Hetalia & personification + Voices of the nerdy + My sibling's writing
I'm starting to think I should have tags for media series' titles and the like...
(1) Hetalia and the personification of countries/nations.
I have to admit, it's kind of clever. People don't necessarily care about the doings of countries (especially in this day and age. Myself, I was borderline ignorant until last year). Most people, however, do tend to care about the doings of other people. Nations and people share many traits in common: they both live, grow, age, and die; and interact with their contemporaries, themselves, and the natural world. Hetalia just puts out the idea in a rather blunt fashion. Creative, but blunt.
A part of me can't help but feel that personifying countries like this to some extent makes light of the atrocities committed in history. But I don't think it's a bad viewpoint to have. Nations are inherently flawed, just as people are. There is no real utopia; no nation is perfect. To hate another nation for what it's committed is to ignore the parts of it that didn't commit anything. Likewise, to love a nation for what it's accomplished is to ignore the parts of it that didn't partake in the accomplishment. So ... anyway, me waxing prose-like aside, I'm just trying to say that nations are human, just like us. They can be loved despite their flaws.
I've taken a liking to England. America amuses me (he's so genki), and Canada is just adorable.
(2) Voices of the nerdy.
This is just an observation... In Japanese media, there seems to be a trend to give genius characters really deep voices. By contrast, genius characters in the western hemisphere tend to have reedy, almost squeaky voices.
I know I've heard English dubs where characters that originally had deep voices ended up with higher ones, but as of this moment I can't think of any examples aside from Citan Uzuki from Xenogears. The change can be accounted for by the two languages' differences; it's a lot easier to hit higher/lower pitches in the Japanese language (and I can attest to this).
But it could also be due to a difference in images. i.e. geniuses-- who are probably considered wise beyond their years-- should know what's best for their own bodies (Asian thought), while in Western thought they are people who are cooped up inside a lot and don't get enough exercise.
(3) Of the writing of someone beloved.
Just the other day my younger brother finished a small biography about himself. It was riddled with the expected grammatical errors. When I read it, I thought: "Now, should I go Grammar Nazi on him or should I just let this go?" The tribulations of being an older sibling...
(1) Hetalia and the personification of countries/nations.
I have to admit, it's kind of clever. People don't necessarily care about the doings of countries (especially in this day and age. Myself, I was borderline ignorant until last year). Most people, however, do tend to care about the doings of other people. Nations and people share many traits in common: they both live, grow, age, and die; and interact with their contemporaries, themselves, and the natural world. Hetalia just puts out the idea in a rather blunt fashion. Creative, but blunt.
A part of me can't help but feel that personifying countries like this to some extent makes light of the atrocities committed in history. But I don't think it's a bad viewpoint to have. Nations are inherently flawed, just as people are. There is no real utopia; no nation is perfect. To hate another nation for what it's committed is to ignore the parts of it that didn't commit anything. Likewise, to love a nation for what it's accomplished is to ignore the parts of it that didn't partake in the accomplishment. So ... anyway, me waxing prose-like aside, I'm just trying to say that nations are human, just like us. They can be loved despite their flaws.
I've taken a liking to England. America amuses me (he's so genki), and Canada is just adorable.
(2) Voices of the nerdy.
This is just an observation... In Japanese media, there seems to be a trend to give genius characters really deep voices. By contrast, genius characters in the western hemisphere tend to have reedy, almost squeaky voices.
I know I've heard English dubs where characters that originally had deep voices ended up with higher ones, but as of this moment I can't think of any examples aside from Citan Uzuki from Xenogears. The change can be accounted for by the two languages' differences; it's a lot easier to hit higher/lower pitches in the Japanese language (and I can attest to this).
But it could also be due to a difference in images. i.e. geniuses-- who are probably considered wise beyond their years-- should know what's best for their own bodies (Asian thought), while in Western thought they are people who are cooped up inside a lot and don't get enough exercise.
(3) Of the writing of someone beloved.
Just the other day my younger brother finished a small biography about himself. It was riddled with the expected grammatical errors. When I read it, I thought: "Now, should I go Grammar Nazi on him or should I just let this go?" The tribulations of being an older sibling...