Moe: I’m in Love with Cartoon School Girls

Lucky Star figurines on my book shelf. Accompanying Fukumoto manga to combat loli vibes.


Being an avid anime fan, I am well aware of the phenomenon of “moe” (pronounced “moe-eh“) (1). Definitions of moe differ slightly from source to source, but simply put it’s an attraction to anime characters. Anime producers have capitalized on this by creating shows with characters that blatantly display popular moe characteristics.

While moe has strong connections to cuteness -the big eyes and small noses and mouths that are common to anime designs- cuteness does not always make something “moe”. But moe can elicit feelings of protectiveness from the viewer, similar to the way one would feel towards a helpless kitten or an infant. This also does not have to apply to human anime characters. Chi from [Chi’s Sweet Home] gives me feelings of moe (it’s also just that I love cats).

Moe, however, can also be defined a collection of characteristics rather than an overall character. Feelings of moe can be triggered by certain factors. For example, anime viewers can develop moe feelings for characters who wear glasses, or clumsy characters, or “big sister/big brother” characters. Oftentimes, characters are loaded down with these “triggers”, creating bloated character designs that can rival [Tetsuya Nomura]. [Here’s] an excellent article on this matter, using two characters from the series Di Gi Charat as examples.

One of the things that I love about anime and manga is that it is self-referential and self-critical. Numerous series have been created critiquing the moe phenomenon. One of my favorite series that does this is [Lucky Star], which does it in an extremely subtle way. It takes occasional jabs at the audience, “poking fun at them for finding this sort of thing titillating” (2). The main characters -four high school girls- display stereotypical moe characteristics -glasses, pigtails, clumsiness, [“tsundere”] personalities- but the plot of the show (or lack thereof) renders these characteristics incidental to the characters, not a critical part of the story. Instead of the typical plotlines of a lot of moe anime (e.g., falling critically ill, falling in love with boys), the viewer is forced to watch these four girls go about their daily lives in an almost “Waiting for Godot” fashion- attending classes, riding the bus, [talking about food]. It completely defies any expectations one would have from the design of the show, and I personally think it’s brilliant for doing so. It's like cock-blocking fanboys.

Now that I’ve completed outed myself as a sad dork, I will get back to writing about iPods and food.




1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_(slang)
2. http://miss-arel.livejournal.com/195095.html?thread=1501207#t1501207

Book Review- Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes

Photo from the [Face Food blog]

My mild obsession with bento -cutely arranged lunches in portable, stackable boxes (think Lunchables, but healthy)- has lead me to purchase a bento set and accessories, and to pick up the new book [Face Food]. Written by Christopher D. Saylers, Food Face explores the wide range of "character bentos", or "charaben"- literally, rice, nori, vegetables and other foods arranged to resemble a child’s favorite cartoon characters. These painstakingly detailed lunches are the result of hours of work by a parent, for the sole purpose of the child’s enjoyment and nutrition.

Saylers interviews several charaben creators about how they got into the hobby and their reasons for making intricate boxed lunches. One interesting reason was concern over a child’s nutrition, battling against the wave of unhealthy pre-packaged snacks marketed to children. Charaben mimic the bright colors and characters of commercial snacks, but in a much healthier packaging.

I've briefly written about [bentos before], but Face Food got me thinking further about the connection between cuteness and eating- particular when it comes to getting children to eat well. The photographs of bentoes in the book come with a partial list of ingredients, and it’s amazing to see how boring or otherwise unappealing (to a child’s taste) ingredients can become cute and appetizing: green beans for trees, carrots for a penguin’s feet, ears made from hard boiled eggs. Integrated into a design, it effectively "disguises" the food without really changing it.

And that’s one of the major reasons for using cuteness in design. Cuteness can “soften the blow” of an object or concept -technology or food- to make it appealing to someone unfamiliar with it. So it makes perfect sense that this is used to get picky eaters to expand their palette and improve their health.

Cute Medical Equipment

Filler post for now! I'm planning on some new entries soon (a review of [Face Food] and an article on cuteness' connection to the [Uncanny Valley]), but I've been busy lately and haven't posted in a while, so here you go.

Medical equipment is typically cold, distance and clinical, white and gray boxy monstrosities that frighten off anyone trying to use them. But medical devices that are used daily, not under the supervision of a doctor, are changing this. It's important to foster a good relationship between a user and a life-saving medical device, so cuteness is often used to do this. One area in which this can be seen is home glucose testers for people with diabetes.

One company that produces home glucose testers is LifeScan. They've succeeded in making the testers smaller and easier to use and conceal. A product that demonstrates this is their "OneTouch" series, which require only the click a button to test blood glucose levels. The devices are small and resemble other electronics, like stop watches and MP3 players. The testers feature round shapes, making them easier to hold and use one-handed, and come in different colors, like deep blues and grays.

LifeScan's "UltraMini" series breaks away from this, though. One of the main selling points for the device on the company's website is that it comes in a variety of fun colors, like bright green and pink. "Take the dull out of diabetes testing," the website proclaims. The colors and improved shape - long and thin like a pen, to make it easily portable in a bag or pocket - help to foster user-product relations, especially for a product that does a painful, monotonous task.