Koreans Force Cancellation of “Criminal” Hetalia
- Filed under: Anime, News
- Date: Jan 16, 2009 13:51 JST
- Tags: Censorship, Hetalia, Internet, Korea, Mass Media, Politics
In an outrageous attack on freedom of speech, nationalistic Korean protests have forced the upcoming satirical WWII anime Hetalia Axis Powers off the air entirely; the issue was even taken up in the National Assembly, where the anime was denounced as being “equivalent to criminal conduct”, such was the hysteria against any possible affront to Korea’s dubious claims over Dokdo/Takeshima.
Craven broadcaster Kids Station apparently felt they had no option but to cave in to the Korean claims of “discrimination”, despite the anime apparently not even including the elements which upset the hypersensitive nationalists.
The official announcement of the broadcast’s cancellation is as follows:
Hetalia Axis Powers was scheduled to commence broadcasting on the 24th of January on Kids Station, but due to circumstances afflicting the broadcast station, the broadcast has been cancelled. To all those who have been looking forward to the broadcast as announced on the homepage and elsewhere, we apologise for this tremendous inconvenience.
We hope you will be understanding over this matter.
Of course, as with any such official announcement, no useful information as to why is included, but with it coming up in the Korean mass media the cause is clearly not in doubt; there are rumours of pressure being applied behind the scenes.
There is one glimmer of hope for fans wishing to avoid Korean censorship: inferior quality distribution by mobile and online streaming will go ahead as announced, likely because these are not handled by yellow broadcaster Kids Station.
The fact that online and mobile distribution has escaped Korea’s wrath will likely come as scant consolation to the makers, who were doubtless hoping for the web comic to finally enter the mainstream.
However, with the colossal negative publicity accruing to Korea over this debacle, we might well expect a very positive effect on sales of the DVD as people explore what all the fuss is about, or opt to support it against censorship. A publicity campaign money can’t buy, indeed.
As explained previously, it seems the locus of Korean outrage was the portrayal of Korea as a nation intent on claiming all and sundry as being either its invention or its territory; the breast grabbing scene where Korea seizes Japan’s chest (thought to represent Dokdo/Takeshima) is the main example of such. Of course, things could hardly be further from the truth?
Naturally, none of the other more reasonable nations lampooned in the series could care less about this wicked “discrimination”…
The reaction in Japan (excluding the typically supine mass media) is one of predictable consternation, though many are not entirely surprised, given the influence Korea exerts over Japan in many areas, and its constant state of nationalistic outrage.
There are many examples of Korean protests censoring Japanese domestic broadcasts (chiefly drama and the like which somehow manages to upset the influential hyper-nationalist lobby in Korea), though strangely no examples of the converse; in fact, outrageous anti-Japanese propaganda and protest seems to be the order of the day throughout Korea, reaching extremely disturbing levels, even in its schools.
Korean politicians seem ever eager to stoke the flames of hatred against Japan, and even China and America, though such reckless conduct seems unlikely to secure their long term good relations with the rest of the world.
Anything to distract from the plight of their 20 million starving and enslaved countrymen to the north?
Well hey, not everyone can have it all like japan =D
damn… f koreans if they cant smell beyond the shit on their noses. Go suck some kimchee, angry little people.
It’s spelled Kimchi in your dictionary. It’s also considered a part of American culture now, btw..
/wow….
i didnt think theyd do it but they did. this was more serious than i thought.
Koreans: Bawww~
Some countries just don’t take it easy…
Which is why they will still keep their totalitarist governments for a long time…
Which is a shame.
I can only pity anime fans which would have lots of fun in Korea too.
As for me, I’ll watch and support as much as I can Hetalia. And freedom of speech.
I am now officially disgusted at S Koreans. They should unify with their Northern counterparts ASAP, because I see no difference between them.
THERE WAS NEVER A DIFFERENCE
Disgusting yellow skins. It is back to the railroad building for them.
Seriously pathetic of Japan too. What are they afraid of? Japan is an economical super power and a member of G8. South Korea is a country looked down on by most and associated with its even more pathethic north part.
Not to mention all the U.S. bases in Japan ready to charge at any yellow skins thinking of anything that has to do with military.
somehow i don’t like the direction of this thread
you guys don’t know the history of korea, who are you to judge them?
*PEACE SIGN* V
Hey, watch it. Keep the racist ideas to yourself.
hey i’m a yellow skin and chinese
you should name they yellow korean
or just koreans
japan is not afraid, just not caring
why would you even bother if other country doesn’t want to cooperate with your country?
you just have to look for another country to deal with them!
i really have no idea what trigger this event, and neither i really care
we live in a depressing world anyway
As I said in my comment regarding the previous post about this, I feel Japan is harmless. They often like to take the route which involves the least conflict. In this case someone felt canceling the anime was the best choice.
As for the bases, I don’t think we would assist the Japanese in harming South Korea after we fought to drive them out of it in the past. For whatever reason the bases are there to keep an eye on Japan…
If you study the history of the place you will find the bases are there exclusively to deal with the threat posed by Russia and now China, and the Japanese pay billions of dollars to keep them there, so they are hardly an imposition.
It is very true that those anti-Japanese guys took it this far, but what are the cause?
The REASON is that JAPNA NEVER APOLOGIZED FOR THEIR ACTIONS! Germanys at least said sorry to the Jewish and pay them. Japan NEVER even TRIED to say “SORRY”.
How hard is it to say “I am sorry”? If Japan did that, the Koreans, and Chinese won’t hate them as much.
Worst of all, the prime ministers of Japan visit the Temple that believed in War. The Koreans and Chinese, not wanting another war, had told the prime ministerS not to go there many times, but they ignored. What does it look like when someone who never apologized after punching your face, went and praise and worship some god of war? To me, it seems they did not learn their lesson nor do they feel remorse of their wrong doing. Is that the right thing to do?
If that’s not bad enough, the Japanese CHANGED history. By that I meant they change their HISTORY BOOKS for schools, by saying they were FORCED to attack Koreans and Chinese during WWII because they were in Chaos, thus they needed the Japanese to step in. This is true, that’s why in Canada, the Chinese association negociate with the Canadian government to add Japanese and Chinese WWII events there (back then, the event was barely mentioned), to educate youth more about it.
How much of an a**hole you have to be to dare to change history? And forced the wrong facts on to children by underestimating the death they caused and the damage they did?
So you tell me, should you praise a country who does not apologize for their wrong doing, who dares to change history books and teach their youth the wrong facts, and having the HIGHEST ranked, aka, Prime Minister, to worship the God of War in front of everyone as if he’s saying, the war is not over yet.
So is Japan any good? Hell no to me.
Please refer “List of war apology statements issued by Japan”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan
The japanese have appologized, with medical advancements out the wazoo.
Japan did horrible things during WWII, they were allowed to “Erase’ them in exchange for the data gathered; and I can tell you, medical science would be nowhere near where it is today without that data; simply because the researchers were allowed free reign, with no moral backlash, even today there are plenty of research topics that could save lives, make people walk again, etc, that we’re not allowed to research because god might get angry! oh noes.
Is what they did wrong? yes.
But did it in the end save lives? Oh yea.
Apparently, these days, it’s possible to get whatever the hell you want by whining loud enough.
Unfortunately, that is true. That’s been true for MANY things in real life lately, and it’s gotten to the point where I fear for the future of this planet, big time.
Time to make life more like anime. Everyone, whip out your mechs.
While I’m not a fan of the Korean anti-Hetalia protests, it’s retarded to take it out on them like this. Many of the Japanese certainly aren’t guiltless of anti-Korean racism either. Korea’s call for the ban of Hetalia isn’t that far removed from Japan’s call for the ban of the Kuni ga Moeru manga (for being politically sympathetic to the Chinese during WW2) a couple years ago– and that was a JAPANESE work. And the series was COMPLETELY stopped.
Japanese stopping Japanese? I can dig it.
It’s when someone from another country trying to exert power, when in fact Korea isn’t even IN the anime, that made me sick. There isn’t even a REASON to do that.
In retrospect, the Korean War should never have been fought. They should have surrounded to the DPRK and be done with it.
So censorship, racism, and revisionist history are OK as long as they’re contained within the state? Regardless of the actual historical circumstances, that’s kind of the equivalent of saying that it’d be A-OK if Americans wanted to claim that abuse and the denial of human rights in Japanese internment camps never occurred during WW2, but if a Japanese complained about this denial, that’d be wrong.
My point is that they’re both retarded and it’s stupid to single Korea out as ebil just because we all happen to be a bunch of Nipponophile weeaboos. We can say “Man, those Koreans who protest about Hetalia are stupid and ebil!” We cannot say “This is further proof that Koreans are Japanophobic and stupid and ebil,” particularly with the implications here that the Japanese are guiltless.
How many times do I need to say this?
Korea is NOT in the anime!
There is no revisionist history about Korea in Hetalia anime, because Korea was entirely removed from the Anime all together.
This is NOT about offensive material, but about protesting against offensive material that ISN’T THERE.
Yes, Japan IS guiltless in this case. They did everything they can to make it unoffensive, but it appears that wasn’t GOOD enough for the Koreans.
minaki -> you’re wrong, the series stopped for some weeks, but Motomiya (author) and Shueisha (publisher) apologized for the incident (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuni_ga_Moeru) and then it was restarted.
You don’t see Russians starting international shitstorms over their stereotypical and often outright insulting portrayal in foreign media and that is far more widespread. Siding with Korea in this is just hypocritical.
“Anything to distract from the plight of their 20 million starving and enslaved countrymen to the north?”
— Artefact
You didn’t… Oh wait, you just did. Opinion of the author, or a 2ch-inspired low blow? You sure do like to stir up controversy…
(Hint: Considering history, why would Korea be offended by an image of a character representing their country being “molested” by a character representing Japan?)
The Japan character is the molestee, not the molester.
That said, Korea is such a minor character that I didn’t even remember he existed, and I’ve read most of the manga…
Ah — I stand corrected about that image. Quite correct. My eyes doth deceive me.
Still though, the sensitivity here isn’t exactly unexpected. It’s like picking a sore spot. Eventually you’re going to get a reaction. Certainly, though, I grant that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion, especially given that the character in question wasn’t even going to be in the anime. *shrug*
You make it sound like Korea is blameless in all of this. Legitimate satire is “picking a sore spot”? Does it seem to you that there is a legion of Japanese mangaka constantly making subtle territorial demands?
Dokdo is a Korean concoction to allow politicians to harness the forces of nationalism, not some kind of latter day Japanese revanchism…
What blame is there to be issued? Some people complained. A government took notice. A controversy arose. A TV Network blinked. I mean, whose fault is it, really? The overly-sensitive people, the overly-sensitive government, or the overly-sensitive TV network execs? And how much do *any* of those involved actually know or care about the show? I’m guessing virtually none and nothing.
In the right circumstances, it’s easy to create a controversy. Especially given the historic bad blood, it wouldn’t have been hard for a few people to cause enough noise to stir things up. But really, this isn’t any different from when any other small group makes enough noise to cause governments to take notice. “Korea” isn’t at fault, the people involved are. Why would most of the country care about some anime?
And it’s not really about fault anyway. It’s just a TV broadcast. That TV network won’t air it, so either some other satellite network will, or it’ll just end up being mobile/streaming and onto DVD. Net impact on fans of the show? Pretty minimal. In objective terms, this is more “news that wants to be news” than actual earth-moving stuff.
The real news here is that “concerned (outraged?) citizens” actually got part of the Korean government to seriously discuss a Japanese manga/anime property. I mean, really? Must have been a slow news day.
I think you drastically underestimate the extent to which nationalism permeates the mainstream in Korea. Take a look at the links in the post if you didn’t - extreme nationalism in Korea isn’t the work of tiny minorities as it is in many less boorish nations, it’s more of a national pastime.
I’m not sure why you’re so keen to downplay this, but having a TV anime canned by a foreign country most definitely is news to many. What sort of response would there be if another nation got the Simpsons taken off air over a similar thing?
Hetalia may not be mainstream, but it is still a big issue, and there are clearly concerns over freedom of speech in a case like this.
I’m downplaying it because the real story here isn’t “Foreign Nation takes Japanese TV show off the air”, it’s more like “TV network execs decide ‘on second thought, no’”. It’s only “off the air entirely” because it just so happened to only be scheduled to air on one channel, unlike many other shows of its kind. It was going to air at the all-important hour of… 1:52am. And how much “persuasion” was actually required for these TV execs? Think of all the other times when shows have been pulled off the air for petty reasons. The mere fact that this whole drama happened may have been enough to cause some exec to actually research the show they’re going to air and say “geez, maybe we shouldn’t be associating ourselves with this”. It’s not as if this would be the first time. You *could* believe that it was all this vicious coercion and political pressure that caused the executives to be forced to make this terrible decision! *Or*… maybe they had they willpower of a leaf blowing in the wind and just said “meh - not worth it for a 5-minute show”. It’s not as if we know *their* thought process.
The show itself didn’t get canceled. There’s no suggestion that anyone’s going to modify the show as a result. The freedom of speech is still being preserved. The show isn’t getting censored. And it’s not as if there’s any evidence to suggest that the TV network was somehow forced or coerced into this decision. Really, this is just a TV network pulling out of broadcasting an anime after presumably realizing that it might cause a controversy and make them look bad. And as you pointed out, this whole thing is actually a bit of a good publicity stunt for them.
And really, regarding the whole nationalism/Dokdo issue, it’s a big issue that has some deep-seated roots that won’t be quickly wiped away. But I sort of feel that your reaction is sort of giving yourself to the same degree of excess that the government obviously displayed in wasting their time on this issue. If their government is really as obsessively nationalistic as you imply, and they’re just using any opportunity to beat their proverbial chests at Japan’s expense, the issue is *still* that the TV network execs didn’t have any reason to cave to that. If they’re really that “boorish”, why pay them any heed? I think this reeks more of a publicity stunt by a few members of government to gain some easy support among the more hardcore voters, and a TV station that didn’t really have any reason not to drop the show when they saw a storm a-brewin’. Even if some Koreans are nationalistic or anti-Japanese, last thing we need to do is stoke the fire. *shrug*
This qualifies as censorship by any reasonable definition. A company being blackmailed or intimidated into dropping a show is censorship, just not by the direct hand of the government.
What do you think would happen if the Japanese just ignored this and other similar claims?
Have you seen the latest news? Many Koreans are now claiming Tsushima is Korean territory, it even reached the national political level:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/dqnplus/archives/1209159.html
Oppose, do not appease.
*sigh* Somewhere I read that Japan was settled by Koreans thousands of years ago. I can see the Koreans laying claim to the whole country, never mind Dokdo or Tsushima…..
hypersensitive government is hypersensitive and aggressive XD
and “equivalent to criminal conduct”? Give me a damn long break
I’m not sure who I’m more disappointed in - the hypersensitive Koreans or the broadcast station that cancelled Hetalia.
Who’s the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?
There aren’t many instances of small, children-oriented broadcast stations defiantly opposing entire sovereign nations.
Kids Station isn’t literally a kids’ station. :P (This assumption seems to come up every time it appeared in the news… keep in mind that they broadcasted Narutaru.)
…and how would they suffer by doing so? Would they lose out on billions of yen in ad revenue? Or broadcast rights? Or media partnerships? Or are they afraid that their studio is going to get raided by South Korean commandos?
There aren’t many instances of entire sovereign nations defiantly opposing small, children-oriented broadcast stations.
The foolish fool who dreams of foolish dreams.
THAT is the greater fool, indeed? lolz
Actually, The Fool who foolishly dreams of the fool who follows a fool is probably more foolish than the foolish fools who acutally fool themselves into thinking their foolish notions are not foolish.
But, then, I’m probably foolish for even bringing that up…….
This is actually normal and not limited to anime.
Malaysia for example is openly anti-semitic and have laws in place to arrest without trial those who say so.
In other words, I just committed an offense punishable by law.
Stupidity is universal I think.
Personally, banning a show for being offensive to the country is smarter than banning a show because it might induce people to fly off buildings. (RTM banned the movie Superman II on the grounds that people might believe they can fly and then hurt themselves. True story!)
Aw jeez, I feel sorry for normal Koreans who aren’t part of this nonsense, especially Korean anime fans. They’re probably facepalming so hard their palms are going through their faces.
“Aw jeez, I feel sorry for normal Koreans who aren’t part of this nonsense, especially Korean anime fans. They’re probably facepalming so hard their palms are going through their faces.”
yeah no kidding, if anything they are the ones who will suffer the most………their government goes f’ing crazy over an anime and blame gets put on their people for something their government did that they don’t even endorse
Bear in mind the original petition was not organised by the government…
What I’d like to know is how the original petition was worded. I mean, at least here in the States, you can get people to sign for all sorts of things. The “Ending Women’s Suffrage” petition comes to mind.
BTW Artefact, you got any ideas yet on what actions the United States should have taken back in the 40s/50s? In all seriousness I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Raaaaaage! We need our Yaoi axis~!
I had thought the Koreans were trying to stop it’s broadcast IN KOREA, but it’s actually a Japanese station? Double pathetic.
The narrow minded people who can’t just decide NOT TO WATCH something that THEY don’t like and instead decide if THEY don’t like it NO ONE should get to watch it are beyond pathetic. They’re evil. Left unchecked, they will lead to totalitarian police states where freedom is a lie people try to pretend they have.
I hope the creators of the anime now ADD BACK the Korean character and totally slam the character as being bigoted, narrow minded, and the new Hitlers of the 21st century (Hitler was big on censoring what his people read and watched to build his axis of evil, too).
And add in the evil UNICEF character while they’re at it.
Honestly I’m surprised they pulled it off. I just figured they’d ignore the problem and air the anime anyway given the sentiment shared between these two countries. But then again the largest minority group in Japan are Koreans…
They should go back to making their sammiches.
2 words…
STRIKE WITCHES.
Yeah, they forgot Strike Witches.
In before pigeons getting nailed in public.
One more word: AFGANIS-TAN.
I mean, really.
Find something else better to do Korea -_-’
Like making more anime ordered from Japan?
“…we might well expect a very positive effect on sales of the DVD…”
Hold up. How did I miss this?
Is there going to be an OVA of sorts anyway?
I always knew Korea was one, big, hater.
probably one of those Korean waves’ attacks.Hehehe…
They seriously took this to the national level? An anime?
What a wise way to spend government time!
Only people who are well informed of the wars between these countries will understand why a (most probably old) bunch of the korean population is butthurt; everyone else thinking “bawwww Korea is evil they took my animeeee~” should be wise enough to keep their comments to themselves.
Then again I think this is utterly stupid. It’s a damn comic that makes fun of wars and is racist; we’ll always have those.
Racism is fine in an anime or anything as long as you admit that you are being racist and give people the chance to dissuade you of your views.’
Unfortunately, when it comes to racism, a LOT of people around the world have the ’shoot first, ask questions later’ mindset.
racism is never fine
My grandfather died in a Russian gulag and I think my dad would know better than to rage against cute Russian comic books THAT AREN’T EVEN MEAN-SPIRITED SERIOUSLY THE KOREAN CHARACTER WAS CUTE and demand the issue be taken to congress. But then, my dad also has better things to do than get outraged on the internet!
My grandfather spent time as a POW in a Soviet camp, he almost didn’t come back - and he loved the idea of this comic and asked me to translate some of it for him. So, yeah… it’s always good to have a healthy sense of humor about such things.
Oh so your grandfather was a nazi, that is so wrong to treat him bad….
Not all Germans were members of the National German Workers Party (Nazi party). They had conscription in the 30’s and 40’s.
Um actually my grandfather came from Poland.
Hetalia doesn’t make fun of WW2 nor its tragedies. Wacky war trivia that happened between the downtime between battles (because it does happen)? Yes, making fun of the Holocaust? No. And it’s not racist either.
It’s all about propaganda. When a whole country decides to go against another country, truth is meaningless. Just sheer hatred over everything. Imagine little kids being taught hating someone. Just so very sad.
Wow…my view on Koreans in general just plummeted…big time…
Although maybe all this mess wouldn’t have happened if Japan was a bit more sympathetic to it’s Asian neighbors…then the Kors wouldn’t be so easily outrage…but still…this is ****ing ridiculous….DAMN YOU KOREANS!! Look what you did now!!
Those Fucking korea are really a bunch of retards huh??? Why they keep sticking their ass into japan thing??? are they crazy or what??? even when their country is absolutely kicked out from the anime, they keep bugging about the anime. They surely are retard huh?
funny to see modern korea whinning just like traditional muslim on danish cartoon… sooo cheap!
and annoyyyiiingggg!
Korean politics are soon to discover what “streisand effect” is. If prior to protests this anime would be watched only by fans and most of people couldn’t care less about whole history with korean character, now thanks to huge free publicity, this will spread to entire internet. Idiots.
Sigh… how sad. At least it’s still getting distributed on mobiles and on the net. Despite all I hear about the Japan hate in Korea, all the Koreans I’ve met or dealt with have been nothing but kind. Guess I’ll just be thankful I haven’t had a run in with the crazy ones who blow stuff like this out of proportion…
Once again, I’m skeptical of the involvement of the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK).
Fax attack, e-mail bombing.
They attacked ARTE-TV. They attacked Google, Maps of world, World Atlas, Encyclopædia Britannica, Lycos, National Geographic. They attacked World Baseball Classic official site, International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)… This one won’t be any different. And the worst part is VANK is supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of South Korea.
I got hand it to AnimateTV!
(http://www.animate.tv/ and http://www.animatemobile.net/)
Don’t yield to cyberterrorism!
Time to rally the /i/
sigh korea…..
Jeez…Thanks a lot South Korea
Remember my words, sadly Lolicon will be the next…
We’ll see what is the level of influence of UNICEF.
So much rage-fueled hot coals here… I may as well roast a bag of marshmallows while they’re a-burning. ^_-
…………Just as much contempt I have for all races and nationalities, I have a special spot in the blackest corner of my heart for bullies and idiots. And guess what? Government qualifies as having both qualities! ><
The lampoon of America made me lol… *hard*. XD
I wonder if this will get up into a duke-out between both Governments (Japan AND S. Korea), diplomatically or in stronger terms? I’m only posting possibilities…. nothing’s set in stone. And precedent can always be set upon it’s ear.
I wish the reports would stop using freaking fanart to illustrate their point, there is not one original picture in this report, it’s all fanart! Way to distort the image of Hetalia.
Man, the Koreans are so upset about their character being a pervert, I think if the French government got wind of Hetalia they might declare war on Japan.
Would you care to suggest better images?
Some official images, maybe? Fanart doesn’t prove anything, and fandom shouldn’t be dragged into in this. (Especially seeing how sensitive Japanese fanartists are about such things.)
It’s bad enough that the first Korean website that started wanking about this also used fanart to “illustrate” their point, I thought this site was above that.
“Man, the Koreans are so upset about their character being a pervert, I think if the French government got wind of Hetalia they might declare war on Japan.”
The French…. declare war on Japan??
lol You *almost* had me going there.
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/wp-content/gallery/cache/30431__448x_bombing.jpg
that pic is unrelated
really…
that was drawn because some koreans really hates japan itself(you know ww2), not anime -_-
anyway
whoa, they’re strict >_<
1785 Map of Three Adjoining Countries
A Japanese scholar of practical science Hayashi Shihei published 『Map of Three Adjoining Countries』(三國接壤地圖)in 1785, which showed each country in distinct colors; Joseon (old name of Korea) in yellow, Japan in green. In it, Uleungdo and a small islet in the middle of the East Sea were not only colored in yellow but marked, “As Korean territories (朝鮮ノ持ニ)”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokdo
Naito Seitsu: “Even within Japan, there are many materials printed prior to WWII supporting the claim that Dokdo Islets are Korean territory. The Japanese Foreign Ministry just doesn’t put those materials on its homepage…”
http://www.dokdo-takeshima.com/dokdo-japanese-scholars.html
There are equally credible maps for the other side of things. Really, it comes down to who you favour, and quoting a highly biased Korean source suggests your mind is already made up.
Enough of this, nobody cares about the rock, we are concerned about Korean attacks on freedom of speech.
“There are equally credible maps for the other side of things. ”
Please enlighten me.
“quoting a highly biased Korean source ”
Didn’t you also linked to Wikipedia in your previous article about this?
“nobody cares about the rock,”
Japan cares greatly about “the rock”
http://www.geocities.com/mlovmo/page4.html
“Korean attacks on freedom of speech.”
Can you defend ridiculing of moment of history that includes the following?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
Finally why is it that you get prosecuted by German government if you deny the Holocaust, but you get treated as a hero if you deny the following?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes
So what the hell does this whole thing have to do with the article?
It’s just some Korean masturbating over dreams of empire. Say anything less than worshipful about the place and you can summon a score of them.
“Korea’s dubious claims over Dokdo/Takeshima.”
I was trying to point out that the claim in not dubious.
Let me give you another example of why there is such a predictable and stupid( yes, I do admit the whole reaction was stupid. Koreans should keep quite in order to not give this any publicity and record the evidence once it airs in order to make the case of slandering to the world media ) outlash from Korea. How would Palestinians feel if they saw a Jewish cartoon that contains wrong facts and seems to ridicule them? How would Jews feel if they saw something from Arab media that portrays offensive image of themselves? How would African-Americans feel if they saw something glorifying the Slave trade and slave plantations made by Whites? Japan enslaved Korea for 35 years. Least Japan could do is not reminding Koreans about it. Still, leave it to stupid Korean ruling party to seize this opportunity to make it look nationalistic when it is likely to be secretly negotiating re-accepting the 1905 treaty that gave Japan ownership of not just Dokdo, but the entire Korean Peninsula. There is much more to this incidence then it meets the eye, as there are so many things ultimately connected to this fiasco in Japan, Korea, and even China.
You’re either ignoring or oblivious of the fact that the series we’re talking about doesn’t do anything like the things you mention. It doesn’t glorify anything, doesn’t offer wrong information, and in fact it doesn’t even touch Korea’s recent history with Japan. And if Korea is presented in a less than serious light, it’s not meant to be “ridiculing.” (Japan is not treated much better either, for that matter.)
I understand that Korea’s history with Japan is a sensitive subject, and I understand that some Koreans might find such a portrayal of their country offensive, but frankly, the GOVERNMENT getting involved over something like this? It’s one of the biggest overreactions I’ve seen in a long time.
“but frankly, the GOVERNMENT getting involved over something like this? ”
Sadly, expect more of these stupid reaction from the current ruling party of Korea in the near future. In fact, I expect them to do something even worse while they force other Koreans to flatter them.
Actually, the rock itself may be worthless, but the sea around it may be different. Think of the off-shore mineral and fishing rights that the owner of Dokdo would reap…
As poster abobve has mentioned, VANK is desperate to edit the article of wikipedia. Take a look at “edid pages”. I always check how the pages were edited. Korean IP Editors and KOrean wikipdians are always trying to hide the truth and distort the history. Korean gov’s brainwashing their people (also they’re soporting VANK) and wish the articles about Korea in wikipedia to be suitable for their delusion/fabrication. They even make up fake evidences just like Chinese Communist Party.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ax9m90HBBBA
Do you know OINK? Only IN Korea.
And what’s this? You’re kidding, right?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MKsEj2VnVNE
All their editing wikipedia thing is like Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda.
Prety much the same as Fake of Nanking.
Fake of Nanking? It’s widely known it happened. There were even Japanese soldiers who admitted it happened and visited Nanking to pay their respects. How many victims there were are the main problem. At lest choose a better e.g. like Tianneman Square where the CCP pretty much tried to wipe the existence of it ever happening.
Oh wait didn’t the Japanese Government accept a ‘New History Textbook’ authored by a Right Wing supporter that even other nations frowned upon because how it distorts it’s War Crimes to never happen? I have some Japanese friends, even they know Rape of Nanking happened and do feel ashamed that it even took place. And is appalled that Hirohito is at Yakusuni Shrine with other War Criminals.
Well, least Germany got over what it has done, admitted it and apologized sincerely about it’s atrocities (though Neo-Nazi’s/Right Wing supporters are proud that the events took place). But this doesn’t surprise me, Asia overall sees Image is very important. China’s CCP, Japan and Korea Right Wing supporters will do anything to make their country image seem better even through lies…not that America’s Government hasn’t done so itself. There are people like this in every country unfortunately.
As for the Nanking, I’m just curious about why the number of death toll is increasing. And when did Nanking story begin? Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal? No. 50s? No. 60s? No. Of course, the army of the empire of japan killed chinese it was war. And as far as I know japanese people know it. i belive all japanese know that. just when it conmes the number, i have this feeling well something doesn’t add up.
I know for sure that I’m not the only one enjoying offensive humor, whether it’s sex, play on prejudice or whatever. This is just a piss on freedom of speech, I cant believe it.
Just look at some Dave Chappelle Show episodes or certain South Park episodes, I don’t see the Koreans crying when there’s blacks, jews etc involved? Talk about having a complex over their small penises if they can’t handle it when there’s a risk of themselves being involved.
First it was Islam owning freedom of speech (the Danish newspaper who had to apologise, after getting their flags and embassies burned) and now it’s minor piss countries like Korea? Am I the only one seeing this escalating in a couple of years? Not that this incident will have anything to do with it, but that the world don’t give a shit when freedom of speech is no longer a right.
And you can’t go with the “but people are stupid” attitude, then you might as well move to north korea or iran or something where you don’t have to decide for yourself at all.
Random bashing and flaming makes you feel so good.
Hello, I come from the country that is being kicked around here.
Frankly speaking, I believe that the Korean government has gone overboard. I am not trying to defy that Korea and Japan had a bad past before, and yes there were a lot of wrong done from Japan from Korea. However, this kind of behavior just makes everything look worse. Are we really that short-minded? Must Korea always bite back at everything Japan has to say?
After the inauguration of the current Republic of Korea’s President Myung Bak Lee and the victory of right-wing nationalists in Congress, the country’s motivation in its foreign affairs have become more and more awkward and incomprehensible. Dokdo-Takeshima conflict is one thing, but what is this? What a display of non-sensical and blind nationalism. Have we learned nothing from the cases of Imperial Japan what kind of ugly being nationalism becomes when it is exerted too far?
I call that the Government of Republic of Korea should back down on this case. This is not a defense of national dignity. This is not a rightful stance against wrong-doing. This is just a fit that makes the country look more unintelligent and intolerable. Stop the madness, Korea. If we do not learn from the past, we will never grow out of it.
I’m surprised… and happy…. to hear some common sense for a change. ^^
I’ll admit, I probably helped (in a small way) to add to the cacophony here, but not to flame but pour scorn on the oil and vitriol being flung about.
Why more Koreans didn’t laugh at the turnabout of having JAPAN on the receiving end of that kind of aggression instead of Korea…. as happened in WW2…. puzzles me. Didn’t anyone see the irony in it?
Life’s too short to take it too seriously. Really :).
Because two wrongs doesn’t make one right.
Unfortunately, this simple common sense won’t see the light, if any.
Wow. Korea has a huge stick up its ass.
I miss Nanking days.
You know, I’d have to wonder where nationalist Koreans get their rocks off bitching about a comic that slams its home country, America, and Italy about ten times more than Korea _each_.
If any of you have read the comic, it’s hardly neofascist nationalist Japanese propaganda and a mishmash of skewered stereotypes. Oversensitive nationalists are such worthless pieces of shit.
Hell, Korea is a relatively minor character.
I think most people didn’t even bother to check the actual comic - it’s telling that the nationalist Korean websites used FANART (and a piece of the original comic taken entirely out of context) to illustrate how horrendously offensive and anti-Korea the series is.
Like all nationalists they’re just repeating the same, uninformed slogans. Sadly, their voice is stronger than sane people’s.
Making a huge issue over a cartoon,
I suppose most countries should be incline to take them less seriously.
I read Hetalia, did some research to understand the jokes, and became MORE sympathetic to Korea as a consequence of what I learned. (So if it’s pro-Japan propaganda, it’s, um, not very good pro-Japan propaganda.) Even then, however, I can’t help but feel like this was a bit much. It’s like banning regular chewing gum because it and cigarettes are both sold in smallish rectangular boxes- even if the latter is unhealthy for you and everyone around you, the former is a perfectly innocent treat that just happens to have similar packaging.
Artefact, would you please remove the fanart from the article? For better or worse, it’s not a good indicator of what the comic is like, and I’ve already met people who thought that it was the original comic.
Not to mention that for one I’d like to avoid mass site closings or foreign IP bannings if (when) the Japanese get a wind of the Korean media and subsequently various websites, using fanart for such purposes.
I wasn’t able to find any suitable original material to put in the article, so fanart has to suffice.
Not sure what you’re referring to in your second point.
That’s why I shouldn’t comment while trying to think in three languages at the same time. What I was trying to say is that no artist would like to see their artwork in connection with an affair like this, and it just wouldn’t be good if this particular site, or other sites taking the fanart from this site would make the artist decide to close his/her site/ban foreign IPs/etc, that I’m sure many fanart sites are going to do after learning that the Korean media also used fanart in their reports about the show.
In any case, though, if you won’t take down the art then you could at least make it more obvious that it’s fanart. As I said, I’ve already seen people who think that it’s official.
Christ, can this thread get any more ignorantly racist with some comments? These are Far Right Nationalists…they’re as bad as the Far Right Japanese Uyoku who still to this day deny Rape of Nanking, Comfort Women and Unit 731. Aswell as deny Pearl Harbour was a Sneak Attack. Some of you are responding fairly Japanophilic and Weeabooish…which way worse than any Otaku.
At least direct your anger properly. I myself ain’t happy about it. But I ain’t going to blame a whole country/race.
Meanwhile, from what I’ve seen, a good portion of the Hetalia fanbase itself has responded with “eh, it’s unfortunate, but I understand why they’re upset” or some variant thereof. There have been a few “oh, no!” type comments, but nothing overtly racist or nationalist, and most of them seem to have a healthy attitude about the whole thing. It’s amusing somehow that the fans of the “offensive” manga are so understanding, especially since fujoshi have such a bad reputation.
Ye that’s why I was like, what is up with the hate over here? I’ve been on some Hetalia related websites(English) and the majority was ‘oh? Ah well’ I think most fans understand from what I’ve seen as they know their History of Asia, so I guess most of them have a better understanding of the situation or just more mature. I myself read APH. Most of it is pretty much satire, but nothing really offensive in my opinion. Even Japan itself hasn’t been portrayed as perfect, heck I still remember the stip where China takes care of Chibi Japan, then all of a sudden when Japan gets older betrays/attacks him lol which pretty much happened IRL.
Perhaps they are just spineless cowards who acquiesce easily to censorship?
Lol well that or they just don’t care.
and nothing of value was lost
우리나라 만세! 만-만세!!
So let me get this straight, Korea got the show banned in Japan? How the hell did they do that?
And also, what the hell is Korea so upset about? It makes fun of almost every other major nation in the world, yet only they’re getting upset about it.
It’s really just oversensitivity on the part of those people who got the show canceled on the peninsula.. As pure and as simple as that.
Doesn’t help that the Liancourt Rocks seem to be in the middle of every single conflict between Japan and Korea nowadays.
And, no it was only canceled in Korea, much to the disappointment of the series’ Korean fans. I’m sure there’s just about as much if not more people BAAAWWWING over the cancellation as much as the idiot protesters.
Get your facts straight. The show was never set to air in Korea. It has been canceled in Japan, due to the Korean protests.
There is no scope for confusion on such a basic matter.
Woah, seriously?
How does something in korea cancel a show in a different country??
wow, since this is brought up theres been alot of hate going around. i for one think its pretty stupid by the korean gov- tho i understand that this issue is a sensitive subject to talk about, this is coming from a korean :) born in Aus. i understand how ppl feel about thi, but for ppl speaking about korea as a whole really hurts. its like a comment thats been mentioned earlier,
“Aw jeez, I feel sorry for normal Koreans who aren’t part of this nonsense, especially Korean anime fans. They’re probably facepalming so hard their palms are going through their faces.”
it does feel like being face-palmed. hah thats my 2 cents.
I have to agree lolol. I honestly think this was just totally blown out of proportion by the governments, but I can’t help when people speak for Korea as a whole like that since I’m Korean (born in US, but yeah.) lol. I can get why both sides are upset, so yeah lulz. I just can’t really appreciate dissing the people who aren’t even a part of it, lul.
okkayyy guys, backtrack here, if your gonna do hate rant, rant at the 10,000 and the gov who sent the complaint, not the whole freakin nation of korea. korea has a huge fangirl base, and i’m pretty sure they’re even more devastated at the news than we are.
even the picture with korea jumping japan isn’t showing the whole picture. the strip was making fun of some korean comedy that doesn’t make sense, not that korea is a perv(if i’m wrong, someone correct me plz ;; ) the character korea’s actually pretty awesome…it’s portrayed as a super artist etc. ppl might be offended on the whole profile of korea “enjoying studying abroad and online games” as a hobby, but it’s like saying america likes eating abnormal colored desserts…it’s just a play on stereotypes
This is pretty ridiculous.
If these people had even bothered to look into the history of the Hetalia series, it’d be clear that Korea is not the only one teased. Far from it. If every government followed Korea’s example, it would end up a war, all over a comic series. I mean, seriously–Italy gets more crap than anyone else in that series, Germany too. All of the main cast–which, by the way, does NOT involve the character Korea, he’s rather minor–gets parodied and teased. In Hetalia, America is a power-crazed moron, Canada is an ignored weakling, Italy is torn and mostly stupid, Germany is a hard-ass, England is an emo asshole and France is a lecherous pervert. Does that mean that’s true of every one of their governments? Of course not. Now, are these personalities based on stereotypes and generalizations of the cultures? Yes–and that’s what makes it funny. Hetalia allows us to laugh at ourselves and others while also learning something. This action against the television station shows two things: that government is insecure if they can’t take a jive at their expense, and the station executives are a bunch of cowards.
With any luck, the publicity from this childish decision will draw the attention of a bigger producer that will take on Hetalia. And God knows, eventually it will probably end up dubbed in English, because as a not-so-proud American, I know for a fact my culture enjoys laughing at others. It’s all in good fun, people. Sit down, shut up and let us enjoy some comical history.
This is a lot more complicated than some of you are making it seem. The entire east Asian region has had a history of ultra-nationalism. The Korea’s, China and Japan have had flagrant nationalistic policies. As far as I care, they can keep arguing who is superior. Id rather have them fighting amongst each other than against other countries.
Finally a straight nation that puts an end to this faggotry
The series is gaylord shit you fags
Enjoy your Political Gravitation Remake Crossover with Weiß Kreuz
The ultranationalists get their rocks off by rubbing them in the face of the rest of the world.
“IN YOUR FACE, BUTTHURT!!” “KOREA FOREVAAAAAA!!!!!”
Flagrant and inflammatory nationalistic past and policies seem to be part and parcel of Japan and Korea in particular.
No doubt in Korea’s part, ushered in by the Japanese banning anything Korean when they became a dungeon bitch of Japan.
It’s always good to see stupid weeaboos like the ones that has posted here defending their almighty-never-wrong-always-righteous Empire of Japan.
Learn some fucking history, wapanese trash.