As an anime fan since my late teens, I have recently come into a impasse. Lately the Japanese concept of
“Moe” has been bastardized and incorporated into what people believe anime to be.
“Moe is an adjective that can be used to describe anime shows or characters. It’s defined by TV Tropes as the ability of a character to instill in the audience an irrational desire to adore them, hug them, protect them, comfort them, etc. To evoke a sort of Big Brother Instinct, in men and women.”
Before my research, I had previously believed that the influx of ‘Moe’ anime was due to a younger demographic who are interested in blatant sexuality, and adults with some sort of mental distortion. I did not know of the concept of Moe, and more importantly, that it is a genre. As someone who thought anime was forever ruined due to rampart commercialization, it brings me great relief to find, the issues I have with anime, is but a sub-genre of anime.
Recently the concept of Moe has been far removed from the original intention in order to make people feel emotions for characters in ways which benefits the sexual deviants in our population.Besides the obvious social problems, previous anime fans are leaving the genre in droves because of the perception of what Anime has devolved into.
It was easy to fall into the trap of all new anime is sexist and perverted, but with new releases like Your Name there were some acceptations. I have always known it was impossible for an entire country to be depraved in this matter, so I would keep a tab on new anime, looking for the good stuff; the multilayered complicated stories that you can really sink your teeth into while passively preparing to give up the genre all-together.
Moe was originally a trick to make you empathize with characters, but now it has turned into a full blown social disaster, but again, I am happy to report, you can avoid the genre all-together and still revel in the engaging storytelling the medium offers.
