The Meaning Behind "Hetalia"
When I tell most people what I'm doing this project on, I mostly get blank stares as a response. I'll admit it, "Axis Powers Hetalia" sounded like a lot of nonsense to me when I first heard it. But...surprise! It is actually pretty meaningful.
Axis Powers, of course, refers to Germany, Italy and Japan. The "bad guys" during WWII. And it makes sense, because they are the 3 main characters.
Now Hetalia. It's actually a combination of 2 Japanese words. "Hetare" meaning useless or stupid and "Italia" which is Japanese for Italy (Kind of like how we combine Brad and Angelina to get Brangelina. Same basic idea). It's basically making fun of Italy's supposed uselessness during the war.
(Black hair = Japan, Brunette = Italy, Blonde = Germany)
It may seem like Italy's being picked on since the series is named after him being stupid. But really, all the countries have been poked fun at in the series. Italy just happens to be one of the easiest targets xD
In another post I'll go into more detail about some of the stereotypes and silliness. In the meantime, please leave your comments about what you think! <3