the war that hetalia is set in is irrelevant it will still be racist towards Koreans

hetalia fans lately seem to think that if they can somehow prove hetalia isn't set in WW2 then it won't be racist towards Koreans. that isn't the case. it's not about the era it's placed in. it's about the derogatory portrayals of Korea that are in it. doesn't matter if it's based in science fiction story, if they portray Koreans that way it's racist. I don't care if it's the future, modern day, WW2 WW4 or before time began. the characteristics for Korea come from derogatory identifications that come from racist Japanese to dehumanize Koreans. no matter what kind of cartoon or comic you can come up with, no matter, how "cute" funny, interesting, or too ridiculous to take seriously, if you portray a black person as a monkey, it WILL be racist. so please dispose of the idea that if you can prove that hetalia isn't about WW2 that somehow will make it no longer racist towards Koreans and thus make them wrong and overreacting for being opposed to the series. *Heavy SIGH*=_=

This somehow sounds like it's based off of our arguments before... So I'll just reply to it in that light. If I was wrong in assuming so, please correct me. Also, could we not argue this time? I haven't been having the greatest of days, and I'm rather sensitive about the way some people display my own nationality sometimes, which is why I overreacted and misunderstood the opinion in the comment on which I first commented in the other conversation.

What follows is just to clear something up. I'm sorry if we've misunderstood each other up until this point. and I just want to get some things straight. At the same time, I would highly appreciate it if you could explain to me further your side of the argument we had, so we can figure out where the misunderstandings happened, and solve those misunderstandings by fully explaining our opinion and not getting angry at one another (see last sentence of the first paragraph of this reply for part of my reason towards not listening as well as I should have).

I recognize it's in WW2, but if you read through some of my other comments, you'll find that I don't like the strips that are set in WW2, which (despite the name) aren't in fact the majority of the strips.
I haven't stated anything about Korea in my posts with you. I recognize that Koreans may find it offensive (and I say may, because I have a Korean friend who doesn't find the character offensive). People stating their opinion that it is racist towards Koreans are not overreacting in any way. If they were, then I'd be right along with them, since I've gotten quite worked up about portrayal of my own country in works both other than Hetalia and in Hetalia fanworks.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for causing a misunderstanding between us that made us get off on the wrong foot. How about this. Let's start by introducing ourselves (this will sound quite cheesy and childish, so I do apologize about that).

So, hello~ I don't really give out my real name online; however you are free to call me Sky, since it's a word often found in my usernames (though here is really an exception). I go to an international school in the US, however I wasn't born there and don't consider myself to be American. I enjoy art and have recently been drawing a lot of winged characters, most of which turn out to be either demons or angels as a result, but mainly demons since they're more fun to design and can include a more vast array of colors than angels. I can be very opinionated and stubborn, both of which you've already partially met (the true extent of either of those have only been seen, or rather heard, by one person). Additionally, I'm that one more-than-weird person who can't stay on track when talking, to the point where conversations can change direction into unimaginable directions.
Of course that's just a bunch of useless information to you, and you most likely don't care one bit; however I hope that by getting to know a small bit about one another, we may be on better terms?

And one more apology. This one for posting such a long and tedious response.

Lalala wrote:

This somehow sounds like it's based off of our arguments before... So I'll just reply to it in that light. If I was wrong in assuming so, please correct me. Also, could we not argue this time? I haven't been having the greatest of days, and I'm rather sensitive about the way some people display my own nationality sometimes, which is why I overreacted and misunderstood the opinion in the comment on which I first commented in the other conversation.

What follows is just to clear something up. I'm sorry if we've misunderstood each other up until this point. and I just want to get some things straight. At the same time, I would highly appreciate it if you could explain to me further your side of the argument we had, so we can figure out where the misunderstandings happened, and solve those misunderstandings by fully explaining our opinion and not getting angry at one another (see last sentence of the first paragraph of this reply for part of my reason towards not listening as well as I should have).

I recognize it's in WW2, but if you read through some of my other comments, you'll find that I don't like the strips that are set in WW2, which (despite the name) aren't in fact the majority of the strips.
I haven't stated anything about Korea in my posts with you. I recognize that Koreans may find it offensive (and I say may, because I have a Korean friend who doesn't find the character offensive). People stating their opinion that it is racist towards Koreans are not overreacting in any way. If they were, then I'd be right along with them, since I've gotten quite worked up about portrayal of my own country in works both other than Hetalia and in Hetalia fanworks.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for causing a misunderstanding between us that made us get off on the wrong foot. How about this. Let's start by introducing ourselves (this will sound quite cheesy and childish, so I do apologize about that).

So, hello~ I don't really give out my real name online; however you are free to call me Sky, since it's a word often found in my usernames (though here is really an exception). I go to an international school in the US, however I wasn't born there and don't consider myself to be American. I enjoy art and have recently been drawing a lot of winged characters, most of which turn out to be either demons or angels as a result, but mainly demons since they're more fun to design and can include a more vast array of colors than angels. I can be very opinionated and stubborn, both of which you've already partially met (the true extent of either of those have only been seen, or rather heard, by one person). Additionally, I'm that one more-than-weird person who can't stay on track when talking, to the point where conversations can change direction into unimaginable directions.
Of course that's just a bunch of useless information to you, and you most likely don't care one bit; however I hope that by getting to know a small bit about one another, we may be on better terms?

And one more apology. This one for posting such a long and tedious response.

where is your Korean friend from? were they born and raised in Korea or America, cause Koreans from America we'll see things in an American perspective, cause American isn't a race it's a nationality? anyway, also I can find black people who hate black people but it doesn't justify hatred towards blacks.

anyway you replied to me when I was saying that hetalia had no right to portray Japan as a more sane respectable and intelligent character than Korea and making Korea look awful at the same time, because of the derogatory way they portrayed Korea when you messaged me the first time, I figured because you responded to me on that topic you knew we were talking about Korea and Japan.

anyway umm... you can call me Ryu... that's the name I use in MMORPG's and RPG's and the reason I use it is cause I was born in the year of the dragon. I am from America, though I am in a crisis in my life, afraid that my dreams will not come true, because it seems many people are intentionally standing in the way of them coming true, I don't exactly have a family... I have a wonderful little sister whose in orphan from Korea, she and the girl I love who is also from Korea are the only ones who care about me... unfortunately the girl I love moved back to Korea and I've been trying to get there myself, but there are a lot of people who would pay other people money to see that not happen, and I'm constantly combating these people. not only that but there are people who don't want to see me with the girl I love because they don't want to see a black guy with an Asian girl, it's unbearably painful for me. sister is the only one who tries to comfort me as she is one of the only two people who care about me.

I enjoy traditional Martial Arts, I just passed an advance Judo and advanced Kung Fu class recently, and I have studied Tae Kwon Do and Karate in the past. I enjoy drawing manga myself, there's something about it that so beautiful that I don't think anyone can pin point, and the way the drawings nature is draw a character like a human without the flaws that we have in our appearances in real life. it brings me peace until I come back to reality. I enjoy Japanese and Korean RPG's both MMO and console. like Final Fantasy, the Tales series. Shin Megami Tensei series and Persona etc. I enjoy wings in drawings as well but don't use them often. I like how they add to the elegance of the character.

I enjoy anime as well... I miss the times when the Inuyasha series still aired new episodes and every episode left me wanting so much more, I'd stay up every summer night for another episode and record it, and during the school year I'd get ready for school and watch it and finish it seconds before the bus came. I currently enjoy watching BLEACH and Tokyo Majin.

I enjoy Korean culture just as much as Japanese... I speak read and right both Korean and some Japanese. I really love the dramas and use to have a Korean channel on our satellite provider. I use to watch a children's show called Hwarang Fighter Maru. it was amazing and the child actors were vastly better than the child stars you see in America in acting, was never so convinced by child actors in my life. I even listen to Korean singers like Tae Yang and Big Bang or 2NE1.

that's all I have to say about myself.

GaGaalinG wrote:

Lalala wrote:

This somehow sounds like it's based off of our arguments before... So I'll just reply to it in that light. If I was wrong in assuming so, please correct me. Also, could we not argue this time? I haven't been having the greatest of days, and I'm rather sensitive about the way some people display my own nationality sometimes, which is why I overreacted and misunderstood the opinion in the comment on which I first commented in the other conversation.

What follows is just to clear something up. I'm sorry if we've misunderstood each other up until this point. and I just want to get some things straight. At the same time, I would highly appreciate it if you could explain to me further your side of the argument we had, so we can figure out where the misunderstandings happened, and solve those misunderstandings by fully explaining our opinion and not getting angry at one another (see last sentence of the first paragraph of this reply for part of my reason towards not listening as well as I should have).

I recognize it's in WW2, but if you read through some of my other comments, you'll find that I don't like the strips that are set in WW2, which (despite the name) aren't in fact the majority of the strips.
I haven't stated anything about Korea in my posts with you. I recognize that Koreans may find it offensive (and I say may, because I have a Korean friend who doesn't find the character offensive). People stating their opinion that it is racist towards Koreans are not overreacting in any way. If they were, then I'd be right along with them, since I've gotten quite worked up about portrayal of my own country in works both other than Hetalia and in Hetalia fanworks.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for causing a misunderstanding between us that made us get off on the wrong foot. How about this. Let's start by introducing ourselves (this will sound quite cheesy and childish, so I do apologize about that).

So, hello~ I don't really give out my real name online; however you are free to call me Sky, since it's a word often found in my usernames (though here is really an exception). I go to an international school in the US, however I wasn't born there and don't consider myself to be American. I enjoy art and have recently been drawing a lot of winged characters, most of which turn out to be either demons or angels as a result, but mainly demons since they're more fun to design and can include a more vast array of colors than angels. I can be very opinionated and stubborn, both of which you've already partially met (the true extent of either of those have only been seen, or rather heard, by one person). Additionally, I'm that one more-than-weird person who can't stay on track when talking, to the point where conversations can change direction into unimaginable directions.
Of course that's just a bunch of useless information to you, and you most likely don't care one bit; however I hope that by getting to know a small bit about one another, we may be on better terms?

And one more apology. This one for posting such a long and tedious response.

where is your Korean friend from? were they born and raised in Korea or America, cause Koreans from America we'll see things in an American perspective, cause American isn't a race it's a nationality? anyway, also I can find black people who hate black people but it doesn't justify hatred towards blacks.

anyway you replied to me when I was saying that hetalia had no right to portray Japan as a more sane respectable and intelligent character than Korea and making Korea look awful at the same time, because of the derogatory way they portrayed Korea when you messaged me the first time, I figured because you responded to me on that topic you knew we were talking about Korea and Japan.

anyway umm... you can call me Ryu... that's the name I use in MMORPG's and RPG's and the reason I use it is cause I was born in the year of the dragon. I am from America, though I am in a crisis in my life, afraid that my dreams will not come true, because it seems many people are intentionally standing in the way of them coming true, I don't exactly have a family... I have a wonderful little sister whose in orphan from Korea, she and the girl I love who is also from Korea are the only ones who care about me... unfortunately the girl I love moved back to Korea and I've been trying to get there myself, but there are a lot of people who would pay other people money to see that not happen, and I'm constantly combating these people. not only that but there are people who don't want to see me with the girl I love because they don't want to see a black guy with an Asian girl, it's unbearably painful for me. sister is the only one who tries to comfort me as she is one of the only two people who care about me.

I enjoy traditional Martial Arts, I just passed an advance Judo and advanced Kung Fu class recently, and I have studied Tae Kwon Do and Karate in the past. I enjoy drawing manga myself, there's something about it that so beautiful that I don't think anyone can pin point, and the way the drawings nature is draw a character like a human without the flaws that we have in our appearances in real life. it brings me peace until I come back to reality. I enjoy Japanese and Korean RPG's both MMO and console. like Final Fantasy, the Tales series. Shin Megami Tensei series and Persona etc. I enjoy wings in drawings as well but don't use them often. I like how they add to the elegance of the character.

I enjoy anime as well... I miss the times when the Inuyasha series still aired new episodes and every episode left me wanting so much more, I'd stay up every summer night for another episode and record it, and during the school year I'd get ready for school and watch it and finish it seconds before the bus came. I currently enjoy watching BLEACH and Tokyo Majin.

I enjoy Korean culture just as much as Japanese... I speak read and right both Korean and some Japanese. I really love the dramas and use to have a Korean channel on our satellite provider. I use to watch a children's show called Hwarang Fighter Maru. it was amazing and the child actors were vastly better than the child stars you see in America in acting, was never so convinced by child actors in my life. I even listen to Korean singers like Tae Yang and Big Bang or 2NE1.

that's all I have to say about myself.

She was born in Alaska, but she goes back to Korea a lot, and most of her family lives there.

I really hope you can be together with her. Though my own circumstances aren't as immense, I do find myself in a difficult situation as well, and having nothing else I can do, I'll cheer for your success.

I really haven't been drawing manga that long; the first time I drew it was after watching Tokyo Mew Mew (the first anime I really ever watched, and the first one I watched in Japanese with subtitles). And that's where that came from. I'll probably be making a comparison picture like the kind that have been all over deviantart recently, just to see a comparison of nearly one year (a lot has changed is really all I can say... my drawings last summer were really.... embarrassing).

The one show I really ever recorded was Bakugan (Pokemon for some time as well). Up until the third season... I stopped watching then (the second season was already just so-so for me most episodes). Though I loved the original season.
Most of the anime I watch is more mainstream, except for Sola, which was short, but easily one of the best I've ever seen. For manga, there's Fruits Basket, though I still have another 8 volumes to buy (one day I'll just sell them to my friends or something... one day in a few years... Though I still love the series too much at the moment).

Kids shows... Well, I don't really know any American kids shows, to be honest. I didn't move here until I was 5, and when we came, we still had international TV, so I could watch some of the shows I really enjoyed~

Lalala wrote:

GaGaalinG wrote:

Lalala wrote:

This somehow sounds like it's based off of our arguments before... So I'll just reply to it in that light. If I was wrong in assuming so, please correct me. Also, could we not argue this time? I haven't been having the greatest of days, and I'm rather sensitive about the way some people display my own nationality sometimes, which is why I overreacted and misunderstood the opinion in the comment on which I first commented in the other conversation.

What follows is just to clear something up. I'm sorry if we've misunderstood each other up until this point. and I just want to get some things straight. At the same time, I would highly appreciate it if you could explain to me further your side of the argument we had, so we can figure out where the misunderstandings happened, and solve those misunderstandings by fully explaining our opinion and not getting angry at one another (see last sentence of the first paragraph of this reply for part of my reason towards not listening as well as I should have).

I recognize it's in WW2, but if you read through some of my other comments, you'll find that I don't like the strips that are set in WW2, which (despite the name) aren't in fact the majority of the strips.
I haven't stated anything about Korea in my posts with you. I recognize that Koreans may find it offensive (and I say may, because I have a Korean friend who doesn't find the character offensive). People stating their opinion that it is racist towards Koreans are not overreacting in any way. If they were, then I'd be right along with them, since I've gotten quite worked up about portrayal of my own country in works both other than Hetalia and in Hetalia fanworks.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for causing a misunderstanding between us that made us get off on the wrong foot. How about this. Let's start by introducing ourselves (this will sound quite cheesy and childish, so I do apologize about that).

So, hello~ I don't really give out my real name online; however you are free to call me Sky, since it's a word often found in my usernames (though here is really an exception). I go to an international school in the US, however I wasn't born there and don't consider myself to be American. I enjoy art and have recently been drawing a lot of winged characters, most of which turn out to be either demons or angels as a result, but mainly demons since they're more fun to design and can include a more vast array of colors than angels. I can be very opinionated and stubborn, both of which you've already partially met (the true extent of either of those have only been seen, or rather heard, by one person). Additionally, I'm that one more-than-weird person who can't stay on track when talking, to the point where conversations can change direction into unimaginable directions.
Of course that's just a bunch of useless information to you, and you most likely don't care one bit; however I hope that by getting to know a small bit about one another, we may be on better terms?

And one more apology. This one for posting such a long and tedious response.

where is your Korean friend from? were they born and raised in Korea or America, cause Koreans from America we'll see things in an American perspective, cause American isn't a race it's a nationality? anyway, also I can find black people who hate black people but it doesn't justify hatred towards blacks.

anyway you replied to me when I was saying that hetalia had no right to portray Japan as a more sane respectable and intelligent character than Korea and making Korea look awful at the same time, because of the derogatory way they portrayed Korea when you messaged me the first time, I figured because you responded to me on that topic you knew we were talking about Korea and Japan.

anyway umm... you can call me Ryu... that's the name I use in MMORPG's and RPG's and the reason I use it is cause I was born in the year of the dragon. I am from America, though I am in a crisis in my life, afraid that my dreams will not come true, because it seems many people are intentionally standing in the way of them coming true, I don't exactly have a family... I have a wonderful little sister whose in orphan from Korea, she and the girl I love who is also from Korea are the only ones who care about me... unfortunately the girl I love moved back to Korea and I've been trying to get there myself, but there are a lot of people who would pay other people money to see that not happen, and I'm constantly combating these people. not only that but there are people who don't want to see me with the girl I love because they don't want to see a black guy with an Asian girl, it's unbearably painful for me. sister is the only one who tries to comfort me as she is one of the only two people who care about me.

I enjoy traditional Martial Arts, I just passed an advance Judo and advanced Kung Fu class recently, and I have studied Tae Kwon Do and Karate in the past. I enjoy drawing manga myself, there's something about it that so beautiful that I don't think anyone can pin point, and the way the drawings nature is draw a character like a human without the flaws that we have in our appearances in real life. it brings me peace until I come back to reality. I enjoy Japanese and Korean RPG's both MMO and console. like Final Fantasy, the Tales series. Shin Megami Tensei series and Persona etc. I enjoy wings in drawings as well but don't use them often. I like how they add to the elegance of the character.

I enjoy anime as well... I miss the times when the Inuyasha series still aired new episodes and every episode left me wanting so much more, I'd stay up every summer night for another episode and record it, and during the school year I'd get ready for school and watch it and finish it seconds before the bus came. I currently enjoy watching BLEACH and Tokyo Majin.

I enjoy Korean culture just as much as Japanese... I speak read and right both Korean and some Japanese. I really love the dramas and use to have a Korean channel on our satellite provider. I use to watch a children's show called Hwarang Fighter Maru. it was amazing and the child actors were vastly better than the child stars you see in America in acting, was never so convinced by child actors in my life. I even listen to Korean singers like Tae Yang and Big Bang or 2NE1.

that's all I have to say about myself.

She was born in Alaska, but she goes back to Korea a lot, and most of her family lives there.

I really hope you can be together with her. Though my own circumstances aren't as immense, I do find myself in a difficult situation as well, and having nothing else I can do, I'll cheer for your success.

I really haven't been drawing manga that long; the first time I drew it was after watching Tokyo Mew Mew (the first anime I really ever watched, and the first one I watched in Japanese with subtitles). And that's where that came from. I'll probably be making a comparison picture like the kind that have been all over deviantart recently, just to see a comparison of nearly one year (a lot has changed is really all I can say... my drawings last summer were really.... embarrassing).

The one show I really ever recorded was Bakugan (Pokemon for some time as well). Up until the third season... I stopped watching then (the second season was already just so-so for me most episodes). Though I loved the original season.
Most of the anime I watch is more mainstream, except for Sola, which was short, but easily one of the best I've ever seen. For manga, there's Fruits Basket, though I still have another 8 volumes to buy (one day I'll just sell them to my friends or something... one day in a few years... Though I still love the series too much at the moment).

Kids shows... Well, I don't really know any American kids shows, to be honest. I didn't move here until I was 5, and when we came, we still had international TV, so I could watch some of the shows I really enjoyed~

the Koreans that I hear say they aren't offended by hetalia have always been from somewhere outside of Korea, though they may visit there often they never become aware of what is considered racist towards Koreans, that's just the non offended Korean I've met though. for some reason though fans keep going on about how Korea "banned" hetalia when in fact this never happened... they simply decided not to air it, there was no bill passed saying that hetalia is banned and therefore illegal in Korea. the fact that they accuse Korea for "overreacting" because they "banned" the show, shows they were overreacting. though I noticed the fans I know on this site aren't like that.

I hope that your difficult situation ends soon. that's great if you can cheer me on, few people do. I never actually watched Tokyo Mew Mew haha my sister said it was a little kids show and she's kinda a tomboy... well until recently. I use to know of the kids shows here in America, before they got bad, like Ed Edd and Eddy or Dexter's Labratory, and the rest of the cartoon network line up in the 90's also Nickelodeon, back when spongebob was still funny and rocket power and angry beavers etc came on.

oh well now that all the cartoons here aren't good or are lousy imitations of anime I just watch anime only now... I don't even watch TV, everywhere I look is a reality show that has so much profanity you can't hear anything because it's bleeped out lol.

I find it quite annoying when people complain about how the Koreans aren't too happy with the character in Hetalia. It's their opinion and view on it, and it is a controversial manga/ anime. Any media with personified countries will be somewhat controversial, and if so many people don't like the character, then it's obvious that that is one of the more controversial points. Personally, I don't feel like I can actually state an opinion on the character, other than that I don't mind him. However, this is coming from someone with no knowledge of Korean culture, so my own opinion will be very different.

Well, the English dub is really what made it childish. The original wasn't as childish, especially in the second half of the anime, which is actually the half I prefer. The English dub is just... Awful. Then again, it was dubbed by 4Kids... They never seem to get the original anime across well...

Yeah... I haven't actually seen any of those shows... I have some of the shows I used to watch on video and cassette; others I can't watch at all unless I go to the channel's website or ask my aunt to record some of the shows (because they're still awesome... even if they're aimed at a younger audience, for instance, there was one that incorporated a lot of well known fairytales, another one that had a song on it... that eventually became an international phenomenon for a short time... Still wondering how that happened....)

Or the shows are about something really pointless.
What I do like watching is Lie to Me and So you think you can dance. Though for the first of the two I always have to wait for the DVDs, since I didn't start watching until the middle of the 2nd season.

I'm Korean, I am born and raise in America and I still found Hetalia to be racist. Simply cause I look at both persectives of Korean Korean and Korean AMericans. Sure some Korean Americans think differently, but thats because most of them don't consider themselves Koreans. In fact many Korean Americans I meet / know wish that they weren't Korean for various reasons. And now with Hetalia add another reason why they wish they weren't Korean.

ajshim wrote:

I'm Korean, I am born and raise in America and I still found Hetalia to be racist. Simply cause I look at both persectives of Korean Korean and Korean AMericans. Sure some Korean Americans think differently, but thats because most of them don't consider themselves Koreans. In fact many Korean Americans I meet / know wish that they weren't Korean for various reasons. And now with Hetalia add another reason why they wish they weren't Korean.

yeah I knew a Korean american girl that has more interest in European and American culture, and I know more Korean than she does... she only knows how to say "no" in Korean. it was sad. in fact she didn't seem interested in any Asian culture... she was into anime but that was about it.

It's a real shame when people are ashamed / don't wish to learn about their own heritage.