian dude. He's adorable to a fault: one moment you'll be getting the ^_^ face and the next you'll be running away from the crazy soviet with a lead pipe ready for ass-shoving. Has three subordinates (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) who he regularly subjects to his terror and two sisters (Ukraine and Belarus) who, at least for the latter, manage to even scare the shit out of him.
China (Wang Yao): The only female among them. Just kidding, that's actually a dude. Despite being over 4000 years old and having the experience to show it, China is the official buttmonkey among the allies. The guy can never cut a break. Normally cheerful, he can get mopey when he realizes just how old he is. He loves cute things, such as Hello Kitty Shinatty-chan and pandas. Can use a wok handily.
France (Francis Bonnefoy): He loves everybody. Really, really loves everybody. If someone is naked in this comic, chances are it's this guy. A lover of all things romantic, France can and will try to seduce everyone to his viewpoint. He is the reason why molestation is considered a legitimate way of passing the time in the Hetalia fandom. His FABULOUSNESS is only outdone by Poland. Has an intense rivalry with England, which usually just results in nudity.
Fandom Overview
This shit needs waaaaaayyyy more rainbows.
First things off, Hetalia fandom is HUEG liek xbox hueg. To date, there are about 31,000 members in the main Hetalia comm. Due to this vast membership, the fandom is incredibly active, with at least 20 entries per day on the comm.
The people here are very accepting and kind. They will sub your anime, review your art and fanfiction, molest you, translate strips and doujins, give you helpful advice and generally be a lot of fun. Despite having a large fanbase, Hetalians are in no way intense or petty. Pretty chill over here, yo.
,
As fitting for the series, the fandom is also notable for being very diverse. Despite LJ being a website that is largely American in users, people from all over the world belong to the Hetalia comm. It's very nice to see a perspectives on this multicultural strip from users in such places as Germany, Poland, UK, and many other places.
Deep discussions are quite common, from what the character's favorite shows are to how Hetalia has changed your perspective on history. Discussions can be serious or silly, but there is never a difference in depth for either. Even when people do not agree on a perspective, it does not usually result in fighting, rather, a "agree to disagree" situation. When there is an argument, people usually just laugh and move on.
Don't think we're all so serious, though. There are lolz to be had from even the most boring news article every, because all news can be made better by the power of GAY COUNTRIES. The best place for lolz is the Capslock Comm, where flying mint bunnies are worshiped and every Friday is a .GIF party (those things can get wild). Saying that everybody is pretty fucking crazy is about 50% percent of the way there. The fucking craziness is in the most FUCKAWESOME way possible, of course.
All in all, awesome fandom is awesome.
Shipping Dynamics
WORLD ORGY WOOHOO
Hetalia is a series full of handsome men with some homoerotic undertones.
Yaoi is king over here. Fo shiz.
A good 90% percent of the fan works are yaoi/shonen-ai based, but there is the occasional het (no pun intended) couple, hell, even yuri is seen from time to time (it's most often gender-bended male nations).
Refreshingly, there is no female-bashing in this fandom, as there usually is in a yaoi-filled fandom. Rather, the (admittedly few) women in the series are quite popular; there's hardly if any bashing of them simply for "getting in the way" of a yaoi couple. But as there are so few women in the series, even when they are paired off, there are still many other boys to ship with each other, no?
Since events in actual history can be used to justify couples, everyone can be shipped with everyone. No, seriously. Anything, absolutely ANYTHING goes here. No ugly shipping wars, hooray! Why spend time arguing over ships when there are historically accurate crack couples to draw molesting each other?!
Popular couples in the fandom are Germany/Italy (GerIta), US/UK, France/UK (FrUk), Russia/China (RoChu), and Austria/Hungary (AusHun) or Prussia/Hungary (PruHun) to name a few.
OTP France/Everyone
Possible Sources of Wank
Oh Noes! Russia caught you wanking! D:
...And now the not so pleasent part. :( Also, wanking (in this context)= Arguing and bashing within the fandom
Considering how large the fandom is, there is relatively less wank in it compared to other series with a similar sized fandom, as there are little shipping-wars and character-bashing. However there is the little issue of the character Korea.
Don't get me wrong, he's a liked character (for the most part). It's just a little controversy erupted over him that brought out some nasty stuff.
Basically, when Hetalia first aired as an anime series, it brought more international attention. Korean groups took offense to the behavior that the character Korea did in the strip (he has a thing for groping China's "breasts"), despite the character not appearing in the anime. When this controversy got bigger and bigger, the studio denied ever even having the character planned for the show (despite character reference sheets existing, as well as appearing in the ED), the studio pulled the show off of television and distributed it over broadband.
Needless to say, this made a great deal of Hetalia fans angry, so anti-Korea stuff started popping up, bashing started, and it was just generally a mess.
Nowadays, the controversy has died down, but it's best not to bring it up again, especially if you're new.
Another source of wank comes from outside the fandom from those who find the series offensive, but that has already been covered and has died down as well.
A tip for cosplayers: Cosplaying as the characters is cool. Cosplaying as the characters in military uniform at a war memorial with a lack of respect is not cool. There have been incendents. Please, don't do that. It's not appreciated within and outside the fandom.
Overall opinions
Slowly we trudge forward...TOGETHER!
For all the controversy that is put upon this series, it really isn't worthy of all the hate it gets. The series itself is hilarious and guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, and the fandom itself is wonderful. Even though the characters are stereotypes, they are all shown to be good at heart and all lovable. It breaks the tradition of manga by being multicultural and educational, giving a lighthearted look at the rest of the world. All in all, a wonderful series.
Useful Links
Main Hetalia comm
Author's blog
Hetalia Indexes (All strips translated)
Hetalia image archive
Hetalia wiki
Capslock Comm
And there you have it! A brief overview of Hetalia and it's fandom. There are so many characters, plot lines, fandom actives and much more I didn't cover, so get out there and go look! Have fun, and I hoped I help!
Peace out.
Huggawugga2
Questions/comments? Post below or message me! Thanks! <3
Edit: Made a few changes from the comments below. Thanks for your help, guys! It's always needed; After all, this has to be the most accurate portrayal of the fandom it can be.
Ah, what a beautiful world that can be seen with a paintbrush....