Moe (slang)

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Moe (萌え, Moe^? /mo'e/, pronounced "mo-eh" literally "budding", as with a plant) is a Japanese slang word originally referring to fetish for or love for characters in video games or anime and manga. For example, 眼鏡っ娘萌え, meganekko-moe, "glasses-girl moe", describes a person who is attracted to fictional characters with eyeglasses. The term has come to be used as a general term for a hobby, enthusiasm, or fetish (non-sexual). For instance, 鉄道萌え, tetsudō-moe, "train moe", is simply a passionate interest in trains.

"Moe!" is also used within anime fandom as an interjection referring to a character the speaker considers to be a moekko. It is even used in some anime, such as Ouran High School Host Club, Lucky Star, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Both the spellings moe and moé are used in English.^[1] Some writers add an accent mark in an attempt to indicate that the word should be pronounced as two morae, "mo" and "e", but this usage does not conform to any standard of romanization.

1 Origins
2 Moe characterization in anime and manga
- 2.1 Typical moe characters
3 Commercial application
4 Moe contests
- 4.1 Saimoe
5 Criticism
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Origins

The term's origin and etymology is unknown. Anime columnist John Oppliger has outlined several popular theories describing how the term would have stemmed from the name of anime heroines (such as Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon or Moe Sagisawa from the 1993 anime Kyoryu Wakusei) ^[2]. Others^[who?] believe that it was a wordplay on "to burn" (燃える, moeru^?), figuratively interpreted as "to burn with passion" (in other words, to be madly in love)

Moe characterization in anime and manga

To better elicit a moe emotional response with the audience for a certain character, a mangaka or animator will sometimes use certain traits in the character's design. The most common features include youthfulness as a physical trait (younger age or pigtails) or as an emotional trait such as a naive or innocent outlook, a child-like personality, or some obvious sympathetic weakness the character works hard to correct (extreme clumsiness or a life-threatening disease) but never really succeeds to get rid of.^{[citation needed]}

Typical moe characters

The typical moe character is not usually just about looks - they can also have a humorous side, for example the Ouran High School Host Club character Mitsukuni Haninozuka (埴之塚光邦 Haninozuka Mitsukuni) always carries a pink bunny toy but can wipe out a fleet of police with his bodyguard and friend Takashi Morinozuka (銛之塚崇 (モリ), Morinozuka Takashi (Mori)).

Commercial application

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (November 2007)

Further information: moe anthropomorphism

With moe anthropomorphism, moe characteristics are applied to give human elements to non-human objects. The Gradius video game series features a spaceship in the name of Vic Viper. For a spin-off game, moe is applied to Vic Viper to create Otomedius.^[3] Moe characters have expanded within the Japanese media market. In 2004, the market for moe media such as printed media, video, and games was worth 88 billion yen. This is roughly one-third of the estimated 290 billion yen otaku market in Japan.^[4]

Moe contests

Japanese magazine Dengeki Moeoh runs a column called "Moeoh Rankings" which features the top 10 moe characters of the month, as determined by reader votes.^[5]

Saimoe

Main article: Anime Saimoe Tournament

The Anime Saimoe Tournament is one of those contests. It has been organized by members of 2channel every year since 2002.^[6] Moe characters entering within the fiscal year starting July 1 and ending June 30 the following year are eligible. Each tournament has at least 280 moe characters. They must have any of the following qualifications^[7]:

Anime newly broadcasted in Japan on TV or internet over 5 stories or a half of the full stories in that period
OVAs (Original Video Animations) newly released in Japan in that period
Anime films newly screened in Japan in that period

Spin-offs of the Saimoe Tournament include RPG Saimoe, which exclusively features video game characters, and SaiGAR, a competition between the manliest men of anime; despite the participation of Takamachi Nanoha in SaiGAR 2007^[8]. In 2006 and 2007, the Saimoe Tournament became an increasingly international event; 2channel users obliged foreign otaku by putting up an English version of their rules page.^[7]

Criticism

Superflat treatment of moe, showing an idealized Miyazaki-style character greatly distorted

In response to the otaku fetishization of cute female characters, Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki stated:

“

It's difficult. They immediately become the subjects of lolicon fetishism. In a sense, if we want to depict someone who is affirmative to us, we have no choice but to make them as lovely as possible. But now, there are too many people who shamelessly depict (such heroines) as if they just want (such girls) as pets, and things are escalating more and more.^[9]

”

The difference between the otaku view on cute females and Miyazaki's ideal has been examined by some superflat artists, such as Cannabis' "Linda 3" series in Cannabis Works.^{[citation needed]}