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eikomakimachi In reply to Iruchan [2011-03-15 22:30:07 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I didn't know that!

Although this pic is representing Yao as a human, not as a representation of his country, it's good to hear that China is also helping.

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eikomakimachi In reply to KitakLaw [2011-03-14 15:38:39 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, I've heard some people got offended by some APH fanarts concerning the recent events in Japan, so I wanted to make it clear that I had no intention to offend anyone.

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KitakLaw In reply to eikomakimachi [2011-03-14 16:01:36 +0000 UTC]

Aye - I've come across that myself in journals, blogs, pictures, etc shortly after seeing your picture. I don't know a whole ton on the subject, but it's been requested by some artists on Pixiv (a Japanese art-posting site) that people really try to be sensitive when posting artwork of this nature. I suppose these things are touchy, because, well...to be frank, personified nations (the tradition goes back WAY before Hetalia) have traditionally been used for satirical purposes. So it's a really fine line, then - how do you use something that was meant to poke fun at nations to show sympathy and compassion instead?

Another sentiment I've stumbled across on comments here on DA is...just general scepticism: are people doing this because they care or because they like Kiku as a character or anime as a form of entertainment? It's natural for people who don't know the ones directly affected to worry about celebrities instead, and there have been comments focusing on how the mangakas and voice-artists are doing...and sometimes that can end up looking really shallow, whether it was meant that way or not.

But personally, I know that people are doing the best they can - and that includes your artwork. I know it's an expression of sympathy, and also a way to convey your thoughts on paper...a means to come to terms with the events, if you will. So don't worry, okay?

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eikomakimachi In reply to KitakLaw [2011-03-15 17:16:54 +0000 UTC]

It's been a whole discussion about this both in Pixiv and on the Hetalia communities of DA about those works.

I kind of know the feeling some people, specially the Japanese ones, get when seeing all those works about the recent events though. I don't like how some people draw the events of the war between Japan and China and England and China, being from a Chinese family (I was born and I live in Brazil though), because some are very disrespectful (I've been requested more than once to draw something related to the Nanjing massacre/incident with Yao and Kiku, but I can't bring myself to do such thing, I try to avoid drawing any war-related stuff with those two). While I've never actually witnesed those events I did see pictures... and my grandparents avoid the subject whenever is it possible, so I never actually asked them anything about it.

But I also see many pictures that really show how the people did care for what had happened, so I can't say DON'T DRAW THOSE THINGS.

I think that worse of all is those people saying that, for whatever insane reason, Japan deserved it. I mean, I'm horrified by the Nanjing massacre, which was something bad that happened in China involving Japan, but that was years ago and people from Japan has no fault on that, and it does not give us any right to say such crueless thing towards another human being. (that was directed to the idiots that are saying all of this is karma for Pearl Harbour or whatever).

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KitakLaw In reply to eikomakimachi [2011-03-15 18:06:59 +0000 UTC]

Personally, I don't mind seeing artwork based off war or the darker parts of history - in fact, I prefer that to them not being shown or mentioned at all. I am Chinese, too (Hong Kong Chinese-Canadian, to be exact), so the stuff that went on between Japan and China or England and China...that affects me, too. And then I have all of Canadian history to contend with, which is not exactly pretty either. I've been told to be careful what I say in front of the elderly who have lived through WWII (particularly because it's no secret that I like Japan as a nation and Japanese culture as a whole), and while I want to respect that, part of me gets frustrated that people's reluctance to talk about it could mean that we'll never learn from it.

Granted, I think people need to be SENSITIVE and OBJECTIVE if they're going to talk about these sorts of events. So, for example, in the example you gave, talking about Nanjing is one thing...saying that the earthquake is deserved because of that is another. Trying to bring out "the darker side of history", in my opinion, should NEVER be an excuse to just say something disrespectful or hurtful. The way I see it, either everyone's a jerk, or no-one is - and since we can all point out something another nation has done wrong, that means that our own nations have as well, and for as long as that is the case, we have no right to say someone's bad with no intention for helping them learn from it, if you know what I mean.

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eikomakimachi In reply to KitakLaw [2011-03-15 18:45:23 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I think people are too "black or white" sometimes, everyone does bad things, so there is no reason to go over "this is revenger for...", because that's kind of being hypocrite. I mean, your country did bad things too, so why bring this kind of thing to justify a tragedy?

A (I hope he was drunk) random man decided to talk to me on the street about the earthquake yesterday and when I did mention I was Chinese, not Japanese (a common mistake) he was all like "Why you even care so? You're Chinese" (the guy wasn't even Asian), I got pretty pissed at his comment, just because the two countries had a bad story doesn't mean that, as an individual, I don't care for the people from another country. But I said nothing, as my bus had arrived, so I left him to his own stupidity.

I also prefer that people would talk about some stuff, rather than leave it to oblivion, we need to learn from our past, good or bad. But my point is that I do understand why people are all sensitive about fanarts concerning the current situation of Japan, so I wouldn't get surprised if anyone for personal reasons didn't like my work, it is their right and I would respect that . I would question though if someone went all like "BAWW, you are a weaboo who is just drawing fanart because you are an idiot-otaku that doesn't care about the Japanese people, you care only about your fandom", because that's not true , there are people that are being too radical about this and I think acting like that is just as disrespectful. No one wins nothing with people whinning like that, because I know that a part of those people is just complaining for complaining and didn't even consider sending donations or try to help.

Anyway, let's all hope that everything in Japan will calm down soon. I'm now particularly worried about the nuclear reactors' problem

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KitakLaw In reply to eikomakimachi [2011-03-15 19:36:54 +0000 UTC]

Okay...no offense, but that guy's weird. Period. I don't think that comment even makes sense!

And being mistaken for a weaboo or otaku for making fanart about this...that's really stretching it for me. Now, if someone were to do that and just gush about how they're worried about how this will affect the latest installment of an anime or something, I might end up thinking that. But, your picture...you should be fine. Honestly.

Still, if it's been requested by people on Pixiv that we be careful about what to draw or write and stuff, then I'm prepared to respect that. I did have an idea for a story, actually, but it went against their guidelines, so...yeah. It's not happening, but I don't regret scrapping my idea, as it was done to honour the wishes of the Japanese Hetalia fans.

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