Moe

Moe is a slang term for the heightened rush of affection you feel when you are strongly drawn to a character from manga, anime, or games. It gets aimed at real people too, such as idols. There is no fixed definition; the word encompasses the whole feeling of adoring someone. Cute, precious, impossible to look away from. Thinking of it as a single word that folds in all those moments when your heart moves may help you understand.

It began as the stem of the verb moeru, which describes grass and trees budding. As slang it works as both a noun and an interjection.

What makes it distinctive is the way it pairs with traits. The pull you feel toward a character in glasses is megane moe, or glasses moe. Affection for a tsundere, someone who mixes coldness and sweetness, is tsundere moe. These endearing elements, like a little sister, cat ears, or a maid, are called moe zokusei (attributes) or moe yōso (elements). What you find moe differs from person to person, and there are as many forms of moe as there are combinations.

There is no definite account of where the word comes from. The leading idea traces it to moeru (萌える), the sprouting of grass and trees, a picture of fondness growing inside you the way a bud swells.

Another idea has it shifting from moeru meaning to burn (燃える), as emotions flare up. Since both are read moeru, this theory suggests that the word spread from a typo.

Both feel right to the ear, but no primary source has turned up to back either one.

Theories That Trace It to a Character's Name

Several theories trace it to the name of a particular character. A well-known one is the Kyōryū Wakusei theory. It holds that the source is Moe, the heroine of the sci-fi anime Kyōryū Wakusei (Dinosaur Planet), which aired in 1993 in NHK Educational TV's programming block for children, and it was spread by the otaku critic Toshio Okada. His account contains errors, though. Okada had confused the heroine's name with the real-life novelist Megumu Sagisawa, and the heroine in the show has no surname. On top of that, Ryūichi Kaneko, who worked on the production, denies the theory itself, saying the concept of moe existed before the show.

There is also the Hotaru Tomoe theory, which the psychiatrist Tamaki Saitō introduced as a story he had heard from a friend. It points to Hotaru Tomoe, a character in Sailor Moon S, which aired in 1994. Neither theory has been proven, and the origin cannot be narrowed down to one.

From the Net to Akiba-kei

Its first appearance online cannot be traced clearly either. On the electronic bulletin boards of the early internet, one example survives of someone writing moetagirimasu, roughly 'it makes me burn with moe,' in 1988, but nothing followed it. In 1994, moe directed at a female voice actor was confirmed, and in 1995, moe for manga/anime bishōjo, pretty young girls, suddenly grew more common. It is thought to have spread naturally among otaku around 1990.

Moe Goes Mainstream

It reached the wider public in the mid-2000s. In 2004, Densha Otoko (Train Man), a love story born from posts on an anonymous message board, became a hit, and public attention turned to the Akiba-kei culture centered on Akihabara.

At the 2005 U-Can New Words and Buzzwords of the Year, the moe~ used by Kanzen Maid Sengen, the maid unit from the Akihabara maid café @home cafe, made the top ten. It was not the grand prize, but it marked the moment moe reached beyond otaku. In 2018, it appeared for the first time in the seventh edition of the Kōjien, Japan's leading Japanese dictionary. The reason given was that the usage had settled in and worked its way into society.

Words That Branched Off From Moe

Moe gave rise to many words. A character who embodies cuteness is a moe chara, and an art style that plays up cuteness with features like large eyes is called moe-e.

Wearing a sleeve so long that you keep your hand tucked inside instead of letting it out is moe-sode. The attempt to sell a region's local products by pairing them with a bishōjo character is called moe-okoshi, and it has produced things like moe-mai, rice with a character drawn on the bag.

An unusual variation is moe-dan. Spread on social media from around 2016, it refers to the colorful, beautiful cross-section of a sandwich after it has been cut. The meaning has drifted from a feeling toward a character to the beauty of how something looks in this usage.

Amid the Age of Oshi and Toutoi

As the 2010s began, moe slowly stepped back from the center of conversation. These days it is increasingly treated as an old word. What came forward in its place was oshi and toutoi. Calling the one you cheer for your oshi, and calling a heart-filling moment toutoi, feels more familiar now.

In the 2020s, moe is something you come across far less often, yet the moe-e and moe-sode mentioned earlier have each become established as genres in their own right, so you will still have chances to see them.

Moe Overseas

Moe traveled overseas as well, and in the English-speaking world it took hold as moe, kept in romanized form. In localized versions of the popular anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, there was even a case where a line using the word moe was rendered simply as MOE.

Related expressions using the character 萌 also spread throughout Chinese-speaking communities, though the meaning shifted somewhat along the way. In Japan, moe referrs to the feelings of affection or fascination directed toward a character. In the English-speaking world, however, the term evolved into one that describes a style or genre, as in moe anime. Works that depict everyday life in a gentle, comforting way are often categorized this way.

The market figures reached overseas as well. In a survey the Hamagin Research Institute released in 2005, the moe-related market for fiscal 2003 came to 88.8 billion yen. It covered anime, comics, and games, and did not include goods and the like. This figure was cited by overseas outlets such as Anime News Network. The Saimoe Tournament, a popularity vote for moe chara that began on the Japanese anonymous message board 2channel, drew fans from overseas too, and similar competitions have sprung up abroad.

Moe as a Given Name

The kanji 萌 calls to mind the arrival of spring and the breath of new life. Soft in sound, it has long been used in Japanese given names.

Written in the alphabet, both come out as moe. Written in Japanese, though, the otaku term is 萌え, while the form that usually appears in names is 萌.