Quote:
Originally Posted by HurricaneHige
Except the bold part, although a moe character may or may not be sexually attractive, it also does not have to be exhibit youthful traits. Loli and youthful traits in itself is also a widely accepted moe-trait, but it does not have to be a deciding one. A character can be moe even if she/he is not 'youthful' as long as she has other 'moe' traits that makes the viewers/readers goes 'moe'.
What OutFoxZero described above would be what is 'moe' to him, 'youthful' and 'feminine trap' are two traits that he would considered 'moe', and others that he did not mention. To me, 'youthful' would be one but not 'feminine trap'. Everyone's moe is different, but as long as it makes you warm and fuzzy inside it is considered 'moe'. IE, a matured seductive dressed character with a tsundere personality is still a 'moe' character because she has several 'moe'-traits: Tsundere and sexy. (One could even argue maturity can be 'moe' if she is quiet/refined)
I'm not saying feminine traps are not moe, it's just not moe to me. Remember, there are no definite requirements for a character to be 'moe' as long as it display some character traits/physical traits that would incite the feeling.
|
I didn't mean that I find feminine traps moe, I meant that male characters I find moe
tend to be feminine.
A good example of a male character I find to be moe would be Renji Asou from EF: A Tale of Memories. A cute, idealistic bookworm who is a bit shy, especially around girls - personally, I can't help but cheer him on once he starts to pursue Chihiro. It's just that many of his personality traits are ones that would (traditionally) be considered feminine.
The "youthful" bit is (to me, at least) implied by the "blossoming" connotations of the word moe. I just brought it up to demonstrate the difference between youthful and young characters - Matsuri Shihou (Sola) and Sanae Furukawa (Clannad) are youthful but not young.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reckoner
I'm not quite sure where these concerns are grounded. Ryougi Shiki (Kara no Kyoukai aka Garden of sinners) is being featured in some of the moe tournaments, and uhm... Yeah I personally find that quite questionable.
|
While I agree that if you have Key style art, you almost always have moe, I understand Totoum's perspective here. I don't like to describe moe as an art style because I feel it gets people to concentrate on associated traits rather than the core of the concept. Same reason I dislike it when Mikuru is used as an example of moe character traits... she's one end of the moe spectrum, whereas at the other end you have characters like Rin Tohsaka and Kuroneko. As a moe fan, I prefer to have people recognize that I have fairly
broad tastes.
Otome Youkai Zakuro is actually a good example of a show that is moe without a moe artstyle - the major girls are all examples of major moe archetypes (very well executed ones, I might add), but the show uses a lot of shoujo style artwork and stylistic cues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reckoner
The problem right now is that the term is thrown around at everything by the supposed people who know what "moe" is. IMO the broad use of the term has more to do so with the people involved in the moe community than it does with people berating shows for being moe because they have a cute girl here or there.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reckoner
Which is missing my point. First people think the term has become too broad, now they're saying that what they think I said is confining the term too much.
I think it is clear to me that people will never be satisfied with how the term is used, and they probably should discard it.
|
The broad use of the term is fairly deliberate - like I said, many of us try to demonstrate the breadth of the concept when given the opportunity.
That said, I have gradually added associated characteristics to my definition of moe in an attempt to make it at least somewhat specific. As it stands, my definition is something like this:
"A passion for a youthful female character, not necessarily sexual in nature and usually stemming from her being adorable or charming."