Ask John: How Does John Define Moe?

Question:
Interestingly otaku themselves don’t agree on what constitutes moe. Japan’s male otaku mostly believe moe characters must be female – therefore they considered Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo’s Ayako a moe character and Mamoru not for SaiMoe. I thought that was ass backwards. Some maintain moe characters must not be sexualized, but I think that’s unrealistic; even if moe was initially based on completely “pure” feelings, otaku sexualize everything. Still others insist “true” moe characters must be drawn in a POP-like style.

Answer:
These days, my own interpretation of moe is that which arouses moe feelings. Moe feelings are an obsessive, warm attraction, affection, and adoration. That definition excludes gender, thus allowing both male and female characters to be moe, and simultaneously explaining the moe of school swimsuits, glasses, kemono mimi, and other characteristics that don’t have gender. Anything that arouses feelings of affection and adoration nearly inevitably involve some degree of sexual fetishization. That’s simply an unavoidable condition of human nature. However, the unavoidable intrusion of marginal sexual objectification doesn’t necessarily overtly sexualize the subject. It’s probably impossible for an adult male to affectionately perceive a cute young girl without any consciousness of her existence as a sexual entity whatsoever, but fathers maintain asexual relationships with their daughters every day. A passive subconscious or minimally intrusive sexual attraction doesn’t prevent a young man from perceiving a cute little girl in the role of a little sister or daughter. So strictly excluding sexual attraction from moe is impossible, and not even necessary, although active sexual attraction shifts a relationship out of the realm of chaste moe attraction into a conventional viewer/object relationship. Especially cute rendering, like the small, rosy-cheeked character designs of illustrator POP, are typically considered the epitome of moe for good reason. These sort of character designs from artists like POP, Blade, Okama, YUG, Kagami Yoshimizu, Atsushi Ogasawara, and Peach Pit enable easy identification of moe characters. However, strictly limiting the categorization of moe characters to only those with giant eyes and puffy cheeks who stand no more than four feet tall excludes undeniably moe characters including Saki Miyanaga from Saki, Strike Witches’ Yoshika Miyafuji, Index from To Aru Majutsu no Index, and Shion Yasuoka from Shion no Ou.

I’d like to emphasize that with such a broad definition of moe, what distinguishes it from conventional otaku obsession is its sense of protectiveness and warmth. A robot otaku, megane otaku, seifuku otaku, imouto otaku, (anime) idol otaku may harbor an intense affection for a certain singular character or object, or a genus of characters or objects in the same way that someone possessed of moe affection does, but the difference in perspective lies in the distinctive feelings involved in the affection. For example, an imouto otaku or bakunyuu otaku may have an intense interest in little sister characters or the casts of Ikkitousen and Queen’s Blade. The infatuation may involve a sexual interest, but more importantly, it’s characterized by an academic, objective interest. The otaku may be fascinated by the appearances or methods of use of characters or traits in different anime; may want to know all about certain characters or objects; or may have a possessive collector approach to the object of interest. It may be called a cold, intellectual, or rational attraction despite the possible prevalence of romantic or sexual interest. The moe attraction, is a burning passion, although not one inbued with intent sexual interest. Otaku interest is a relationship between equals or a respect of the observer toward the observed. Moe interest is a relationship between an elder or parental observer and the observed, or an effervescent, emotional interest. The megane otaku loves to see anime girls in glasses, see what different anime girls look like while wearing glasses, imagine the personality and psychology of characters that wear glasses, and catalog anime characters that wear glasses. The otaku (after all, moe is a distinction with the otaku community) who is moe for megane simply feels weak in the knees upon seeing anime girls wearing glasses. There’s no rational examination involved; it’s just an immediate emotional affectation. The otaku is interested in the life cycle, environment, and habits of the koala bear. The person moe for koala bear sees one and immediately wants to hug it.

That’s my definition of moe, as it stands now.