Year Hare Affair

''Year Hare Affair'' ( zh, c=那年那兔那些事(儿), l=Those stories of that rabbit that happened in those years) is a Chinese webcomic and media franchise by Lin Chao ( zh, labels=no, c=林超), initially under the pen name "" ( Pinyin: , "flight against the light"). The comic uses anthropomorphic animals as an allegory for nations and sovereign states to represent 20th century political, military and diplomatic events.

An animated adaptation of the series started airing on the Internet in March 2015 and a free-to-play strategy video game based on it was released on iOS and Android in July 2015.

Characters

Factions and characters

}), but can still inflict nasty bites and kicks when irritated, representing the People's Republic of China's traditionally not so aggressive foreign policies, but can still pack a heavy punch when required. Another explanation for it is that the Chinese words for " comrade" and "rabbit/hare" sound very similar when pronounced with a Shanghainese accent, as famously coined by crosstalk comedian Jiang Kun during the 1980s.

The Hare normally prefers to act friendly and ''moe'' in front of others and is obsessed with working the fields harvesting carrots and earning "small money", but when provoked into fighting often wields a cleaver and a brick in each hand while emitting a hellish black aura, and later learns to "plant mushrooms" and build " water cabinets". When extremely enraged, the Hare dons a green dinosaur suit and becomes a Godzilla-like monster that breathes fire.
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, Republic of China in all its forms (minus Communist) , , Baldhead , , Based on the (absence of) hair of Chiang Kai-shek. In Standard Chinese the words "baldhead" (秃子 ''tūzi'') and "Hare" (兔子 ''tùzi'') are near-homophones, which also represent the complexity of Cross-Strait relations.
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, Hong Kong Democrats , , Cockroach , , Based on the slur used by Hong Kong police against Anti-ELAB Protestors. Some big wig cockroaches such as HSBC executives have a yellow sticker on a front leg.
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, Qing dynasty and Manchukuo, , Pigtail , , Based on the queues which is the Manchu hairstyle of the Qing dynasty. (辫子 ''biànzi'').
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, United States , , Bald eagle , , Bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America.
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, Soviet Union , , Russian Bear , , Bear is a common national personification for Russia and the USSR starting from the Russian Empire. The Soviet bear has a symbol — the hammer and sickle of Communism — on his stomach, which later becomes more like a character, "父", meaning "father" in Chinese.
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, Russia , , Russian Bear with a single separated hair , , To differentiate from Soviet Union, this bear has a character "大" ("big" in Chinese, or "eldest" when describing age order of siblings) on his stomach, meaning that he is the "eldest son" of the USSR. The hair refers to "毛子" ("hairy ones", referring to the comparatively higher body hair count in Caucasians), a common northern Chinese nickname for Russians (and all East Slavs by extension).
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, Ukraine , , Russian Bear with two separate hairs , , To differentiate from Russia, this bear has a number "2" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "second son" of the USSR.
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, Belarus , , Russian Bear with three separate hairs , , To differentiate from Russia, this bear has a number "3" on his stomach, meaning that he is the "third son" of the USSR.
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, Japan , , Crane / Chicken , , The crane is an important part of the Japanese culture, and the fact that the green pheasant is Japan's official national bird. Chicken is derived from Crane based on the Chinese ethnic slur Xiao Riben
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, South Korea , , Stick with helmet , , ''Bangzi'' is an ethnic slur by Chinese people towards Korean. To differentiate with North Korea, a US-style combat helmet is added to the appearance of South Korea.
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, North Korea , , Stick wearing a ski cap with a red star , , ''Bangzi'' is an ethnic slur by Chinese people towards Korean. To differentiate with South Korea, a Communist-style red star cap is added to the appearance of North Korea.
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, Various Southeast Asian countries:
Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines , , Monkey , , In Chinese, monkey is a racist term used to describe Southeast Asians.
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, Pakistan , , Markhor , , Markhor is commonly seen in Pakistan and the national animal. In the animation the Markhor is called ''Ba Ba Yang'' ("Pak Goat") and sometimes nicknamed "Little Ba" by the Hare.
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, India , , White elephant , , White elephant is commonly seen in India as an important part of Hindu mythology. In the animation the author chooses it rather than the bull which is sacred in Hindu to represent India because bull has already been used to represent the UK.
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, United Kingdom , , Bull , , " John Bull" is a national personification of England and the United Kingdom in general.
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, France , , Gallic rooster , , Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France.
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, Cuba , , Crocodile , , Based on the shape of the country
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, Germany , , Tiger / Cat , , The Tiger I/ II heavy tanks and the Jagdtiger series tank destroyers are the most famous German armoured fighting vehicles from the Second World War, so in the comic Germany was at first a tiger called "Hans". But since both East and West Germany had been restricted in military strength after World War II, the " big cat" have been "tamed" and "downsized" to " small cats".
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, Various African countries in:
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
Tanzania,
Sudan,
South Sudan,
Eritrea , , Hippopotamus , , Hippo is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in Sub-Saharan Africa generally stereotyped as being simple-witted and clumsy. Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all African countries mentioned are represented by hippopotamus, except for the Ugandan junta regime under Idi Amin. Also, "Colonel Ka the Hippo" sometimes symbolizes Muammar Gaddafi himself other than the country. Sudan and South Sudan only appear in the end of Episode 3, Season 2 of the animation.
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, Uganda , , Duck , , "Uncle Crazy Duck" is, in fact, the nickname of Idi Amin Dada among Chinese netizens. The appearance of "Uncle Crazy Duck" in the comic is based upon Count Duckula who wears a Teletubby-like hippo fursuit and has loose screws on his head, meaning that his brain is "different" from other Africans. In the animation, Uncle Crazy Duck shouts "Banana!" during speeches like the Minions.
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, Various Arab world countries:
Afghanistan,
Saudi Arabia,
Iraq,
Pahlavi Iran , , Camel , , Camel is commonly seen and used as transportation in the arid, desert Middle East and Central Asia. Both in the comic and the animation, nearly all mentioned Arabic countries are represented by camels, but they have different appearance — Afghan camel wears a scarf and is bearded; Saudi (and other Gulf nations by extension) camel wears a scarf and many diamonds; Iraqi camel under the Saddam Hussein regime wears a military beret; and Iranian camel during the Pahlavi dynasty has a crown on his head.
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, Post-revolution Iran , , Persian lion , , Lion is the symbol of ancient Iran and the Persian Empire. The religious reform of Ruhollah Khomeini made the shia-majority Iran quite different from its sunni Arabic neighbours, and so the author chooses the symbol of ancient Persia to represent it.

Others

}) is one of the author's online nickname, and comes in the form of a green snake with a pair of short yellow antlers. The Snake is often violently beaten up by other characters for inappropriately awkward straight man talks, and frequently threatened by the Hare to be cooked into a pasty soup — a running in-joke about the author's notoriety of often delaying the periodic updates of the comic series. The Chinese characters for "update" () and " paste" () are homophones both pronouncing ''Gēng'', causing the series' fans to create a parodic light poetry: "if the Snake doesn't update, make im intoa snake paste ()."
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, Lin Chao's wife
, Snail Fairy
, Lin Chao's girlfriend (whom he married later) was often used as an excuse when he failed to update the comics on time, so an avatar is created as a recurrent cameo character who is a homemaker for the author, like in the Chinese legend of the Snail Fairy.
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, Director of the animated cartoon
, Tree
, "Two Tree" ( zh, 二树) is the online username of the director/producer of the comics' animated series, so an avatar is created as a cameo character.
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, Suning.com
, Lion
, Suning.com is a sponsor of the animated series, and its mascot is a lion.
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Included events

* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Chinese Communist Revolution
* Korean War
* Sino-Soviet Split
* United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758
* Sino-Vietnamese War
* Scarborough Shoal standoff
* The Commission of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning
* U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade
* Hainan Island incident
* Cold War
* Vietnam War
* Battle of the Paracel Islands
* Uganda–Tanzania War
* 30 September Movement
* Sino-Soviet border conflict
* 1972 Nixon visit to China
* Soviet–Afghan War
* Cultural Revolution
* Iran–Iraq War
* Dissolution of the Soviet Union
* Gulf War
* Chinese economic reform
* Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
* The Signing of Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China
* Yinhe incident
* Kosovo War
* September 11 attacks
* War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
* Chen Shui-bian corruption charges
* Senkaku Islands dispute
* Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts
* Hundred Regiments Offensive

Video game

A free-to-play strategy role-playing video game based on the webcomic, was released on iOS and Android on 15 July 2015. The player controls one of three factions: Hare, Bald Eagle and Bear.

Reception

Critical response

The comic expresses the modern history of China and its international relations in a fun way. It has sparked patriotism in China's younger generations.

Hare () is now used as Internet slang referring to China.

Criticisms

The historical vision, provided in first two seasons of ''Year Hare Affair'', came under heavy criticism in an overview on the Russian website South China Insight, especially Sino-Soviet relations. Though it is admitted that relations with Russia "occupy a leading place" in reflecting of Chinese history, but with a "complete disregard for historical facts", such as Soviet involvement in the Chinese Communist Party's foundation and the Red Army's liberation of Manchuria from Japanese forces. It was also noted that the Sino-Vietnamese War has been completely left behind.

Oiwan Lam of Global Voices Online finds racism in portraying the African as a hippopotamus, which she considers "a lazy and stupid animal". In that regard, "China's aid for Africa has also been simplified as a last resort because 'the first world refused to play with us'".

Ratings

The second and third season received 8.6 and 8.4 points out of 10 on Douban.

References

Further reading

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External links

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Authors's Sina Weibo
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Year Hare Affair
Manhua titles
2011 comics debuts
2015 web series debuts
Animated web series
Chinese webcomics
Chinese web series
Comedy web series
Comics adapted into animated series
Comics adapted into video games
Comics about rabbits and hares
Fables
Mass media franchises
Works about China
Political webcomics