CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

A number of online Korean protestors are calling for the cancellation of the upcoming Hetalia - Axis Powers anime series, although the anime's Japanese television channel insists that the anime does not have the controversial Korean character from the original manga. The "cynical gag" story takes the stereotypical characteristics of about 20 countries and regions, and anthropomorphizes them as (mostly) bishōnen characters. The protestors say that part of the story, which re-imagines various historical eras but focuses mainly on the World Wars, is insulting to Koreans. As of Monday, one portal site has collected 10,000 names in protest.

KIDS STATION, a cable television channel aimed at children, issued the following statement: "[KIDS STATION] was unaware of the criticism in Korea. However, a Korean character does not appear in the anime version." The series of five-minute weekly anime shorts is slated to premiere on the channel on January 25.

The creator of the original manga, Hidekaz Himaruya, is a 23-year-old design student and manga artist living in New York. After the web-posted manga gained popularity, Gentosha Comics, Inc. printed them into volumes and said the manga sold over 500,000 copies.

Of course both this news article and Yomiuri Shinbun fails to mention their sources. From other sources it seems like that yes, some people in Korea are protesting about the show but apparently they're mostly right-wing nationalist netizens, and some people are blowing this way out of proportion.

On the other hand, I wish those who bash Koreans for protesting (or anyone who finds the series offensive) would just get the hell out of this fandom. I love this series and don't think it's any more offensive than Hogan's Heroes or 'Allo 'Allo, but it is controversial, and there are lots of reasons why someone might find it offensive. Do the show and its fandom a favor and don't make us fans look bad okay?

Mr. SmartyPants (post: 1285807) wrote:Mwahahaha! MISSION SUCCESS!

The Korean furore over supposedly racist WWII parody anime Hetalia, which resulted in a partially successful campaign to force the anime off the air in Japan, did not stop at threats of cyber-terrorism; it appears even death threats have been issued against the author, 日丸屋 秀和 / Hirumaya Hidekazu.

The threat in question originates from the same boards (Daum’s “Agora”) responsible for spawning the various petitions which initially led to the anime’s cancellation; the commenter is succinct about his wishes: “Let’s go to Japan and kill the b******! The author’s name is Hirumaya Hidekazu!”

The author actually lives overseas (in New York), so some research is evidently lacking on the part of the would be assassin, and his potential victim may be safe as a result.

Still, calling for the murder of a comic author is something which puts him amongst extraordinarily dubious company, as you may recall from recent similar events elsewhere.

As if issuing such a distasteful call to arms were not enough, the same commenter goes on to say whilst affirming his vote on the petition to ban the anime: “I sign! We’ve all got to kill every last one of those filthy Japs!”

The threat was actually made on the 12th, around the time of the original attacks on Hetalia, but for some reason no Koreans saw fit to report it, or remove it. Thus it was left to Japanese observers to uncover.

It is not clear whether any more such threats, or exhortations to murder or genocide, have been made, though sadly this does not seem entirely improbable.

Of course, nobody would deny that such froth is a frequent characteristic of boards the world over; however, in many nations such grave threats are dealt with seriously by police, due to the knowledge that a small but tragic proportion will inevitably turn out to be genuine, something understood only too well in Japan. Whether Korean authorities will be investigating this is not clear.

minakichan (post: 1286015) wrote:AAAAARGH these people should actually go and READ Hetalia-- like, ALL of it, not just the 3ish strips that actually have Korea in it. Then they might realize how cute, funny, awesome, and NON-POLITICAL and NON-OFFENSIVE it is.

Debitt (post: 1285993) wrote:Burn the witch!

minakichan (post: 1286015) wrote:AAAAARGH these people should actually go and READ Hetalia-- like, ALL of it, not just the 3ish strips that actually have Korea in it. Then they might realize how cute, funny, awesome, and NON-POLITICAL and NON-OFFENSIVE it is.

HEY COME ON. WE'RE ALL ASIAN. WHERE IS OUR MUTUAL SUPPORT?

I'm sure you probably realize this, but it's definitely more than politics and the mere feeling of feeling offended that lies behind the Hetalia affair. I'm not in any way underplaying the troubling (at best) history between Korea and Japan, but Korean nationalism can be crazy radical so some crazy right-wingers were probably just looking for a reason to get all up in arms.

minakichan (post: 1286015) wrote:It's scary to think that perhaps Americans have better sense.

blkmage (post: 1286329) wrote:Leaving aside all the Korea stuff, I find it interesting that this was supposed to air on KIDS STATION. Who's idea was it to target a historical parody to children?

Fish and Chips (post: 1286286) wrote:Korea and Japan are bestest pals.