What's with Britannia?

Honestly I wanna know why call America Britannia? I've seen a lot of animes with Britannia instead of America (basically meaning we lost to Europe.) Why does Japan do this? Are they afraid of us?

idk, I've only noticed that with Code Geass.

I've noticed it in 3 or 4 of em... I forget which ones though -_-'

Code Geass was defiantly the most known one.

It's set at an alternate universe that breaks away from normal history around the time of the Greeks.

So a lot of shit happened back then.

Most importantly, Britannia was the native tribes of England before the British pushed them back into Ireland. But in this reality, instead of assimilating into their invaders society they travel to the New World(North America) and settle their first, that is, after they regain power in what is in this reality, modern day U.K. There they establish a bloodline of Britannian royalty and are loyal to Britannia. The Americans lose the Revolutionary War, Washington is defeated(of whom C.C. is speculated to have known personally) paving the way for the powerhouse that is Britannia, not America.

That's basically the jist of it. I'm pretty sure some of the details are off but the main points are their.

I wasn't interested in Code Geass for awhile til' I saw episode 24 or something where they were at babel tower, and now I'm hooked. :shock:

Code Geass calls it "Britannia", but I thought that included the US, Canada and at least part of Europe...(mind you, I never watched Geass)

Strike Witches uses the name Britannia for England, though. The United States is called Liberion.

"Britannia" was originally the name the Romans gave to British isles, and it was actually personified as a form of Goddess or similar higher power(the image of Britannia is embossed on certain coins in England, and she's usually depicted as wielding a trident and wearing a centurion-esque helmet). "Britannia" was a powerful symbolic force for England's expansionist empire-building days, and the "Rule Britannia" concept of Divine Right played into it.

Erm... maybe because the Japanese find that "Britannia" sounds cooler than the original names of countries found in reality? :D

Then again, it could also be due to political reasons. If actual countries were protrayed in bad light, as seen in certain anime titles, relations with these countries may be hurt. Trivial you may say, but these days, you never know who may try to find fault with whatever you are doing. I believe some movies have received criticisms for related reasons.

I think that it might have something to do with Japan having very little contact with the United States, so seeming more accessible to them to just refer to the whole west as a colony of Britain. That, and it does sound cooler. Then again, why really bother too much about the specifics when it comes to anime?

Let's get this straight: Britannia = UK, not the USA. I don't know of any other anime that refers the UK as Britannia other than Code Geass.

I thought Code Geass using "Britannia" was nice, since it seems to reference the fact that Britain did, at one time, control most of the world. Britain, so far, has been the only country to have that sort of power, all across the globe. Even if the US is powerful, we don't invade other countries and claim them as our own property. (Any jokes about the current situation in the Middle East will be considered to be in poor taste, because it's too damn easy. Political humor should be a bit more thoughtful.)

People, fucking read my post. I don't know about Strike Witches but for for Code Geass, it was an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE where

Therefore, "America" never existed.