Moe is a cute phenomenon, infatuation, love, fetish and anime

The word "moe" is extremely ill-defined because it was created by fans themselves - and has different meanings in different languages. It was originally used by Japanese otaku to denote attraction, fetishization of anything from hobbies to anime or video game characters. However, in the gaijin environment, this word usually denotes characters who evoke a special kind of attraction in the viewer: the desire to take under the wing, take care of the charmer, be touched, in general, PROTECC at any cost. The same word denotes the genre of anime dedicated to such heroes, and even the feelings that arise towards them. Moe characters often have a lot of fans (in fact, that's the point of them) and become waifus.

Characteristic signs of moe[edit]

The era of moe - cute girls everywhere
The moe character is in most cases a young girl or girl who evokes tenderness and sympathy in the viewer. She is beautiful, has a small stature, soft, rounded features (which I would like to describe with diminutive suffixes: “cheeks”, “hands”, “hair”), large eyes and small other facial features in comparison with them. She attracts people - but unintentionally, remaining a pure and innocent almost-child, and not a flirtatious beauty. Such characters are most often very smart, polite and well-mannered - but they lack worldly wisdom and experience, which is why moe girls are childishly naive and clumsy. They are often embarrassed, blush and shy, but, unlike a typical Dandere, modesty does not prevent them from communicating with people, but only emphasizes the charm of youth. Sometimes the heroine has complexes, but they are small and also more cute than truly interfering with life. The most common are shame due to precociously developed (or, conversely, completely flat) breasts and large glasses, which the charming woman can periodically lose, becoming even more clumsy and requiring support.

The deliberately exaggerated image acquired its own name: “the walking pillar of moe.”

Perception of strangers

Japan is still a very closed country. And it is typical for Japanese culture to depict foreigners using images of “aliens” and people from “parallel worlds”. This technique of expressiveness allows you to talk about many problems without causing public condemnation.

From the outside it may seem that something completely crazy is happening in history. The Japanese are well brought up to hide their thoughts, avoid conflicts and “not wash dirty linen in public.” But with the help of archetypal images, in roundabout ways, they can express themselves and their problems.

More tropes[edit]

The moe girl is usually a sweetheart, maybe an ingénue, and almost always just a good girl who provokes the big brother instinct in the viewer and often in the hero. If the anime is not devoid of drama, the moments dedicated to moe become an excellent soul warmer and an opportunity to stroke the girl for other characters - sometimes literally. The tragic option is that Moekko might be broken, and she will become a broken bird, and the viewer will want to hug her more than any other character in a similar situation.

There is also Moe anthropomorphism, and it covers everything. Supertrope - Fanservice.

What's interesting is that male characters can be moe too, but tend to backfire and irritate viewers. A striking example of this is Shinji Ikari. And all because men are not supposed to be cute and helpless.

Excerpt characterizing Moe

Tikhon, who at first corrected the menial work of laying fires, delivering water, skinning horses, etc., soon showed greater willingness and ability for guerrilla warfare. He went out at night to hunt for prey and each time brought with him French clothes and weapons, and when he was ordered, he also brought prisoners. Denisov dismissed Tikhon from work, began to take him with him on travels and enrolled him in the Cossacks. Tikhon did not like to ride and always walked, never falling behind the cavalry. His weapons were a blunderbuss, which he wore more for fun, a pike and an ax, which he wielded like a wolf wields his teeth, equally easily picking out fleas from his fur and biting through thick bones. Tikhon equally faithfully, with all his might, split logs with an ax and, taking the ax by the butt, used it to cut out thin pegs and cut out spoons. In Denisov's party, Tikhon occupied his special, exclusive place. When it was necessary to do something especially difficult and disgusting - turn a cart over in the mud with your shoulder, pull a horse out of a swamp by the tail, skin it, climb into the very middle of the French, walk fifty miles a day - everyone pointed, laughing, at Tikhon. “What the hell is he doing, you big gelding,” they said about him. Once, the Frenchman whom Tikhon was taking shot at him with a pistol and hit him in the flesh of his back. This wound, for which Tikhon was treated only with vodka, internally and externally, was the subject of the funniest jokes in the entire detachment and jokes to which Tikhon willingly succumbed. - What, brother, won’t you? Is Ali crooked? - the Cossacks laughed at him, and Tikhon, deliberately crouching and making faces, pretending that he was angry, scolded the French with the most ridiculous curses. This incident had only the influence on Tikhon that after his wound he rarely brought prisoners. Tikhon was the most useful and brave man in the party. No one else discovered cases of attack, no one else took him and beat the French; and as a result of this, he was the jester of all the Cossacks and hussars and he himself willingly succumbed to this rank. Now Tikhon was sent by Denisov, at night, to Shamshevo in order to take the tongue. But, either because he was not satisfied with just the Frenchman, or because he slept through the night, during the day he climbed into the bushes, into the very middle of the French and, as Denisov saw from Mount Denisov, was discovered by them. After talking a little more time with the esaul about tomorrow's attack, which now, looking at the proximity of the French, Denisov seemed to have finally decided, he turned his horse and rode back. “Well, darling, now let’s go dry off,” he said to Petya. Approaching the forest guardhouse, Denisov stopped, peering into the forest. Through the forest, between the trees, a man in a jacket, bast shoes and a Kazan hat, with a gun over his shoulder and an ax in his belt, walked with long, light steps on long legs, with long, dangling arms. Seeing Denisov, this man hastily threw something into the bush and, taking off his wet hat with its drooping brim, approached the boss. It was Tikhon. His face, pitted with smallpox and wrinkles, with small, narrow eyes, shone with self-satisfied gaiety. He raised his head high and, as if holding back laughter, stared at Denisov. - Well, where did you fall? - Denisov said. - Where had you been? “I followed the French,” Tikhon answered boldly and hastily in a hoarse but melodious bass. - Why did you climb during the day? Cattle! Well, didn’t you take it?.. “I took it,” said Tikhon. - Where is he? “Yes, I took him first at dawn,” Tikhon continued, moving his flat legs turned out wider in his bast shoes, “and took him into the forest.” I see it's not okay. I think, let me go and get another more careful one.

Criticism[edit]

Essentially, all moe is aimed at eliciting a reaction from the viewer. Otakus like certain characters, the authors know this and purposefully sprinkle the right traits into the characters (thus creating moe as a trope), the audience is drawn in and wants more... do you feel the loop of disgusting feedback tightening? Moe traits have been found in some heroines for a long time (for example, according to one version, the word “moe” itself in its modern meaning was formed from the name Hotaru To moe

), but the more content creators exploited the trope, the more noticeable it became and the more annoying it became. As a result, moe now permeates almost the entire otaku culture and is growing further, which could not but affect the quality of performance. There have even been entire subgenres dedicated solely to cute girls doing cute things. Fans, chuckling, are chronicling the “moe era” and are waiting for it to end, and some are seriously indignant towards the next “singing cowards” with heroines who are nothing more than a piece of moeta cuteness.

Notes

1. Jonathan C., McCarthy H.
   The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917. - Revised and Expanded Edition. - Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2006. - P. 31. - ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5.
2. Thompson J.
   Manga: The Complete Guide. - New York: Del Rey Books, 2007. - P. 499. - 556 p. — ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
3. [www.online812.ru/2014/03/20/004/ The new prosecutor of Crimea has become a star in Japan]
4. Snegirev Yu.
   [www.rg.ru/2014/03/20/poklonskaya.html Prosecutor of the Republic]. Russian newspaper (March 20, 2014).
5. [www.j-cast.com/2014/03/20199816.html https://www.j-cast.com/2014/03/20199816.htmlえまくり]. J-CAST (March 20, 2014). Retrieved March 24, 2014.
6. Kozina A.
   [www.rg.ru/2014/08/01/altynbekova-site.html Beauty in Kazakh]. Russian newspaper (August 1, 2014). Retrieved August 3, 2014.
7. [www.gazeta.ru/sport/photo/kazahstanskaya_voleibolistka_pokorila_internet.shtml Kazakh volleyball player conquered the Internet]. Gazeta.Ru (July 31, 2014). Retrieved August 3, 2014.

Examples[edit]

TV series[edit]

• Victoria winner is Kat "Kisa" Valentine.

Cartoons[edit]

• Disney's Snow White.
• “A gift for the weakest” - a bunny.

Animated series[edit]

• Moe Szyslak! Seriously, his name is even spelled "Moe"! Guys, why did you cross out my edit? Well guys! But seriously, Maggie and Lisa.

Anime and manga[edit]

• Lucky Star - Miyuki, Tsukasa and Yutaka.
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Mikuru Asahina.
• Code Geass - SS after memory loss. She was like this once upon a time, when she first received her geass.
• Rozen Maiden - in the prequel to the entire doll series, the true character of the Mercury Lamp is revealed, which made even yesterday's haters fall in love with her, who saw that the gothic pretentious lady is actually a gentle, fragile, affectionate and vulnerable girl, who does not even know how to walk, let alone throw steel feathers. Initially, Gin was just such an affectionate, sincerely loving and kind babe that her first death in the prequel made fans cry like crazy. She would have been destined to remain such an angel, but only Shinku’s meanness showed up very inopportunely, not recognizing a doll without a mystical rose as her sister, and that’s all...
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Nya is a shining example of a princess thrown out of her golden cage, who, by the will of meeting Simon, got the opportunity to learn more about this world. A kind soul, increased cuteness and lobotomite-level calmness (especially the scene with Kittan’s interrogation), coupled with an insanely kawaii appearance, made Nia one of the most memorable moe heroines. And even the anti-spiral essence could not completely kill the sweetheart in her.
• Steins;Gate - Throughout the entire anime, Mayuri is the cutest and cuddliest creature in the world who is impossible not to love. The phrase “Mayushi’s watch has stopped” breaks the heart of the unlucky viewer every time.
• Oyasumi Punpun - Aiko Tanaka, trope deconstruction.
• So Ra No Wo To - 1121st tank platoon in full strength.
• Girls' Last Trip - two main characters, especially their chibi versions.
• K-on! — in the musical group, Mio has, according to her friends, the features of moe. The title itself breathed new life into the trope, giving rise to many copycat stories about how cute girls do X cutely.
• Chobits - Chii, with the exception that she is a robot and her moeshness is due to the fact that she was formatted and develops almost like a human child (in the body of an attractive young girl, of course).
• Love Live! School Idol Project - Hanayo Koizumi.
• Naruto - Hinata of course! And also Gaara after Naruto therapy
• Assassination Classroom: After Koro-sensei's upgrade, Ritsu's moe level began to go through the roof. She develops a sunny disposition, very sweet manners, and a desire to become friends with her classmates as they work together to kill their teacher. Later she even received the corresponding nickname “Moe Box”.
• Nagisa is incredibly charming because of how cute he is and how harmless he looks.
• Kayano is also sweet and cheerful, although this is more deliberate on her part to hide her true nature
  .
• Kurahashi, being popular among her classmates for her optimistic personality and, as one boy commented in his survey of girls, "charming poses". Her love for all living things will also appeal to many animal lovers.
• Yukiko Kanzaki. She is as attractive to her classmates as she is to her fans. In fact, she is the class idol because all the boys have a crush on her and all the girls are her friends. Why is she so popular? According to the guys, there are two reasons: “great personality and super cute looks.”
• Oddly enough, Itona after treatment for tentacles
  . How short he is and how wide his eyes are, combined with his awkwardness around other people, is a big factor in his attractiveness.

Video games[edit]

• Touhou Project - subversion. It seemed that the universe was filled with a bunch of cute girls, and ZUN himself called the same Yuka Kazami “youkai moe”, but he called her in the Japanese definition of this word (and in the PC-98 canon she is a very cruel character, but in Windows she loves to annoy others, although he behaves quite politely), and in general, among the more or less popular characters, there are no ones who at least minimally correspond to the moe type. However, in fan works, moe traits can be attributed to many characters, such as Koishi Komeiji, Hata no Kokoro, and others.

Visual novels[edit]

• Danganronpa - Chihiro Fujisaki , male example
  .
• "DC: Da Capo" - Mizukoshi Moe, possibly a tropnamer.
• “Moe Era” - the name itself is very telling.
• Little Busters! — Kudryavka Nomi. The heroines themselves took the protagonist Ricky's trope as an example when they forced him to dress up in a girls' uniform at their party (yes, it turned out so convincing).
• Clannad - Ryo Fujibayashi.

Other[edit]

• .moe is a generic top-level domain for moe-related websites.
• In general, the disgusting feedback that gave birth to moe also works in real life: for example, on Instagram, girls use some elements of cosplay to attract visitors, quickly notice that there is a demand for moe elements (childishness, cuteness), copying each other they create many moe types, like "e-girl". In turn, producers notice that this image has a certain popularity and create groups like Dora or “Friend Zone” (which even has a male cast).

[edit] See also

• Moe anthropomorphism
• Not moey girl enough