Hidden Truths of APH: Canon, Analysis & Guesses

- As stated by Himaruya, he has a body of a highschool jock.

- He has a habit of sticking his nose into other people’s business which makes it difficult for him to make friends.

-  He is also known for not being aware of how “the atmosphere” is when he is around others (which, at one point, he was told to read it), but it has been noted that it is not that he lacks the ability to “assess the situation”, he simply chooses not to.

- But, on multiple occasions it has been shown that, when calm or serious, America can become very logical, reading further into things than he usually would, and actually reading the atmosphere.

- His hobbies include quick-draw, archaeology, adventures, sports, [video]games, and making movies

- He has at least 238 weaknesses, one of those being Dora The Explorer

- He has a Mustang, a remodeled Caprice, a 1955 Thunderbird, and a DeLorean modeled after the car in the movie Back to the Future.

- he is jealous of all of the kids in his country that get presents from their fathers

- According to Prussia, America swims very quickly, like a shark.

- He was trained under Prussia for the Revolutionary War

and lastly,

So I’m coming to this: America believes Canada shouldn’t change a thing about himself, because his personality makes him an approachable and friendly person. That’s something America has difficulty with, and the last update shows that he wishes he had those skills.

I have already talked about how, in canon, Canada is characterized as having an extremely low self-esteem [x]. What I now want to try to explore is where this may come from, as Himaruya offered some interesting snippets of Canada’s childhood that might shed light on this.

Note: Please keep in mind that this is only my interpretation. I’m presenting canon facts but the elaborations deriving from them aren’t canon, just a possible explanation. In this post, in particular, I will in some points veer into the headcanon category, but in this case, it’s inevitable. I’ll explain it better when the specific topic comes up.

Going back to the main topic, many people link Canada’s self-esteem issues with a supposed neglect he suffered at England’s hands. This certainly didn’t help, however, Canada already displays some concerning self-worth issues in his first meeting with England [x]. Canada doesn’t think that he deserves somebody taking care of him and considering him ‘family’, England’s words are met with some sort of glad incredulity and the promise that Canada ‘will do his best’.

It’s painfully clear that Canada, in spite of being only a young colony, thinks that he deserves somebody taking care of him only if he can give something in return.

In the same chapter, however, there is a detail that would clash with some earlier material:

From Canada’s thoughts, it can be evinced that England was the first personification to ever interact with Canada – or at least, to truly take interest in him.

This isn’t true, however: in some earlier panel, Himaruya clearly portrayed France and Canada interacting during the French and Indian War. [x]

More interestingly, from the way they talk, they sound quite close: Canada doesn’t want France to lose, and, on his part, France doesn’t seem to want to give up Canada, either. He definitely looks like he’s fond of the personification, as well, going as far as calling him his ‘little brother’.

So, what happened here? It wouldn’t be the first time Himaruya retconned some information or wrote something contradictory – however, if we think about the historical context, this might have actually been on purpose. We all know that, at the end of the Seven Years War, France voluntarily handed the Canadian territories over to the British in order to keep some more profitable colonies. This alone might have shattered Canada’s confidence, making him believe that France didn’t truly care for him.

In the above-mentioned strip (portraying the battle of the Plains of Abraham), Canada certainly doesn’t react well to France’s loss:

It almost looks like the contrast between France’s earlier words and reality made Canada doubt of the sincerity of France’s promise.

There can be more to it, however – in particular, what I found quite interesting was a quote from Voltaire’s Candide that describes Canada as ‘a few acres of snow’, with this meaning a colony that wasn’t profitable and costlier to maintain than to let go. I don’t know how widespread this notion was at the time, however, given Canada’s characterization and his self-esteem issues, I can’t help but think that Himaruya might have had this in mind, as well. What if Canada had heard people talking that way about him? Surely, it would have been a strong blow to his confidence, he could have internalized his supposed lack of worth as a colony as a lack of self-worth as well. France’s apparent easy dismissal of him would have only served to cement this, making him believe that all France had ever cared about was what Canada’s land could offer in riches, not Canada himself.

I think that this could offer an interesting reading-frame of the way Canada introduces himself to England, as well.

The very first thing Canada does is to point out what England can exploit of his land. This urgency to reassure his new colonizer that there are riches is not only in line with Canada thinking himself (as a person) as worthless, the need to prove otherwise could also be a reaction to the fact his land has been previously called unprofitable. Canada certainly seems very eager to prove the countrary.

And where does France stand, in all this? I have always thought that him just abandoning Canada clashed horribly with his personality, as France has shown multiple times to be a caring and sensitive person. Moreover, France’s brief interactions with Canada always hinted that he was still fond of his former colony, taking him into consideration and recognizing him even when others didn’t.

Source: Hetalia: Axis Powers vol 5 – Hetalia of the Dead

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly! (hetarchive.net)

My guess would be that France simply wasn’t aware of Canada’s issues. He must have been quite busy with the European scenario of the Seven Years War, after all, and maybe, he didn’t think that such words had reached Canada’s ears.

This isn’t anything more than a headcanon, at this point, and it’s quite likely that I’m just overthinking everything. Maybe, Himaruya just decided to change the backstory he had in mind for Canada.

The canon has serious problems with historical accuracies, and I notice them especially in the Germanic countries. This is not because the inaccuracies are the most egregious there, but because that is my area of specialization.

Austria is an interesting case, because the canon lines up fairly well with the modern stereotype of the country. He is the quiet one who would rather play piano and drink coffee than start wars or fight battles. When he is in a war, he is saved by Switzerland or Germany or his wife. 

It seems to have escaped the notice of the canon that to maintain such a large empire for such a long time, Austria resorted to brutal suppression of Nationalist movements. He is not so gentle or so useless as the canon would lead one to believe. When Revolutions broke out in his empire in 1848, Austria sent in his army to crush the uprisings. This includes a very costly campaign in Hungary. One should remember that Austria really consisted of a small German minority that was able to rule over many other nationalities mostly through the fear of the Imperial army. The ideas of liberalism and nationalism were dangerous to him because they gave the people he ruled cause to rise up against him.

His relationship with Hungary has enough problems to be a post of its own, so I will limit myself here to saying that their relationship is not the equal, happy partnership that it is usually portrayed as. Austria regularly denied the rights of the Magyar nobility and treated the Hungarian populace no differently than the other minorities. There was no special affection between Hungary and Austria. The dual monarchy was a last resort to Hungarian unrest.  

The idea that Austria deals with problems through marriage touches on the historical practice of the Hapsburgs of marrying into other royal families. But, this should not be seen as anything other than politics. This practice gave Austrian monarchs considerable power over other parts of the continent. Marriages between monarchs were a matter of influence. A marriage to Hapsburg meant an agreement to support Austrian causes. For example, the marriage of Marie Antoinette was an attempt to forge an alliance between the historically enemy houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg. It would be wrong to assume that these marriage alliances were any less a political move than a war.     

As for the idea that he is conflict averse, the Austrian empire involved itself in several major war in Europe. During the height of his power, Austria could claim the entire military power of the Holy Roman empire. If anything, he should be a commanding aristocrat with a short temper and a willingness to intervene even when he is not directly party to the conflict. The Austrian empire’s entanglement in the Balkans led directly to the first World War. 

I saw a post that made me realize many posts of mine on Canada’s characterization might be misunderstood as me thinking he’s a complete pushover, while this isn’t exactly what I mean.

The thing is that… Canada is a pushover. And, at the same time, he isn’t truly one.

He’s a pushover because he lets Cuba even beat him up without too many complaints.

He’s not even truly angry when England forgets about him, he’s just resigned.

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly! (hetarchive.net)

Even America notices how quick Canada is to forget his own preferences in order to follow England’s lead.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 197

Canada often lets himself be manhandled by America himself.

Yet, Canada has his limits. Once he has reached them, he’s ready to argue back and stand his ground. 

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, Fly! (hetarchive.net)

It follows that Canada isn’t a complete pushover, he can actually stand up for himself when he wants to.

More importantly, Canada doesn’t seem to have a single problem in standing up for other people. When America was insisting to see England but Canada knew England wasn’t feeling well enough for that (on account of having passed out after Canada had pretended to be America), Canada was firm in his resolution of keeping America at bay.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 197

I would be inclined to say that Canada being (not wrongly) perceived as a pushover by so many people is more a result of his shyness and self-esteem issues that him truly being one. With his extremely low sense of self-worth, Canada perceives everybody else as more important than he is and tends to bend over backwards to accommodate them, dismissing his own wishes/preferences in the process. 

However, Canada does actually have very strong opinions on certain matters. He simply doesn’t express them unless in specific situations. One of them is America being involved. With America being his brother, Canada seems to feel more comfortable and freer to speak his mind (and also demands at least a basic level of respect he doesn’t seem to expect from other people). The other is when Canada is advocating for the wellbeing of other people, like it happened with England.

Some time ago I was talking in a chat about Canada, and I was asked my thoughts on his personality. Instead of writing random snippets that can get easily lost, I decided to do an entire post about it. (Sorry it took me so long!)

Note: This is my interpretation. Clearly, it comes from an analysis of canon material, but other people could have reached different conclusions, and I’m by no means claiming that my interpretation is the only right one.

This said, let’s start with the basic facts. Canada is America’s (most likely younger) brother, who suffers under the curse of being constantly overlooked in favour of his louder and more visible sibling.

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, fly! (hetarchive.net)

This strip is actually quite old (this is Canada’s first appearance, if I’m not mistaken) and things have gotten less drastic since then, people don’t completely ignore Canada. He still gets overlooked a bit, but those who notice him immediately take a liking to him.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 179

Does Canada realize this, however? It doesn’t really seem so. Every clue points towards the fact that Canada doesn’t have a good self-esteem, and while he longs for recognition he also believes that the fact he gets mistaken for America is his own fault.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 178

I think that this also opens the door for another interesting implication regarding the divide between a personification and his/her country. We know that Canada is proud of his country, and wants it to be recognized. He’s also extremely patriotic, as his room was completely covered in maple-themed items.

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, fly! (hetarchive.net)

Even here, when Canada points out a positive aspect that should stand out more, he’s talking about his nation – while if you look again at the previous panel, you might notice that he isn’t criticizing his country, he’s criticizing himself. Everything Canada has problems with is about him as person, not his country. This is also why in this analysis I will touch only Canada’s characterization in terms of his personality, without delving into history (which is correlated in some points, I think, but I’m not a historian).

This aspect comes out also in other moments of the manga. Let’s have a look at the time Seychelles remembered about him, for example:

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 176

The first thing one may notice is Canada’s exaggerate reaction to being recognized. He truly didn’t expect her to, as Himaruya pointed out in other panels, Canada isn’t used to being noticed. He has been forgotten or mistaken for other people numerous times before.

Source: Fly, Mr. Canada, fly! (hetarchive.net)

Canada’s first reaction in these situations is anger – however, it lasts only for a moment, the next one, Canada is already realizing that there are reasons for England mistaking him for America. While he would love to be more recognized and at the centre of attention, he doesn’t blame others for that. True to his lack of self-esteem, he immediately shifts the blame to himself, and instead of carrying on resentment for the times other Nations don’t remember him, he decides to treasure the times they do. He doesn’t behave like it’s something that’s owed to him, and his interaction with Seychelles shows this perfectly, he even feels like he has to repay her for the kindness. And how does he do that?

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 176

In an unnecessary, completely over-the-top showy way that is not like him at all. Basically, Canada feels like he has to change his personality even for a simple ‘thank-you’, he doesn’t believe that his personality is worthy of being recognized by anybody. And if you believe that I’m exaggerating, have a look at the way Canada tried to cheer up England after the Revolutionary War, after India told him that he needed to ‘heal his soul’:

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 196

The first thing that comes to Canada’s mind is to pretend to be America. He doesn’t believe that he can cheer up England on his own, he’s convinced that England would be much better if he saw America instead of him. One may argue that this is because America leaving was what made England sick in the first place, but I don’t think that this is all there is to Canada’s reasoning, especially not after seeing how Canada has been behaving since his childhood.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 192

When Canada first met England, the very first thing he did was trying to be helpful. He didn’t even introduce himself, or tried to get to know England – he just pointed out to the things England could exploit about his land. If this isn’t the behaviour of a person without any self-esteem at all, I don’t know what it is. This impression is furtherly cemented the following panels.

Canada is painfully surprised by the fact that England was paying attention to him. His words imply that he’s not used to it, and from his following reaction it can be evinced that he doesn’t think it’s something he deserves – he thinks that he has to work hard to deserve somebody taking care of him and considering him his family. (I actually have a theory on where this behaviour may come from, but this post is already getting too long, so it will be for another time)

Things didn’t change much while Canada was growing up.

Source: Today’s Hetalia Preparation Course [5/27] 

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 180

Every time, Canada put other people’s needs before his own, and was very careful not to disturb them. It’s almost like he doesn’t think his needs are as important as other people’s – and this is typical of somebody with a low self-esteem.

In spite of this, Canada doesn’t wallow in his self-deprecating attitude, nor does he have a negative outlook. He’s a hard worker and generally approaches everything with a positive attitude, promising himself to do his best and trying to put remedy to his flaws.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 204

He’s also generally quite patient with people, as it was shown by the way he dealt with both Cuba and Australia, easily forgiving their behaviour and never getting angry.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Canada is perfect. He’s still a bit of a doormat (which can be easily linked to his lack of self-esteem) and his passive-aggressive attitude brings him to snapping instead of solving issues in a healthy way, like he did with America at least twice. This is also something typical of a person with a low self-esteem: they don’t want to cause troubles and always try to excuse people, but there’s only so much one can stand, which leads to snapping at one point.

I also find interesting that the only person Canada was ever shown getting angry at is America, his brother: the person he can feel more comfortable with, so the only one he can show his less-than-perfect personality to.

Another interesting note from that panel is that Canada managed to reduce America to tears: he can read him so well that he knows all his weakest points – as Himaruya said, he’s clearly observant and a good tactician, but he doesn’t seem to employ these skills unless he truly needs to.

In spite of this, Canada cares a lot for his family.

He took care of England when he was at his weakest…

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 195 (and look, another proof of his lack of self-esteem!)

…didn’t want to choose between America and England…

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 181

…and in spite of his quarrels with America, he was overjoyed when he started warming up again to England, no matter the fact that this meant he was going to get less attention.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 204

In modern days, Canada goes out his way to keep up-to-date with America’s interests and be able to have a conversation with him.

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 179

This is also a behaviour typical of somebody with a low self-esteem. It’s almost like Canada thinks that America paying any attention to him is linked to Canada talking about the right things, not that America might be interested in Canada himself.

Or maybe I’m just over-reaching and Canada was just trying to be nice. However, everything about Canada points to him severely lacking of self-esteem, and his generally positive disposition can definitely be linked with this: people with low self-esteem rarely try to draw attention on their issues, because they don’t feel worthy of bothering others over them. Canada complains with Kumajiro, but when he’s with other Nations he tries his hardest to accommodate to their needs and in general is overly nice. 

Of course, Canada isn’t only that. His self-deprecating attitude isn’t his only personality trait – his kindness is probably genuine, and he’s also a dork who knows how to have fun. 

Source: Bamboo Thicket Nov 2, 2013

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 267

We shouldn’t also forget that, in spite of his dislike for conflicts, Canada has been stated to be a strong fighter.

Reading Hetalia and writing for it, I’ve always wondered what a Nation’s role truly is, and, more importantly, what is his/her weight on a political scale, so I’ve tried to put together some clue from the manga and created my interpretation.

Note: This is just my theory. It’s supported by evidences in canon, as I’ll try to highlight, but ultimately it is up to everybody’s interpretation, even more considering that in Hetalia the canon material itself is at times contradictory.

Anyway, something we know for sure is that Nations don’t truly have any decisional power, they have to bend to the will of their leaders, whether they like it or not:

Source: Dream United Kingdom (hetarchive.net)

This is an old strip, but I found it interesting because it highlights two points: the first is that personifications don’t necessarily agree with what their leaders decide, they have their own thoughts and feelings on the matter – it’s pretty clear that they have their individual personalities and thoughts, they don’t just mindlessly represent their country. In spite of this, they still have to bend to what their government decide.

Now, the question is: do Nations have any decisional power inside their government? And if so, how much?

I believe that the relationship between Nations and their rulers are quite complicated and optimally based on mutual exchange. From some events like Prussia’s memories, it looks like rulers pose as some sort of role models for young nations, helping them grow up. I don’t think that this a one-way relationship, however.

Source: The Story about the Early Days of China and Japan (hetarchive.net)

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but from this strip it looks like personifications can have a big influence on their nation’s culture.

I feel like Nations, with their accumulated wisdom and experience, are supposed to help their leaders take important decisions and promote cultural enrichment and changes. This is almost completely a headcanon of mine, but I’d say that people belonging to a certain nation find their personification’s words particularly inspiring, and are more easily influenced by them. However, Nations cannot completely change people’s minds, the decision ultimately is up to humans, and things don’t change with their leaders.

I have the impression that, in the past, leaders took their personification’s words much more seriously, and left them quite a bit of free agency.

Source:  And Then in the End, He Couldn’t Raise the Taxes (livejournal)

I think that this changed over the time, however, making the nations more and more marginalized inside their governments. My guess would be that there are still areas in which personifications can intervene – economical treaties, for example, and they also seem to discuss about worldwide issues such as global warming and other environmental problems. I don’t think that anything they might come up with has a real weight, however. It might be more something like a brainstorming – personifications come up with suggestions, then their leaders have to evaluate them and decide whether accepting them or not. I also think that personifications – some of them, in particular – might be at the head of some military units or otherwise involved in national security and secret services, basing on how they handled the situation in Paint it, White, but while they might have a certain degree of freedom they still have to report to their leaders.

Another question that I’ve often asked myself, at this point, is how much nations are aware of their real role and importance.

My answer is that this varies a lot, it depends on the single personification. Let’s look at America, for example:

Source: Black Ships Have Come~ (hetarchive.net)

I’ve always found this strip quite amusing because it’s clear that America doesn’t have the slightest idea of what’s going on. I don’t think that this is because he’s stupid, however – merely very young and inexperienced. I think that something similar, but with a different concept, could be said for Germany: from the way he takes all the meetings so seriously, it looks like he’s convinced that they have a real importance.

Russia’s scarf has become one of his most iconic features. It has become a meme throughout the fandom and it is now the reason I wear occasional scarves (people said it looked really good on me when I was cosplaying him). But why does he wear it, other than the fact that it’s freezing in his home. You think Russia wears his scarf because he loves his sister? While that may be true, there is more to it than just that. It goes from humorous, to sad, to just plain dark. Let’s get into it.

1. Self Defense Russia states that that his scarf is a body part in his drama CD. Even though we have seen him numerous

times

without

it. (He doesn’t even wear it in the first episode). But yet we see him having power over it, using it like limbs

Here it is again grabbing America by the ankle and China by the neck.

Dawwwww…Hope you had fun smiling. It only gets sad from here.

2. Family Significance We all know that Ukraine gave him the beloved scarf we know today. And we all know that he rarely gets to see her. It’s like wearing a locket with a lost relative’s photo inside. We’ve seen that whenever he gets upset about his sister, he thinks of how he got his scarf. He values it like Belarus values her old fashioned dress. Her big brother made it for her. Someone who she deeply admires and loves. 

Even though what she wanted in return was totally ridiculous.

3. Dark Past I know this sounds like a headcannon, but I have facts. We all know how fucked up Russia is. With all his bloody history, corrupt politics, and history of violence, it’s no wonder he’s a bit unstable. 

Hima heavily emphasizes and goes out of his way to explain that Russia doesn’t even realize his own cruelty. Sure, what he does is awful to other people, but when you are raised to believe that is normal, it’s still not an excuse, but you can’t help but feel bad. In this miscellaneous comic he tries to get Latvia to stop shaking…

By tearing his head off. If that’s not fucked up I don’t know what is. But what does this have to do with his scarf? Well, there was something called Italy’s chest test. Before you ask, it is not about boobs (unfortunately). In this comic, Italy goes around testing which chests would be best to sleep on. This is what happens when he tries Russia.

As you can see Russia does not have his scarf (and apparently has a rock hard chest). However there is something around his neck.

After talking about how nations are affected by illnesses with @ellawritesficssometimes, I decided to write an extensive post to better explain my take on the matter.

Now, as Ella already pointed out, from canon we know for sure that personifications can experience what’s the human equivalent of an illness in three different situations:

1) Economic recessions or depressions

Source: hetarchive.net

2) Political unrest

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 47

Rome was shown to be sick when there was some unrest inside his territory, in spite of the successful external military campaigns.

3) An illness affecting a big part of the population

This is the case of Romano, for example, who, as a child, was affected by Huntington’s Chorea. 

Source: Hetalia: Axis Powers Vol.1

I would just like to note that this isn’t actually a widespread disease, Huntington’s Chorea is by definition a rare neurodegenerative pathology. It has its highest incidence among European population, with a peak of 10.85/100.000 in Molise, a region of South Italy, while it’s extremely rare in Japan (0.5/100.000), so I guess that this is what Himaruya was talking about.

Either way, it’s canon that personifications can be affected by illnesses that are characteristic of their population or affect part of it.

It looks quite straight-forward, doesn’t it?

And then there’s this:

Source: England Caught a Cold (hetarchive.net)

America, who, in front of a sick England and wearing what looks like his WW2 uniform, doesn’t seem to know what a cold is.

As Ella pointed out, this looks like a continuity error. It doesn’t make sense for America not to know what a cold is, as he has already experienced the Great Depression, knows that England was sick after the Revolutionary War and should have seen some humans getting sick, anyway.

My point is that, while this could likely be a mistake on Himaruya’s part, there could also be an explanation.

The most straight-forward explanation could be that America does know what a cold is, but he associates it with a human disease, not with personifications, so he’s merely confused at the use of the term and he’s asking France for clarifications on this. His confusion might also derive from the fact that he has never experienced such an illness, as Himaruya seems to imply in a following panel:

Here, Himaruya is talking about wars, but since this is his explanation for America’s ignorance on the matter, I think that it applies on broader terms, meaning that America has never had a cold before – or at least, not such a bad cold that it left him as sick as England was.

This seems to clash with other canon information we have about the way illnesses affect personifications, but I don’t think it’s necessarily so.

Now, what I’m proposing is not canon, but it’s not even merely a headcanon, as it’s an interpretation rooted on canon material.

I am of the opinion that the rules I listed at the beginning are merely general rules, but they don’t apply in the same way to every single personification: just like humans, there is always a factor of individual variability to keep in mind.

The fact that there’s some individual variability isn’t only a headcanon of mine, either, as we have seen it in other fields, one of the most glaring examples being a personification’s strength: this is clearly linked with a nation’s political and economic strength, however it also varies from personification to personification. For example England, even at the peak of his power, was never shown to be as physically strong as America – he was even surprised when he witnessed America’s strength (who at that point, by the way, was only a colony – for how prosperous his land might have been, he shouldn’t have been that strong unless it was also a characteristic belonging to him as a person, that later emerged even more with his status of superpower).

Going back to illnesses, some nations will tend to suffer more debilitating effects from an economic recession, while others will be affected in a lighter way, for example getting away with some exhaustion or a slight cold instead of being bedridden, and this depends only on them as individuals – just like some people might get a fever of 39 degrees for only staying out in the cold and others never get sick.

Based on the evidence, I would place America at the second end of the spectrum. Again, it could be a mistake, but it doesn’t have to be. This is up to interpretation.

Moreover, I’ve also found another small evidence that might point to America having a stronger constitution than other nations:

Source: Hetalia World ☆ Stars – Chapter 211

Civil wars should be another instance where personifications get sick, however America looks perfectly fine here – Canada looks worse than he is, and this makes me believe that, while the general rules are always valid, the single personifications are affected in different grades.

With this, I’m not trying to say that America doesn’t get affected at all, but he has probably never experienced anything more than a slight cold, and being isolated for so long he didn’t know that nations could be affected differently – hence his confusion at seeing England so sick and the fact that he didn’t know about it. Once again, his ‘what’s a cold?’ might be referred not in broad terms, but only in correlation with personifications. This is why I believe that’s it’s not necessarily a mistake.

It is an undeniable fact that the Funimation dub of Hetalia…well shall we say… takes a few liberties with the source material. Some people believe the changes make the series funnier. Others insist that the dub massacres the characterisation, and is offensive and damaging to the show’s reputation. I have read so many arguments.

But yesterday whilst introducing a friend to Fullmetal Alchemist, I discovered that Funimation DVDs have an interesting feature - the option to listen to the dub at the same time as having the subtitled translation for the Japanese audio track on screen. So I had what, to me, seemed an interesting idea. To use this feature to directly, line by line compare the two versions. To pick out all the notable differences. To see what kind of changes Funimation TRULY made!

Or maybe this only seemed fun because I am a student on study break who only works weekends, and today is a rainy, cold Monday. Idk. It doesn’t matter. 

I DID IT ANYWAY.

So I started with the very first episode. We begin, of course, with America introducing the World Conference. Lets see what each version has him say.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “Alrighty, then! Let’s start the World Conference! Let’s resolve problems all over the world one by one! Even if it’s a tough problem, if we work together, I’m sure things will turn out okay! Please express your candid opinions here!”

ENGLISH DUB: “Dudes, I think the World Conference can convene! Solving all the world’s problems by talking excessively! No matter how hard it seems, we can solve anything with enough meetings and photo ops! Feel free to speak honestly, whilst protecting your chances for re-election!”

What interested me, is that the dub actually does largely convey the same message as the original - but the tone is completely different. Where the original was an optimistic statement of international co-operation, in the dub things are much more satirical. Already we can see how their take on the show is going to be. Oh, and their habit of having America say ‘dude’ in every sentence has started. I mean, its literally the first word of the series.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “Well then, I’ll go first! About that global warming thing everyone is talking about, I think we’ll be okay if we create a huge hero and have him protect the Earth. By the way, no one’s allowed to disagree, okay?

ENGLISH DUB: “I’ll go first, about that whole using global warming to enslave humanity thing, I’ll think we’ll be ok if we genetically engineer a huge hero to protect the Earth. I give you the super hero Globoman!”

With this one, for me, the Japanese version does a good job of introducing America’s personality; his immaturity in believing a giant superhero is a solution to global warming, and his stubborn insistence that he is right in all situations. The dub however…well suddenly the conference is about their attempts to enslave humanity. And this isn’t a throw away line, its a point that remains consistent for the rest of the scene. Yes, this was never a serious scene to start with, but some would probably fairly consider this a huge break from the spirit of the show.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “Again? Tell us what you think, Japan!” ENGLISH DUB: “Man up, or I’ll beat you with my peace prize!”

In both versions, Japan passively says he will happily agree with anything America says, and Switzerland calls him out on it. But again, the WAY it is handled is… very different. In honesty, it is with this scene that I first come to agree with the dub fans. I LOVE this line. It genuinely is a brilliant one liner. But again, its another example of Funimations loose approach to adaptation.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “I’m against it. I can’t agree with such an unrealistic suggestion. And don’t say ‘learned’. What is this ‘learned’?! It’s ‘learnt’, you idiot!” ENGLISH DUB: “There’s no way some hero will help global warming or humanity’s enslavement. And standing by France is like being in a shower of spit!”

Ok, I’ll be honest straight up - I’m not entirely sure if the ‘shower of spit’ line is exactly right, because at this point the dialogue begins overlapping and its hard to hear. But that was the gist of what England said. Nothing much new to point out here, its all much the same as before - but notice that the enslaving humanity change is still with us.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: (France) “Then I shall have to disagree with both England AND America.” (England) “Which is it?! ENGLISH DUB: (France) “If Britain and America don’t agree, how can I be superior by dissing them both?!” (England) “AGINCOURT!”

What I noticed here, is that Funimation has decided we need it directly spelt out for us something that was just an implicit part of the joke in the original - that France thinks he is superior to the others. We also see the first instance of England’s name  being changed to Britain; but this is something we can’t blame Funimation for, as the Japanese producers actually asked them to call him that. This is more the fault of the vagueness as to whether he actually represents the entire United Kingdom, or only England; which frankly is a debate for another day.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: (America) Geez, is disagreeing with me your hobby or something? You should find some other hobby that’s more fun. (France) Agreeing with you guys is distasteful. Unlike you, I’m more of a gentleman. (England) Don’t make an important decision based on taste, you wine-loving bastard!

ENGLISH DUB: (America) “You Frenchies love to hate America. Why not go back to making hot green chick statues like you used to?” (France) Ever since we lost our status as a world superpower condescending superiority and wine is all we have left. (England) Don’t be so hard on yourself. What about mimes and body odour?

Again, not much to say here. You can get the gist of the way they have changed things by now.

After this scene though, we get the scenes where China tries to get these three to calm down by giving them food, and where Spain tries to get Russia to intervene but he declines saying he’s only there in hopes Lithuania and Latvia will re-unify with him. And in both cases, the sub and dub were actually very consistent with each other. There were minor changes to phrasing of course, but you should expect that with any translation and it is nothing worth pointing out. Things only really get altered again when Estonia is introduced.

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “You shouldn’t pick on the weak, Mr Russia.” ENGLISH DUB: “You’re so tough, next you’ll try to pick a fight with Haiti!”

This frankly is a complete change of context from scolding Russia (and implying that Latvia and Lithuania are weak, what an asshole) to more teasing him; and randomly picking on Haiti as the ‘weak’ country. Bearing in mind Haiti is not only irrelevant to this scene but it doesn’t even have a canon character yet. It seems… really random. But fine. 

After this, in all honesty, both versions begin to merge into background arguments that are really freaking difficult to pick out. There are a few changes I noticed - Poland changes from threatinging to invoke the ‘Poland Rule’ on Russia to, well, actually speaking Polish I am pretty sure, which means I have no hope in hell of ever being able to transrcibe him. But then the big guns come in. We get Germany’s speech. 

ORIGINAL JAPANESE: “This conference is to resolve problems, so why are we creating more? As it stands, we’re repeating the Dancing Congress! We should calm down and discuss these matters. If you want to say something, first show clear and accurate data! And then talk! You’ll have 8 minutes to talk. That’s a strict rule! There will be no exceeding that time and no chit-chatting! Now if you want to go first, make sure you’re prepared and raise your hand.

ENGLISH DUB: “We called this conference to solve the world’s problems, not to fight about the problems of our past. And since I’m the only country who seems to know how to run a meeting, we’ll follow my rules from here on out. Eight minutes each for speeches, no chit-chatting on side deals, and absolutely no going over the time limit! Now if you want to go, make sure you’re prepared, raise your hand, and make sure you do so in a way that does not mock any salute of my country’s past!”

Again, a lot of the key points of the speech have actually been carried over from the original to the dub. But there are still changes. Most notably, we actually lose the first reference in the series to the historical trivia Hetalia is supposedly about, when Funimation cut the reference to the Dancing Congress. Even though the written info about it is still up there on the screen. Also… we get our first Nazi reference. Not an especially offensive one by any means, don’t get me wrong. But it is the first instance of one of the things I don’t like about the dub - that they do kind of reduce Germany’s character to a massive Nazi joke, when there is one heck of a lot more in German culture and history to talk about. So whilst it is a relatively accurate translation… I’m not entirely comfortable with this line. 

All in all, I think this first scene shows the best of both sides of the dub. Yeah, there are some wonderful jokes and one liners (’beat you with my peace prize’, I will NEVER get over it)… but there are a lot of pointless changes as well. I do feel it does rather lose the spirit of the original. I don’t think its beyond redemption. But it is certainly not a perfect adaptation.

Note: This post does not make any light or justification of the atrocities that took place during WW2. What I am attempting to do is prove how a historical, social, and political context can be situated without glorifying the accompanying violence and horrid ideology of the time.

What this post will prove is how Hetalia doesn’t promote Nazism and Fascism. Instead, it is a series that promotes peace, friendship, and consolidation, rather than the racist and imperialist ideologies that it is often lumped with due to the time period that the manga originally took place.

Historical Situation vs Promoting a Horrid Ideology 

I’ll be blunt and show the strips first before unpacking them.

Swastikas are, in fact, shown in the manga.

A Swastika is shown on a voting poll when Germany holds a vote in Austria to see how many Austrians were in favor of being annexed [x].

A Swastika is shown in the background as Germany and Austria watch their troops head off for war at the beginning of WW2 [x].

All right. The crucial point that I want to stress here is the difference between situating a historical context and promoting a horrid ideology – in this case Fascism and Nazism.

Just by showing the Swastika, the series isn’t inherently pro-Nazi. This is no different than Hollywood blockbuster movies that depict Nazi war officers in their uniforms, insignia and all. It’s to be historically accurate. Showing the symbol versus promoting what it represents as political propaganda are two vastly different things.

It’s a slippery slope to assume that just because Nazi insignia is shown in Hetalia that it automatically supports their ideology. This couldn’t be any farther from the truth. The Swastika’s purpose here is that it acts as a symbol for the German gov’t of the time – not to be confused with the German people in whole.

Not only that, but Hetalia purposefully avoids covering the monstrous atrocities committed in WW2. It’s too controversial of a subject to depict, and Himaruya stays far away from it, only dropping vague hints here and there.

In later volumes, likely because of the younger demographic the printed manga was targeted at, the Swastika doesn’t show up again. The series also has a habit of depicting generic battles and war fronts rather than the nuanced and sensitive subject of the domestic situation at home. Again, showing these symbols isn’t inherently wrong in itself. It’s how and why the symbols were presented that matters. In this case, they were drawn for historical accuracy, NOT to promote what they stood for under the Nazi regime.

What does the manga cover? 

Because the manga avoids certain subjects, there is only so much that it can cover. In this case, the manga only situates the motivating reason why the Germans went to war – namely, the high debt, inflation, and lowered standard of living that the German people shouldered as a result of the financial compensation they owed after the first world war.

Ex: Germany grows poor after WW1 and is stuck making cuckoo clocks for France.

The Treaty of Versailles left a bitter taste in the mouths of the German people.

Hitler promised to change that, and he did. In the strip above, we see the people cheering because they had just come out of a massive economic recession. Hitler promised that the war would better their country. What the manga does not cover is the racialization, ostracization, discrimination and scapegoating of the Jewish people that also occurred during this time. All that’s shown is the people’s hope that the war will better their circumstances.

Ex: This strip here also situates why the Germans went to war [x].

“Because UK, France, and America had colonies, they somehow managed to get past the worst. 

But Germany, Italy, and Japan, being without colonies, got damaged rather harshly to the point where even their marrow was being gnawed upon. Germany had to pay for the daunting compensation of World War I. Italy was impoverished due to the fact that he could not adapt to the changing times and industrialize fast enough. And Japan is suffering from a second bought of SUPER ECONOMIC SLUMP. These three nations were pretty deeply hurt.”

And from this appeared Italy and Germany�s bosses. The overture of this crisis will become rather (;�∀�)”

Notice how Himaruya trails off after mentioning the crisis that propelled the rise of Fascism. People who are at their worst will turn in desperation to people who promise them the best. Unfortunately, these leaders who promised the best only made things [way] worse. Point is, the manga doesn’t tackle any subject matter past this and doesn’t cover it in detail.

Lastly, in the scene where the crowds are cheering, notice what the topic of discussion is. It has nothing to do with glorifying Fascism, nationalism or the German government. Instead, it shows a worried and fearful Italy tearing up as he gets Germany and Austria to promise him that they won’t get hurt during the war.

This brings me to my next point. The manga purposefully characterizes the nations in a way that differentiates them from the actions of their government. Let’s go over that.

Germany and WW2: 

As stated in chapter 1 of World Stars, the nations are often forced to comply with their bosses’ orders [x]. A full, more detailed post on this can be found here [x].

Evidence of this for Germany and his relationship with Hitler in particular is made to be very clear.

Ex: Germany is forced to annex Austria against his will [x].

Ex: Germany forms an alliance with Russia not because he wants to, but because it’s his duty [x].

Ex: Germany is screamed at when he’s given orders [x].

Ex: Germany is noted to have boss troubles – “strange” is a purposefully vague euphemism for how awful Hitler was.

Ex: While initially joking at first, Finland hints at the real possibility of Hitler being capable of imprisoning Germany should he complain about him too much.

More importantly, I want to point out again that the nations exist because of their people in whole, not because of their government [x]. 

They exist to represent their citizens; the government is a small minority of what they represent. The irony in the series is that while the nations exist as representations of their citizens, the fact that they’re forced to obey government orders often results in them not representing/ serving their people well politically.

As stated in “In just 2 minutes, you can grasp the exterior of the European economy,” we learn that when a nation’s politics and/ or economy is unstable, they become unwell [x]. For the purpose of this post, I’ll be talking about domestic political struggles and civilian unrest.

Ex: External political struggles and infighting among groups within his population causes China’s body to ache in pain [x] [x].

Nationality is nationality – it doesn’t discriminate across groups. A German is a German, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, or religion. It’s for this reason that I believe Germany is canonically described to tolerate his days through pain during WW2 [x].

German Jews were still German. They were still Germany’s people. In addition, in the later years of the war, the constant bombings, the terror of the Gestapo, and the suppression of those Germans who fought against and criticized the Nazi regime all amalgamated into a messy domestic situation. Germany felt the pain of his people, all of them.

Perhaps this is why when he’s captured as a prisoner of war, he cites that in comparison to his daily life, torture is nothing more than a mosquito bite to him.

Promotion of Peace:

While there are many admittedly wrong and controversial tropes in older characterizations and strips in the series, promoting Fascism, war, and Nazism is something that Hetalia has never done.

You also have to remember that the nations themselves are people in their own right. They grew up together, and while their formal interactions with each other are indeed affected by their current political relations, their personal relationships are more so defined by their past. It’s for this reason that you’ll often see nations drop their political personas and treat each other as fellow humans and friends during times of war.

Ex: When the Axis and Allies get shipwrecked, political masks are dropped when Italy asks not to pick a fight. 

Ex: Italy’s first reaction when he’s shipwrecked is joy over not having to fight anymore.

Ex: When America occupies Rome, he treats the Italy brothers as friends and politely asks for them to make him authentic Italian food [x].

Ex: In another shipwrecked strip, Italy calls forth Santa – Finland – to temporarily stop the fighting.

Ex: Enemy nations have been shown to share their rations with each other when they’re not on the battlefield [x].

Ex: England and Germany in another Christmas strip agree not to fight and play soccer together.

In conclusion, Hetalia doesn’t promote Nazism, Fascism, and war. What it did was situate the historical context by depicting historically accurate details. At the same time, it avoided getting into the complicated nuances of the controversial ideologies and unforgivable atrocities committed during this period. If anything, it is a series that promotes peace, friendship, and cooperation.

To back up your argument re: historical accurracy, I’d like to point out that the background in this panel

is, in fact, the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) of Linz, the place where Hitler promoted the Anschluss (annexation of Austria) in March 1938 from its balcony. Here’s a photo of the original (from Wikimedia Commons, bless Thomas Ledl who took a photo with a fat rainbow flag over its balcony):

Also (just trivia), I’m pretty sure “looking for the Holy Grail” in the following panel 

I’ve been seeing this argument a lot. First of all, that’s the name of the first season (or two seasons if you’re going off the anime) ONLY. The following series are called World Series, The Beautiful World, World Twinkle, and the most recent, World Stars. It’s because it follows Italy in WWII and Italy was of course, part of the Axis. That’s like saying “This series about British soldiers in India has the word “imperialism” in the title like omggggg! Even though the series has a relatively anti-imperialist subtext it has “imperialism” in the title so therefore, it’s bad!!” That alone does not mean it supports Nazism. A series could be called “Americans vs Nazis” and be about a group of Nazis hilariously failing to outsmart the Americans every time. Is it instantly a racist series for having the word “Nazi” in the title?

Also, Germany wasn’t the only member of the Axis. Do you know who was also part of the Axis at that time? Finland, Austria, and Thailand (sort of). If the show was about Finland or Thailand and still called Axis Powers, would it still be a problem? It shows the war from Italy’s perspective, not Germany’s. What side was Italy on? The Axis. Before you say it’s glorifying fascism, take a look at the main title. “Hetalia” means “useless Italy”. The show literally focuses on how weak the main character is, if anything that is the exact opposite of fascism. 

People also seem to ignore the fact that the series pokes fun at war in general and is overall anti-war. Also while the first series is called Axis Powers, it focuses a lot on the Allies too. The Axis isn’t framed as the protagonists. No one is. Because Hetalia doesn’t really have a plot. It’s just a bunch of random skits focusing things like food rations, the types of weapons used, the inventions that came out during that time, and of course, the military fuck-ups that happened. A huge emphasis on the fuck-ups because real propaganda would never depict its home country in a negative light. The goal of propaganda is to portray your side as the flawless hero. That’s like, nationalism 101. And Hetalia…

1 the character is just called Germany who in canon hated his boss and his boss’s bullshit

2 the iron cross predates nazism it’s from the Prussian army. A modified version is still used in the German military

3 Germany never wore an ss uniform in canon, the closest was an all black uniform that didn’t even have an armband and the context of it was hes a dumbass who doesn’t know how to dress in the heat

Actual Nazi ideology was hypermasculine, thought Germans should consider dying for their country the highest honour, and banished emotions and certain activities to the realm of the “feminine” (and therefore undesirable).

“Men… were primarily depicted as soldiers prepared to go to war for the Fatherland, which emphasized the values of heroism and self sacrifice that the Nazis associated with masculinity.” Source: Loroff, 2012

“This sentence, ‘A German boy knows no fear’, goes right to the heart of the military drilling of men: you no longer take note of your feelings. The military is all about totally controlling the body and mind, about totally suppressing empathy and feelings, because a soldier might otherwise not be able to perform the ‘job’ of killing. In military drilling, feelings are systematically denounced as being ‘feminine’, Femininity is weakness and cowardice and must therefore be suppressed. Every army in the world works to this pattern of misogyny.” Source:Germany, two world wars, militarised masculinity and “Heldendämmerung” (Twilight of the Heroes)

But Germany? Loves baking, an activity traditionally associated in Nazi times with women in the kitchen.

This trait goes as far back as the 2006 Hetalia strips, when Austria tells him to bake something for him.

He’s far from emotionless, and even gets flustered when he thinks about his romantic feelings toward another man. The Nazis despised homosexuality and blamed its practice largely on the Jews.

Based on canon material, the character Germany is not solely the personification of Nazi Germany and does not promote National Socialist ideology.

Tagging fellow Hetalians on the site:

@mindabovemadness

@leafstorm924

The purpose of this post is to delineate the fact that nations that have cultural influences on each other are not biologically related. While the influencee may adopt traits from the influencer in some cases, it doesn’t always constitute a biological relation. What’s even more confusing is that there are specific adopted traits that the nations use to mark a biological relation.

I know this sounds obscure, but it’ll make sense when I go through some examples.

Romania and Bulgaria vs Romano and Veneziano:

A gag with Romania in the series is that he claims that he’s a descendant of Rome, and, therefore, an Italy brother.

However, even though Rome did, in fact, instill significant cultural influence in Romania, Romano is quick to reject this claim. He identifies the presence of a curl as proof of biological lineage from Rome. Remember that Rome is said to have had many grandchildren and adopted grandchildren.

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 163 + Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., October 30th, 2014).

Later, we see the same rejection occur with Bulgaria, who has Roman ruins.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Oct 22nd, 2014).

England, America, Finland, and France: (+ more)

As I’ve stated before, England and America are not biologically related. England is stated to be the fourth and youngest sibling in his family, consisting of Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Aug 4th 2010).

In the Battle for America, it’s explicitly stated that England becomes America’s brother. We also learn that because America was a “melting pot” of several cultures at the time, he inherited certain physical traits from his colonizers.

Source: Hetarchive, The Battle of America.

For example, in the trio’s feud to make America their little brother, Finland notices that America looks like him.

The distinction between cultural influence and blood relation is necessary otherwise it would lead to a slippery slope where all nations are related to each other. So, unless explicitly confirmed by Himaruya, nations aren’t related to each other regardless of their histories. Arbitrary as the biological relations may be, you work with what’s given to you.

Lastly, I’ve seen people comment that there’s a confirmed biological relation between America and Finland. That’s not the case. Finland says that America has some genes from his people. Remember that America emerged as a personification representing several cultures. The genes are the traits, but because America has so many cultural influences, they don’t consider each other to be blood-related.

The fact that America didn’t identify with Finland as a family member in the first place is telling of this cultural influence, as well as the fact that Finland offers to become a father figure for America, who in the context of the strip had been feeling jealous of kids who get presents from their fathers on Christmas.

Source: Hetarchive, Christmas 2010 Event.

France and Canada:

Similar to the situation with England and America, Canada inherits France’s hair.

Source: Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 192.  

France, America, Canada, and Seychelles vs England, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Hutt River, Sealand, and Wy:

We learn that France’s cultural influence is a dominant trait that prevents America, Canada, and Seychelles from inheriting England’s bushy brows. Although, interestingly enough, Seychelles had initially been designed to have one thick eyebrow and one bushy one to represent English and French influence.

Source: Hetarchive, Seychelles profile.

Meanwhile, without French influence, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Hutt River, Sealand, & Wy inherited the bushy brows.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans.,Nov 12th 2013) + Hetascanlations, World Stars Chapter 269.

Of most importance and what I can’t stress enough is the example of Hong Kong. It proves, with the most clarity, that cultural influence does not have a causal relationship with biological relation.

After becoming English territory, Hong Kong’s eyebrows grow bushy from the resulting English influence on his culture.

Source: Volume 6, A wise man has no specialty.

It’s said that England put a curse on him to have his eyebrows become so thick, but you also have to remember that England’s eyebrows themselves are cursed. The implications would be that his influence caused the curse to pass on.

Source: Volume 5, Special Booklet.

Point is, as far as Himaruya’s concerned with his characterizations:

Cultural influence ≠ biological relation.