Hetalia

I actually remember seeing this in middle school. I remember not really liking it then, but everyone else was laughing at it, so why would I say anything about it? It wouldn’t really fly for me today. It’s interesting to see dark and graphic moments from history turned into lighthearted conflicts between characters but I’m not sure I can get behind using one character to generalize an entire country. And in a mocking way, utilizing the most basic of stereotypes and turning them into over used jokes (very sorry for Italy; I read a breakdown of the name making fun of Italy as well as the character being one of the most pathetic in the series). I understand that people stereotype and make assumptions before being confronted with anything different, but why should we exacerbate the fire with something like this? It was definitely interesting to listen to the in-class debate that arose from this, not that I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t know, I like seeing the aspect of Japanese culture that is ‘kawaii’ but I don’t think Hetalia is where I want to get it from.