things reading about Nazi Germany will do to you

[kindkit]

As you may know, I've been reading some books about the Holocaust.

Well, today at work we happened to get in copies of Axis Powers Hetalia, which I had to put price tags on. The cover image of the first volume (link goes to amazon.com) shows Germany as a pretty young man in his stylish uniform greatcoat, which doesn't seem to have insignia but is the kind of coat worn by both the Army and the SS. So cute! Such a fun, friendly cover!

My god, was I squicked.

Depicting Hitler-era Germany as a desirable young man is disgusting.

Sorry if you're a Hetalia fan--I know at least one person who is--but I think the whole cutesy concept is, to put it in the mildest possible terms, dodgy.

Comments

[st_aurafina]

Ugh, no. That's awful. (I feel weird about it on many levels because my (Italian) grandfather is a WWII vet and POW and I just don't... I just can't handle it.)

[kindkit]

I'd read about APH before and found it skeevy, but nothing like the visceral disgust I had today on account of what I've been reading.

And apparently the text has jokes about deporting Jews. *is truly horrified*

[pocketmouse]

Yeah, I have issues with APH. I was shown most of the anime, and the people I watched it with were all 'yes, it's problematic, but also hilarious!' and that's... really not enough for me.

[kindkit]

the people I watched it with were all 'yes, it's problematic, but also hilarious!'

Yeaaaaaaaaah. As I said to someone on LJ, I think maybe reading about the Einsatzgruppen, etc. has affected my sense of what's cute and fun.

[lilacsigil]

South Korea has protested about Hetalia pretty heavily, too and managed to delay the release of the anime (don't google this or you will run into lots of anime forums insulting Koreans in vile terms) so it's not just you.

[kindkit]

*nods* I hate to be humorless or buzzkilling, but the whole concept really does skeeve me mightily.

[lilacsigil]

If you're not running into Hetalia comms and telling them they're wrong, wrong, wrong, you have every right to talk about your reaction!

I like some pretty dodgy humour, but Japan's problems with history (not all Japanese people, obviously, but the way history is taught and written about in most mass media) plus happy-happy WWII cariactures just strikes me the wrong way.

[dingsi]

... I should not have read the reviews on the Amazon page. Oh sure, anyone who has issues with the content or the execution of it is just an overly sensitive snowflake too fragile for appreciating "edgy" humour. Yawn.

I remember APH mainly for the thoughtless cosplay at AnimeBoston (with added Hitler salute). Together with the dodgy concept that was an instant anti-rec.

[kindkit]

I like edgy humor, but I do think there are some things that are just not funny. And from what I've read about Hetalia, it doesn't sound like it's a dark satire of totalitarianism or something, where humor could just about work. It sounds like it's basically the "humor" of cultural stereotypes, but made appealing to young people by personifying them as cute boys. And translating, say, a history of genocide and persecution into "has trouble with relationships." *shudders at the ick*

[skywaterblue]

Hetalia is basically the ass end of where Yaoi culture has taken us.