The Moe Manifesto

Vocaloids, which are virtual idol characters that sing songs in a synthetic voice, fit naturally into this kind of context. Techno music is based on the pleasure of repetition, and is what is left after the lyrics and message are gone. To me, moé is the pleasure of repetitious images of cute girl characters without story or meaning.

Ito also separates “character,” which is fully contained within a particular story, and kyara, which has its own existence outside the story.

you’re not doing too much, then you’re not doing enough. You may as well do nothing. If you’re not stimulating people, they won’t pay attention

That longing that cannot be expressed is moé. Now things are more open. It’s all right to talk about being in love with specific characters. It’s not like you’ll be labeled an otaku and shunned the way people were in the 1990s. So, for me, the word moé, which first appeared in the 1990s, really reflects the time in which men were awakening to feelings of affection for girl characters, but couldn’t express those feelings directly or openly. I am not so sure about the definition of moé now.

Moé is a very spiritual thing. It isn’t just some pattern. There was a time when I was asked to put keywords like “big brother” or “meow” into my music, but I didn’t like it. Someone was making a calculated business decision to put those words into the song to trigger a response in otaku. It’s the same with anime specifically designed to trigger moé. It seems forced and lacking in soul.

Moé isn’t bound to being male or female. The response transcends gender. Moé is a third gender.

More than a desire to date a cute girl or anime character, it is a desire to become her.

PG: For you, personally, what makes something moé?

POP: Whether or not someone has put love into it. If someone has put their heart and soul into a drawing, then it’s moé. A drawing that has powerful emotion behind it has much more impact than one that merely employs technical skill

PG: Is the magical girl still relevant today?

NY: Sailor Moon in the 1990s was probably the height of success for the magical girl genre, but I think that people still have a longing for protagonists that display kindness rather than strength. Of course our company makes epic adventure animation such as Naruto and Bleach, but I personally can no longer believe in male heroes. Maybe fighting isn’t the way to resolve conflict. But if a male character said that, it would seem weak and pitiful, because we judge them based on some notion of what it means to be a man. The solution is to have female characters resolve the conflict in a way that is impossible for men.

PG: Why did Pierrot stop making magical girl series?

NY: It was simply due to the declining number of children in Japan. The number of children is shrinking, which means the number of toy companies is shrinking and finally that there are fewer robot and magical girl series for children.