The History of- HETALIA! (A reply/rough draft)
Sorry this is so laaaaaaaate ; A ; Also this is kinda long so if you read it please don't kill me;;;
Anyway, tehd gave me the guts to actually write this, so here goes nothing! Basically this is like a beginner's guide to Hetalia's humble beginnings. Why am I writing this? Well, 1) Hetalia had an unusual start in comparison to most anime & manga, and this fascinates me, and 2) It should hopefully answer some questions- whether you're just learning about the series and asking: "OMG Why are the protagonists TEH AXIS POWERS?! IS THIS GUY RACIST OR PRO-NAZI OR WHAT??" or if you're a fan who has friends who worry about this sort of thing, or if you're a fan who's fairly new to the fandom and just wants to learn more about the series.
This probably won't be the final version of whatever thing I'm compiling/helping tehd with @A@ So think of this as a rough draft? I'm not a writer so I don't wanna store it away and not get it critiqued!
ALSO IF IT TURNS OUT THAT ALL THIS INFO IS FALSE, TELL ME AND I'LL DELETE THE WHOLE THING. A LOT OF IT IS JUST GOING OFF OF WHAT I'VE HEARD FROM FRIENDS AND READ HERE AND THERE, SO IF IT'S A BUNCH OF BOLOGNA, LET ME KNOW!
Oh, and before I forget, this is sort of a reply to this entry: http://tehd.livejournal.com/14849.html so I won't really cover everything talked about there already XD
I should also mention that I'm not a writer of any kind, so if this reads "oddly", I apologize/help me fix it D8
THE HISTORY OF- HETALIA! (FROM WHAT I READ/HEARD/REMEMBER)
At this point, I'll assume that you at least understand what hetalia is about. But how did such a series come into fruition? Why are the origins so important? Did it come in a dream from a creative visionary? Did a history-lover just borrow a concept that's older than dirt and made it popular again? Well, yes and no- but enough questions already!
About Himaruya (from web-comic artist, to manga-ka!)
Introducing Hidekaz Himaruya. Although a professional Manga-ka these days, he actually started out as a web-comic artist when he created his site: Kitayume - back in 2003. Before Hetalia was even created, Himaruya had several different web-comics in the works- (most if not all of which can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/kitayumeverseindexes/home) and like any web comic, they were all created for his own amusement. (and for his fans too, of course!)
In 2006, Himaruya went overseas (New York to be specific) to study art design. Living in such a melting pot can introduce you to so many aspects of America, different people, and even other cultures in general...and it all came together to give the poor guy some culture shock. (But in a good way! Since he learned a lot and made friends)
Inspiration strikes! (The Italian soldier appears!)
Although many of his experiences overseas are what ultimately influenced Hetalia, they say that it really all started when one day, he found a list of Italian stereotypes/jokes. Himaruya thought the traits/jokes/Italians were actually quite cute, (or moe perhaps) and that became the inspiration for an Italian character.
He then thought to himself something like "Hm, where can I put this character to get funny scenarios? High School? Nah, I've done that too many times already...oh, how about in the Army? A carefree soldier would would be hilarious!"
Hey German-guy, German-guy!
But wait- a character like this needs someone to keep him in line- (a tsukkomi to his boke, so to speak) enter the German soldier, a character who was actually inspired by Himaruya's German friend; who he met while he was overseas. To sort of match the Italian character, he mostly drew influence from his friend's slightly more stereotypical traits. (It could have been the serious-ness or the discipline, but if his friend was anything like he is in this comic: community.livejournal.com/kitayumeverse/4054.html it probably wasn't the tidey factor- or lack there of)
Keep in mind that Mr. Italian and Dude-based-off-Himaruya's-German-friend aren't countries...yet.
The middle-man
A hilarious dynamic duo is great and all; but if you're gonna tell a story, you need a third character- a "poker", someone to help move the story along...and since the Italian and German characters are such opposites, why not have a guy who's sort of...caught in the middle- perhaps someone kinda neutral, or a quiet observer, but seems to be able to read the atmosphere. They could even experience culture shock considering they're dealing with Europeans...
And thus we get the Japanese guy! 8D But wait a minute...
(Stereotypical) Italian
(Stereotypical) German
(Stereotypical) Japanese
Weren't those the Axis Powers? Oh snap!
Whether he made the decision with the addition of the Japanese character, or afterwords; he somehow got the idea to make them into anthropomorphic versions of their countries, respectively. I mean if you think about it, it kinda makes sense; a "-tan" is usually the representation of something, and sometimes you think of those things in a stereotypical sense. (Though hopefully you think of positive stereotypes rather than negative ones. I know I do!)
Not to mention, Himaruya has been personifying Japanese prefectures since forever; so one could say that it was only a matter of time before he would do the same thing with different countries. Some of these prefectures/-hans have even made appearances in Hetalia strips, as the above link will show you. :)
In closing (So wait, this was an essay?! Man if it were I'd get an F for sure, look at how hideous this is!)
And so that explains why the Axis are the protagonists. It was all part coincidence, part influence, part research, and part "for the lulz." Afterall, it was just a web comic from the start; and as we all know, the internet isn't supposed to be srs bzns.
Had Himaruya have known the popularity of such a series would have sky-rocketed, I'm sure he would have chosen to have debuted with something less controversial. (Not that he would have things as they are any other way- but it certainly wasn't his intention to cause international butt-hurt, because he didn't know his web-comic would become a published manga in the future, let alone an animated series, feature film, and have merchandising...)
Anyway, I hope this was all helpful/insightful or at the very least, entertaining :D See ya~
Anyway, tehd gave me the guts to actually write this, so here goes nothing! Basically this is like a beginner's guide to Hetalia's humble beginnings. Why am I writing this? Well, 1) Hetalia had an unusual start in comparison to most anime & manga, and this fascinates me, and 2) It should hopefully answer some questions- whether you're just learning about the series and asking: "OMG Why are the protagonists TEH AXIS POWERS?! IS THIS GUY RACIST OR PRO-NAZI OR WHAT??" or if you're a fan who has friends who worry about this sort of thing, or if you're a fan who's fairly new to the fandom and just wants to learn more about the series.
This probably won't be the final version of whatever thing I'm compiling/helping tehd with @A@ So think of this as a rough draft? I'm not a writer so I don't wanna store it away and not get it critiqued!
ALSO IF IT TURNS OUT THAT ALL THIS INFO IS FALSE, TELL ME AND I'LL DELETE THE WHOLE THING. A LOT OF IT IS JUST GOING OFF OF WHAT I'VE HEARD FROM FRIENDS AND READ HERE AND THERE, SO IF IT'S A BUNCH OF BOLOGNA, LET ME KNOW!
Oh, and before I forget, this is sort of a reply to this entry: http://tehd.livejournal.com/14849.html so I won't really cover everything talked about there already XD
I should also mention that I'm not a writer of any kind, so if this reads "oddly", I apologize/help me fix it D8
THE HISTORY OF- HETALIA! (FROM WHAT I READ/HEARD/REMEMBER)
At this point, I'll assume that you at least understand what hetalia is about. But how did such a series come into fruition? Why are the origins so important? Did it come in a dream from a creative visionary? Did a history-lover just borrow a concept that's older than dirt and made it popular again? Well, yes and no- but enough questions already!
About Himaruya (from web-comic artist, to manga-ka!)
Introducing Hidekaz Himaruya. Although a professional Manga-ka these days, he actually started out as a web-comic artist when he created his site: Kitayume - back in 2003. Before Hetalia was even created, Himaruya had several different web-comics in the works- (most if not all of which can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/kitayumeverseindexes/home) and like any web comic, they were all created for his own amusement. (and for his fans too, of course!)
In 2006, Himaruya went overseas (New York to be specific) to study art design. Living in such a melting pot can introduce you to so many aspects of America, different people, and even other cultures in general...and it all came together to give the poor guy some culture shock. (But in a good way! Since he learned a lot and made friends)
Inspiration strikes! (The Italian soldier appears!)
Although many of his experiences overseas are what ultimately influenced Hetalia, they say that it really all started when one day, he found a list of Italian stereotypes/jokes. Himaruya thought the traits/jokes/Italians were actually quite cute, (or moe perhaps) and that became the inspiration for an Italian character.
He then thought to himself something like "Hm, where can I put this character to get funny scenarios? High School? Nah, I've done that too many times already...oh, how about in the Army? A carefree soldier would would be hilarious!"
Hey German-guy, German-guy!
But wait- a character like this needs someone to keep him in line- (a tsukkomi to his boke, so to speak) enter the German soldier, a character who was actually inspired by Himaruya's German friend; who he met while he was overseas. To sort of match the Italian character, he mostly drew influence from his friend's slightly more stereotypical traits. (It could have been the serious-ness or the discipline, but if his friend was anything like he is in this comic: community.livejournal.com/kitayumeverse/4054.html it probably wasn't the tidey factor- or lack there of)
Keep in mind that Mr. Italian and Dude-based-off-Himaruya's-German-friend aren't countries...yet.
The middle-man
A hilarious dynamic duo is great and all; but if you're gonna tell a story, you need a third character- a "poker", someone to help move the story along...and since the Italian and German characters are such opposites, why not have a guy who's sort of...caught in the middle- perhaps someone kinda neutral, or a quiet observer, but seems to be able to read the atmosphere. They could even experience culture shock considering they're dealing with Europeans...
And thus we get the Japanese guy! 8D But wait a minute...
(Stereotypical) Italian
(Stereotypical) German
(Stereotypical) Japanese
Weren't those the Axis Powers? Oh snap!
Whether he made the decision with the addition of the Japanese character, or afterwords; he somehow got the idea to make them into anthropomorphic versions of their countries, respectively. I mean if you think about it, it kinda makes sense; a "-tan" is usually the representation of something, and sometimes you think of those things in a stereotypical sense. (Though hopefully you think of positive stereotypes rather than negative ones. I know I do!)
Not to mention, Himaruya has been personifying Japanese prefectures since forever; so one could say that it was only a matter of time before he would do the same thing with different countries. Some of these prefectures/-hans have even made appearances in Hetalia strips, as the above link will show you. :)
In closing (So wait, this was an essay?! Man if it were I'd get an F for sure, look at how hideous this is!)
And so that explains why the Axis are the protagonists. It was all part coincidence, part influence, part research, and part "for the lulz." Afterall, it was just a web comic from the start; and as we all know, the internet isn't supposed to be srs bzns.
Had Himaruya have known the popularity of such a series would have sky-rocketed, I'm sure he would have chosen to have debuted with something less controversial. (Not that he would have things as they are any other way- but it certainly wasn't his intention to cause international butt-hurt, because he didn't know his web-comic would become a published manga in the future, let alone an animated series, feature film, and have merchandising...)
Anyway, I hope this was all helpful/insightful or at the very least, entertaining :D See ya~