Philippines

Philippines (フィリピン Firipin) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia World✰Stars.

Appearance
Philippines has initially dark brown hair but was bleached lighter in the current edition, his hair is parted at his right, a fringe that is swept to the side and a cowlick, as well as purple eyes. He also wears a white navy uniform with flowers pinned on the chest. He has also been pictured wearing a barong suit and a more casual attire such as shorts, sandals and a cat t-shirt.

He is usually seen carrying a selfie stick, which is a must have item, and a tarsier named Pien-kun on his shoulder.

Personality and Interests
Philippines is described as a bright and cheerful nation who loves selfies. He claimed that he had always wanted to take a group selfie of all the ASEAN nations at every meeting. It is also implied that he has an active social media presence, feeling certain that the ASEAN group photo will go viral.

He does not enjoy Western-Style meetings which involve stuffy outfits, strict punctuality, stiff greetings at the start, annoying topics et cetera. Instead, he prefers to have a more laid-back meeting which is more suited to a South-East Asian lifestyle, for example in a café with casual clothes.

Philippines can at times be very blunt with his neighbors, during the 398th chapter when asked by Malaysia if he loves him, Philippines replies with, “Youre hella annoying when youre nearby, but when youre far away I love you ♥”

In the collezione published at 2021, Singapore describes Philippines as a bright man with a great sense of branding.

Philippines says he wants to travel the world and take pictures with people that he meets at all the places he plans to visit. He wants to communicate better with Pien.

Lately Philippines likes to look for weird or eccentric t-shirts.

Manga
Philippines first appears in 371 of Hetalia: World Stars when he makes a speech about how formal, Western style meetings do not suit the Southeast Asian lifestyle, which the rest of the ASEAN countries agree with, leading them to trial a casual meeting in a café.

In the next chapter, Philippines takes a group selfie before the ASEAN meeting starts, saying that he had always wanted to do this at every meeting. He then insists on taking pair shots with everyone, which is met with protest from Thailand.

Trivia

 * Philippines was originally teased as an unnamed character in an artwork by Himaruya on Twitter with the caption of "What is this country that loves taking selfies?". According to TIME magazine, Makati city in the Philippines is regarded as the 'Selfie Capital of the World', leading to fan speculation that the new character is Philippines . He was officially revealed as Philippines in chapter 371 of Hetalia World✰Stars in April 2021.Philippines.jpg


 * Philippines has a tarsier named Pien-kun. Pien-kun is described to have an un-tarsier like personality and he loves to stand out. He tends to sit on Philippines's shoulder since he has decided that he gets noticed the most there. The name 'Pien-kun' may have been chosen because 'pien' is a term used to refer to the pleading emoji, which resembles a tarsier's face.
 * In the collezione fanbook 2021 created by Himaruya, Philippines was further described to have an image of a charming and sociable man that likes to interact with everyone. Himaruya designed him base from handsome filipino men with big eyes.
 * Philippines has been a highly anticipated character in Hetalia for a long time prior to his reveal. There have been fan theories in the past about the maid who serving Spain in episode 1 of the anime, Hetalia: Axis Powers, being Philippines, however this has been debunked by Himaruya. Another fan theory suspected that a drawing of a character named 'Asia3' was Philippines, however it was later revealed to be a draft of Vietnam.