It is one of my lives Principe that as my life goes on, it’s going to get weirder and weirder. ‘Oh no, why is he getting philosophical’ you might wonder…Trust me, you will understand as I go on.
I was having lunch at my cubicle when one of my colleagues pops over and took a seat. From now on my colleague will be known as…I-O. I-O is your average joe who is, well, let says is not exactly into otaku culture. So imagine my surprise when I-O ask me this question ‘L-E , what’s moé?’
Upon hearing that question, I reckon I have must made one of my patented ∑(O_O；) faces, stupefied as I was. How the heck I’m going to answer this one?
Here’s how the rest of the conversation played out:
L-E: Mate, where did you pick that up?
I-O: Read an article about it in the Feb issue of gameaxis (FYI, it’s a gaming mag here in Malaysia).
L-E: What it say in the mag?
I-O: Uh, can’t remember and since I didn’t buy the mag…
L-E: Lol, cheapskate.
I-O: So buddy, since you are immersed in this sub-culture, what the heck is moé?
L-E: Uh, I can’t exactly give a precise answer since I’m no expert. Moé has different meaning for people. For me, moé is an overwhelming but harmless kinda of love. Called it a pure kinda love. Note that I only use it for manga, anime and game chara but now it is being applied to real people as well. Moé is now being use for both male and female character as well. No, I never used moé for any male character, just for the record.
I-O: Okay, go on.
L-E: Again, this might just be my observation but moé characters possess some kind of attribute or quality that endears them to the audience. This range from physical looks to behaviour.
I-O: So maybe one can say moé is some sort of platonic love?
L-E: In a way, yeah.
I-O: Sounds very Freudian to me o_O.
L-E: Lol, fair enough.
Note this conversation is not 100% correct. This is as close as I remember it was and I’ve confirm with I-O himself. Just for the record ^^.
An academic discussion this ain’t, eh? Well, aside from that, do you agree with my definition of moé? For me, I reckon each person have their own interpretation of what is moé. Be nice if some of you can give your own take of what is moé ^^.
Accidentally I bought the gameaxis mag, out of curiosity. Quite a good article, I reckon. No surprise since it was written by über blogger Kurogane. Maybe I should show that article to my dad. Would make one hell of a discussion. Then again…maybe not xD.
(sort of)
not really sure what is moe but i thing is love of something from a anime.
rokku’s last blog post..Event Reminder - The Matsuri 2008
Too bad I only buy PCGamer Malaysia. Might flip through that issue just for the article ^^
Shin’s last blog post..Weaboo@Washinomiya
lol, i didnt knew the meaning until this year. XD
Choo’s last blog post..GTO (Live-Action Series)
it’s really hard to say what moe is, you just knew it ^^;
but seems like moe is starting to take shape, since there’s something like moe anime now (anime that has lots of moe characteristics, cute, reserved, tsundere, maid, loli, etc) ^^
ron~’s last blog post..Kyonko and Haruki (Coloring)
your definition of Moe would be the one that was distilled by Kurogane and originally preached by the great Akamatsu Ken sensei.
it is also the same school of thought i subscribe to.
a discussion in the end of the final volume of Genshiken(english version)stated that moe is a character flaw that will endear the character to the masses and that the flaw should be something we can identify with such as insecurities about ones body.(Minami-chan from Lucky Star)
in essence the characters dilemma would not be something as grand as Anti-spirals but would be daily occurrences in life. i hope my rambling made some sense.
BTW, L-E you going to any of the two cons this weekend? one at the curve and the other at Sungei Wang.
Setsuna-san’s last blog post..Truth can be stranger than fiction.
I also had the impression that moe refers to endearing characters and to an extreme extent to something ecchi ^^
To me, in simpler terms, moe refers to characters that switches on the “protection mode” in you. Upon seeing her fall down, or being clumsy, or acting cute, you just feel like you need to protect him/her.
If it switches on my oniichan power, then it’s platonic love (Rika of Higurashi, Maria of Zetsubou-sensei), but that’s not always the case.
Sometimes the need to protect another comes from romantic love, like how you want to protect your girlfriend when she’s in trouble. Anime characters that are portrayed as beautiful instead of cute (like Kokoro of Aibaby or Eri/Yakumo/Ichijou of Sukuran) might trigger this kind of protective behaviour, like how Hanai felt when he saw Yakumo sleeping on the bench. XD
Yup, it’s all freudian. That’s just my two cents
ahbonk’s last blog post..Go Green
hermes-san = moe
lol
Many people that know a little of anime think that the word moe is related to hentai or lolis and so sometimes we have major discussions. Normally I avoid talking about it because its really difficult to explain the meaning of this word
Belela-san’s last blog post..Advantages of having a blog in another language than your own
I wrote that GameAxis article, lol.
This month is about tsunderes. :))
Kurogane’s last blog post..Minami-ke ~Okawari~ 10
Ahh tsundere… my favourite
ahbonk’s last blog post..Go Green