Moe
From WeeabooDB
Moe (pronounced "mo-eh") is a broad term for a series of mental conditions that primarily effect female characters in japanese anime, manga, and video games. The seriousness of the affliction varies from character to character, but quite often results in the character in question becoming little more than two-dimensional, and completely single-minded. Certain types of moe can even result in the character ceasing to function in any way that is actually productive or conducive to the story being told.
Contents |
"Actual" Definition
In actuality, moe is quite simply the idea of making female (For the male version see Reverse-moe and Gar) characters as appealing as possible to a male audience. This is most often achieved through frailty, as terrible writer and manga artist Ken Akamatsu put it. Moe itself is a broad term covering many aspects, but the principle idea behind it is shoving a schoolgirl into a miniskirt and thigh-highs and making her blush uncontrollably.
Generally speaking, any female character that is frail, weak, naive, shy, reserved, submissive, or otherwise in need of help or assistance is moe. The idea itself is nothing new, moe just refers to its application in anime and manga. Essentially it's just a direct continuation of Japan's overtly sexist society and their expectations for women (i.e. to be child-bearing housewives). That might be reading a little far into it, but you just need to get the idea that moe is just idealization.
Anyone who claims that moe has nothing to do with sexualization or attractiveness is lying through their asshole and doing a very poor job of it. I really don't need to elaborate much more on this point.
History
Sometime in the past twenty years animation studios in Japan came to a shocking realization - writing convincing, interesting, appealing characters is hard work. As a result, the idea of moe archetypes was formed (albeit gradually). There is no one starting point for this monstrosity, but it has only become prevalent as an ideal, or "must have" in the last decade.
For the most part, shows where the primary focus is on moe fanservice are cash cows. They take literally nothing to make and generate merchandise sales like nothing else. Studios traditionally use them to generate cash for their other, more noteworthy, endeavors. Merchandise includes a whole array of creepy items like dakimakura, figurines, wallscrolls, lunch boxes, and exorbitantly-priced DVDs.
Much to the chagrin of most anime fans, moe has also made its way into perfectly legitimate shows as well. It's not uncommon to see a cast full of rounded, developed characters accompanied by a single-minded moeblob who looks to fit in amongst the others about as well as something that doesn't fit in very well. In cases such as these one may regard it as obligatory fanservice, much like visual novels often include obligatory h-scenes. It's something the studio feels they must do in order to sell DVDs or merchandise. It's unfortunate, but blame the creepy weirdos in Japan for that one.
Symptoms
Typically any situation where a female character is being painted as weak or frail is intended to be moe. There's simply too many situations to list, but some popular scenarios include:
- Bookworm/Meganekko
- Subservient Maid
- Sickly/Bedridden
- Childhood Friend
- The Rei Clone (Quiet/Emotionless)
- The Rich Girl (FUFUFUFUFUFUFU)
- The "dere's": Yandere, Kuudere, and Tsundere
Examples
Here I will embed some videos or something of ~*~moe~*~.
