Moe “萌え”
Moe is one of those Otaku terms that gets thrown around a lot when professing love to a character, but what does it mean? The definition of Moe has always been some sort of obscurity due to the sheer difference of opinion to the word.
General Definition:
The Kanji for Moe “萌え” can mean budding/sprouting, but it is also a homonym (sounds the same, but has a different meaning) to “燃え” which is to burn/burning. This doesn’t mean that only young prepubescent characters can be moe.
Whilst it is hard to truly define the term Moe, it is generally agreed upon that the term is an expression of a trigger (or the budding) of strong affections/feelings or the “desire to protect” towards a character. In some cases, the affections can be lust related, but cases of pure lust attractions are considered to be outside of the broad scopes of Moe.
Just like how it is hard to define an expression or feeling, it is hard to pin down what Moe represents exactly. To different people, it could mean something completely different. Just as different people have dietary preferences, some people may like Tsundere girls and some people won’t, moe is subjective which is what makes it difficult to define.
Uses:
In addition to being used to express affections towards a character, Moe has also been used by Japanese girls as a replacement for “Kawaii” which means cute in Japanese.
Cultural Influences:
Since its introduction, more attention began shifting towards creating moe characters to attract a greater audience, creating more character diversities in series.
As the term became more commonly used, many companies saw an opportunity and created products that utilizes or borrows elements from Moe, from educational books and games which the features moe characters to motivate otaku to pick up different languages to work out videos where the coach or work out partner is a cute anime girl (Anitore!EX) and most notably the Japanese Government using moe to encourage otaku to join the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF)!
In addition to being used for marketing, there are also Moe Contests in Japan. An example is the Anime Saimoe Tournament on Japanese website 2channel “2ちゃんねる” (2ch) which votes for the most moe character of the year.
Moe isn’t exclusive to 2D characters. In 2014, Former Ukranian official Natalia Poklonskaya was appointed as the Prosecutor General of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. A video of her speech during the official press conference was released on YouTube and she quickly became an internet sensation in Japan, inspiring an incredible amount of fan art and capturing the hearts of many otakus in Japan.
Who or what in your opinion is moe? Share it with us in the comments as well as other terms you want to be explained at QooPedia!