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Taiwan

Taiwan (台灣, Taiwan) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia. She is the personification of Taiwan (which is officially known as the Republic of China).

Appearance

Hetalia Taiwan 02

Taiwan is a teenage girl who wears a peach (or bright pink)-colored qipao with gold trim and long, flowing sleeves, and a long white skirt.

Her hair is long and brown, with a wild curly strand sticking out on the right side of her head. She wears pink flowers in her hair, and a chibi sketch of her by Himaruya revealed that she has a flower-shaped birthmark (or tattoo) on her left thigh.

Before having the current appearance, Taiwan used to have many changes in clothes and hairstyles. In an earlier sketch, her qipao was drawn a little differently, she tied her hair into a side ponytail with some flowers pinned up in her hair. Another original design showing a different style of qipao and her flowers.

Personality and Interests

Taiwan is described as a vivacious, strong-willed, active, easy-going and fashion-loving young girl, but she is also said to have become the nervous type lately, unable to stop worrying. Most of the time she is very positive and cheerful and enjoys Japan's "kawaii" culture very much. She is also a great cook. Her hobbies include annoying China.

Her role in the drama track for the eighth Hetalia character CD predates any manga or anime appearance (as with Hong Kong, who appeared in Hetalia Fantasia). There, she is described as a rather intelligent, active girl with a slightly quick temper and very cheerful.

Appearances

Manga

Though she had yet to make an appearance in the actual manga, she was depicted in various sketches and appeared in the profile section of Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 2.

Despite being profiled in volume 2 of the published manga and later making an appearance in volume 3 on the Hetalia world map, the majority of Taiwan's appearances have been on Himaruya's blog and website. She has her first lines in the 2010 Christmas event, responding to Sealand that she didn't have the sign. She also appeared in the 2011 April Fool's event, being interested in the photo she got from France and Spain. She appears in Volume 4's "Ilha Formosa ~Beautiful Island~" chapter, where her formal debut is made. In the Halloween 2011 event, she dresses up as Silverlight from Microsoft Taiwan.

Anime

Taiwan debuts in episode 11 of Hetalia: The Beautiful World. On April Fools Day, she is sent a supposedly embarrassing picture of herself, but remarks that it is funny.

She also has a non-verbal cameo in Surprise Halloween!.

Drama CD

She has her debut in the mini-drama "Asian and Western Festivals" in China's character CD. She met China and Shinatty in the park, made fun of China, and later helped fix China's arm (however, that caused China a lot of pain). She referred to China as her "teacher" in the drama, and seemed to not care about China's bossiness, and thought of him as a "grandpa".

Relationships

China

Main article: China


TaiwanChina

She called him a "teacher" in the drama CD, but called him a "bastard" in the previous sketch. An early illustration shows that she dislikes China and is more interested in Japan, she thinks that China leave him alone. In the drama CD, she treats him in a slightly more friendly way, but still has very low patience for China's quirks.

Japan

Main article: Japan


Instead of China, she prefers Japan, much to China's dismay. This could stem from the real life fact of China's repeated dismissal of Taiwan's sovereignty, and the general well-being and mutual respect between the real life islands. It is also possible that this is a reference to Japan's colonial rule over Taiwan before WWII.

Recently, in Chapter 42 of Hetalia: World Stars, she gave chocolates to Japan on Valentine's Day.

Vietnam

Main article: Vietnam


Taiwan and Vietnam seem to get along well with each other, although their personalities have big differences in character. Taiwan took Vietnam out to take pictures together, to her initial disappointment. Taiwan lent Vietnam a costume for Halloween.

Hong Kong

Main article: Hong Kong


Taiwan once had a bet with Hong Kong and Macau on what will China wear, on which she lost. She also once asked Hong Kong's help to clean her room.

In the Taiwan's Lantern Festival strip, she confronted Hong Kong to not wish for money this year and wish for something else instead. Hong Kong had a surprised face as he asked out in disbelief that other people wished for other things beside money. Taiwan persuaded him to wish for something else and Hong Kong decided to wish that China won't see through.

America

Main article: America

In chapter 239 in Hetalia: World☆Stars, Taiwan said to America that she was doing some fortune and asked America if he would like his one. America answered that it was interesting and he liked his fortune, pleased if Taiwan didn't mind. Taiwan offered him to tell some of his information which America was wondering why she needed lots of information, and he figured she could be just done it in a snap with magic or something else. After that, Taiwan told in that case, she will be taught him a fortune telling techniques by using numbers, which America could do himself anytime once he had learned it. America said it was great and wanted Taiwan to teach him about it. Taiwan showed ways to do fortune and America thanked to her (his thought when he was in his house).

Name

In a 2010 blog post, Himaruya listed possible names for Taiwan to be Lin Yi-Ling (林乙玲) or Hsiao-Mei / Xiao-Mei (曉梅)*.[1]

  • 曉梅 (Hsiao-Mei or Xiao-Mei) is a given name suggested by Himaruya, he did not suggest a surname to go with this name. He also noted that he wants plum to be included in her name, which is what "Mei" means. This is also the name most popular with fans.

Character Songs

Poi Poi Poi♪

Gallery

Taiwan Image Gallery

Trivia

Taiwandesigns
  • Before he settled on her present look, Hidekaz Himaruya drafted various designs for the character, as he revealed in an illustration on his blog. Rejected concepts included: A more "mature" design for a female version, Taiwan as a young boy and as a young girl, a short-haired variation of the female design, and Taiwan as both a younger and an older man.
  • Her birthday corresponds with the date of October 25, 1945, when the Japanese military surrendered control of Taiwan back to China, but this country's national day is October 10. However, in the Chinese printing of the second volume of Hetalia, her birthday was left out and the phrase "A part of China" was controversially added to her profile.
  • Differently to her rare appearance in the manga and the webcomic, she seems to have a role in both Gakuen Hetalia, appearing in concept art for it. But as the game is incomplete, it remains to be seen what the extent of her role is.
  • Like Hong Kong, she makes her speaking debut in a drama track ("Asian and Western Festivals" in China's character CD). She is voiced by Yuki Kaida, who also voices China.
  • It is hinted that Taiwan might very well be homosexual and the fact that she also may as well begun to sweat when she mentioned about westerner girls' breasts being "disturbing" to her. In addition, she also appears to be flirtatious towards Belarus in the 2009 Halloween Special. Taiwan is the first country in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage. However, she is also very open around Japan and is most likely a friendly character in general.

Notes

  1. ↑ At the moment it is unknown when Taiwan was born or what her life was like before the present day, so no statements can be made on what she may or may not have previously represented.
  2. ↑ This is how these names would be written in pinyin, but they can also be written without the accent marks.
  3. ↑ "Teenager" here refers to the colloquial definition of being under 18.
  4. ↑ In addition to showing attraction to specific female characters (such as Vietnam), during the nation girls' meeting shown in the Christmas 2011 event she stated that seeing the cleavage of the western girls made her uneasy and unable to concentrate (Japanese; English).
  5. ↑ Also known as Retrocession Day, this is the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered control of Taiwan. Click here for more information.
  6. ↑ Though she hasn't been depicted with these two animals recently, she did appear with them in some sketches from 2009 (Japanese; English) and 2011 (Japanese; English). The Taiwan yuhina (冠羽畫眉/guàn yǔ huàméi) is a small songbird found only in Taiwan, and water buffalo are common in Taiwan and have been used for farming for a very long time. Click here and here for more information.
  7. ↑ "Walking and trying foods at different restaurants" is tabe-aruki/食べ歩き, which is a contraction of the words for "food" and "walk", and refers to the practice of walking around and trying a variety of different street foods from different vendors. Click here and here for more information.
  8. ↑ Directly translates as "cosplay at sacred places". However, the word for "sacred places", 聖地, is also used as fandom slang in both China and Japan to refer to real-life locations used as a setting, background, model, or inspiration in various medias and fictional stories. An example would be going to 221B Baker Street in London as a fan of Sherlock Holmes media, or even going to a country because of your favorite Hetalia character. Click here for more information.
  9. ↑ 梅. The national flower of Taiwan and a symbol of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. Click here for more information.
  10. ↑ 豆花. A Chinese sweet or savory snack made with silken tofu. In Taiwan, beans such as mung bean, red beans, and peeled peanuts are often added, as well as soy milk, fruit, or taro balls. Click here for more information.
  11. ↑ The word used, かき氷 /kakigōri refers to shaved ice desserts in general (or the type of shaved ice common in Japan), but it is also possible Himaruya intended this to be a reference specifically to chhoah-peng, a Taiwanese variety of shaved ice. Click here and here for more information.
  12. ↑ 魯肉飯. An popular Taiwanese folk dish made of made of stir fried minced pork served on top of steamed rice, with many regional variations in flavor. This dish is known as lǔròufàn in Mandarin. Click here for more information.

References

  1. ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. November 26, 2010. "「Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs」でのイギリスいじりは異常 [Britain’s tampering of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” was unusual]". Japanese. English.
  2. ↑ Himaruya, Hidekaz. December 10, 2008. "ヘタリアと愉快な仲間たち [Hetalia and Funny Friends]" Axis Powers ヘタリア 2 [Hetalia: Axis Powers 2]. Page 21. Gentosha. ISBN: 978-4-3448-1514-8(JPN), 978-1-4278-1887-4(ENG). English.