Moe in Use
Nakagawa Shoko (中川翔子), an idol singer and blogger was on a TV program featuring Japanese top ten anime songs. The moment Ayanami Rei (綾波レイ), her favorite anime character, appeared on the monitor, she exclaimed "Moe!" and surprised other participants. She said, "I love to see Ayanami get hurt and groan with severe pains."
Shoko also confessed her aspiration for the anime "Rozen Maiden" on her internet-TV program, wearing a black dress similar to the first Rozen Maiden doll Suigintou (水銀燈Mercury Lamp). This wicked doll also has unique physical imperfections. In the anime, she is missing her torso and in the manga, her wings have ravaged her back with cracks.
The Definition
The Japanese slang word "moe"(萌え) came into use in the late 1980s. Originally, it referred to love for imaginary characters in video games or anime and manga. Recently the term has come to be used as a general term for enthusiasm and mean simply a passionate interest in something.
The properties which make a character "moe" is easy to recognize. They often include youthfulness as a physical trait (young age) or as an emotional trait (naive or innocent outlook) and also some obvious sympathetic weakness the character tries hard to overcome. All these properties have something to do with imperfections. Namely, "moe" is love for the imperfect, which could stir our wildest imagination.
Nakagawa Shoko (中川翔子), an idol singer and blogger was on a TV program featuring Japanese top ten anime songs. The moment Ayanami Rei (綾波レイ), her favorite anime character, appeared on the monitor, she exclaimed "Moe!" and surprised other participants. She said, "I love to see Ayanami get hurt and groan with severe pains."
Shoko also confessed her aspiration for the anime "Rozen Maiden" on her internet-TV program, wearing a black dress similar to the first Rozen Maiden doll Suigintou (水銀燈Mercury Lamp). This wicked doll also has unique physical imperfections. In the anime, she is missing her torso and in the manga, her wings have ravaged her back with cracks.
The Definition
The Japanese slang word "moe"(萌え) came into use in the late 1980s. Originally, it referred to love for imaginary characters in video games or anime and manga. Recently the term has come to be used as a general term for enthusiasm and mean simply a passionate interest in something.
The properties which make a character "moe" is easy to recognize. They often include youthfulness as a physical trait (young age) or as an emotional trait (naive or innocent outlook) and also some obvious sympathetic weakness the character tries hard to overcome. All these properties have something to do with imperfections. Namely, "moe" is love for the imperfect, which could stir our wildest imagination.
