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NEWS: Calendar Boy Manga Based on National Holidays Released


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minakichan





PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:54 pm Reply with quote
STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!!!

Hetalia is corny, but funny. Miracle Train was certainly pushing it. But by now, this is getting old and awful.
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kazenoyume



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 425
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:58 pm Reply with quote
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:00 pm Reply with quote
Halloween looks like an odd bird. Get some braces, kid. Wink
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:19 pm Reply with quote
kazenoyume wrote:
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.


I thought it was cool when operating systems did it. Hetalia was pretty funny though, but now it's just getting absurd.
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kazenoyume



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 425
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:28 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.


I thought it was cool when operating systems did it. Hetalia was pretty funny though, but now it's just getting absurd.


Well actually, Hetalia started even before the Mac vs. PC commercials. The webcomic kicked off in 2003. It predates Afghanis-tan as well.

Not to say Hetalia originated things like this, because not even close (hell personifications of nations have been around for centuries, albiet in less bishounen format), but yes, it's actually been around a lot longer than one would think considering its popularity is only recent.

That being said, Hetalia works because its playground is the entirety of history. The Nation-tan characters have jobs, per se, seemingly both on a political and combat related front. It's impossible to run out of material.

How they can keep a series about anthropomorphic holidays fresh is... well good luck to them. This does feel even more shameless than Miracle Train then, which at least felt a bit original. This one is 'holidays who partly act like the stereotypes associated with the holidays.' That's Hetalia.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:33 pm Reply with quote
kazenoyume wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.


I thought it was cool when operating systems did it. Hetalia was pretty funny though, but now it's just getting absurd.

Well actually, Hetalia started even before the Mac vs. PC commercials. The webcomic kicked off in 2003. It predates Afghanis-tan as well.

Ah, I was referring to the OS-tan line of characters, which has been around since... I don't know. Quite awhile.


Last edited by Megiddo on Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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kazenoyume



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 425
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:01 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.


I thought it was cool when operating systems did it. Hetalia was pretty funny though, but now it's just getting absurd.

Ah, I was referring to the OS-tan line of characters, which has been around since... I don't know. Quite awhile.


Ah okay. I totally forgot about them. Derrr.
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RiskyTheShinigami



Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:18 pm Reply with quote
kazenoyume wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
Megiddo wrote:
kazenoyume wrote:
It was cool when Hetalia did it. Now it's just getting weird.


I thought it was cool when operating systems did it. Hetalia was pretty funny though, but now it's just getting absurd.

Ah, I was referring to the OS-tan line of characters, which has been around since... I don't know. Quite awhile.


Ah okay. I totally forgot about them. Derrr.
Yeah everybody forgets about them, it's so sad. Vocaloids usurped their popularity.
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Shuchung



Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:23 pm Reply with quote
It was cool when Walt Disney did it with Micky Mouse.
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lys



Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1006
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:50 pm Reply with quote
It looks like the first artist's name should be Maki Miki (Miki Maki in Japanese name-order), not Mami as written in the article.

I think this sounds like a funny idea. I don't know how well it'll be carried out, but the drawings are nice... (poor Hinamatsuri-boy, though)
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Pocky Monster



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 237
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:52 pm Reply with quote
My first reaction was "Huh? That's...interesting."
I'm all for moefication, but this is just odd (and unnecessary). Countries, trains, and now holidays...? Confused
Regardless, I'll take a look at this.
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:01 pm Reply with quote
I like Hetalia and was willing to try Miracle Train, but just felt the latter was missing Hetalia's charm and was trying too hard. Of course personifications have been around forever, but Hetalia was the first moe-manga-webcomic series I can think of. Everything after just feels like it's trying to cash in on the fame...Some of the series might have been cooking in someone's head for ages, but I doubt that these series popping up were coincidental.

I'll probably try this one, too, but it might be best to set the bar low.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:02 pm Reply with quote
Like we don't have our share of personifications. I remember Schoolhouse Rock very well & all those numbers. (8 was so sad) Rachel Maddow seems to have adopted that bill cartoon thingy. We had the pipe couple & now there's a chuckhole for that one insurance company.
Mother Nature/Earth/Gaia, anyone?
As long as it sells, someone's going to do it.
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mangaka-chan



Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:24 pm Reply with quote
Hetalia was fine, since the idea was fresh at the time. Things started to get weird with Miracle Train (train stations, seriously??), and now holidays? What's next? Supermarket chain stores? o_0
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Maryohki



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 526
PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:09 am Reply with quote
Though it sounds potentially entertaining at least as a short thing, I really wish people would quit taking these new shows and saying that they're "like Hetalia". There's more to Hetalia than just the anthropomorphized countries. You can't replicate Hetalia's charm just by taking some kind of object or concept and personifying it. This especially irked me with Miracle Train, because that show is nothing like Hetalia once you get past the pretty boys that are personified train lines being similar to the idea of personified countries. It's kind of an insult to my favorite series to compare it to this sort of thing based solely on the personification theme.
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