"Hetalia" Character Design Analysis

(Originally posted on 3-17-2011)

To those who don't know, "Hetalia" is a series of web comics, later made into an anime, in which all the countries of the world are represented as people. It's very popular so if you have managed to avoid it we must run in different circles.

Anyway, I've been meaning to analyze the accuracy of the character designs in "Hetalia" for a while.

So I have never left America (damn, not-having-a-passport) but because of America being the mixed bag country it is, I have met people from all over the world (and I've seen a lot of foreign films) so I have some ideas on this matter.

I tried to post pictures of as many characters as possible but it was extremely hard. To see official shots of each character go here.


Allied Powers



China
Perfect although he seriously has the most stereotypically Chinese hair ever. The only problem I have with China's character design is that in the anime for some reason his hair is dark brown instead of black. Some Chinese people have dark brown hair but only in extreme sunlight (oh hi, Sarah!).

England/Britain
I have an issue with the fact that so many characters are blonde when it really isn't a common hair color anywhere in Europe except in Scandinavia. I guess this is a common misconception about the Western world.
That being said, I don't really have a problem with Britain being blonde but I wish it had been more of a dirty blonde shade. The actual style of his hair works nicely with the whole background of being a punk and pirate and the thick eyebrows, while shocking at first (particularly in the anime), actually really work and have a great connection with how all the former British Empire countries have similar brows. Also, green eyes were a good choice. Brown would be too boring and common and blue wouldn't really work with the country.

America
Don't you know all Americans have blonde hair and blue eyes?
That right there is my issue. America is a mixed bag country and I think the character should represent that more. The blue eyes can stay but they should be paired with something uncommon with blue eyes like a more lightly tanned skin tone (the result of mixed marriages, Native American roots, and/or tanning booths), and the hair should be a medium or dark brown as kind of a central color on the hair spectrum.
The actual style of the hair is awesome though. It plays up the quirky childish aspect of America (although I don't know why his hair antennae represents Nantucket of all places). Also love the glasses and not just because I have a thing for glasses. The idea of them representing Texas makes me really want Mexico to come up soon so I can see that play out. It's also good that he's tall but not the tallest of the Allies. And I love his jacket so much.

France
Honestly I don't think blondes are common at all in France. All the French people I know/see have brown hair of some sort. I think he should have light brown hair. Other than that, I'd say the design is spot on. The hair style is perfect for him as is the stubble and the blue eyes.

Russia
I give so many points here for the actual face design of Russia. It's perfect. For some reason I find that I am really good at spotting people of Russian descent (I worked with three Russians at an amusement park one summer). They all have this rather specific childish, cute face that makes even the most stereotypical "scary Russians" kind of adorable. Maybe that's why their scary politicians grow facial hair?
Another positive thing about Russia is the stature. He is the tallest of the Allies as well as the overall biggest of all the characters. Another thing that seems to be true of a lot of the Russian men I know: they are big-boned.
The coloring is where I start to get confused. Why is Russia a white blonde? Those are very rare. Unless of course the hair is a reflection of the snow in which case that is AWESOME. Otherwise Russia could probably have any shade of hair because there really isn't any typical hair color for Russians. He should either way have brown eyes instead of blue.


Axis Powers



Italy
Since Italy here represents Northern Italy, he is perfect. When I first saw him I thought he represented the whole country but then I found out that Southern Italy is represented with Romano and I had new respect for Italy's design. The hair color is perfect whether manga!brown or anime!auburn as is the style. Same with the eyes whether manga!brown or anime!amber (although they look gold for some reason).
Also good? He's 5'8". It's true. Italians are short (oh hi, Adam!).

Germany
Like with Russia, this is another case where I will screw accuracy in favor of the overall effect. Usually Germans are more dirty blonde and not white blonde but the white blonde just works. Also love the fact that his hair is slicked back. It gives the right severe effect.

Japan
I have nothing to say here. It's a manga written by a Japanese author (who went to school in America). Obviously Japan looks right.


Nordic Nations



Finland
No real big problems with Mr. Finland except that he is really, strangely short (about Japan's height). While they do reference this saying that Finnish people are oddly shorter than Swedes and Danes, 5'5.5" is really freaking short.

Sweden
I got nothing. He looks like every Swedish dude ever.

Denmark
His hair is fantastic. I also like that they usually make his hair slightly darker than the others. It works well. It gets kind of repetitive to have all the Nordic nations have blonde hair and blue eyes (Finland has brown eyes in the anime but if I had to choice one nation to have light brown eyes, it'd be Denmark).

Norway
No issues with coloring or his Nordic cross barrette but I want to know why exactly he has a hair curl and what it means as most little quirks like that represent something. I like how he and Sweden have similar mysterious personalities too (in the world of the black metal).

Iceland
Is the hair color something to do with ice? I hope so. I don't know much about what ethnic Icelandic people look like (aside from Bjork) but I think they are mostly descended from Norwegians so hairstyle similarities between them work well.


Soviets



Estonia
I have no opinions. I don't know any Estonians. In a general Northern Slavic sense, he looks fine.

Lithuania
Definitely manga!green eyes over anime!blue. There are way too many blue eyed characters when blue eyes are uncommon. Also nice to see a brunette. The hair style is perfect for his personality.

Latvia
I like that his short height is the result of Russia's oppression. His hair in the manga is too light in my opinion; I prefer the darker blonde of the anime.

Belarus
I'm not sure about her coloring but her style is perfect. I worked with a Belorussian girl who told me that in Belarus she grew up around a lot of Gothic churches and crosses while she was explaining her cross tattoo and so when I saw the kind of semi-goth Lolita style of Belarus in contrast to all the military looks of the other characters, I thought of that story. Plus, she wasn't really independent until like 1991 (and is often still viewed as an authoritarian puppet state of Russia) so her presence as a military figure is pretty nonexistent.

Ukraine
Her hair is good if it's a reflection of Russia both in style and color (whose hair might be a reflection of snow). Otherwise, she has huge tracks of land. Both literally and in the Monty Python sense.


Asian Nations


This piece of fanart by khakipants12 is one of the only pictures I could find of the Asian nations (minus Tibet).

Thailand
I knew a Thai girl once. She was fun and Thailand has fun hair. That's about all I've got.

Vietnam
Perfect. Love the hair and the rice paddy hat.

Korea
The hair curl is Korea's spirit? What does that mean? Also, manga!black hair over anime!brown. I think it works fine. I also like the mish-mash outfit because to be honest, every time I see a Korean (in real life; not in a drama), they always seem to be combining 12 styles of dress into one (usually including American and Japanese street fashion).

Hong Kong
I'm gonna guess his hair is brown and not black as a reflection of his British rule (as well as the thick eyebrows). Other than that I like that his hairstyle is soft and longish like China but kind of messy (or flippy) like Britain.

Taiwan
I'm going to say her brown hair is dyed in correlation to her girly style. Kim, my first college friend, had a Taiwanese roommate who had more clothes than anyone I've ever seen and was really spoiled but nice. She was also rather girly like Taiwan. I guess all this information is the reason why Taiwan has always felt right to me. Also, she had to be female because she's China's little sister who she has a bad relationship with. Makes sense to me.

Tibet (not pictured)
He looks like a Tibetan monk. What else could you do with that but make him a Tibetan monk?


Habsburgs



Romano
I have a huge beef against the anime for literally making everyone (except Cuba for some reason) the same exact WHITE skin color. Then I saw the official art and was relived that Romano, Spain, and Greece are all a shade darker than everyone else (with Turkey, Cuba, and Seycelles two shades darker). Southern Italians are tan. Let's be honest. They are tan and have big noses (I have an Italian-Irish combo nose; it looks small and perfect from the front but large and bumpy from the side and in pictures).
Other than that, love that he has the same eyes and hairstyle as his brother and love that his hair is darker brown. Very appropriate.

Austria
I wonder why Austria is the only European nation that gets really dark hair. Either way, love the style of his hair (a sort of organized chaos) and I don't mind the violet eyes even though I don't think that color combo really happens in Austria. Also, love his clothes and the glasses work as part of his intellectual, upper class personality.

Hungary
I got nothing. She looks perfect to me. Also love how she is a tomboy in a dress.

Spain
Also no objections.

Poland
Okay so one of my freshman year roommates was 100% Polish-American and she looked exactly like Poland. Exactly. Also, talked like him. So, win?

Prussia
I guess Prussia allows a lot of liberties because it doesn't exist anymore so I can't really complain about anything. I do think the white hair and red-violet eyes work great with his personality though. He's like an albino rat.


Misc.


Switzerland
This is a hard one since Switzerland is such a ethnically divided nation what with their four languages and all. Considering the divisions, I'd say blonde hair is acceptable but dark blonde would be better than light blonde. The style and eye color are also fine.

Liechtenstein (not pictured)
Love that she once had long German-maid hair but cut it to look like Switzerland. Also, while I could extensively analyze the fact that the stronger nations have a tendency to be male or masculine (see: Hungary) and the weaker countries are female, I have to say that in this case, the country works as a young girl dependent on her big brother Switzy.

Belgium (not pictured)
I like that her hair is clearly referenced from France but since I said France should have light brown hair, so should Belgium. Otherwise, the style is great; it's a feminine (more feminine) version of France's.

Netherlands (not pictured)
His hair is light brown and for some reason the anime made him yellow blonde. Why? Also, the light brown would work good with the Belgium connection. I also love his hair style (it's stoner rocker hair, haha, geddit?).

Canada
Perfect hair style. It's a cross between America and France which is how it should be. I also love that his coloring is a reflection of America's coloring so people can't tell them apart. If you're going by what I said about America's coloring, Canada should have slightly darker hair than America (so darkish medium brown), the same blue eyes, and slightly lighter skin (Canadians seem less tan-booth inclined and with all the cold, no one's sunbathing).

Cuba
One question: Why does he have Brit brows? I don't think Cuba was a British colony but I could be wrong. Otherwise he looks good.

Sealand
Fine by me. Sealand is a joke anyway.

Turkey
The coloring is perfect (aside from the anime!white skin) but what is the meaning behind the mask?

Greece
Ignoring anime!white skin, it's perfect. Love the ionic column reference in his hair curl and the bed-head look.

Bulgaria (not pictured)
Works. Eastern Europeans are usually dark-haired and eyed.

Seychelles (not pictured)
As long as she's tan, the little island girl thing works.

Holy Roman Empire (not pictured)
Little Germany. Works.

Roman Empire/Ancient Rome (not pictured)
He's got hair darker than Italy but lighter than Romano, the same eyes as both of them and is more white like Italy. He also has multiple hair curls where Italy and Romano each only have one. The curls are erogenous zones. Makes sense why Rome would have the most (see: orgy).

Germania (not pictured)
Germany with long hair. Works.