Appearance
Vietnam has long, dark brown hair put back in a long ponytail and golden-honey colored eyes. She is depicted in a green áo dài (a Vietnamese national outfit for women), wields a long paddle, and wears a conical Asian hat called a nón lá. A May 2010 entry on Himaruya's blog showed some alternate concepts with Vietnam's ponytail,[1] including a version with a bun and a flower that appeared in a sketch labeled "Asia3". Vietnam is also shown to wear a military uniform with a matching hat, though she still wields her paddle while dressed that way. Over time, Himaruya drew Vietnam to appear stronger due to the multiple accounts of strong women in Vietnamese history.
Personality and Interests
Vietnam is described as "headstrong" due to the number of strong women in Vietnamese history. She appears a bit shy when it comes to her looks, appearing apprehensive when Taiwan wishes to take a picture with her and is uncomfortable wearing a Santa outfit in a 2009 Christmas Request. In a blog post, Himaruya mentioned that Vietnam has a natural skillfulness and uses it to create a variety of different objects, and Austria mentions in one comic that he special ordered cinnamon from Vietnam.[2] In the volume four strip Ilha Formosa ~Beautiful Island~, Vietnam claims that she is not photogenic.[3] In the Christmas 2011 event, Vietnam shows that she doesn't know how to smile.[4]
Appearances
Manga
Vietnam original appeared in sketches early in the series' history, but didn't officially debut in 2011 when she was profiled and appeared in comics in Volume 4. In her first appearance, Taiwan asks to take a picture with her and Vietnam nervously agrees, only to discover that Taiwan had the photos retouched as a standard practice and is shocked at how she looks.[3] Vietnam appears at the end of the Halloween 2011 event, winning America's costume contest with a TOPIO robot suit.[5]
Vietnam also appears in episode 17 of the Comic Birz when Taiwan invites her to a meeting to discuss the name of the feeling you have when you have a favorite anime and the voice actors get firmly associated with the characters in your head, and then there is the slightest change and you suddenly get this strange hazy feeling that something isn't right.
Relationships
Taiwan
Main Article: Taiwan
In volume 4, Taiwan calls Vietnam a "cutie" and requests to have a picture taken with her. The photo studio retouches the photograph so that their eyes are larger, which Vietnam finds baffling and, in contrast, Taiwan finds cute.[3]
Thailand
Main Article: Thailand
Although they haven't interacted so much in the manga, during the BloodBath 2011, Vietnam asked Thailand how to smile. When Thailand showed her his smile, she notices that he was wearing a goofy-looking shirt, which made her smile and laugh at the same time, asking where he got it.
Trivia The sketch named Asia3, later revealed as an alternate draft of the Vietnam character, was slightly controversial as many fans made claims that it was actually a sketch of a character representing the Philippines or Indonesia.