Forum - View topicNEWS: Japan's Kids Station Cancels Its Hetalia Anime Run
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Doctor Worm
Posts: 72 |
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Let's face it, people will find a reason to be offended over just about anything. Also, on the subject of senses of humor and pardon for bringing up Dr. Strangelove again.. I have a friend who loves Jack-Ass, South Park, and that sort of stuff. I kid you not he was extremely offended by Dr. Strangelove and thought it was horrible that they make a movie that would "make light of something as horrific as the world being destroyed by nuclear warfare" But I wouldn't say my friend doesn't have a sense of humor.. I don't think you can really put a solid definition on what having sense of humor is.. some people will laugh at certain things others won't. Back to Hetalia am I wrong in thinking this was going to be the first internet manga to get an anime on Japanese TV? Man, going from a comic on a freaking Geocities site of all places to getting an anime done by Studio Deen.. can you even imagine? Wow. |
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domino
 Posts: 373 |
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Though I can understand someone feeling uncomfortable about graphically dropping nukes or something (I'm not familiar with Dr. Strangelove so I'm not sure how offensive it is), I don't see what's offends people about Hetalia other than the fact that the worlds "WWII" may have been mentioned once or twice. Most of the "battles" in Hetalia are depicted by chibis hitting each other with sticks. Most other strips are just the characters hanging out and talking about food or silly side-events in history, like the interesting birth of the nation of Sealand. Some people just seem to have this "a bad event happened in the past so we mustn't ever even speak of it at all and pretend it never happened" mentality that I just don't understand. |
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wandering-dreamer
 Posts: 1733 |
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Grumble grumble grumble. That is all I have to say.
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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This probably does very much represent a major dif between Americans & some other places in this world. We do sort of have a "get over it" attitude. One of the most unreasonable aspect of anime when I first got into it was the idea "Hero killed someone so hero must die no matter what amount of good hero has done" (such as Piccalo informing Vegeta he's burning for what he's done, etc). I've always put that down to the Christian "Go & sin no more" repentance vs karma. In the West (the US at least), we DO believe a bad guy can repent--you could kill someone, pay for it, & become a good person. It's one of the issues I couldn't see with the Republicans over Bill Ayres--the guy's crimes were squared away with the law & he was a college professor & making such a big fuss over it all seemed really un-American considering our whole mythology of people's pasts being less important than their current actions. That said, I have always been amazed at the hatred of the Asians I know toward Japan, like they can never, ever, ever, ever forgive what was done. It seems so counter-productive to continued existance. You hate Japan because of stuff done by dead people, so if they discovered the cure for cancer, you should refuse to use it because they're a nation you hate with every fiber of your being? Should Americans still hate England? Should we hate Germany? The remaining portions of the USSR? Discrimination? That's an on-going thing for a lot of groups. People seem to forget it wasn't just the Jews sent to death camps by the Nazis. Ethnic Cleansing is an on-going issue around the world. One of the things I found mind-boggling incomprehensible was Aparteid was evil & had to end, but then this or that tribe in Africa started lighting one another on fire or hacking each other up with machetes. It's the thing most people I know have a problem understanding in the Middle East is the ancestral hatred that seems to be the root of the wars there. We have the understanding for wars to end, there have to be compromises which means one has to let go of some things. (Yes, I know a lot of older Americans who still hate the Japanese, but they have to accept the war ended & Japan is accepted as a friend.) Discrimination? Ask the gays who are looking at their marriages being revoked here in California. How many women are CEO's of major corporations in the US?
South Park. Simpsons. Any number of American stand-up comics. (including many shock DJ's such as Stern) Offensive humor is an official brand here in the US. I've always seen it as a way to broaden people's views by pointing out how stupid certain attitudes are. The comedian makes us laugh at our misconceptions & maybe we see them in a different light. I was thinking this title would probably be successful if someone licensed it here because it falls into that specific genre Oh, & for all the people complaining it's on a "children's" network, Cartoon Network is probably considered a "children's" network to most adults in the US. I've seen a few titles that allegedly aired on childrens' networks in Japan I've wondered at (& assumed they were simply aimed at older children(say teens). |
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Mike On Top
 Posts: 298 |
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Just get the show out of the damn Kids Station and worry less how many figurines would be sold, for the sake of us. I don't see Hetalia as more different than "Allo, 'Allo" - what remains is the hilarious comedy, not the stereotyping itself. I do understand the Koreans - such shows are not always easy to chew and everyone has the right to care for their respective presentation and reputation, especially when overgeneralization is used, and especially when the world is to hear about it. Political cartoons may be even more questionable in regards to international delicacy, but what Hetalia is not, is being some random malicious sarcastic attacks.
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glitteringloke
 Posts: 160 |
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People keep forgetting that this is going on in JAPAN and it's not like they would have been watching it as it aired on their own tvs anyway. (and since it's STILL GONNA HAPPEN via internet/cell phones, i'm sure it'll still get out to the fansubs anyway)
that said, cultural things are still sensitive everywhere. even though we, americans, have crass shows like south park and the like, there are still things that yield cautionary events. I think it was season 6 of 24 that had people up in arms about having muslims, so there was an explicit disclaimer put before EVERY episode. Also, there was that LittleBigPlanet recall because of a koran phrase in one of the songs. So while there's freedom of speech in our country, things are still handled delicately when certain groups may be pissed off, especially when things are sensitive. but don't forget... this is going on IN JAPAN, not here. I'm not a polyscientist, but i'm pretty sure we don't have all the same laws and regulations. (ie: i saw boobies on primetime japanese tv, but you won't see that here) |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I didn't realize people were getting so worked up about this that they're calling eachother names and slinging around personal attacks. I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread; before you tell someone to shut up or call them an idiot, bear in mind I will be more than happy to boot you out of here for a week or more. So let's all be civil, kay?
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TsukasaElkKite
 Posts: 3950 |
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all I have to say is Thank God for the Internet.
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divinemango
Posts: 19 |
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Although this rare poster believes "Don't like it? GTFO!" will never be able to resolve anything, it's pretty obvious that the more reasonable audiences (us included) and nations parodied couldn't give a hoot about this supposedly shocking "criminal conduct". And there I thought the South Koreans were cool. They being the first to blow the whistle is something I couldn't have foreseen (I imagined some other people would've been far more "offended"  ).
Post of the month. Which leads to the conclusion of the month: let's support censorship everywhere by fighting it. 
I know, it was too funny to ignore wasn't it? Bold characters always make things seem more important than they actually are.
Ah  , and I was just starting to enjoy this thread, what a shame. 
... where every post is a repost of a repost. Thank God. 
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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I'm not targeting you, CCSYueh. Your post is interesting, that's all.
Mythology is the key word here. While it's possible for a convicted felon, say, to get employment and live a decent life, it takes dedication, hard work and usually lots of outside help. While it's nice to think that we are not defined by our pasts, there's little basis for believing that someone has completely changed their behavior. I am all for giving people second chances--don't get me wrong--but with the criminal recidivism rates in the U.S. ranging from 60-70% on average depending on which studies you believe, reality works against this mythology in practice. And these rates only represent convictions for voilent criminal activity, not the "bad" things people do every day that don't land them in jail.
Again, it's nice to think that one can and should forgive and forget unconditionally. But common sense would indicate this is easier if the offending party truly recognizes and overtly acknowledges their negative behavior via some overt and meaningful action. However, just in anecdotal references happened upon during research into anime (just today again, coincidentally), I have several times come across the fact that Japan essentially ignores their behavior toward the rest of Asia prior to WW II and have not done much if anything to at least acknowledge it. Sure, everyone needs to move on, but it helps if the offender at least admits having offended. Otherwise, you're asking for sainthood, or stupidity as the case may be. That said, though, it appears the protests come from a very small but vocal minority in South Korea. The vast majority of people have better things to think about. News broadcasts and now the Internet blow these things out of proportion because sensationalism sells, as in how cameras can be positioned to give the impression of a 1,000 people when its only 100.
The U.S. was never oppressed or discriminated against in any meaningful way by any of its enemies once our independence was achieved. England wasn't selling us off to slavery before that either, but in fact just trying to maintain a status quo. Don't forget the Boston Tea Party was a staged propaganda event. The tax on tea had already been reduced, and England was essentially trying to get the same economic returns from our colony as they obtained from others. Not to make this is a history lesson... And lastly, we like to label these types of actions censorship, but an entertainment company (that includes news) is a for-profit business. What shows they schedule is first based on economics, and if showing something turns into a major controversy that potentially effects future profits, why would they show it? If the Prime Minister issued an edict against the station airing the show, then you have censorship. If you put a man in jail for 20 years for reading comics, then you have censorship, indirectly or not. This instance is a purely business decision. The shame here is as some have said that a small group of rabble rousers can gain an international forum sufficient to affect the decision of a large corporation. By continually "editing out" and politically correcting more types of content globally, we will get the inevitable lowest common denominator of entertainment someday. |
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yellow ledbetter
Posts: 54 |
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If you don't like what's on the tv, CHANGE THE CHANNEL!
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Labbes
 Posts: 890 |
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I don't really want to join any discussion here, but are 10.000 people a lot for a petition? I mean, is it really fair to say this is (nearly) representative for the people of South Korea?
Just something I was wondering. |
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hikaru004
 Posts: 2306 |
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Sort of confused. If Korea isn't in the anime, then what problem would Koreans have with Hetalia?
The population is estimated at 48,379,392. It's prob more the controversy that 10-15,000 signatures were obtained. That's pretty impressive. |
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mrsatan
 Posts: 909 Location: Olympia, WA, USA |
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S. Korea does have legitimate historical gripes, but they also seem to have a huge inferiority complex. When I lived in Japan, the Koreans were trying to stop the Japanese from making kimchee. I kid you not. They wanted a different word to be used if the kimchee was made by Japanese, and the word "kimchee" reserved for Korean-made kimchee. That was almost 10 years ago, they might have succeeded for all I know. But for some reason it's okay for Koreans to make Japanese food; we have about 30 Japanese restaurants in my town and they're all run entirely by S. Koreans. But it's not really the Korean nationalists' fault; Japan obviously has no backbone anymore with regard to foreign criticism of their own media. Somebody already mentioned the JoJo thing. Also, years ago a Turk complained about the word "Turkish Bath", so now that word can't be used either. There's are several "pink films" that are banned because they have "Toruko" in the title. Finally, to show I'm not picking on any nationality I should note that one of the biggest whining gaijin around is from my own U.S. of A.. |
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FiliKlepto
Posts: 17 Location: Nakano-ku, Tokyo |
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Actually, in my experience the Japanese take on kimchi really is different from Korean kimchi. It tends to be sweeter and less spicy for the Japanese palate. When I was living in Japan I would have appreciated some sort of way to differentiate between the two rather than buying a tub and the market and being disappointed that it didn't taste like Korean kimchi. Likewise, Japan is guilty of doing the same: for instance, when they tried to change the name of Okinawa soba and said that only mainland-style buckwheat soba could be called such. But I digress. This is not censorship, guys, calm down. The show has not been canceled. Hetalia is still being produced and distributed, just through alternate channels. Besides, Japanese television has a history of pulling shows off the air in response to controversy; anime like Higurashi and School Days were preempted when one (or two?) reports of kids taking axes to their parents came in. So I think that international fans are over-reacting a bit. You weren't even going to see it on television, so why the big fuss? I'm sure you'll get your precious fansubs one way or another, as usual. Furthermore, I believe that it's important for everyone to realize that, although there may have been a minority group of over-sensitive individuals in Korea who overreacted to satire in this case, it doesn't represent all of the country and that outside of Hetalia, Korea does have "legitimate historical gripes" (as mrsatan so ably put it above). Let's not forget that Japan brutally invaded and occupied the rest of Asia prior to WWII and has done little to acknowledge its actions or offer recompense; Chinese, Korean, and other Asian immigrants still face racism and discrimination in Japan today. |
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