I'm putting this behind a cut due to anti-semitic and Nazi imagery and apologism for said anti-semitic imagery.

I am completely unfamiliar with the series myself, but in short, Axis Powers Hetalia is a webcomic/manga/anime series that depicts history in the form of personified countries. Here's The TVTropes page.

The fandom has been in the unfunny spotlight several times (see: a group of Hetalia cosplayers doing a Nazi salute at Anime Boston), and here's another mindblowing example.

I am not sure which character(s) these folks are cosplaying, but that's irrelevant in the face of the fact that they were photographed POINTING GUNS AT a depiction of a Star of David.

Let that sink in for a moment.

A Tumblr user named yumikarp, who has since deleted their entire Tumblr, has been quoted in reblogs defending said cosplayers:

This is called art.
I see nothing wrong in it, they are just living into their roles and doing what history has told. I have nothing against Jews, not at all, but I see nothing wrong in this because there is nothing wrong of it.
Sheesh, it’s like the over-religious people being all against that photographer woman who made pictures of Jesus being gay and having group sex. She didn’t do it without a meaning, and it wasn’t a racist meaning of any kind. It’s called art.
This is just the same.
These two people might actually be Jews themselves, who knows.
All they’re doing is making a scene of what history has told in the past.
The end.
Why take it so personal?
Why so serious?

One of the Cosplayers also tries to defend the photo as a "joke".

Hello, I’m Prussia in this photo.

This was just for a joke and very casual, because that place isn’t a church or anything related… just toilets’s park. LOL

The ORIGINAL pic is in Deviantart and mature CENSORED for obvious reasons. The other place is Photobucket, an album made for the ones that were in this photoshot. We didn’t want to offend anyone.

---

Impossible is nothing xDD Really I don’t care about what can people say about a photo that supposely we offense Jews, my mind is clear, since beginning that photo was just a joke, nothing serious and in a non-sacred place (oh well, maybe park’s toilets are sacred after a “bad meal” <33) Anyway <333 Relax yourself, if we have to be this point almost all hetalia’s fandom is historycally offensive. xDDD

Finally, and advertisment <333 ~ Use copyright in photos, because you’ll never expect who wants to fight or be a jerk <33

Because adding hearts and "XD" faces totally makes it better amirite?

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the__ivorytower
2011-07-02 10:31 pm UTC (link)

Dear Some Hetalia Fans,

Stop making me embarrassed to admit I like APH, even if it's problematic at times. The concept is neat. You're doing it wrong.

Signed,
IT

(Dear writer of APH - You could be somewhat less racist when you're coming up with your depictions of countries by having 'representative characters' that aren't actually representative of the whole population. - IT)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	veneotaqueen 2011-07-03 03:53 am UTC (link)
	Can I add my signature to your letter? Because I can't give you a cake over the internet. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bandit 2011-07-03 04:25 am UTC (link)
	Or, you know, by not ignoring underprivileged countries. He could also be less sexist by making most of the countries be represented by males, among other things. To me personally, Hetalia is problematic ALL the time. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	the__ivorytower 2011-07-03 05:52 am UTC (link)
	Oh, I only touched on one of the issues with APH. On the other hand, it got me interested in both history and geography, subjects I'd neglected pretty woefully. (Reply to this)(Parent)

janegray
2011-07-03 01:09 pm UTC (link)

He could also be less sexist by making most of the countries be represented by males

To be fair, Hetalia is practically a shounen-ai series. There is a lot of canon BL, the male characters are all very pretty boys, and one of the few female characters (the awesome Hungary) is an enthusiastic yaoi fangirl.

Normally the lack of female characters in fiction annoys me like hell, but BL series are the exception to the rule imo.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

digigirl132
2011-07-03 05:40 pm UTC (link)

There are a few characters that I kind of wish were female, though. Not so much because we really need girls, but just because having them be girls would make the series that much more interesting.

But then again I would probably be disappointed if they were, because my personal headcanon of how they would be is probably very different from how the author would make them be. He's not too kind to his female characters, I've noticed.

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	bandit 2011-07-03 08:04 pm UTC (link)
	If one is going to argue that the series is BL, then an entirely new problem is introduced: This means that the series is fetishizing homosexuality between "countries" that, in some cases IRL, are actively acting to suppress gay people. Which, to me personally, is seriously offensive. It's ignoring and making light of something that's a very tender spot for me. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	eclatante 2011-07-04 01:34 am UTC (link)
	You mean like every single one of them, differing only in degree? I'm not an anime buff, so I don't know very much about the specific history and context of BL. But from an uninformed outsider's point of view, what you just said sounded a lot like "slash = gay fetishization". Which. I uh. Can't agree with. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bandit 2011-07-04 01:59 am UTC (link)
	Wow, haven't had a "thoughts on yaoi" conversation in a while. No, in this case, I meant specifically the fetishizing of the homosexuality between the countries (the problem being that several of these countries oppress gay people), not the fetishization of homosexuality in general. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	eclatante 2011-07-04 02:06 am UTC (link)
	Well you know, pesky queer fen and their damn touchiness about formal and informal media representation. You still sound like you're equating m/m-centered storytelling with fetishization, by the by. If it's been a while since you've had a ~thoughts on yaoi conversation~, maybe one is due. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bandit
2011-07-04 02:48 am UTC (link)

I really hope you aren't assuming that I'm not a queer fan. The bottom line is that I personally find using titillation with gay males, when there are underlying political issues that come with using countries, to be exploitative and fetishizing. I can't explain very well (or very succinctly) how my personal experience has shaped my opinion on such things, but personally, I don't like it. It feels rotten and under-handed to me, and like it's belittling the experiences of gay people that live in those countries.

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	eclatante 2011-07-04 02:55 am UTC (link)
	Accepted. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	chikane 2011-07-04 08:20 am UTC (link)
	I really, really, really have to agree. And I watch a lot of yaoi and yuri anime, so it's not that I have a problem with the concept of such stories itself. It just gets incredibly skeevy when you realize the BL is between countries who are very repressive against homosexuals. It is, no doubt, incredibly exploitative. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	aurussteelsword 2011-07-03 05:24 am UTC (link)
	This. I'm pretty tired of the webcomic that I read for fun's sake becoming a source of shame and headdesking. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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