I happened across this site while doing a bit of research on Korean history. Interestingly enough, the main reason for this site seems to be based on the stereotypical and (to some) offensive nature of Hetalia, and more specifically, the messages the author conveys concerning the Korean people. I have watched most of the anime, but I have yet to read the manga to any decent length, so I haven't really come across any parts with South Korea.
Maybe I should start off with a bit of an introduction... Anyway, I'm Jigoku no Tenshi, or just Ten for short. I'm a fan of foreign cultures and languages, which I suppose could explain my interest in Hetalia. I've taken classes for Italian and German, and I study Japanese on my own. Other languages I would like to learn include French, Russian, and Korean. Seeing as how I'm already confident in my knowledge of European and American history (as well as a fair amount of Japanese), I decided to start looking up some information about Russia and Korea. I came across this site while researching some history of the Korean War and the political differences that occurred between North and South, and I found some of the arguments concerning Himaruya's (obviously inaccurate) portrayal of South Korea and its history somewhat interesting. Some quotes I've seen often so far are "if you're going to write about history, make it accurate", or "war should never be portrayed as a comedy".
This is just my opinion, but I was never under the impression that Himaruya intended the anime to serve as some sort of history class (although a large majority of the fanbase seem to think so). Granted, it does give some accurate information concerning alliances, dates, and general occurrences, but it never really seems to go into any sort of depth when it comes to actual wars. Again, I haven't finished the anime and I have yet to read much of the manga, so if I make a mistake please correct me. Anyway, the only "war" that I found to be directly mentioned was the Revolutionary War, when the characters America and England were actually seen backed up by soldiers and holding weapons at each other. I don't recall much (if anything) concerning the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, or any other major occurrence. Therefore I think it's fairly safe to say that Himaruya intentionally decided to just avoid the concept of war as much as possible. I believe it was just a way to give some people a chance to learn little tidbits of history while being entertained. Is it being disrespectful by not mentioning every detail with exact clarity? I don't think so. First and foremost, this show is meant as a comedy, not as something for the History Channel.
Again we come back to the topic concerning the actual conflict brought up by Himaruya about Japan and Korea. While I have yet to read anything about the character for S. Korea, I'd like to understand a bit more on what the issue is about it. Was it simply because some of the important events between the two countries in the manga was flipped to favour Japan, when it was originally the other way around? And what about the stereotypes? As far as I know S. Korea is just a mischievous and light-hearted character, whereas there are plenty of other more major characters that are far more insulting. I knew that some people would be skeptic or even offended by some of the stereotypes in the series, but the one about Korea seems to be particularly severe, seeing as how the show was actually banned there, from what I've gathered.
Oh goodie, I had to go and write up a massive TL;DR. D:
So anyway, the TL;DR verison: What are some of the specific reasons that the show was banned in Korea, and how was Himaruya any more "racist" towards Korea than any other nation? I'd really like to learn about this a bit more, and I figured this could be a decent site to discuss it.
Sorry again for the colossal post, I didn't even get to do a proper "about me" introduction. xD I guess that can just be saved for later. I'd really appreciate it if we could talk about this some more though, since I'm still slightly confused. Anyway I look forward to meeting the members here. ^^
