It’s quite likely that, if you’re into anime, manga or any other aspect of otaku culture, you’ve probably heard of the term “Moe”. My own personal thoughts on moe are quite mixed and so I thought it would be pretty interesting to take a look at moe as an intrinsic and important part of otaku subculture while also expressing my own opinions on moe.
Moe is a Japanese slang term, spelt 萌え, that is pronounced in two syllables, mo and e, in contrast to the given name which is only one syllable. Moe is defined by Lexico as “the quality in a fictional female character of being youthfully innocent and vulnerable . . . eliciting feelings of affection or protectiveness“. Within anime and manga, this usually takes the form of young females, typically teenagers but sometimes young adults, with large eyes and colourful hair. Unfortunately, the origin of the term with context to otaku culture is unknown with a wide variety of theories regarding how it began although it’s fair to say that the term came into use sometime around the late 80s and early 90s.
Three characters associated with the origin of moe.
