(Apologies for any potential strange boxes or random Ascii in this article; there is Japanese in it. You have been warned.)

If you’re an anime fan, you may have heard the term “moe” (萌, pronounced “mo-eh”). These days it’s a fairly common term, used in anime, in reference to anime, and in reference to anime fans. If you ask someone at an anime convention if they’ve heard of it, they’ll likely answer in the affirmative. But if you ask them to define it, you will likely hear a dozen different answers?

So, what IS moe, then?

First, let me explain what moe ISN’T. Moe is not sexual fetishes, at least, not explicitly. Moe is not limited to female characters. Moe is not limited to a certain set of characteristics. Moe is not, for the purposes of this article at the very least, just “cute”.

So again, what IS moe?

Moe was, in its earliest “incarnation”, originally known as one’s “-ha” (派). The term “-ha” means “group” or “faction”. In this case, it refers to the affectation (physical feature, accessory, clothing, personality, etc.) one likes the best. The terminology was used as such: (Again, apologies to people who end up seeing boxes or gobbledygook – it’s the conversation in Japanese)

友人Ａ：　リチャード、お前は何派？ (Friend A: Richard, omae wa nani-ha? / Richard, what’s your “-ha”?)

リチャード： 僕ですか？僕は眼鏡っ子派です。(Richard: Boku desu ka? Boku ha meganekko-ha desu. / Me? I’m girls in glasses-ha.)

So in this case, I explain that I’m into girls in glasses. That was my “faction”. Other people I knew were “takabi-ha” (snooty girls), “osananajimi-ha” (childhood friend), and “oneesan-ha” (big sisters).

“-ha” was the term used by the Japanese otaku I knew back in 1996. Since then, it has evolved considerably. I have not personally tracked every last change, but do know that it has likely gone through at least a few revisions between then and now. Some of my friends theorize it went from “-ha” to “moe” (燃え, “to burn”, as in “what are you passionate/gets you fired up”), to the current “moe” (萌, from 萌え, “to sprout, to bud”; no one I know has a clear reason for why this kanji (Chinese character used in Japanese) was chosen).

The definition, for the most part, has not changed. It is still pretty much refers to what features about a character or person that you like a lot. However, in the modern Japanese (and increasingly, American) otaku vernacular, it has become a noun of sorts, as well as an adjective. As a noun, it is used as such:

萌が好きです。(Moe ga suki desu / I like moe.)

As a noun, moe refers to the concept of “cute things”. Cute things, in this case, are things like maids, shrine maidens (known in Japanese as “miko”), girls in glasses, and so on. It also refers to things that are moe. So the above line could mean “I like the idea of cute,” and it could also mean, “I like cute things.”

As an adjective, it’s almost interchangeable with the word “cute”. For example:

あの子、萌だね。 (ano ko, moe da ne / That girl is so moe.)

The terms of how “moe” the girl is depends on the speaker. If the girl in question is wearing a maid outfit, then the speaker might be speaking about how she fits the current definition of what is moe. If the speaker is “maid-moe” (i.e. really likes maids/girls in maid outfits), then he might be referring to the fact that she fits into his moe.

So in the end, what is moe? Is it maids? Girls in school outfits? Girls in glasses? Bunny girls? Lolikko? (Not explaining this one) Miko? Tsunderekko? (This short list should by no means be considered complete. In fact, some would argue that there is no limit to what can be considered moe since the human imagination is limitless.)

It is my belief that moe is still, at its core, very much based on what a person likes. As the first example illustrates, I am meganekko-moe. I.E. I like girls in glasses a lot. So I find the idea of a girl in glasses to be “moe”. But I’m not really into maids, so I don’t think they are “moe”, even though it seems that the majority of Japanese otaku do.

There isn’t a council or anything that determines what is and is not moe, so realistically, it’s very nebulous. When I read news on Japanese otakudom, I often am amazed at how fast something becomes or drops out of being considered moe.

So I say that if you’re interested in the idea of moe, you should go and find out what yours is. Who knows, you might discover a new one.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 3:06 am and is filed under Richard Kim, anime. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.