this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2024
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Comic Strips

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[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 65 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Remember folks, moe and emo are anagrams.

[–] itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Now we just need to find oem to complete the circular permutations

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Original equipment manufacturer?

[–] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

So a milf, got it.

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Ok, I finally have to ask because I’ve blocked a ton of “moe” communities for being super spammy psuedoporn, which I don’t want to see.

Wtaf is moe? Is it a specific anime, a style, what?

[–] Donkter@lemmy.world 61 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That Moe never showed up in those communities or I might have stuck around! :p

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 41 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Moe (萌え, Japanese pronunciation: [mo.e] ⓘ), sometimes romanized as moé or moe' in English, is a Japanese word that refers to feelings of strong affection mainly towards characters in anime, manga, video games, and other media directed at the otaku market. Moe, however, has also gained usage to refer to feelings of affection towards any subject.

Moe is related to neoteny and the feeling of "cuteness" a character can evoke. The word moe originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Japan and is of uncertain origin, although there are several theories on how it came into use. Moe characters have expanded through Japanese media, and the concept has been commercialised. Contests, both online and in the real world, exist for moe-styled things, including one run by one of the Japanese game rating boards.

Moe characters have expanded within the Japanese media market. In 2003, the market for moe media such as printed media, video, and games was worth 88 billion yen; roughly one-third of the estimated 290 billion yen otaku market in Japan.[16] In 2009, Brad Rice, editor-in-chief of Japanator, said that "moe has literally become an economic force" saying that more products use some element of moe in order to sell better. Rice also goes on to say that moe is used to get anime and manga works out to "hardcore fans who buy excessive amounts of items related to the character of their desire."[17] Source: Wikipedia

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 9 months ago

Thanks, that definitely explains why all those posts give me the ick.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 21 points 9 months ago

Moe is a Japanese word for something that produces feelings of affection. In short, 'cute'. A kitten, small child, or a painting may be described as moe. It can also refer to fashion (think J-pop stars or idols), characters, art-styles, or stories.

There is a theory that moe was introduced by post-WW2 Japanese artists to distance themselves from the hyper-nationalistic imagery of Imperial Japan. In any case, Osamu Tezuka showed that dark and complex stories can be told without a dark and complicated art-style, leading to a number of Japanese works - even ones aimed at an older audience - using a moe artstyle.

There is definitely a subculture that fetishises moe, but I'll leave it at that.

[–] spinelessorange@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I'd say it's closer to a character style. Moe is a term that originally referred to the soft warm feeling you get when you view a cute character. Like the feeling of wanting to protect them eg Rosa from Brooklyn 99's reaction to holding a puppy.

Nowadays I'd say it's also a way to get more views for your middling anime. Eg the trope of cute girls doing some random hobby. Popular examples of the trope include lucky star, nichijou, the one about the euphonium that I can't remember the full name of, and plenty more that are terrible that I never bothered to watch or remember their name. The trope isn't necessarily bad, as the named examples above are good shows, but it is often used to try to draw viewers to bad anime by including token, or entirely filled with Moe characters.

Thank you for listening to my Ted talk.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

Nichijou is absurdist comedy, not moe.

[–] General_Effort@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago

You dance with the devil, the devil don't change. The devil changes you.

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago

The only thing I miss about reddit after moved to lemmy is GRS comic posts, I missed them

[–] odium@programming.dev 8 points 9 months ago

Scrolled down a bit in all hot and found this: https://ani.social/post/2062483

[–] Damage@feddit.it 8 points 9 months ago

Sweet memories of youth

[–] skulkbane@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

One month and she scrambled her shirt

[–] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago
[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's not Goth, that's emo!

Who am I kidding, they're basically the same thing.

[–] cerement@slrpnk.net 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

goth has the fashion sense emo lacks

[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 4 points 9 months ago

And better music.

[–] joyjoy@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

Black stains.