Ask John: What Is Moetan?

Question:
What is Moetan? The new Moetan banner looks really cute on AnimeNation’s website, but I can’t figure out if Moetan is a graphic novel or something else. There aren’t any English websites about it either, and when I translate the page using Google, I get very odd results.

Answer:
On November 22, 2003, Sansai Books published “Moeru Eitango Moetan” (roughly, “Budding English Language Moetan”). The motto of this 213 page book was, “The WORDBOOK you’ve waited for! A revolution in english studying! 2000 most frequently used words and phrases!! Buy now, Falling in love with Ink-chan, and GET IN to college!!” Basically, Moetan was a study guide with an odd “otaku” perspective. The dictionary featured English language words that would be likely to appear on a Japanese college entrance exam, and used them in sentences in English and Japanese. Except the example sentences were often strange and comical. A few examples include:

Annual: The annual income of animation cartoonist is incredibly low.

Expensive: Dahhhhhhh! Don’t launch lots of expensive missiles too quickly.

Purpose: I met my brother after all this time. He had forgotten his purpose to destroy the earth.

Sweaty: “Maniacs are fat, wear eyeglasses and are sweaty.” This is a story of the older generation.

Beside featuring 2000 words and examples sentences, the Moetan book introduced an adorable magical girl mascot character Ink Nijihara and her lecherous friend Ah-kun the magical duck. The Moetan book featured chapters of definitions complimented by cute and sometimes risqué illustrations of Ink-chan drawn by the Japanese artist known as “POP,” and a short running story about Ink-chan’s romantic woes.

By 2004 the Moetan book had made waves in Japan and was reportedly the best selling book in the prestigious Tokyo University bookstore. The March 2004 issue of Japan’s Animage Magazine even included a bonus “Puchi Moetan” (“Petit Moetan”) sample supplemental book. The success of the original Moetan led to the announcement of Moetan II: Remembrance of Things Past, a two book set. Anticipation for Moetan II was so great in Japan that publisher Sansai Books even commissioned the production of a short Moetan II promotional anime trailer.

The first volume of Moetan II was released in December 2004. Unlike the original, Moetan II was not a list of words. It was a full length school romance novel in English and Japanese, complimented by attractive painted illustrations.

In March 2005, the concluding second volume of Moetan II was released, along with a revised re-release of the original Moetan book with a new cover and a new title: “Moetan: Methodology of English, The Academic Necessity.”

Since its debut, the Moetan franchise has become so successful and popular in Japan that it’s spun off supplemental merchandising including Moetan capsule figures, a theme song CD, cell phone straps, pencil boards, clear files, telephone cards, figures of Ink Nijihara and her magical girl alter-ego Pastel Ink, and much more.

(Some of the AnimeNation staff are fans of cute anime girls like Ink-chan, which explains AnimeNation’s Moetan header image.)