[OOC] tl;dr Meta-Essay

[the_worlds_hero]

I'm way overdo for this, but I decided to write a tl;dr essay on what I interpret what it means to be a country in Hetalia. Mostly it's just me putting my thoughts together and figuring out what the hell I'm really playing. I'll try not to reference too many strips that haven't been translated into English yet (I don't know Japanese, so it would

Comments

[wrenchgenius]

*A* Haha, figuring out Hetalia junk is both fun and a headache~ As far as the blood relations go, I kind of figure the Papa and Mama countries are similar in relation to America and England--not exactly giving birth to them, but they claimed them as their own family and raised them with their culture. (Unless giving birth was specifically stated somewhere in the comic, in which case I must shoot my face now. :D) And the idea that their existance is dependent on the people's self-identity is pretty solid to me. Maybe the ghost-tans exist because people actively acknowledge that their ancestors are from those old countries?

...right, so anyway HI AMERICA~ 8D

[the_worlds_hero]

Hetalia makes me think too much for a gag manga. I don't think anything about giving birth has been mentioned in the comic, but I assumed that the relationship between Papa Rome and his kids is different from the one between America and England, since even when he was young America always referred to England by name while N. Italy refers to Papa Rome as "grandfather." Or maybe N. Italy is just more respectful than America.

Hmm, that's an interesting take on the ghost-tans. So, as long as modern people study the histories of the ancient civilizations they're descended from, Papa Rome will keep on haunting Germany. (And when that strip is translated, I'll probably realize that my interpretations are really off. Well, at least I tried.)

[anonymous]

Just a passer-by making a comment here. Prussia does represent East Germany in the modern day strips (Or well... the strips that are set in times past The War of the Austrian Succession/The Seven Years' War). In canon, he refers to Germany as West, or ヴェスト whenever they interact (which they have at least once) or when he mentions Germany in conversation. See here for proof, or if that doesn't work, it's also here.

Just pointing that out. |D;

[the_worlds_hero]

Thanks for the links. Those strips were translated after I wrote this up, and I haven't updated it yet, although I've been meaning to. There's also this blog strip in which Prussia calls Germany West. Eventually I'll fix this to include those strips.