Moe (slang)#Contests

Moe used in slang refers to feelings of affection, adoration, devotion, and excitement felt towards characters that appear in manga, anime, video games, and other media (usually Japanese). Characters that elicit feelings of moe are called "moe characters".別冊宝島vol421、246頁。{{Cite news |url=http://mainichi.jp/area/yamanashi/news/20110829ddlk19040025000c.html |title=ことば：萌えキャラ |work=毎日新聞山梨版 |publisher=毎日新聞社 |date=29 August 2011 |access-date=6 September 2011 |archive-date=1 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001220528/http://mainichi.jp/area/yamanashi/news/20110829ddlk19040025000c.html |url-status=dead }} The word has also evolved to be used regarding all kinds of topics.{{Harvnb|榎本|2009|Ref=CITEREF榎本2009|p=61}}{{Cite web |url=http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/218667/m0u/ |title=もえ【×萌え】. |publisher=dictionary.goo.ne.jp |access-date=20 May 2015}} Included in the meaning of the word is the idea that "deep feelings felt towards a particular subject" is used in cases where a simple "like" is not enough to express the feeling. The common feature in all feelings of moe is that the subject of such feelings is something that one cannot possibly have a real relationship with, like a fictional character, a pop idol, or an inorganic substance. It can be considered a kind of "pseudo-romance",{{Harvnb|榎本|2009|Ref=CITEREF榎本2009|pp=30–31}} but it is not always seen to be the same as "romance".

The term's origin and etymology are unknown. Anime columnist John Oppliger has outlined several popular theories describing how the term would have stemmed from the name of anime heroines, such as Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon (Tomoe is written as {{lang|ja|土萌}}, relevant kanji is the same) or Moe Sagisawa from the 1993 anime Kyōryū Wakusei.{{Citation |url=http://www.animenation.net/blog/2004/01/30/ask-john-what-is-moe/ |publisher=AnimeNation |date=30 January 2004 |type=blog |title=Ask John |contribution=What is Moe? |access-date=17 June 2008 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201101338/http://www.animenation.net/blog/2004/01/30/ask-john-what-is-moe/ |url-status=dead }} The term first became popular in 1993-94 among users of Japanese bulletin board systems.{{cite web |title=聖まりあんぬ辞書 |url=http://www.frill.org:80/mtb/tmp/maria.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020312030006if_/http://www.frill.org:80/mtb/tmp/maria.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-03-12 |access-date=29 November 2022 |date=30 March 1994}}

Psychologist Tamaki Saitō identifies it as coming from the Japanese word for "budding", {{nihongo|moeru|萌える}}.{{Citation |first=Saitou |last=Tamaki |year=2007 |contribution=Otaku Sexuality |editor1-first=Christopher |editor1-last=Bolton |editor2-first=Istvan Jr |editor2-last=Csicsery-Ronay |editor3-first=Takayuki |editor3-last=Tatsumi |page=230 |title=Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-4974-7}} Ken Kitabayashi of the Nomura Research Institute has defined moe as "being strongly attracted to one's ideals". Kitabayashi has identified the word moe to be a pun with the Japanese godan verb for 'to sprout', {{nihongo |moyasu|萌やす}}, and its homophone 'to burn', {{nihongo |moyasu|燃やす}}. Along the same line of thought, Kitabayashi has identified it to be a pun with the Japanese ichidan verb for 'to sprout' {{nihongo|moeru|萌える}} and its homophone 'to burn' {{nihongo|moeru|燃える}}, which mean 'to burn' (in the sense of one's heart burning, or burning with passion).{{Citation |last=Kitabayashi |first=Ken |year=2004 |url=http://www.nri.co.jp/english/opinion/papers/2004/pdf/np200484.pdf |title=The Otaku Group from a Business Perspective: Revaluation of Enthusiastic Customers |publisher=Nomura Research Institute |place=JP |access-date=29 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507221927/http://www.nri.co.jp/english/opinion/papers/2004/pdf/np200484.pdf |archive-date=7 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}

Anthropologist Patrick Galbraith cites Morikawa Kaichirō, who argues that the term came from internet message boards such as NIFTY-Serve and Tokyo BBS in the 1990s, from fans discussing bishõjo (beautiful girl) characters.{{sfn|Galbraith|2012|loc=351}} Galbraith argues that moe has its roots in the development of bishõjo characters in Japanese subcultures in the 1970s and 80s.{{sfn|Galbraith|2019}} This was exemplified in the lolicon boom of the 1980s, a "fertile ground" for the "budding desire for fictional characters".{{sfn|Galbraith|2012|loc=350}}{{sfn|Galbraith|2019}}

Comiket organiser Ichikawa Koichi has described Lum from Urusei Yatsura as being both the source of moe and the first tsundere.{{cite book |last=Galbraith |first=Patrick W. |title=The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan |publisher=Kodansha International |year=2009 |page=46 |isbn=978-4-7700-3101-3}} The character of Clarisse from Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) has also been cited as a potential ancestral example,{{cite book |last=Richmond |first=Simon |year=2009 |title=The Rough Guide to Anime |publisher=Penguin Books}} with Lupin acting like an older brother to Clarisse and taunting Count Cagliostro for marrying someone half his age. According to culture critic Hiroki Azuma, as Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion became a more prominent character among fans, she "changed the rules" governing what people regarded as moe-inspiring. The industry has since created many characters which share her traits of pale skin, blue hair and a "quiet personality".{{cite book|last=Azuma|first=Hiroki|translator-last1=Jonathan|translator-first1=Abel|translator-last2=Kono|translator-first2=Shion|title=Otaku: Japan's Database Animals|pages=48–52|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=978-0-8166-5352-2|url=http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/A/azuma_otaku.html|date=2009|archive-date=6 October 2023|access-date=27 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006085015/https://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/A/azuma_otaku.html|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|Moe anthropomorphism}}

File:Monami Gentsuki and friends (white background).png

Moe characters have expanded within the Japanese media market. In 2003, the market for moe media such as printed media, video, and games was worth 88 billion yen; roughly one-third of the estimated 290 billion yen otaku market in Japan.{{cite web |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-04-25/moe-market-worth-88-billion-yen |title=Moe Market Worth 88 Billion Yen |date=25 April 2005 |publisher=Anime News Network |access-date=2 November 2007}} In 2009, Brad Rice, editor-in-chief of Japanator, said that "moe has literally become an economic force" saying that more products use some element of moe in order to sell better. Rice also goes on to say that moe is used to get anime and manga works out to "hardcore fans who buy excessive amounts of items related to the character of their desire."{{cite web |url=http://www.japanator.com/-just-what-on-earth-is-moe-is-the-question-of-the-day-10704.phtml |title='Just what on earth is moe?' is the question of the day |work=Japanator |access-date=10 March 2013 |last=Rice |first=Brad |date=28 July 2009}}

John Oppliger from AnimeNation traced the first decade of the 2000s as the time when moe became increasingly popular and recognized. Commercialization was a result of interest that followed, and moe evolved from being a non-sexual desire to being a sexually sublimated fascination with cuteness. Oppliger goes on to say that moe shifted entirely from an interchange between character and viewer, to a focused fetish of viewers. Examples used by Oppliger include the series; K-On, Lucky Star, and Moetan where he points out they are "revolved around adorable, whimsical, clumsy, early-adolescent girl characters in order to evoke, enflame, and manipulate the interests and affections of viewers." Rather than evoking moe feelings, they were literally moe characters that had defining characteristics of the moe style. Oppliger referred to these girl characters as "adorably cute, just a bit sexually appealing, and self-conscious but not yet cynical" going on to say that they demand notice and adoration, rather than passively earning it.{{cite web |url=http://www.animenation.net/blog/2012/05/28/ask-john-what-are-the-defining-moe-anime/ |title=Ask John: What Are the Defining Moé Anime? |publisher=AnimeNation Anime News Blog |at=Ask John |first=John |last=Oppliger |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521195124/http://www.animenation.net/blog/2012/05/28/ask-john-what-are-the-defining-moe-anime/ |date=28 May 2012 |archive-date=21 May 2015 |access-date=28 May 2017}}

With moe anthropomorphism, moe characteristics are applied to give human elements to non-human objects. The Gradius video game series features a spaceship named Vic Viper. For a spin-off game, moe is applied to Vic Viper to create Otomedius.{{cite web |url=http://kotaku.com/237118/boobs--gradius--otomedius |title=Konami: Boobs + Gradius = Otomedius |date=16 February 2007 |access-date=6 November 2007 |first=Michael |last=McWhertor |publisher=Kotaku}}

Sometimes feelings of moe towards fictional characters include "sexual excitement", or are understood in the context where "lots of beautiful girls and boobs appear."{{Citation |url=http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/newword?ref=1&index=2003000358 |title=ジャパンナレッジ（Yahoo!辞書） |publisher=ネットアドバンス |date=28 June 2003 |access-date=6 September 2011}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite news |url=http://nikkan-spa.jp/102243 |title=女子高生のリアル"けいおん部"がアツい!「アニメもアニソンも普通」【後編】 |work=nikkan-spa.jp |date=2 December 2011 |access-date=13 January 2012}} In these cases, feelings of pure affection that gradually become stronger over time can lead to these feelings of eroticism.{{Cite web |author=藤山哲人 |date=31 July 2008 |url=http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/153/153944/index-2.html |title=萌えは「薄めたカ○ピス」だ |work=ASCII×ITmedia対談 2社合同、夏の特別企画（後編） |publisher=アスキー・メディアワークス |page=2頁 |access-date=6 September 2011}}

Queer theorist Yuu Matsuura says that sexual desire oriented to such characters differs from a desire toward humans.{{Cite thesis |last=Matsuura |first=Yuu |year=2022 |title=Multiple Orientations as Animating Misdelivery: Theoretical Considerations on Sexuality Attracted to Nijigen (Two-Dimensional) Objects |trans-title=アニメーション的な誤配としての多重見当識――非対人性愛的な「二次元」へのセクシュアリティに関する理論的考察 |url=https://researchmap.jp/mtwrmtwr/published_papers/37150884?lang=en |journal=Gender Studies |issue=25 |pages=139–158 |doi=10.24567/0002000551}}{{Cite web |last=Liao |first=SH |year=2023 |title=Fictosexual Manifesto: Their Position, Political Possibility, and Critical Resistance |url=https://vocal.media/humans/fictosexual-manifesto |website=《Rhizome｜球根》 |publisher=NTU-OtaStudy (臺大宅研)}}

Moe, however, is also considered to be distinct from pure lust. While small amounts of lust is generally considered moe, a feeling that focuses too heavily on lust is considered outside the scope of moe. According to commentator, {{Interlanguage link|Tōru Honda|ja|3=本田透}} who considers moe to be "romance within one's head", the ideal kind of love within moe is "romantic love".{{Harvnb|本田|2005|Ref=CITEREF本田2005|pp=81–82}}

Several informal contests or rankings for characters considered to be moe exist on the Internet. One such contest is the Anime Saimoe Tournament, organized by members of the textboard 2channel, which ran every year from 2002, until its cancellation after the 2014 contest due to declining interest.{{cite web |title=Unofficial English Saimoe site |url=http://www.animesaimoe.org/ |access-date=19 July 2013}} Moe characters from the fiscal year starting 1 July and ending 30 June the following year were eligible. Each tournament had at least 280 moe characters.{{cite web |url=http://animemoe2007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/english.html |title=Saimoe 2007 English |access-date=11 August 2007 |work=2ch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806015006/http://animemoe2007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/english.html |archive-date=6 August 2007 |url-status=dead}} Spin-offs of the Saimoe Tournament include RPG Saimoe, which has video game characters, and SaiGAR, a competition between the "manliest men of anime".[https://archive.today/20070107030120/http://saigar.darkmirage.com/ SaiGAR 2007] In 2006 and 2007, the Saimoe Tournament became an increasingly international event; 2channel users obliged foreign otaku by putting up an English version of their rules page. The International Saimoe League, also known as ISML, is another online moe popularity contest that is for a worldwide audience.{{cite web |url=http://www.internationalsaimoe.com/ |title=International Saimoe League |publisher=Internationalsaimoe.com |access-date=11 March 2014}} The contest started in 2008 and was held annually. Initially, only female characters were eligible, a male exhibition tournament was added in 2011, which would take place after the end of the main tournament. It was made into an official tournament alongside the female characters in 2015.{{cite web |url=https://www.internationalsaimoe.com/constitution |title=Constitution of the International Saimoe League |publisher=isml.moe |access-date=18 March 2021}}

Moe contests also exist in magazine publications, and in the real world. The Moe Game Awards are given annually to bishōjo games published that year in various categories, such as background music, character design, fandisc, graphics, and erotic content. They were started in 2006 as the Bishōjo Game Awards, but their name was changed to Moe Game Awards in 2009.:ja:萌えゲーアワード{{Better source needed|date=June 2017|reason=WP:CIRCULAR}} It is sponsored by the Japanese game rating board Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) and is described by them as "an R18 game industry version of the Academy Awards".{{cite web |url=http://www.sofurin.org/htm/activity/award.htm |script-title=ja:萌えゲーアワードの後援 |trans-title=Moe Game Awards Sponsor |access-date=4 February 2013 |author=Ethics Organization of Computer Software |language=ja}} Magazines that have moe contests in them include the Japanese magazine Dengeki Moeoh which runs a column called {{nihongo|"Moeoh Rankings"|萌王ランキング}} and features the top 10 moe characters of the month, as determined by reader votes.{{Cite journal |title=萌王ランキング |journal=Dengeki Moeoh |year=2007 |issue=10 |page=143 |publisher=MediaWorks}}

There are various interpretations of the concept of moe,{{Cite book |author=ササキバラ・ゴウ |date=20 May 2004 |title=〈美少女〉の現代史――「萌え」とキャラクター |publisher=講談社 |series=講談社現代新書 |isbn=4-06-149718-9 |page=20}} and the subject has been heavily discussed.{{Harvnb|榎本|2009|Ref=CITEREF榎本2009|pp=18–19}} Psychologist Tamaki Saitō considers the moe used by otaku to be the embodiment of their particular kind of sexuality.{{Harvnb|斎藤|2000|Ref=CITEREF斎藤2000|pp=49–55}} Saitō points out that while otaku creations fulfill an abnormal impression of sexuality, few otaku actually apply this impression to real life. He thus argues that moe is something that sustains the otaku's sexuality within a fictional world, with the fiction itself being their subject of desire and having no need for reality.{{Harvnb|斎藤|2000|Ref=CITEREF斎藤2000|pp=248,256}}

On the other hand, critic Hiroki Azuma rejects Saitō's argument as "too complicated."{{Harvnb|東|2001|Ref=CITEREF東2001|pp=129–131}} Azuma argues that "to moe" is simply the act of analyzing each of the character's moe characteristics and expanding on those characteristics within the mind, and thus differs from mere feelings of empathy.{{Harvnb|東|2001|Ref=CITEREF東2001|pp=75–78}} These characteristics can be physical ones, such as cat ears or a maid costume,{{sfn|Azuma|2009|loc="Combinations of Moe-elements}} or a personality archetype, such as that of the character Rei Ayanami. Azuma sees this process as an otaku's act of satisfying their desires among their limited relations, and considers it to be part of a broader trend of "animalization," or the fulfillment of small desires isolated from the context of a grand narrative.{{sfn|Azuma|2009|loc="The Animal Age"}} Azuma, therefore, simplifies Saitō's idea of moe into the idea of attaining signals of sexual excitement within an isolated environment, similar to the act of training an animal.{{Harvnb|東|2001|Ref=CITEREF東2001|pp=125–141}}

In contrast, Tōru Honda argues against the idea that moe is simply "the act of arousal in response to signals, and thus animalization" and argues that this interpretation does not allow one to recall the essence of moe.{{Harvnb|本田|2005|Ref=CITEREF本田2005|pp=85–88}} Honda considers moe to be the act of remembering ideals among the background signals, an act of necessity that arose as the romance rejected by religion continued to be supported by materialism, and thus interprets it as a mental activity relevant to the contexts of mythology and religion.{{Harvnb|本田|2005|Ref=CITEREF本田2005|pp=85–88,190–192,213–215}} Furthermore, Honda asserts that this "animalization" phenomenon only arose after the "economic bubble" period of Japan, when people consumed real romance- and sex-like products, and says that since moe is commonly interpreted to be in competition with the act of searching for romance in real life, it is thus the antithesis of male-dominant machoism.{{Harvnb|本田|2005|Ref=CITEREF本田2005|pp=144,155}} Also, while Saitō does not distinguish moe from more violent types of sexual abnormalities and speaks of moe in the context of "sentō bishōjo" (beautiful fighting girl),{{Harvnb|斎藤|2000|Ref=CITEREF斎藤2000|pp=51–52,186–187,274}} Honda on the other hand treats moe as the polar opposite of the hunter-ish kind of sexuality featuring in more fiendish works like those by Henry Darger.{{Harvnb|本田|2005|Ref=CITEREF本田2005|p=158}}

Anime director Kazuya Tsurumaki defines moe to be "the act of filling in missing information about characters on one's own." Accepting this view, writer {{Interlanguage link|Junji Hotta|ja|3=堀田純司}} explains that characters are born from human instinct, which is the exact reason why one can be charmed by them much more than one could by real people.堀田純司 "Moemoe japan 2 chō en shijō no moeru kōzō" 『萌え萌えジャパン 2兆円市場の萌える構造』 講談社、2005年、24-25頁。{{ISBN|978-4063646351}}。 Toshio Okada says that while he himself has not fully understood moe, he defines it as not simply being stirred emotionally by beautiful girls, but also as the meta-viewpoint of seeing oneself falling into such a state.岡田斗司夫 『オタクはすでに死んでいる』 新潮社、2008年、27-28頁・100-101頁。{{ISBN|978-4106102585}}。

In The Moe Manifesto,{{Cite web |title=The Moe Manifesto: An Insider's Look at the Worlds of Manga, Anime, and Gaming {{!}} tuttle publishing|url = http://tuttle.co.jp/products/show/isbn:9784805312827/language:en|website = tuttle.co.jp|access-date = 22 January 2016}} anthropologist Patrick Galbraith defines moe as an affective response to fictional characters or representations of them. The applications of this definition are widespread to political, economic, and cultural discourses. For an example in practice, Matthew Brummer describes how Japan's Self Defense Force utilizes popular culture and the moe that it engenders to shape public perceptions of the military establishment: The Manga Military.{{Cite journal |title=Japan: The Manga Military |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/japans-creative-industrial-complex/ |journal=The Diplomat |access-date=22 January 2016 |first=Matthew |last=Brummer}}

• Amae
• Bishōjo
• Bishōnen
• Burikko
• Chibi (slang)
• Fictosexual
• Figure moe zoku
• Hentai
• Human-oriented sexualism
• Ingénue
• Kawaii
• Lolicon and shotacon
• .moe
• Moe anthropomorphism
• Moe book
• Nijikon
• Parasocial interaction
• Sexy baby voice

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |title=Kūsō bishōjo dai hyakka dennō moemoe bishōjo dai shūgō ! |script-title=ja:空想美少女大百科 電脳萌え萌え美少女大集合! |language=ja |date=3 January 1999 |publisher=宝島社 |series=別冊宝島 421 |isbn=4-7966-9421-8 |ref=CITEREF別冊宝島vol421}}
• {{Cite book |last=Galbraith |first=Patrick W. |title=Researching twenty-first century Japan : new directions and approaches for the electronic age |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7391-7014-4 |editor-last=Iles |editor-first=Timothy |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=351 |chapter=Moe: Exploring Virtual Potential in Post-Millennial Japan |oclc=756592455 |editor-last2=Matanle |editor-first2=Peter C. D. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3665389 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |access-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725075647/https://www.academia.edu/3665389 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |title=Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan |last=Galbraith |first=Patrick W. |location=Durham |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4780-0509-4 |jstor=j.ctv1220mhm |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1220mhm |s2cid=240980856}}
• {{Cite book |author=Tamaki Saitō 斎藤環 |date=27 April 2000 |title=Sentō bishōjo no seishin bunseki |script-title=ja:戦闘美少女の精神分析 |trans-title=Psychoanalysis of Beautiful Fighting Girl |language=ja |publisher=太田出版 |isbn=4-87233-513-9 |ref=CITEREF斎藤2000}}
• {{Cite book |author=東浩紀 |title=Dōbutsu ka suru posuto modan otaku kara mi ta nippon shakai |script-title=ja:動物化するポストモダン オタクから見た日本社会 |language=ja |series=講談社現代新書 |publisher=講談社 |date=20 November 2001 |isbn=4-06-149575-5 |ref=CITEREF東2001}}
• {{Cite book |author=本田透 |title=Moeru otoko |script-title=ja:萌える男 |language=ja |series=ちくま文庫 |publisher=筑摩書房 |date=10 November 2005 |isbn=4-480-06271-8 |ref=CITEREF本田2005}}
• {{Cite book |editor=榎本秋（編） |date=5 June 2009 |title=Otaku no koto ga omoshiroi hodo wakaru hon |script-title=ja:オタクのことが面白いほどわかる本 |trans-title=An Easy Guide to Otaku |language=ja |edition=第1刷 |publisher=中経出版 |isbn=978-4-8061-3358-2 |pages=14–20, 30–31,61頁 |ref=CITEREF榎本2009}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Cite book |last=Galbraith |first=Patrick W. |date=2014 |title=The Moe Manifesto: An Insider's Look at the Worlds of Manga, Anime, and Gaming |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |oclc=855905684 |isbn=9784805312827}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Katayama |first=Lisa |date=21 July 2014 |title=Love in 2-D [description of moe phenomenon in Japan] |journal=The New York Times Magazine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html |access-date=13 February 2019}}

{{Wiktionary|moe}}

• [http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9802/msg00101.html Towards a Cartography of Japanese Anime: Anno Hideaki's >>Evangelion] - Through an interview with Hiroki Azuma dealing with Evangelion the article sheds light on the origins of the moe phenomenon
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090122070446/http://www.hirokiazuma.com/en/texts/superflat_en1.html "Superflat Japanese Postmodernity"] – cultural critic Hiroki Azuma on otaku aesthetics, including moe
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120316130559/http://japattack.com/main/?q=node%2F108 Mondo Japan, 2004: "New language from OTAKU world: moe"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moe}}

Category:Anime and manga terminology

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Category:Otaku slang