Sunday February 1, 2009
Cute but dangerous?
The anime Hetalia creates an uproar among South Koreans because of its depiction of the country.
JAPAN’S Kids Station satellite TV channel announced on Jan 16 that it had cancelled its plans to run the animation Hetalia: Axis Powers, which would have premiered on Jan 24.
Such a cute thing to cause such an uproar: Hetalia by Hidekazu Himaruya. Hetalia’s production committee said the sudden cancellation was decided at the “convenience of the broadcaster”, while the animation channel said the decision was made “due to various circumstances,” giving no detailed explanation.
But according to prevailing views on the Internet, the decision was influenced by protests against Hetalia’s content.
Hetalia is based on a comedic manga by Hidekazu Himaruya, a Japanese student in New York. In the manga, countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters, and their international relations are depicted as their human relations.
Main characters include Italy, depicted as a nation that is weak in war but is bright and adorable and loves food and women. Germany is a serious man who loves rules, while Japan is infatuated with European nations. The United States is a one who likes to always be No.1 and Britain is a snob.
“Hetalia” is a made-up word combining the Japanese word hetare, meaning a sense of helplessness or uselessness, and Italia.
The gag manga portrays the characters’ relations in the historical context of the Middle Ages, early modern age, early 20th century, and other eras.
As soon as the adaptation of the manga into an animation was announced, a number of South Korean Internet users strongly called for the cancellation of the broadcast, as they felt the South Korean character insults their country. South Korea is depicted as a man who “is weak before the United States, calls China his elder brother, and hates Japan”.
Signatures for an online petition opposing the broadcast were also collected. The cancellation of the broadcast was announced immediately after these moves started to be reported in Japan.
Turning the national character of one’s own or another’s country into a joke in casual conversation, novels, and other settings can happen in any country. Himaruya himself says in his book that he came across a website of ethnic jokes while studying various national characters.
There is also a tradition in Japan’s otaku culture that even such inanimate things as trains or computer operating systems can be changed into cute characters meant to inspire a moe (fondly adoring) response.
Why isn’t Hetalia viewed as one of these expressions?
Well, no matter how lightly or harmlessly it may be intended, depicting a nation or ethnic group in a manga or animation is inevitably undertaken at great risk. The manga happened to have attracted protests from South Korean Internet users, but there is no guarantee that it will not receive similar protests from other countries.
Such jokes may not develop into a serious matter as long as they are enjoyed in private. But we have to think of what reactions they may cause when they clash with the “justice” called for by various national or religious causes.
Remember the Danish newspaper that caused a global uproar in 2005 when its cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad offended Muslim states (Islam prohibits the publication of any images of the Prophet)? Many people fell victim to violent demonstrations and other incidents the following year.
This writer, however, cannot deny the attractions of Hetalia. In fact, the character Chibitalia (Little Italy), in particular, is irresistibly cute. But it may be better for world peace to limit the pleasure of such characters to this small Far Eastern island nation – even if such an act might be called hetare. – The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
- Makoto Fukuda is a Yomiuri Shimbun staff writer specialising in anime and manga.
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