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Before, I’ve speculated that the reason Italy has his eyes
closed is that he doesn’t see the truth of the world. First, he was sheltered
by the protection his grandfather provided for him and didn’t realize how
brutal the world truly was.
Then, I argued that after the traumas of being conquered and
losing Holy Rome, Italy kept his eyes shut as a conscious decision. In other
words, he refused to see the truth around him.
Following said logic, this would explain why Italy rarely
opens his eyes in front of Germany. Perhaps this is him not wanting to
acknowledge his uncanny appearance to Holy Rome. He may even realize that
Germany is connected to Holy Rome in some way or another, but chooses to ignore
it, sparing himself from the painful reminder of his first true love.
However, that’s not what I want to talk about in this post.
What I do want to talk about is that the Italy we know and love is hinted at
hiding another side of himself…a scary one too.
In the Christmas 2011 event, Italy is requested to keep his
eyes open for a long period of time. Italy’s shocked response prompts Germany
to comment that it can’t be that difficult for him to do so.
What I find suspicious is that Italy conveniently falls
asleep in the following panel, almost as if he doesn’t want to open his eyes.
Given the context, it also wouldn’t make sense for him to fall asleep during Christmas,
as he’s known to love being around people and adores any kind of festivities.
This is completely out of character for him.
Even stranger is that when Italy does open his eyes, he
later remarks that it’s best if he keeps them closed. Okay…
So, what about this side of himself he’s hiding? Well,
there’s one strip that disturbs me every time I think about it, that being
“Mind-reading Binoculars.”
Here, Japan invents binoculars that reveal what
people are thinking. After pointing it at Italy, Japan doesn’t believe what he
sees and concludes that the binoculars are defective. On the contrary, I think
this was purposefully done and that they do in fact work properly.
Scary, right? And yet, it also makes sense for Italy to
possess such a dark side (rather than his excessively cheerful, albeit insecure
one) to him given how brutal his history has been. Once again, we return to
this motif of truth and hidden secrets. Hima’s definitely going somewhere with
this…but…
Would you believe it if I said he’s been planning this other
side of Italy right from the very start?
When Germany first meets Italy, Italy is hiding in an empty
tomato crate and pretends to be a fairy. Germany’s word choice is quite eerie
in this particular scene.
I’m sorry, but “show your true self” (?!). Why so
specific? That is, unless the word “true” has an alternate meaning in terms of
Italy hiding parts of himself.
If so, that’s quite possibly the most brilliant
foreshadowing I’ve ever seen.
I’ve also noticed that when Italy opens both
eyes, it functions as him reassuring someone and/or telling them the truth of
his intentions/ actions. Roughly speaking, it’s comparable to Pinnochio…
Pin-eye-chio… Nah, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Back to the Christmas Event, this also might explain why
Germany immediately covers Italy’s face once he opens his eyes. How I see it is
that it symbolizes how Germany may indeed know about the truth of his past, but
decides to cover it up and ignore it as opposed to confronting it.
Anyways, every time Italy tells the truth, his eyes open.
So, is he living a lie then? I really do think Hima’s going somewhere with
this, and encourage all of you to look at any examples where Italy opens both eyes.
Note: This post
is making the assumption that Germany was reincarnated from Holy Rome. The rest
is all canon material.
All right! In canon, we know that reincarnation is possible.
The most obvious example would be Jeanne d’Arc and her American reincarnation,
Lisa.
What people often forget is that Hima explicitly states that
it’s possible for the nations to be reincarnated too.
In these panels, Hima makes it clear for us what a nation’s
existence and lifespan is like. They can last for really short or really long
periods of time and can be brought back by a sudden memory. More importantly, is
that nations can change their titles and ultimately, their personalities.
Following this logic, this would explain why Holy Rome and
Germany share some personality differences.
Where Germany is more clear-headed, rational,
and organized, Holy Rome is emotional and sensitive, irrational, impulsive, and
disorganized. I think Hima does this on purpose as a pun to contrast how at
first, Holy Rome was a disorganized collection of nation-states and then became more organized after unification and the subsequent formation of Germany.
Just to highlight this, I’ll go over some quick examples. We
see some of Holy Rome’s impulsiveness not only with his obsession and
compulsion in getting Chibitalia to live in his house, but also in his
interactions with other countries.
What immediately comes to mind for me is how Holy Rome built
an Italian home in England, without even considering how the architecture
wasn’t designed to endure the harsher English climate.
It would be unprecedented for Germany to pull off something
like that, as he’s always rationalizing and thinking things through enough
times to drive anyone crazy.
You see the organization pun come to life with Germany’s
love for schedules, manuals, and the scientific method. Overall, he’s a much
deeper and rational thinker than Holy Rome.
Further, with unity, comes a stronger sense of national
duty.
On the other hand, due to the fragmentation in his empire,
Holy Rome doesn’t seem to care what happens to it and is more focused on
chasing after Italy. He’s even scolded for neglecting his duties by
Switzerland. Tell me, have you ever seen Germany slack off?
That said, there are more similarities between them than
differences, and Hima sure loves to stress this all throughout the series. They
both share a love for the Italian culture and climate, are flustered easily,
love sweets, own dogs, have Prussia as on older brother, and…
there’s also the obvious fact that they look exactly alike.
Why I don’t think HRE and Germany are exactly the same person
Since @ellawritesficssometimes asked me to elaborate, here I go. I’m no major in Hetalia or anything but this little guy has always been my favorite characer in Hetalia, even when I really disliked Chibitalia, and I want to share my thoughts on him.
So, first of all, Holy Roman Empire and Germany are really different as ‘countries’. Germany is an unified state despite all differences, Holy Roman Empire was more a pact between german states that never sticked and while originally it included a lot of other countries they started falling apart with time. Poor Holy Roman Empire started dying around 1500 and from the way he acted when he said goodbye to Italy I think he was pretty aware of his impending dissolution.
And another thing I suspect, due to the strip in which we see the german states fighting is that he made it back, to some degree, but he avoided Italy or decided to stay in a completely different place: the HRE Hungary is holding up is the teen we see later in the comigs where Prussia reads him the Grimm comics, not the super small child he was earlier.
I know this doesn’t add much to my Hre=/=Germany discussion but I still feel like pointing it out. Anyway, going back to the main topic: while they share a lot of territory, Holy Roman Empire had more than Germany inside him- like Austria, Switzerland, the whole Czech Republic and ridicolous amounts of the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium. Germany is just… Germany. And it’s compact and strong. They share the same territories, yes, but they’re different things.
Now, let’s alk about the points I see around the most:
But Germany and HRE look exactly like each other!
Who else also look really similar, used to share the same territories, have ridicolous similarities and have common history, traditions and culture? The Italian brothers and their grandfather, especially Romano and his grandfather as seen here (A post from @grandparomeaskblog / @mezzogiornovargas.). Even Prussia and Germany are shown to have strong similarities in some strips so I wouldn’t really base myself on how someone looks like considering family members can look alike on occasion.
Also, I DO admit there’s an high chance the empty shell of HRE was used as empty body for Germany but that doesn’t make them the ‘same’ person.
Thanks go to @ask-useless-german for basically being my german history teacher.
Germany is Holy Roman Empire, he just lost his memories.
I could buy this if we didn’t have two specific things.This strip in which it’s clearly said the time of his death is close, which implies that he will die soon, he’s not just going to be sick for a while and then return full force-
And the one where they say Germany “already had an exising body” when he was born. I does imply that Holy’s body was recycled but we’re clearly talking about one being dead and the other being born. If anyting it feels like Germany is the legacy of HRE and the one who succeeded where the other failed.
Obligatory Gerita comment here
Feliciano remembers Holy Roman Empire and he still seems to feel something for him as seen in the famous Valentine episode. The only time he blushes is when he mentions his first love was a boy and he has a somehow melancholic face while talking about it.
Italy didn’t forget his first love and he seems to actively ignore when other countries flirt with him (he’s seen being nice to liechtenstein and other girls, sure, but he only flirts with human ladies.). So far we’ve seen him turn down Spain, Prussia’s advance and even Germany’s (the episode ends with Himaruya stating ‘it took them a week to fix the misunderstanding meaning they probably had a good talk about what happened and agreed to be just friends since we don’t see them in any kind of relationship in modern times, if anything it’s Germany who’s still slightly crushing on him), but we do see him blush mentioning Holy- it does feel like he’s still trying to move on. I think that if Holy Roman Empire was Germany Italy would be the first one to notice.
On a more historical note: Italy and Prussia were extremely close during that century so I find relatively strange how Feliciano apparently ‘never met’ Germany during his youth and they only started interacting round WWI- I mean, they’re still countries, they’re supposed to interact and Feliciano had a great relationship with Prussia. I do wonder if he knew Holy’s body had been ‘used’ and that’s why he tried to postpone their meeting as far as he could. Buuuuut that’s just me fangirling. And while I don’t really ship Ludwig with Feliciano IF it’s going to happen I’d rather see Feliciano fall in love with Germany because it’s Germany, not because “oh, look, it’s my long lost love I guess I should be with him”)
This is literally touching the tip of an iceberg since I have a lot of things to add but they’re mostly based on Feliciano’s interactions with Germany, how we italians were hisorically tied to Austria and HRE and this post is probably already a bit too long? I’m sorry if it’s a bit messy, I still struggle a bit with the language and I’m not used to write this kind of things either but this is a very short version of why I tend to consider Germany and HRE two separate entities.
In any case I’d love to discuss more with you.That being said I’m more than open for debate since as far as we go the whole thing is still a big question mark! :D
Note: Germany = Holy Rome isn’t confirmed in canon. I’m merely presenting evidence in support of it.
Okay, before I start, I want
to mention that a lot of the points you brought up have already been explained
in the manga. That said, these rules do have a consistent logic to them. I
think what needs to be recognized here is that while Hetalia may be based on
history, it’s still fictional. What I mean by this is that you can’t apply
technical historical facts to explain a fictional occurrence, such as
reincarnation.
If the fictional rules are provided, then they should be adhered
to while also recognizing the wider backdrop of loose historical influence.
Different Territories, Different Personifications Argument:
The manga provides the
possibility for personifications to adopt new titles “names” and lands. So
while Holy Rome and Germany may differ geographically, it doesn’t negate the
fact that the nations’ borders and land space change all the time.
This
rule of adopting new names (titles) is established in chapter 1 of World Stars.
Likewise, Prussia has long
been established as a character whose geographical representation keeps changing.
He evolved from St. Mary’s Order, to the Teutonic Knights, and eventually to
Prussia. Presumably, he represents East Germany now
In sum, it is 100% canon for
the nations to have the land they represent change. As such, they can acquire
new names.
Memories:
You are correct in saying
that Germany and Holy Rome are not technically the same person, and yet they are. Germany is Holy Rome, except
he doesn’t possess the latter’s memories. That would explain why they have
personality differences.
Again, chapter 1 of World
Stars clearly states that nations can change their personalities out of
nowhere. Personalities are derived from lived experiences, which result in the
formation of memories. That’s why if someone lost previous memories, they would
be a completely different person; if they don’t retain these old experiences,
then it has no impact on who they are as a person.
I’ll get back to the evidence
of Germany’s amnesia in just a little bit.
Why Holy Rome Still Existed After Dissolution:
I’m dreadfully repeating
myself, but I have to refer to Chapter 1 of World Stars again. It states that
they can be called back by a sudden memory…
..but whose memory?
The first answer for this can
be found in “It’s a Treasure Box of Countries”, which outlines 2 outcomes that
can happen once a nation dies.
1) “If the culture of
the country’s personality dies/disappears, the country [personification] will
gradually disappear or entrust him/herself to the country [another
personification] that takes over him her.”
2)There are also cases that
him/her is not a country but continues to live leisurely as a representative of
the region.
Since this strip outlines
exactly what happens to a nation after their culture/personality dies, your
empty shell theory has no canon support.
Anyways, the first case
appears to explain why Holy Rome hasn’t died yet in chapter 187 of World Stars.
While he may have been dissolved, German culture and identity never waned.
It’s for this reason that the
vague statement of “his time of death is near” is used. At the time of the
strip, it was uncertain whether other national identities/ personalities would
eventually develop to replace Holy Rome.
On the same note, it’s human
belief in the nations that allow them to exist. Here, France lays out ground
rules regarding how a nation’s immortality is maintained.
1) They need a strong
and stable government (which Holy Rome didn’t have, admittedly)
2) A body of citizens (which Holy Rome had.
Regardless of how many individual states he consisted of, they were all united
by the German language).
Existing Holy Rome Body Theory + (non) Teenage Holy Rome:
With all that in mind, I
don’t think Holy Rome ever died if I’m to be perfectly honest. Here’s why.
First, the appearance of Holy
Rome in the 2011 Christmas Event strip does not appear to be a teenager at all.
Look at how small he is. Even when he’s in Hungary’s arms, he’s smaller than a
teenager. Popular opinion is what deemed him as a teenager here, nothing else.
Also consider how small Hungary is herself.
Like you said, the age
between the Holy Rome in the 2011 strip and the Holy Rome from chapter 187 is
consistent. The only difference in opinion that I have is that I see them both
as a middle point between childhood and adolescence, whereas you see them both as teenagers. I disagree.
Also notice how the Holy Rome
from chapter 187 appears to be the same age as the ‘just-born’ Germany from
chapter 12.
What’s more, they’re wearing
the same nightgown, aside from the obvious fact that all the other nations
first appeared in similar dress.
Germany is stated to be born
a few years older than the other nations because he already had an existing
body. But, what if we take that literally?
Holy Rome was on his deathbed
and was notably weak and ridden with illness. Nonetheless, we know from the
evidence listed above that it’s still possible for him to exist even after
dissolution given that people still believe and identify with him.
Now, tie that in with the
fact that nations can adopt new personalities and titles. If Holy Rome still
existed, only to become Germany, it’s very well possible that adopting a new
title caused him to lose all previous memories of being Holy Rome. A quick little
reminder again that your personality is very much driven by lived experience.
Evidence of Germany’s Amnesia:
There’s a ton of strips that
point towards this, but I’ll only cover the most obvious ones.
Right from birth, Prussia
takes to reminding Germany that it’s okay to refer to him as an older brother
close to five hundred times.
The excessiveness of this
makes it seem like Prussia is attempting to jog Germany’s memory, only to fail
in doing so.
There’s also some very old
and very strange strips which involve a child Holy Rome vying to be
acknowledged. Taken symbolically, this can be understood as Germany’s childhood
memories attempting to puncture through into his conscious mind.
Italy too has a childhood
version of himself pressing to be acknowledged, which could mean the same
thing. He could be choosing not to acknowledge that Germany is Holy Rome, but
still remembers him as seen in Buon San Valentino.
What else would Germany have
to acknowledge other than his own past? Not to mention that Prussia is known to
have lied to Germany about his past before.
Why else would he do that
other than to avoid having Germany remember the trauma Holy Rome experienced?
It’s a common psychological reaction to repress childhood memories that cause you to feel discomfort.
Or what about Germany’s first
interaction with Lithuania? This is supposed to be the first time they’re
meeting together, and yet Lithuania expresses relief at the fact that Germany
doesn’t remember him.
How could Germany remember
Lithuania if he hasn’t met him before? It doesn’t add up. What does add up is
if Germany doesn’t have access to the memories where he did meet Lithuania…as Holy
Rome.
Alternatively, you posed the
question about why Italy and Germany didn’t meet before WW1. It’s always possible
for bosses to meet with each other without needing the personifications
present.
The most obvious example that
Germany is suffering from amnesia is in Buon San Valentino. Repressed memories
resurface during times of stress and conflict. After getting embarrassed at
improperly proposing to Italy, notice how Germany freezes.
The scene then pans inwards,
delving into the flurry of confusing emotions he experiences. Why is it that
the strip ends with images of Chibitalia? Look at the fuzziness of them too.
Doesn’t it seem like Germany’s
only then starting to access Holy Rome’s memories, memories that had been
repressed into his unconscious mind?
Similarities among Germania, Holy Rome, and Germany:
I think another issue here is a
misinterpretation of the family tree. Holy Rome and Germany are both noted to
descend from Germania. The problem is that there’s inconsistencies regarding
their relation to him [Germania]. For example, both are referred to as sons of
Germania, while Holy Rome is once listed as Germania’s grandson.
What I’m here to debunk is “Germania and Germany look alike, which means that Holy Rome and
Germany can’t be connected.”
Germania hasn’t been reincarnated.
He’s been shown to exist separately in heaven, and even visits Earth with
Ancient Rome at one point.
Touching on the same topic, there’s a clear distinction
between being descended and related to a personification and being influenced
culturally and historically.
For example – Italy and Romano are related to and descend
from Ancient Rome, whereas while Romania may have been influenced by Ancient
Rome, he doesn’t descend from him.
Overall, there needs to be a balance between fiction and
history with Hetalia. If a fictional explanation is given, then history can
simply be used to complement, rather than override canon.
Considering how much evidence there is linking Holy Rome to
Germany (foreshadowing, themes, motifs, similar phrases of dialogue), I truly do
believe that they’re the same person. But, that’s just my opinion :)
Before, I used to dismiss the idea of time travel in
Hetalia. Looking back, I can see that this limited my understanding of several
bizarre and inexplicable occurrences in the manga.
In a fictional series
where the nations are immortal, being referred to as “strange” and “odd”
beings, it’s honestly not that far-fetched to consider that they’re capable of
time travel.
This is especially true given the facts that…
1) Time is experienced differently by the nations.
Ex: Canada spends an entire weekend staring at Kumajiro’s
eyelashes. It passes by without him realizing this [x].
Ex: If a human were to spend enough time around a nation,
their perception of time would become so warped that they’d go mad.
Ex: Pets don’t go mad when they’re around their nation
owners. Instead, their lifespans increase. Should they separate from the
nation, however, they would become normal pets again and resume aging [x].
2) Some nations are capable of magic,
fortune-telling, clairvoyance and other supernatural abilities.
Ex: England’s and Romania’s ability to cast spells.
Ex: Japan’s powers of clairvoyance and mind-reading [x]– I’ll
get back to this later.
Evidence of time travel in Hetalia is either extremely
subtle or so right in your face that it’s easy to overlook.
Could it be that the pets don’t age because the nations are beings that are able to transcend space and time? In other
words, what if time is bent around the nations, which, in turn, causes their
pets not to age?
They’re timeless beings in that they’re immortal. While they
do age, it’s very incremental. They still remain youthful, likely because time
is slowed for them. In that case, the reason that the pets won’t go mad by
being around a nation is that they don’t perceive time the same way that humans
are able to.
Are the nations able to time travel then?
Evidence from the manga suggests that they’re indeed able
to.
Let’s go over some of these examples.
Bizarre and Casual Anachronisms:
If you factor in time travel, this would explain the sudden
appearance of anachronisms when you least expect it. I used to think that these
were silly comic gags. My opinion has since changed.
Ex: When America pulls out a computer to google where
Germany is in 1942, England isn’t surprised. Instead, he’s able to pinpoint
exactly how far into the future the model is and reprimands America for showing
off.
Ex: Why is it that during the 18th century, Japan
appears to be listening to music…with earbuds? [x].
Ex: The Roman Emperor Nero is once depicted to be playing an
acoustic guitar.
They’re aware that it’s an
anachronism. Perhaps either Rome or Quintillus – another Roman Emperor who’s
canonically able to time travel – brought that there. I’ll get back to
Quintillus in a moment.
Japan’s Powers of Clairvoyance:
As mentioned above, Japan has been shown to be able to read
minds, see into the future, and establish contact with others without having
ever met them in person before.
Ex: Japan demonstrates his clairvoyant powers during the
Meiji Era. The fourth wall is broken as the scene pans in on
Himaruya scrambling to finish a comic.
Ex: When Japan first becomes acquainted with the Italy
brothers, they’re put off by how silent and reserved he is. Japan later admits
that he’s not used to speaking out loud with those whom he’s read the minds of [x].
If anything, this alludes to the fact that Italy and Japan
have technically met before.
Notice the title of the strip too. “A melody that transcends
history and reaches you…”
Japan’s ESP Contact with Italy + Dream Sequences:
After falling into bed with Holy Rome, Chibitalia has a
strange dream where he encounters a presumably divine being that leads him to –
yes, Japan. This confirms what Japan claims in World Stars. He did, in fact,
read the mind of Italy and communicated with him far before they formed their
alliance in WW2 [x].
That’s not it, either.
Italy in adulthood has a ‘unpleasant dream’ of a child that looks
exactly like him pressing to be acknowledged [x][x].
How I’ve interpreted this before is that it symbolically
represents Italy’s unconscious mind repressing memories from his childhood. Put
another way, he’s refusing to remember – acknowledge – bits of his past.
Taken literally, this could also mean that Italy’s child
self is transcending time and space to get him to remember his past.
Or, what about this scene? Italy encounters his child self, recognizes this, and feels ashamed for
lying about how [not] strong he’s become [x].
Germany also appears to have these strange encounters with chibis.
Ex: In the same strip, a child that looks
exactly like Germany/ Holy Rome presses to be acknowledged as well [x].
Ex: Germany’s once shown to be holding up Chibitalia.
“It’s me!”
What if this is Chibitalia traveling into the future
to get Germany to remember about his past as Holy Rome? At the same time, it could symbolically represent childhood memory repression. Of course, this is all making the assumption that Germany is, in fact, Holy Rome.
Quintillus:
Most obvious of all is that there’s a real character in the series
who’s physically able to time travel.
The play on Quintillus’ time-traveling abilities is that
because historical records about him are shifty, his timeline leaps back and forth.
Himaruya took this, made it literal, and gave Quintillus time-traveling powers [x].
Ex: We see Quintillus visit Germany in modern times making
sure that the latter’s research and re-writing of Roman history are accurate [x].
With all the evidence I presented, I truly do believe that
the nations are able to time travel. It’s not just limited to their ability to
slow time for those around them. They seem to be able to manipulate it too, being able to disappear on
a whim…
Q: If there are two
Italies, how come Veneziano is referred to as Italy and Romano isn’t?
A: There’s no
real reason given. It’s just how it is.
The other nations generically refer to Veneziano as Italy, and
Romano as “Italy’s older brother” – Romano gets pissed off at this since he
resents being stuck in Veneziano’s shadow.
Nonetheless, BOTH are Italy.
Q: What did Chibitalia represent? Did anything
change?
A: Nothing’s changed in what he represents. Veneziano has always represented the north of the country, and Romano, the south.
The only difference
then is that Italy was fragmented into several small city-states after the
Roman Empire fell. The country wasn’t as
consolidated.
By this, I mean that each city-state was diverse and different
enough to be considered as a nation in its own right. Veneziano and Romano were
the collective personifications of these states. Similarly, their names are
each likely references to Venice and Rome, city-states that were thriving with
culture at the time.
Veneziano refers to his half of the country as his house, meaning
that when city-states under his jurisdiction were conquered, he would also be
conquered.
This is seen when Milan gets thrown into a war between
France and Prussia. When Milan gets taken over by Spain, it’s Veneziano who’s
captured. Again, he represents the collective of these northern city-states.
“This is how the War of Austrian succession looked like. Basically, everybody just bullying Austria. At one point, Northern Italy (Milan) got caught in a war between between France and Prussia, not noticing Spain surrounding him from the South until he got kidnapped.” [x]
The same thing goes for Romano.
He was once conquered as Naples by France [parts of Veneziano were also conquered here].
Q:Would APH Genoa still be alive today?
A: It’s difficult to say since we don’t see him in the
present, so I can only speculate.
However, I would guess that it’s possible for a variety of
reasons.
1) Personifications are personality-based. These personalities
are based on how strong the culture(s) of a collective organization of people are [x]. Since
Italians are so diverse and tend to identify themselves regionally, it’s
possible that while Genoa is no longer a city-state, he can still be a
personification of Genoan culture.
2) It’s stated that when the culture dies and the personification
loses their nationhood, they either die or become a representative of the
region. In other words, he could be active in politics. [x]
3) This one is more unclear and open-ended, but it’s
still substantiated in canon. We’ve seen personifications that technically
should be dead still existing well past their date of dissolution.
Ex: Holy Rome.
If that’s the case, then Genoa could still exist, either because his culture is still there, or for no explicit reason. Nationhood is often very flimsy and loosely defined in the
series.
You also have to factor in the existence of the micronations, where
even Hima states that the reasons that founded their existence are “amazing” – as in no concrete rules
apply to them. It also has to do with the bizarre reasons regarding how they formed in real life. [x]
It’s likewise important to mention that real nations are often just as perplexed by the existence of micronations.
In sum, it’s possible for Genoa to still be alive if you use
the canon rules I provided; however, it’s not canon.
Q: Is State-talia
real or OC?
State-talia is real. You can find notes on states and
provinces if you search the tag in the English translation of Hima’s blog
(Bamboo Thicket)
Tag: states and provinces
Ex: China’s provinces are personified.
Ex: Japan’s prefectures [blog only] and feudal clans/territories are
personified [make appearances in the manga]
Interestingly, these feudal clans/territories still exist during Japan’s Westernization phase. Again, the rules of nationhood are loose, and personifications don’t always die and fade out right away.
Sometimes it takes a while before they die, and other times they won’t die at all.
Osaka, a previous feudal domain, later evolved to become a prefecture from the Meiji era
– present.
Ex: America’s states are not personified, but Hima does
provide a hypothetical description of what they would be like in their relation
to America [x]. There’s also a brief dialogue between some states.
Notice how America refers to his country as his house in the
case that his states were personified. It’s the same exact situation with North
Italy. Point is, there’s a consistent rule here.
Given that Genoa is personified, it would be possible for the city-states in each Italies’ house to be personified as well.
Before I start, it’s important to go over and situate a few
things. The nations’ immortality is more of a curse than it is a blessing.
They’ve experienced countless wars, plagues, political strife, and have even
died, only to be regenerated.
Now, unlike humans who have been blindsided with the rough
backhand of fate, the nations are forced to relive these pains over and over
again. It would be enough to drive a normal person mad.
In other words, their immortality was a prison that kept them
locked into a systemic cycle of bloodshed. What adds to this prison imagery is
that they’re obligated to listen to their bosses and fight in wars that they don’t
necessarily want to participate in.
Nowadays, this prison more has to do with loneliness. They
still follow their bosses’ orders, but the restrictions on their freedom are
not nearly as pervasive.
Ex: England’s sweet and alcohol intake is regulated by his
boss.
Regardless, Germania and Ancient Rome best exemplify how
their freedom was gained not by their immortality, but rather, the loss of it.
They were “liberated” from their bosses and war upon dying.
France is another good example of this. He gives better
insight into how heartless history can be in tossing peoples’ lives around. When
he first sees Lisa, Jeanne d’Arc’s reincarnate, he believed that God was
playing a cruel trick on him. On its own, this already proves how betrayed and
hurt France felt after her death.
Nonetheless, France still keeps his faith and believes that
humans who have had rough past lives will be reborn into happier ones. He
doesn’t have this privilege.
The purpose of this post will be to illustrate how the
nations’ immortality has historically caused them to live through many
traumatic events. It would follow, then, that being reared in such unhealthy
environments would cause some of them to develop PTSD.
In fact, there is a mounting pile of canon evidence that
depicts the nations having discomforting flashbacks, severe anxiety, and
nightmares. That said, let’s go over some examples.
America:
When his settlers moved inland, America didn’t have many
belongings to his name. England ponders why America produces things in mass and
comes to the realization that America’s overconsumption of goods likely stems
from this impoverished period of his life.
Note the use of the word traumatized.
Lithuania:
Lithuania has a flashback to when he and the other Baltic
States declared their independence from the USSR. He then experiences another
flashback, where Russia squeezes his shoulder – it’s used as a metaphor to
represent political repression.
Lithuania is so immersed in this second flashback that he
begins squeezing Estonia’s and Latvia’s shoulders without realizing it.
One of his character notes also mentions that he’s been rebilitating after his time spent in the USSR.
England:
England doubts his capacity to care for young America. The
stress of this new responsibility causes him to have a flashback of his older
brothers sending him hexes.
It’s noted that England once suffered from 100 years of heartbreak, presumably a reference to the American Revolution.
This is a theory of mine, as it isn’t confirmed in canon, but given that England coughs up blood and gets ill on the fourth of July, I think that it is meant to symbolize how he still hasn’t recovered emotionally from America’s independence. In other words, each year, England’s heart is both literally and figuratively ripped open on the inside.
Japan:
While this example is a more subtle depiction of trauma, it’s
not surprising.
Although this isn’t covered in the strips, following WW2, Japan
would have become America’s underling. As such, the atrocities committed by the
atomic bombs would have made him visibly more compliant to America’s demands,
regardless if he agreed or not.
This is seen in a world meeting where Japan unanimously agrees
with America’s ridiculous global warming plan. Switzerland even calls out Japan
for not voicing his true opinion.
Switzerland:
Switzerland’s mercenary past still haunts him. Lichtenstein
perceptively reads into this as she asks him why they’re working to boost her income through tourism.
Italy:
Italy’s perhaps one of the most anxiety-ridden characters in
the series.
Ex: He worries that Germany hates him and has nightmares
about this. His greatest fear is being left behind to fend for himself.
This insecurity leads him to make Germany reaffirm to him several times that he’s not actually hated.
Ex: Italy has nightmares where a childhood version of himself
presses to be acknowledged.
The dream ends with Italy screaming and refusing to
acknowledge the child. To me, and as I’ve theorized in the past, I read this as
Italy repressing parts of his childhood to minimize and forget about the trauma
that he experienced. The child is merely a representation of his unconscious
mind.
Germany:
Germany also has a childhood version of himself pressing to
be acknowledged. Of course, this is running on the assumption that he’s
actually Holy Rome and has forgotten about his childhood.
Similarly, he’s once depicted to be holding Chibitalia,
looking visibly confused.
“It’s me.”
Again, how I see this is that perhaps Germany is repressing
aspects of his childhood. In that case, Chibitalia is an unconscious
representation of these memories attempting to pierce through to his conscious
mind.
All in all, given how long the nations have lived, it’s not
novel to assume that they’re still traumatized by things that have happened to
them in the past.
OMG HI!!!!! Glad to hear you're doing well! I just wanted to say that i reread your blog every once in a while and even tho im no longer in the fandom you're one of the two Hetalia people i still follow bc the content is just *that* good.
If you ever feel like making new posts again i'd love that but just being able to visit every once in a while is more than enough 💕
Dont feel pressured to do anything.
May life treat you kindly 🙏
Hiiiiii :)
That’s such an honour omg! Maybe idk…I would really have to re-read everything again, it’s been so long and I lost all my notes. I also think I pretty much covered every nook and cranny of the series minus the new chapters.