Philippines

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

Appearance
In his teaser released on 25 December 2020, Philippines initially had dark brown hair, but this was changed to a much lighter and slightly reddish shade in current art, His hair is parted on the left, with most of the fringe swept to the right side. The rest is slicked to the left, and a small cowlick sticks up from the top of his head. He received purple eyes. He wears a white naval sailor suit with bishop sleeves, adorned with blue piping and a blue kerchief, flowers pinned to his left breast. He has also been shown wearing a traditional baróng and more casual attire such as shorts, sandals, and a cat print t-shirt.

He is usually seen carrying a selfie stick and a phone, which is a must-have for him. On his shoulder is his tarsier named Pien-kun.

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, betting 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, and so on. Instead, he prefers a more laid-back meeting style, which he argued is more suited to the Southeast Asian way of life, for example in a café with casual clothes.

Philippines can at times be very blunt with his neighbors. In Chapter 398, when asked by Malaysia if he loves him, Philippines replied with, “You’re hella annoying when you’re nearby, but when you're far away, I totes love ya ♥︎”

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

Philippines says he wants to travel the world and take photos with people he will meet in all places he visits. He also states he wants to communicate better with Pien. Lately, Philippines likes to look for weird or eccentric t-shirts.

Manga
Philippines first appeared in Chapter 371 of Hetalia: World Stars, where he makes a speech about how formal, Western-style meetings do not suit the Southeast Asian lifestyle. The rest of the ASEAN countries agree with, leading them to try 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, to which Thailand protested.

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 Metro Manila is regarded as the 'Selfie Capital of the World', leading to widespread fan speculation that the new character is Philippines. He was officially revealed in Chapter 371 of Hetalia World✰Stars released in April 2021.Philippines.jpg


 * Philippines has a tarsier named Pien. Pien is described to have an un-tarsier like personality as he loves to stand out (tarsiers in reality are shy, solitary nocturnal primates). He tends to sit on Philippines's shoulder since he has decided he gets noticed the most there. The name 'Pien' may have been chosen because it refers to the pleading emoji (🥺) which resembles a tarsier's face.
 * In the collezione fanbook 2021 created by Himaruya, Philippines was further described as a charming and sociable man that likes to interact with everyone. Himaruya designed him based on handsome Filipinos 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 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 female character named 'Asia3' was Philippines; it was later revealed to be a draft of Vietnam.