AkibaBlog

"Moe English Vocabulary Workbook" Has Animenized

From today, we are gonna start a new topic, "Weekly AkibaWords!" Woohoo! In here, we are gonna introduce one Otaku word each week that is well-used at an exciting otaku city, Akiba. We are gonna introduce them in our way from the holy place of Otaku, Akiba - differently from Wikipedia, which explains a word too difficult. It should be fun! The first word we are gonna teach you is… "MOE" - Yes, it's one of the words that you must understand in order to talk or know about Akiba!

Originally, "Moe" is used to express feelings of loving something- especially, when otaku is crazy about bishojo (cute ladies) characters, they say "Moe." Sometimes, it can be used to show the sexual excitement. Well, if you have read AkibaBlog, you know it, don't ya?

About 10 years ago, "Moe" was a slang used only by Otaku, but today, the word is widely recognized in the society through mass media, and thus, the word "Moe" has been used in the whole world of "bishojo" (manga, anime, game, etc). Especially, when businesses of game, anime, doujinshi, etc, have gotten bigger in Akihabara as well as spreading of internet, we started hearing the word "Moe" a lot.

Today, “Moe” has, even though it’s very little, an effect in the economy of Japan- it has become an important business little by little. Not only for a primal “Moe” genre such as PC bishojo games that have extreme sexual expressions, galge (console game), anime, or figure, but also mentioning “Moe” in a workbook, Moe English Vocabulary Workbook, which was just released, or being used in our real life- for Maid at Maid Café.

When "Moe" becomes that big, it gets an important position among subcultures in the business world so that some serious researchers release how "Moe" effects for the economic growth.

Like I have talked about, “Moe Market” has become larger and larger; therefore, there are so many choices of “Moe.” This has led to open different kinds of Moe World for Otaku- even a word, “Moe Zokusei” (an attribute of Moe), was born. The typical “Moe Zokusei” are “girls wearing glasses,” “girls having twin tails,” “Iincho girls (chairwomen),” “Tsundere girls,” etc. The word is used to explain what kind of girls you are dying for specifically.

Nowadays, everything that has an illustration of a cute girl has become "Moe" even though there is no relation to "Moe." Writing bishojo, many packages just write "Moe xxx" and mass-produce them. So, what would happen to "Moe" next year or the year after next? But anyway, if you walk around Akiba, you are able to meet the most advanced "Moe"!!!

"Moe" on a Package of Pickles

A Guide Book of "Moe Spots"