User blog comment:General tiu/Korea: who was he, and can he still be saved?/@comment-1271618-20100605012759

Australia!anon, you put your objections and concerns very nicely. It's unfortunate that even if Hetalia isn't a prime example of anti-Korean propaganda, that there are still such...issues in Japanese society making it lax or okay for Korea to be taken so lightly, ridiculed, or of course outright bashed like with "Hating the Korean wave".

Even though I liked the character, I tried to put out a post looking at both sides of the controversy a while back when I got into the series. Unfortunately though, if you're a Hetalia fan and don't contribute anything, you're a "stupid bitch" as some fans would say for broadcasting your opinions and not being a contributing fan. Or of course, you could never "understand" and/or have a fetish for Koreans, guh (of course I couldn't really fully understand since I'm not of Korean descent, but sticking up for them doesn't mean you'd have a "fetish").

I've noticed people act like if you bite back words about Himaruya or be polite in your issues, they'll act like you're "sucking up" or kissing up to Japanese or him. Which really, no. Some fans might be buttkissers, but there's also a way to state your objections and concerns without doing as some do and go "RARR STUPID JAPANESE/KOREANS/ETC." and making things worse. As it stands, the stereotype of Korea even if false is one that's unfortunately perpetuated by Japanese media too (and the idea that anyone Korean is a subhuman mutant that must undergo a ton of plastic surgery to look "acceptable" @_@. Seen that one quite a bit, and back when I first saw all the YouTube comment wars that propaganda was one that Japanese nationalists liked to spam with along with the "they claim they made this and that").

Personally, I'm surprised the bullied strip didn't garner as much attention as the breast ones for the Korean media. Though I'm sure if the protests had gone on longer, maybe more things would have cropped up. Of course, the people that shooped images or used fanart didn't help things except make the situation a lot more muddied.

Considering the situation with the Koreas IRL now too, it's best that the character should be held off on.

(A "funny" yet sad anecdote: Someone I knew claimed the Korean fans should STFU since WWII was so long ago and it was disturbing they weren't over it. Yet when I rolled my eyes at a Chinese fan ranting about how Himaruya had to have something against the Chinese for making China "girly", I got bitched at for not respecting Chinese fans or "understanding" why they'd hate Japan. So Chinese fans should still be angry, but Korean fans can't too? *head explodes*)