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Vietnam

Vietnam (ベトナム, Betonamu) is a supporting character in the series Hetalia. She is the personification of Vietnam.

Appearance

Vietnam has long, dark brown hair worn it in a low ponytail, often with a red bow. She wears a bright green áo dài, which is the Vietnamese traditional women's clothing, and a flat, conical hat (called a nón lá) tied to her back by a string red bow. Vietnam also often carries a boat paddle.

In one of her appearances in World☆Stars, she wears a Vietnamese navy uniform, with a fancy hair accessory. In a later illustration featuring her character profile, she is seen with the same uniform holding with her nón lá.

Personality and Interests

Vietnam is described as "headstrong" due to the number of strong women in Vietnamese history. She appears a bit shy when it comes to her looks, appearing apprehensive when Taiwan wishes to take a picture with her and is uncomfortable wearing a Santa outfit in a 2009 Christmas Request. In a blog post, Himaruya mentioned that Vietnam has a natural skillfulness and uses it to create a variety of different objects, and Austria mentions in one comic that he special ordered cinnamon from Vietnam.

In the volume four strip Ilha Formosa ~Beautiful Island~, Vietnam claims that she is not photogenic. In the Christmas 2011 event, Vietnam shows that she doesn't know how to smile and requests Thailand's help. It was shown that Vietnam is also a somewhat shy person when, at the Halloween 2013 Event, she was was very flustered about the shortness of her costume's skirt.

In Volume 5 of Axis Powers, she is mentioned as a young woman who is shy and humble but has a very strong will. She has had a rough background, but she is tough despite her cute face. In Volume 6, Vietnam is described as a proper young lady who wears áo dài, and she is a country that is full of strong women.

In her new profile in Chapter 376 of World☆Stars, she is described as an energetic nation with a lot of pride, and she values tradition and honor. She prefers coffee to tea and adds a lot of condensed milk to it. She also doesn't believe to things like "the middle person in a three-person photo will be unlucky" but she still doesn't want to be in the middle in a three-person photo. She is also revealed to be dangerous when drunk.

Appearances

In the Manga

Vietnam made an official debut in 2011 in the comic Ilha Formosa ~Beautiful Island~ in Hetalia: Axis Powers Volume 4. In this comic, Taiwan asked to take a picture with her and Vietnam nervously agreed, only to discover that Taiwan had the photos retouched as a standard practice and was shocked at how she looked.

She also later appeared in Comic Birz episode 17, being invited by Taiwan to a meeting to discuss the name of the feeling you have when you have a favorite anime and the voice actors get firmly associated with the characters in your head, and then there is the slightest change and you suddenly get this strange hazy feeling that something isn't right.

In the Halloween 2011 Event, Vietnam was shown winning the costume contest by wearing a giant TOPIO robot costume, and in the Halloween 2013 Event, Vietnam appeared with a costume made by Taiwan, but Vietnam realized that the skirt of that costume was too short, which made her felt embarrassed.

Vietnam made her World☆Stars debut in 2021, in chapter 371, and appears throughout the subsequent arc involving several ASEAN nations.

In the Anime

Vietnam made a non-speaking cameo in The World Twinkle episode Surprise Halloween! as the winner of the costume contest for her TOPIO robot costume. However, unlike in the comic, the robot was not labelled as Vietnam.

Vietnam made her first visual appearance, albeit still a non-speaking cameo, in the first episode of Hetalia: World☆Stars where she attended the world conference and was sitting next to Hungary.

Relationships

  • Taiwan: In a strip in Volume 4 of the manga, Taiwan took Vietnam to a photo studio to take pictures of themselves, Taiwan calling Vietnam "cute". At the studio, their photographs were retouched to make their eyes bigger, as this was often done. Upon receiving the photographs, Vietnam found the retouched photos shocking, as Taiwan found them cute.
  • Thailand: Though Thailand and Vietnam came to the Halloween 2011 party in the same group, their main interaction has been in the Christmas 2011 event, in which a fan requested that Vietnam smile. As Vietnam asked Thailand how to smile, she noticed that he wore a funny shirt, which then caused her to smile as she asked where he got it.
  • Monaco: In Halloween 2013, Monaco stood in front of Vietnam and Taiwan and gave opinion how they wore. Vietnam asked her would she want to wore like Taiwan and she, Monaco gave an answer that she was just an onlooker, Vietnam asked her: "Are you and old man?".
  • ASEAN: She has good relations with other Southeast Asian countries despite her opposite personality. Sometimes she feels quite the opposite of them.
  • Italy Veneziano: When North Italy guested at ASEAN's meeting in chapter 377 of World☆Stars, she asked how did his sightseeing go, in which Italy answered that it's fun and he saw a lot of new things.

Trivia

  • The sketch named Asia3, later revealed as an alternate draft of the Vietnam character, was slightly controversial as many fans made claims that it was actually a sketch of a character representing the Philippines or Indonesia.

Vietnam in the Asia3 sketch

  • Vietnam is the second Asian country to be depicted as a woman, and along with Thailand, is one of the first Southeast Asian countries in Hetalia.
  • She has not been given an official birthday, but fans often use September 2nd, which is the Independence Day of Vietnam.
  • A common first name fans use for her is Liên, though she has no official or suggested name from Himaruya.

Notes

  1. ↑ At the moment it is unknown when Vietnam 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. ↑ As stated, her exact physical age is unknown. However, she has commonly been depicted with other canonically teenage characters, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Monaco, and has has somewhat "shippy" interactions with Taiwan.
  3. ↑ Most notably Taiwan, who repeatedly flusters her during their interactions.
  4. ↑ The word Himaruya used specifically translates to "ornaments".
  5. ↑ Two important flowers in Vietnamese culture. The lotus is the national flower of Vietnam and symbolizes purity, knowledge, etc. Chrysanthemums are considered a status symbol for the old Vietnamese nobility as well as being a symbol of longevity. Click here and here for more information.
  6. ↑ A popular Vietnamese sponge cake, known for being chewy and sweet, and often made with coconut milk. Click here for more information.
  7. ↑ Two Vietnamese rice noodle (bún) dishes. Bún riêu is made up of clear stock, thin rice noodles, tomato broth, and minced freshwater crab, though there are several varieties with other additions. Bún bò Huế is made up of rice noodles (which are thicker and more cylindrical than the noodles used in bún riêu and phở), along with beef, chả lụa (Vietnamese sausage), and sometimes pork knuckles. Click here and here for more information.

References