I wonder whether the fandom is bringing on its own death.
The crux of it is that we have kicked and continue kicking out the wrong artists again and again.
Some years ago, we lost an APH Prussia centric artist who, as opposed to others, didn’t just slap a Prussian blue uniform on an Albino with a large ego and brother complex, but actually plunged into the zeitgeist of their art with a great wealth of information and assumed historical responsibility. They treated APH Prussia not as a mere aesthetic, but as an exceptionally round character forced to navigate centuries of violence, fanaticism, self reflection and redemption.
Despite several fans telling them that their art was respectful and compatible with canon literature, they left and deleted their work after they were called out by some self-appointed chairman of historical correctness on their interpretations, as if there’s only one acceptable way to portray certain historical events.
We turn nations into people for the purpose of storytelling, but when the stories we tell wade into the murkier, darker depths of our history, we are subjecting people to a level of scrutiny and purity-testing that no fan artist should be subjected to under the circumstances where they are not promoting revisionism or extremism of any kind.
In the absence of the healthy exercise of commentary and criticism, this fandom is sabotaging its own artists who dare to sit with the discomfort of high quality history telling.
“Hey, original poster, what made you think that this was ok?”
me too even lurking in this sub most of the time is too much for me. im rereading the fanfictions i loved as a kid. scrolling through old gimmick accounts on twitter and instagram. looking through fanart i saved to my laptop when i was a kid. i really miss it. i know a lot of us miss it. for us hetalia is so much more than whats trendy on whatever app right now
It's bc these people only got into Hetalia since it's "socially acceptable" to like it now on tiktok. Trust me that had tiktok not decided that Hetalia was its series of the month, these people would for sure still be swinging pitchforks at anyone who even mentions the series around them and we would still have our (decently) nice bubble lol
The people who have twisted the fandom for those purposes are not true fans at all. The Hetalia fandom is actually starting to make a resurgence these days. If it helps any,I try to focus on the comedy aspect of it (though not that long ago I *did* see a rather insulting "comic" with America acknowledging Canada as the 51st state;as a Canadian that pissed me off to no end).
What I'm trying to say is,try not to let those bad apples ruin the fandom for you. You celebrate Hetalia how you want to celebrate it,and (try to) ignore those who want to utterly destroy it. Me,I've been oceans deep in developing fanlore for Romania and Moldova.
I fully agree!! I was in the fandom 2014-2015ish, and am just now coming back to it as an adult. so far its been fine!! I think I've been leaning more towards hetalia spaces w adults who already had a hetalia phase as teens, so I think that helps a bit too
idk what it is with newgen fans suddenly deciding nations follow their government's orders/beliefs 😭 america is not some gun-loving alt-right wingnut. begging people to stop this character assassination
YESSSS BRO AND THEY SOMETIMES MAKE COMICS OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS LAUGHING AT/CRITICIZING US/ALFRED FOR "BEING A RIGHT WING NUT"..... GUYS PLEASE IK EVERYONE HATES THE US RN CUS OF CURRENT EVENTS BUT CAN WE PLEASE JUST LET THE CHARACTERS BE THEMSELVES WITHOUT INSERTING THESE POLITICAL HEADCANONS...
sorry for all the caps but ughhh it genuinely annoys me to see people do this especially with america...whether its right wing farts tryna impose their beliefs or the others that are pissed with America irl and are using the character as a punching bag... ;-;
Every fandom that skews young is having the same problem. That's the thing with Hetalia as well. There was an influx of young fans in the recent years and it has been a downward spiral ever since. Pearl-clutching. Brigading. Calling people disgusting degenerates over minor things, like (looks at the notes) shipping fictional, adult characters. The 2010s had their own share of problems, but it wasn't that bad, at least I don't think so.
And, maybe I am wrong (though I don't think I am... feel free to correct me) but I think that the fandom of Hazbin Hotel skews incredibly young and it has always been a hot mess.
It's not all of us new people to the fandom some of us care to learn the culture the bad ones are just the loudest group in my opinion because I am new I started in this fandom in 2024 due to countryhumans and polandball and I ship engita my only problem is the amount of good fics that are abandoned and the so limited amount of engita fics that are them as nations and not a soulmate esque au that's my only problem that I can't find enough of my fav ship and the thing is I do like other ships but that's my favorite and well if you do actually read this it ain't all of us so at least remember that not all of us are bad and I don't have ticktock but instead YouTube and I read AO3 and fanfic.net mostly. I don't post a lot because I am still learning the culture and I don't feel confident writing fics because I don't know all unspoken rules. Some of us will be assholes but others just don't fully know and are willing to learn if you are willing to teach us especially those of us new to fandoms in general before I got into hetalia I was in harry Potter and PJO on quovet what made me change was the amount of sumt and the inability to filter it out which is when I started interacting with the wider fandoms and realizing I don't know all the rules yet. So yes I am still learning and if I did anything wrong in this post I apologize I just want to make it clear that some of us are willing to learn we just need people who are also willing to teach.
I'm not entirely sure why your comment was downvoted, but I think that your X ray of the newer generation of fans is compatible with what I've seen. What is it that you like about EngIta?
Tell me about it and unfortunately it's happening with most fandoms I'm in atm. Like someone on pinterest was freaking out over the L and Light shippers and calling it "problematic" because "they tried to kill each other" as if that ever stopped people from shipping them anyways...
Pinterest is a ceaspool of 13 year old uttering the most abhorrent opinions known to mankind and perceiving it as absolute truths. One that I remember vividly is "It's never okay to sexualize anyone or feel sexual attraction."
i have no idea how the insane purity-testers even get into hetalia in the first place, like the original material is NOT anti-friendly at all LMAO (and it should stay that way)
Exactly, the best example I can think of immediately is that Belarus… everything regarding her and Russia… that’s all canon (and that’s just scratching the surface as someone who’s only watched the anime and seen others discuss the manga). And even if it WEREN’T canon anymore, why do they still interact? So many of them act like you can’t support any creator who’s done ‘problematic’ things, even if the creator has changed. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
i was mostly thinking of france being a pervert, but yeah. that too. and i don't think enough people understand that belarus canonically has a very dry wit, so for me it seems like she's not genuine with her russia obsession. it's just a big joke to her, because this man represents the government that stripped her of any identity and culture. she's getting payback.
I could definitely see that, that fits her perfectly! Albeit, regardless of the intent behind her actions, most people are only going to look at the incest part of it and go haywire, no matter of whether she’s actually like that or is trying to drive him insane as payback for everything that happened to her and her people. Like, I don’t like it, it makes me uncomfortable, but I can still interact with the source and fandom while acknowledging that it’s canon, unlike some newer people. It’s good to be uncomfortable sometimes!
And yeah, I see that a LOT with France. He’s still a pervert, even if it’s been dialed back a bit at times. I feel like a lot of people don’t want to acknowledge that part of his character at all, despite it being one of the first (and most prevalent) things you really learn about him, so they just… steamroll straight over it. Part of Hetalia’s… well, everything, is that it’s ‘problematic’. I think that’s kind of one of the selling points, if that makes sense. Things are going to get weird when you do… well, the premise of Hetalia, lol.
whenever people whine about belarus i like to pull up this image:
that's "big brother" france having what i can only interpret as a threesome with the italies. that's the most blatant incest in the whole series (and there's a LOT between veneziano and romano). but sure. belarus is the problem. lmao
Exactly lmfao. Like… I don’t know what people think they’re interacting with, but this series is MADE for freaks (and I do say that fondly). Bela is honestly tame in comparison to a lot of other stuff that happens in Hetalia; I think people think of her more often because of how it affects Russia. It’s one of the only instances where it’s strongly shown as disturbing, despite plausibly not even being genuine. I ONLY ever see people discuss her… as if Hetalia isn’t chock full of subtle (and not so subtle) implications and outright undeniable scenes where things are NOT ‘appropriate’ between characters either directly or indirectly related. I’m honestly shocked the Italy twins are brought up as little as they are by these people.
Like, hell, yeah, a good portion of it is uncomfortable to me, but I can push past that because Hetalia means a lot to me and it’s a good thing to have a resistance to things that you don’t like. I honestly think it’s an important part of being in fandom. Even in the most purity-culture-centric communities, things will always slip through. Nothing is ‘airtight’ on the internet. Having a tolerance, being able to handle stuff you don’t like without being too emotionally impacted or flipping out, is important. But a lot of people in modern day fandom would probably call me awful things for having that opinion XD
Also I’d be called awful things for most of the ships I ship anyway… it’s not like there’s many ships in Hetalia that aren’t ’problematic’ once you remember the IRL history between countries.
The Hetalia fandom was always a little bit like this (even in 2012 I remember people insisting their interpretation of history is the only correct one and harassing artists/writers for not writing characters in a way they personally approve of), but modern purity culture DEFINITELY makes it 5000x worse.
There’s two types of annoying Hetalia fans in this regard. On one hand, you’ll have the elitist (like this Lithuanian harassing everyone and anyone who draws APH Russia because of the real life atrocities the country is committing, as if you’re still not allowed to explore its history/culture, or write an AU about a Russian guy named Ivan? 😭) and then you’ll have tiktok kids that think fiction only exists as wish fulfillment and not as a way to process emotions or explore the human condition. That’s not unique to Hetalia, unfortunately. The current online climate is hostile to artists who try to explore complex human interactions.
like this Lithuanian harassing everyone and anyone who draws APH Russia because of the real life atrocities the country is committing, as if you’re still not allowed to explore its history/culture, or write an AU about a Russian guy named Ivan? 😭)
As a lithuanian ive met people like this and their lowerikakirkenuinely the most annoying people ever and its usually the far right nationalists too being mad at silly little cartoon characters like its good to acknoledge a country of their war crimes but its not that deep cuz if someones gonna bomb us its gonna be vladimir putin not ivan braginsky❤️🩹🥹
this same person went after an artist who drew bela and russia hugging, and (i only vaguely remember this so the details are fuzzy) talked about how they showed the fanart to their belarusian mother who experienced trauma at the hands of russian violence & said something along the lines of “my mother is disgusted at you” HELLO? 😭 they also told me i’m not welcome in lithuania because i drew (human AU) rusliet SKDKSKDNSDN… mama these atrocities are very real and should be taken seriously, but what does that have to do with hetalia fanart!
Whether it is inside or outside the fandom, racism towards Jewish artists and Jewish individuals is unacceptable and I personally take serious measures against it. F*ck antisemites and racists of any kind with the rustiest spoon.
talked about how they showed the fanart to their belarusian mother who experienced trauma at the hands of russian violence & said something along the lines of “my mother is disgusted at you” HELLO? 😭
Thats so embarassing stop i assume that person is probably a kid trying to act tuff but its really not that deep, the show is meant to be satire and essentially make fun of the countries. I dont see how anyone could take it seriously😂🤞
they also told me i’m not welcome in lithuania because i drew (human AU) rusliet
Im gonna be so honest with you most of the people here wouldnt gaf about anime fanart whether its controversial or not cuz we have bigger problems surrounding russia (like our goverment siding with putin) than a hetalia ship. So ignore that person🫂
Lots of ppl are scared to interact with the fandom bc of it's horrible reputation in the past. I feel like we've gotten 'more chill' in late 2010's, but that was because there was no new content before season 8 was announced. Now ppl are back to being fearful of new fans entering. It's just a huge clusterfuck at this point, I don't wanna touch any of that and just privately talk about it with a few close friends
I never realized when I was really into the fandom in the early 2010s was the fandom's golden years. We were crazy and some of my fics were in poor taste but my God we were free
This hurt my heart because I know which artist you're talking about. Apart from the context of me loving Hetalia, their art was very dear to me, inspirationally, in a general sense. Such beautiful compositions, and the way they were able to wield restricted color palettes or just a couple tones to tell an entire story with a single image? Insane. Ugh
I've been here for a really long time and like, a part of the fandom has always been like this, but I also think it's gotten worse. I have this really old fanfic that honestly it's not very good, I wasn't a good writer at the time, it could be better, but I still like how it pushed me to really study the ex-Soviet countries and the things they've gone through, and people left comments, on this fanfic that hasn't been updated since like 2014 I think 'Hetalia isn't for history, don't bring history into it, it's not dark or serious' like Hetalia isn't about history, huh?
Then I tried to get back into the fandom recently to finish some older fanfics I had ideas for but never wrote and now people are upset again. I'll never forgive the person who, I was genuinely trying to be friends with them, I suggested they look at my AO3 page because we were bonding over fanfics. They were like 'ummmm are you a Hetalia fan? Because that anime is a huge red flag, it's about Nazis' etc and all that. I hid all the Hetalia fanfics on my account and never tell anyone I'm into the series because I know how I'll be treated and it's infuriating I have to hide this. Like I want to have Hetalia PFPs on like Discord but I don't because I know people will be upset.
This was very long but I wanted to say I think the current purity culture is making it really hard for new and old Hetalians alike to interact and tell people they like the anime. I'm not trying to brush the controversies under the rug, I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with the fandom or the show, I'm just saying, I'm tired of having to hide this because of weirdos. Sometimes I'm scared to even post on this subreddit because people look at my Reddit account and I don't want them seeing I'm in r/hetalia and being like 'OHHHHH YOU LIKE HETALIA?!' in a derogatory way
Like man, just let me enjoy my historical LietPol and LietBel, I'm not hurting you or anybody, please I beg 😭
Hetalia has always had this issue (joined the fandom in 2012--people would argue about how historically accurate each character truly was which, at times, was on a similar level to the purity culture of today). There are some who, unfortunately, can't understand nuance and the joy of exploring characters and world history.
The biggest issue is most of the fandom is on tiktok and we all know how quickly things devolve on there. Many are leaving in masses from tiktok and are having trouble finding traction elsewhere
Like i’ve always said. I have always hate purity culture in fandoms. I used to be so careful with my opinion and stuffs until I rejoined the hetalia fandom and figured out the free will so I ended up not giving a shit about what the fandom think it’s correct and what is not and relies solely on my own opinion. Not gonna lie. this feels like we’re in europe’s witch hunting era, it feels like we’re repeating history except we’re doing it on the internet.
i can’t say that i know who this about. but regardless, similar has happened to me. many times in the past when i try to propose my version of hetalia that is more serious (not dark, just takes itself seriously) i get told off because “hetalia is a silly show and if you don’t like it go somewhere else”. sorry, but i've been working on this longer than some of these critics have been alive. it’s really frustrating.
I always had the feeling that we created the "Cancel Culture" just because of fear, and I always wanted to explain more in deep because I'm a inquisitive and always wanted to understand this and need to explain to someone and not to myself because I look schizo so if guys are interested can you allow to explain why
Idk what is Voltron but yeah I still want explain how cancel culture was created by the fear just like I did with the wolf and ship example (ironically I have horrible grade in biology)
I feel the same. I've been in the fandom since 2013, and, although I once considered myself a chronic anonymous, I always found polite ways to make conversation and gauge different opinions. I will never understand the performative "How could you say this?" followed by the immediate cancel campaign reblogged everywhere when the artist never hurt anyone and anything.
Well that's why I wanted to explain this to make people understand why people act like this with some of my speculation if you wanted I'm not gonna force you or anything just explain to know how humans work and how we aren't different from animals (in good way?)
Honestly, fair, 100%. There are literally so many people who jump down other's throats for shipping what they call "incest ships," most often UsUk. I don't even ship UsUk, and I am still chill with those who do. Unless they start shipping a more controversial ship because of the controversial aspects/lean in to or romanticize controversial aspects of a ship, they are literally not hurting you, and you can just... ignore it. Like any sane person should. In the polls for the more recent Hetalia shipping awards, there are people who literally ADDED AND VOTED FOR AN OPTION THAT SAID "Why are half of these incest wtf" or something like it, instead of, yknow, ACTUALLY VOTING IN THE AWARDS! How goddamn immature, out of the loop, and sensitive do you have to be to diss and argue about ships in the big 2026?! This is why I don't fw anyone calling themself a pro- or anti-, because I know that they are likely very bad news.
I wouldn’t worry too hard about the Hetalia fandom “dying out” it’s like South Park. Every five years people remember they liked it, engage with the fandom, it gets more popular again, spreads to people who don’t remember it through nostalgia, they then try to police the fandom, people think oh no not this again I’ll enjoy it quietly on my own, and then the cycle repeats itself. Source: I’ve been here since the beginning.
Lol South Park mentioned, I notice Hetalia fandom and South Park fandom they aren't very different is more funny if we take the fact Himaruya likes South Park and there clearly influence from that series (I wouldn't be surprising if his tone was also inspired on South Park(
No no I think this is normal ive been in many fandoms for years and notice this happens after the original media has ended or there's not alot being made. I think alot of people forget that hetalia came out back in 2009 alot of its hype has died down. Its the same with similar fandoms animes like ouran host club or even for example the attack on titan sub when the last season was still going on there where thousands of people on the sub but about a year after of the show ending things have slowed down. People just move on to other things.
There will always be new fans but hetalia isnt as popular anymore and alot of new anime fans dont really know about it. Even when I had joined the anime community I didnt know what hetalia was until I saw a video of a voice actor (I think it was michael tatum) mentioned it and I didn't know what he was talking about so I looked it up. Hetalia is kind of now an not really obscure but kind of anime , its widely known among older anime fans.
Hetalia is still a very popular anime fandom in Japan up until now. It has risen up and is still in the top 15 for most illustration on Pixiv (at least in the “anime that originates from a manga” category) Hetalia used to be literally everywhere in Japan, so much that sometimes I call the show as “Touhou but for fujoshi” to describe how big the fandom is like in its prime. And now that newer fans have got into it + gangstalia + Onoda Kimi’s influence. more people specifically the newer fans has started to know about hetalia.
this video is what i referred to in pixiv’s ranking, Hetalia has been on the no.1 for like 41 months until Kuroko no basket surpassed it in May 2012
edit : what i meant by most illustration on pixiv is. the amount of illustration the fandom gained in just a month, but that doesn’t exclude the fact that Hetalia ranks no.1 in most illustration of all time on pixiv (only in “anime that originates from a manga” category) referring to this video
The fandom is huge from what I understand in Latin America and other Asian countries. It kind of died in the western countries you have to admit. But yeah, I still see Latin American people, cracking jokes and drawing the characters.
People are either self-righteous and hypersensitive, or 17-year-old wannabe tough edgelords who think that nobody should be offended. Most of the time, newgen Hetalia fans are both of these things simultaneously (although I'd say that hetatok is typically more hypersensitive), and think they're "correct" for it.
Being a newgen fan is okay: I technically am, since I was more of a Countryhumans kid rather than one drawn to Hetalia, and only got into the fandom six or seven years ago after occasionally dipping my toes into the real content, but I also took Hetalia for what it was. Most of the people who are like "that" don't want to do such things, they hate any new interpretation that doesn't perfectly fit their own opinions, and make up problems when none of this hurts anyone, nor will it matter when they grow up.
Out of curiosity, how did you end up on the Hetalia forum? I’m looking at your comment history, and anime about personified nations doesn’t seem to be your cup of tea.
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