ABSTRACT
When online comic Axis Powers Hetalia, published in 2006 by Himaruya Hidekaz, was adapted into animation in 2009, a group of South Korean readers petitioned to parliament to stop its broadcasting, arguing that the portrayal of Korea in the comic amounted to “criminal discrimination” against the Korean people. The petition was successful, and the anime was not shown in South Korea. The comic version, however, continued to grow in popularity, giving rise to many spinoffs. Himaruya’s manga, whose name is a portmanteau of “hetare” (“good for nothing”) and “Itaria” (Italy), is a series of short comics in which the Axis Powers (Italy, Germany, and Japan), the Allied countries (United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China), and another 40 nations are personified as bishōnen, pretty boys. Designed initially for a male audience, the manga gained immediate popularity among female readers, and was the object of many “Boys’ Love” parodies, imagining romantic pairings between the personified nations. Through an analysis of the representation of the relationship between bishōnen Korea and Japan in the original manga and its spinoffs, this chapter examines the use of romantic comedy Boys’ Love manga as a medium for reflection on political conflict and reconciliation.
