Natural moe
In anime, moe is so rammed down our throats sometimes that it is easy to grow tired of it. It’s become a successful component in anime, to the point now that (to pull a number out of my ass) ~90% of anime use the moe art-style for character designs, but like all successful things, it has been abused and overused to the point where it’s use has become stale and unimaginative in a lot of instances, and even blatantly manufactured and manipulative in some of the worst cases (cf. the visual novel adaptations with an array of archetypes that you can check off on a list). Moe itself, though, is difficult to define (I don’t particularly subscribe to the Akamatsu definition) and we’ve basically been forced to go to an upper-upper-upper level to define it, calling it something akin to an art-style, which is sufficiently broad to encompass all things moe but tells you nothing about what makes it special or unique as a phenomenon. The challenge of defining moe in a meaningful way comes from the fact that it’s different things to different people, and I think most people have given up trying to come up with a definition that’s specific enough to describe it comprehensively, but general enough to encompass everything to do with the phenomonen. So, defining moe is a challenge (arguably) no one has completely succeeded at, now I’m going to attempt to define a subset of moe, something I refer to as “natural moe”.
What am I talking about when I say “natural moe”? I think I’m talking about a type of moe which isn’t so blatant in how deliberately its manufactured. It’s much more organic in the sense that it’s not deliberately targeting a common archetype (and their associated fans) like “tsundere” or “dojikko” or “moe-blob” (there’s a lot of crossover between those latter two), and therefore restraining the scope for character development. “Natural moe” characters are cute in an almost incidental fashion, and that there’s more to their behaviour than trying to get a “moe” reaction out of watchers (as Kannagi’s Akiba says “who says ‘moe’”)… not that there isn’t a bit of that anyway. It’s a type of moe which is far more apparent in anime where restraint and subtlety are the order of the day, so I’m basically talking about more subdued slice-of-life titles, in particular. The charm of the characters is allowed to emanate in a more natural way because you don’t get the feeling that you’re being pandered to, as one would in series where the moe is much more manufactured and deliberately directed. It’s a similar phenomenon to drama, which is delivered more effectively when it’s not forced, and has a certain amount of deft subtlety. I guess a few examples of natural moe are in order.
Mizunashi Akari
ARIA The Animation
Akari is probably one of the archetypal examples of natural moe (there’s a decent chance that the phrase itself came from the second season’s title). Akari’s charm is all about her optimism and (somewhat naive) innocence, in that she interacts with the world in such a way that allows her to always find a positive in her experiences. Yes, she’s occasionally clumsy and there are aspects of the dojikko and the oblivious girl in her character, but her warmth and the series’ subdued and tender atmosphere allow her natural charm to resonate. And there’s an ongoing focus from the series on her character development, which means that her charm and place in the anime isn’t simply superficial.
Kajiwara Sora
Sketchbook ~Full Color’S~
There’s obviously a few characteristics in Akari that carry over to Sora, such as an innocence and optimism, but she isn’t as congenial and open as Akari; while Akari will talk to anyone and everyone, Sora is naturally shy and takes a lot before she’ll open up to someone new. Sora’s charm is in the fact that she appreciates the little things and likes to walk through life slowly, constantly stopping to smell the flowers and say hello to the stray cats and whatnot. She’s easily distracted, but this allows her to see things differently from those around her (most of whom, in this anime, have their own eccentricities). Sketchbook, I would say, is largely about stopping to appreciate life’s simple pleasures, and I think Sora really embodies that.
Yuno
Hidamari Sketch
Another artist, another innocent and naturally optimistic character. Yuno shares a lot of characteristics with someone like Sora, such as her innocence and a curious appreciation of the world through her art, but Yuno’s character in Hidamari Sketch is much more about her relationships with the various residents of Hidamari Apartments, particularly Miyako. I dare suggest that Yuno is the most “normal” of the residents of Hidamari Apartments, so we see the other characters and appreciate them through Yuno’s eyes. She’s probably a little more quirky than the other two girls in the previous examples as well, and it’s clear over the course of the series that Miyako’s influence rubs off on her a little bit, as well as the other girls’.
Fukuzawa Yumi
Maria-sama ga Miteru
For lack of a better word, Maria-sama ga Miteru is adorable. It’s melodrama in the sense that the girls are reasonably sheltered, and they make big deals out of relatively little things, but it’s good melodrama because their personalities are so attractive. There’s a real concerted effort on Yumi and all the girls’ parts to be tactful in whatever they do… they almost go to great lengths to make it a priority and it is quite interesting (and strangely charming) that they seemingly have their own sense of etiquette which is different from yours or mine, in that they’re much more careful and deliberate with each other. The problem with Yumi is that she’s so naturally open and honest… as we’ve seen throughout all seasons so far, she has the world’s worst poker face. But I think that natural honesty and unconscious expressiveness which all too often betrays what she’s really thinking is a big part of what makes her charming.
Taki Tooru
Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou
Most of the girls of Natsume Yuujinchou exhibit this natural moe; certainly characters like Sasada Jun and a lot of the female youkai that appeared in the first season in particular. I guess why I picked Taki as an example is because of how her character was developed over the course of her arc, where she was initially shown to be an aloof and isolated person but eventually revealed that she was an otherwise normal girl in unusual circumstances. Her strange sense of “cute” and penchant for odd things make her naturally moe in an idiosyncratic way, but I think what makes her really adorable is that she’s just such a good match for Natsume, as much romantically as the series allows. I realize this show has very little time for romance, but Natsume x Taki just makes good sense to me, since their similar backgrounds allows them to sympathize with each other, which we see a bit in their interactions. They’re both good people and, in my mind, they both deserve each other.
So I guess the point of this post is to float this idea of “natural moe”, and see if it’s credible. Is there really a dichotomy between the type of moe we see in more subdued slice-of-life series and the more typical moe we see in shounen romance series? Also, what are some other examples of “natural moe”? Would series like Clannad or Toradora! count as natural moe? If we want to think about an overly simple spectrum between natural moe and manufactured moe, I’d probably say those two series lie somewhere in the middle, since character development might be the focus, but both series lack the subtlety of most of the examples I gave and the starting archetypes are a little more on the contrived side. What about series like Honey & Clover, Nodame Cantabile or Kure-nai? One could probably say they’re natural, but it’s open to debate whether they’re moe.
You’re mistaking moé and iyashikei. Remember that moé has something to do with a sexual attraction, or at least a romantic interest. The charm emanating from “natural” characters is not an attraction, it’s more like “mono no aware”.
Read this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_no_aware and this http://www.conservapedia.com/Iyashikei
Hope you’ll appreciate my quite incisive comment.
I realize most of the anime I’ve listed are iyashikei (that was quite deliberate on my part), but is moe always a sexual or romantic thing? I don’t think it is. You can find someone moe and not necessarily have a romantic attraction to them or want them to become romantically involved with the main character (ie, a proxy romance through shipping).
I guess we have to go back to the very question about whether these characters are moe. And I’d say, yes, they are, just not in the typical, mainstream way. Their inclusion and (relative) success in SaiMoe kinda indicates that I’m not the only one who finds them moe. I guess this comes back to the problem with defining moe, it’s different things to different people.
Yeah, but doesn’t that hurt you when an iyashikei character you love and support (@SaiMoe for example) is ranked next to “traditionnal” moé characters like, I don’t know, awfully attractive loli and horrible walking boobs. You see what I mean ?
Your natural moé is something only present in seinen and jousei, ie when the readers are mature enough to develop real feelings for them and not just hormones induced emotions (=D). Then it is true that some really deeply constructed characters can have both : Kokonoe Rin is a true loli who possesses a certain moé level but also is a character you care for, maybe there, there is your “natural moé”.
Personnaly, I feel THE moé when thinking about these characters you list and especially Akari and Yuno but let’s take Rika from H&C. Well, I have no real romantic or sexual feelings for her but I do have feelings. Is it moé ? I don’t think so, moé is something that makes you all excited (with all the meaning the word excited has). Your selection of characters do not induce excitation but calm, soft happiness, relaxing stability, etc …
I think it’s right to differentiate these two feelings and maybe add that some characters can have both iyashikei (your natural moé) and (traditionnal and “manufactured”) moé power.
The sole point I disagree with your theory is the word you use. Like you said, defining moé is an hard task to accomplish.
PS : excuse me for my awful english, but I think me being French doesn’t help. =D
Oh and SaiMoe is a popularity contest, not the world international scale to define moé, I’m sure you’re aware of that.
You know what I always say: moe is in the eye of the beholder. It’s not a general term for an art trend, but rather, and individualized response to a piece of artwork. I tend to view a lot of characters in more iyashikei anime as beautiful, rather than moe. They don’t elicist that “OMG MOE” response from me (And yeah, I agree with Akiba here; NO ONE says “moe.”), but they give off this feeling of absolute elegance. It’s like looking at a neoclassical sculpture. My nominations for this type of moe would be Alicia (Aria), the entire female cast of Baccano (sans Nice) and DEFINITELY Murasaki.
To a certain degree, I do believe that moe should be a romantic (or sexual) attraction. Yet, ironically, your list (and mine) of characters that we dub “naturally moe” elicit no sort of attraction response from me. In fact, I would be rather appaled to find ero doujin for any of those characters listed above… I’m pretty sure you would be too.
It’s simply different. Watching those characters walk around and do what they do elicits warm, fuzzy feelings… (Well, maybe not for the female cast of Baccano; there are strong feelings of admiration there.) Perhaps that’s what natural moe is; although I think your argument would be enhanced if you could point out a few examples of naturally moe characters outside of the iyashikei genre.
Anyone who says Murasaki isn’t moe is clearly wrong. >_>;;; That, I think, is the prime example. Also, I have no idea why I think this, but I’d argue that some of the characters from Kannagi are pretty naturally moe. Nagi, for one. Tsugumi especially. Zange… not so much.
…you really should get some form of IM. I really wish there were a better way for the two of us to continue these conversations, as they’re extremely interesting. (And entertaining.)
[...] Console Digest placed an interesting blog post on Natural moeHere’s a brief overviewPost tags: Aria The Animation, Hidamari Sketch, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Natsume Yuujinchou, Sketchbook ~full color’S~ [...]
I guess I’ll be the odd one here and agree with Sorrow. Well, in a way maybe not, but anyway. There are characters like C.C who I see as more artificial moe (one of my favourite characters), as in, having more obvious superficial appeals like her appealing Clamp design. Then there are characters like Akari, or Pino from Ergo Proxy who I guess can be described as natural moe. I don’t think Sorrow is referring to feelings or character developments one gets from Iyashikei series (Ergo Proxy is cyberpunk after all), they are still in a way, on a superficial level but not exactly in a manufactured way. To me these characters act ‘naturally’ in its truest sense, and there is no deliberate and obvious hands of the staff like ‘nipaaa~’ added at the end to incite any excitement. Not to say I have anything against them (Rika is my 3rd favourite character from Higurashi after all), but they can be at least distinguished from behaviours and gestures that make me go ‘Ohhh that’s so cute! I want to take her home!’ without being artificial in approach.
@Smankh
No, I think that’s fine, since it shows that these types of characters are almost as popular as the more typical types of moe and that there is an audience out there that also appreciate iyashikei characters. And, anyway, I don’t think traditional moe is the worst thing ever. At its worst and most contrived, I just see it as a consequence of anime makers trying to cash in on its popularity (a fact of life) and at its not-so-worst, I actually rather like it (I consider myself an off-and-on tsundere fan).
Overall, I think we’re just basically talking about semantics, which is what this discussion was inevitably going to degrade to (much like most conversations about moe). Moe is basically a personal thing, but part of the point of this article is that the thing I’m referring to as “natural moe” tends to incite stronger feelings for me personally than the more standard type of moe that does well in competitions like SaiMoe. As far as SaiMoe is concerned, I realize it’s a popularity contest, but moe is a populist phenomenon, so I don’t think it’s a terrible way to evaluate popular moe in a coarse, blurry kinda way.
@Akira
Yeah, I think that’s what I’m trying to get at, but when you start trying to define something as a feeling, it’s really hard to do since as you say, it’s in the eye of the beholder. I did give one example of “natural moe” outside the iyashikei genre (Yumi from Marimite), but choosing examples from iyashikei anime was quite deliberate since I was trying to make the point that this type of moe is more common with anime that are more subtle and subdued than the typical moe anime. So would Baccano! and Kannagi count as natural moe? It might to you, but I’m not sure it would to me (again, with moe being a personal thing). Baccano! is definitely different from standard moe, but it doesn’t incite the “natural moe” feeling from me, while Kannagi probably isn’t quite as natural as other examples. Then again, who makes that call about what counts as natural and what counts as contrived. When it comes to moe, there’s no standard, because it’s all about personal feelings and reactions.
@gaguri
Yeah, I think that’s it. If your reaction is “so moe I’m gonna die” at a loli with catgirl ears wearing a pair of bloomers with a sad look on her face, we’re probably not talking about natural moe. But there’s nothing wrong with the more artificial moe. C.C. is moe, but C.C. is also a very capable and tactically-minded person. It’s only when moe is taken too far by anime makers, and it has an obviously blatant and manufactured feeling that I grow indifferent.
I wouldn;t really call it moe, rather something more simple like the charm or appeal of the character. As you said, it’s not as manufactured as usual moe which primarily stems from appearance or archetypes, it’s more that as we learn about the characters we begin to care for them, like them and empathise with them. That sort of thing doesn’t need to be defined with the word “moe” at all.
i’ll argue about moe being sexual or romantic, for me true moe is the embodiment of cuteness and innocence in general, and for me adding any kind of sexuality to this destroys the moeness