Behind The Nihon Review

It’s an overblown question because the answer is almost certainly “no”. Nor do I mean to imply that Higurashi is the best moe anime ever made, because there’s probably an anime franchise called “ARIA” which lays a better claim to that (and then there are all the anime that are only considered partly moe). But what I want to consider in this post is the use of moe, since I’m not sure there’s an anime which has taken advantage of the aesthetic to a practical end quite like Higurashi has. There have been a lot of anime which have used moe as a mostly superficial hook, and with its increasing prominence comes a more vocal group to question its utility. Higurashi strikes me as high among the best examples to answer the critics of moe’s usefulness. This post contains moderate spoilers of Higurashi.

Moe in Higurashi is part of a juxtaposition. It’s used deliberately to highlight the innocence of the characters, which is why it’s all the more shocking when we see them beaten, tortured and sliced up… and even more shocking again as we watch their slide into insanity (the manifestation of the infinitely more powerful psychological component of the horror). Higurashi is atypical in the way that moe is an integral part of a deliberate comparison used to set up an atmosphere completely different from the one we’re used to seeing in moe anime. It’s something that took a lot of people, myself included, by surprise at the beginning, where the darker tones only came through in glimpses of what seemed generically upbeat. Rena’s “USO DA!” in the second episode was the first major sign that this was an anime best watched on-edge.

The comparison between innocence and horror itself exists at several levels. The obvious one comes from the gradual decline between the state of affairs at the beginning of an arc (particularly the “question” arcs) and at the end of an arc, which are written well enough that the latter generally references the former in some manner. Most arcs open with a game, competitive yet fun, which highlights the carefree feeling of the characters, but things obviously change dramatically by the end of the arc, where the tension and suspense is ramped up, culminating in scenes of shock, horror and BAD ENDs. Within these scenes themselves is often a zoomed-in version of the same comparison. The most gory moments are frequently accompanied by flashbacks to calmer times, which make for a much more instantaneous and direct reminder of the differences between what was and is, and the chain of events leading up to it, generally involving a drastic demise in one or more characters, usually one of the moe ones as well. It’s also interesting to note that when a character goes “Level 5″, they generally don’t look moe anymore. It’s a crude, but rather effective technique on the animators’ part. A third place this comparison exists is completely within the character I’d argue is this franchise’s most interesting: Rika. Unlike many of the other games club members, Rika never goes “Hinamizawa” (for reasons explained by the plot), but she carries two distinct personalities which exist together for the entire story, one of which is blatantly moe, and the other of which is wily, mentally mature and moderately embittered and haggard… characteristics that are decisively not moe. While she could be initially dismissed as a pandering character, her other side, which is slowly revealed and elaborated on as the story progresses, adds a great deal of intrigue and depth to her character. She therefore becomes a vital component of the mystery, being a mystery in herself and the source of numerous questions for the audience.

The use of moe in Higurashi adds a tangible depth to the story. Neither would the horror be as disturbing nor the mystery as intriguing and deceptive if moe wasn’t an element of the show’s aesthetic. It’s not the first time it’s been done, though, since both Narutaru and Elfen Lied had a crack at the same juxtaposition for setting an unsettling and dark atmosphere, but neither were as successful at incorporating moe as an integral part of a mystery (maybe Narutaru could have been if it didn’t end so abruptly). Elfen Lied is what Higurashi would have been if it looked good, but Higurashi had the good sense not to take things to the same extreme as Elfen Lied, knowing that a good dollop of implicit violence works much better for psychological horror (and Higurashi just has characters that are better written, to boot). Thinking back on it, Elfen Lied kinda just jumped out of the blocks trying to shock the hell out of its audience, while Higurashi knew to build up the suspense over time.

I think, given the current proliferation of moe, we’re at a time where we need to rethink how we judge it. Maybe the utilitarian viewpoint is some sort of simplistic starting point. If you take all the moe out of an anime, what would happen? If you take all the moe out of Death Note or Code Geass, very little would change. This suggests two things: the first is that moe is superfluous to both these anime, and therefore shouldn’t be there at all, but secondly, since there’s so little focus on moe to begin with, either way this is only ultimately a minor thing. If you take all the moe out of K-On!, you’d virtually have nothing. What does this suggest? Possibly that, since the entire thing hinges on moe, it has no versatility. If you take all the moe out of Suzumiya Haruhi or Kannagi, neither would work, because both exist simultaneously as parodies of and homages to moe. What about if you take all the moe out of Clannad and Kanon 2006? This is an interesting case, since it’s obvious neither would work without moe, but the suggestion becomes clear that the moe is there as a way get the audience to sympathize with the characters (cheaply, as many of their critics have argued in the past). This could be seen as an indictment on these series until one looks at the fact that they aren’t the only ones to do this: the fact that so many other moe dramas fail where Clannad and Kanon 2006 succeed shows that use of moe doesn’t make sympathetic characters an inevitability, and some skill and deftness with handling these characters is required. What happens if you take all the moe out of iyashikei anime like ARIA, Sketchbook or Natsume Yuujinchou? At first glance, I’d probably say this would cripple them, but on second thought, moe is basically used in these series to radiate charm, and moe is hardly the only way to do this. But take the moe out of Higurashi, and I’m reasonably convinced that it would not work. At the very least, not without coming up with another aesthetic device to simulate carefree innocence and other upbeat feelings to be slowly dismantled by suspense and tension leading into shocking violence and horror. Because of the malleability of animation, and the general associations of moe, use of moe in Higurashi allows the comparison and differences between innocence and horror to be extreme (and extremely effective).

Not that I’m suggesting they should put more moe into Higurashi, this would make some people unhappy: