So, on Korea...

[fvny]

So I saw this somewhere and it made do a double take,  because it said Himaruya was racist towards Koreans because he did... something, they didn't go into detail. They also basically said fanon was much better than canon because canon was stupid

Comments

[mizu_takishima]

I heard there was a couple of reasons.

The number 1 thing that sticks out in my mind was when the people who went to court or whatever used a piece of fan art that had Korea touching Japan's breasts, which was like saying that these particular islands that are being disputed over between the two countries "belong to Korea" even though...Japan's "breasts" are... attached to his actual body? XD; (Dunno if they represent anything though)

Then there's the fact that Korea wears the girl Korean Kimono, instead of the male one. (Which only happened 'cause Himaruya changed the design from a girl, to a boy, but kept the outfit probably because it was funnier, idk)

Then there's the whole Korea always stealing things from Japan, or claiming this and that originated from Korea, and even how China & Japan find him mostly annoying, and how he acts "annoying" most of the time anyway. (I find him hilarious and adorable though)

Yeah, the Asian-relations aren't very good OTL

[mizu_takishima]

It's a hanbok, not a kimono. Two VERY different things, there

[mizu_takishima]

[cont...]

To say nothing of the fact that the character is effectively in drag, sort of, all the time. The hanbok he wears is closer to the female design but at the same time even that isn't accurate. It's probably just a case of the author not doing the research, which is fair as it's a silly parody comic, but it's just another point against. Especially as Himaruya managed to get nearly everyone else's uniforms/clothing right, even from countries that aren't right next to Japan.

So, yeah. All of that. tl;dr, I know, but there's a metric ton of bad blood between the two countries, and Japan and the rest of Asia in general. Anyone trying to make the claim that "hurr durr, koreans are just pissed off for no reason because all of the other countries are doofy stereotypes, too!" really should brush up on their East Asian history.

[mizu_takishima]

oh, I didn't mind the tl;dr, I'm actually genuinely curious to learn about this whole thing from someone who actually knows what they're talking about. (and it sounds like you do :D) If I tried to research it myself, I'd probably end up even more confused and maybe even misinterpret things, which I would hate to do! D

[mizu_takishima]

Also sorry if any of the stuff I just said makes anyone upset. I'm tired and my wrist has been hurting so it's hard to type.

[mizu_takishima]

Do look up Yasukuni (note the spelling), and if you're interested, this is a good article on the darker side of Japanese-South Korean relations. It's also a good idea to read at least the Wiki digest on Japan's involvement in WWII. (Basically, it wasn't just China and Korea

[mizu_takishima]

prev anon from above:

I noted the typo in spelling after I had already posted; thank you for the correction.

[mizu_takishima]

DA

Korea's claim that everything originated in him alludes to both the outcry against the cultural genocide that took place during the occupation/annexation, where Japan did their damnedest to re-write Korean history, as well as the ongoing dispute between Japan and Korea over the Liancourt Rocks, also known as Dokdo/Takeshima. It could also come from the numerous cases of plagiarised/bootlegged material that Korea HAS done against Japan.Actually, I always thought the "everything originated in me!" is based on the old Korean claim that much of what is seen authentic Japanese, such as certain artistic and pottery techniques (including Satsuma yaki that became popular in Europe in the 19th century as "the" Japanese pottery), architecture, ironware, etc. culturally originated in Korea. Japan of course found this ridiculous and outrageous, but afaik it eventually turned out to be true though I don't remember if decisive archeological evidences appeared before or after Hetalia, or how well-documented it was in Japan. (There is also a

[mizu_takishima]

*same anon as above

[fvny]

Wow, anon, I never knew all that. Thank you very much. :) I have a lot of things to learn about Korea, and these posts were very helpful.

[mizu_takishima]

The character portrayal of Poland is just as ridiculous, yes. I don't get the stereotypes associated with him as they don't really jive with anything genuinely Polish. Poland is, after all, extremely conservative and has a long standing religious and cultural bias against the kind of personality that the character of "Poland" embodies