Flaming eyeballs? There's a Visine for that.

In case you're unfamiliar, Black Rock Shooter was originally a character designed by the Japanese artist Huke, which the band Supercell adapted into a wildly popular Hatsune Miku music video. The video itself doesn't feature much plot; it's just the titular protagonist travelling around a post-apocalyptic world, looking all emo and angsty. That means when Yutaka Yamamoto and Studio Ordet decided to make a full-length original video animation from this concept for their first independent project, they had their work cut out for them. Not only did they have to prove their little startup studio could produce quality anime, they had to create an entire universe and mythology for Black Rock Shooter from scratch.

So, did they succeed? Did Studio Ordet prove it could hold its own against the older, larger and better-funded anime studios? Sadly, no. This OVA was a disappointment on nearly every level. It's a pity, since there's a really interesting concept here. Unfortunately, it was dragged down by poor animation, badly paced storytelling and low production values.

Read more after the break.

Those are the stubbiest, sloppiest twintails I've ever seen.

Black Rock Shooter begins, oddly enough, with a slice-of-life setup. Mato, a fairly typical high-school girl, meets another girl from her class named Yomi. Since they're neighbors, the two begin walking to school together and strike up a budding friendship. Mato takes Yomi to one of her favorite places, a picturesque cliff overlooking the entire town, where they consummate their friendship by exchanging star-shaped cell phone straps. Eventually, Mato winds up joining the school basketball team, whereas Yomi opts for volleyball. However, Mato sprains her ankle during practice one day, and consequently meets the team's manager Yuu. As Yuu and Mato become fast friends, Yomi begins to feel alienated, and shows signs of depression.

Meanwhile, interspersed with these school drama scenes are seemingly unrelated brief shots of Black Rock Shooter (who I will henceforth refer to as BRS) travelling through her post-apocalyptic world. Eventually, she arrives at the castle of a gothic girl named Dead Master. After BRS offers her hand in friendship, Dead Master scorns her and attacks. The two battle, with BRS using her transforming arm-cannon/melee weapon, and Dead Master using two giant flying skulls and a scythe.

Trust me, this gun is much less impressive than it looks.

Back in the real world, Mato becomes worried when Yomi doesn't show up for school. After getting a panicked text message from her mother, she returns home to find two police detectives waiting to question her; Yomi's parents have reported her missing, and the police fear she's run away. Concurrently, BRS is defeated by Dead Master and chained to a wall, helpless. Mato falls into a deep depression, despite Yuu's efforts to cheer her up. She becomes hopeful, however, upon recieving a blank text message from Yomi's phone. She rushes out to her old hangout, the cliff, where she discovered Yomi's cell phone strap lying on the ground. As she holds it, crying, a light descents from heaven and envelops her.

In the alternate world, BRS breaks free of her chains and confronts Dead Master. The latter, while backing away in fear, accidentally falls off a cliff, but is caught by BRS in a hug. Struggling against her captor, Dead Master breaks free of the body she had been inhabiting, revealing that Yomi had been possessed by the evil entity all along. BRS then confronts Mato, and after a brief conversation, merges with her. The new BRS/Mato fusion opens her eyes, looks straight at the camera, and declares "I am Black Rock Shooter!"

After the credits, we see Yomi and Mato reunited. However, Yuu is beginning to show signs of a mysterious depression...

*insert ominous music here*

From a technical standpoint, Black Rock Shooter was unimpressive. The initial battle between BRS and Dead Master was probably the highlight, as it was more fluid and well-choreographed than the rest of the OVA. The animation quality everywhere else was noticeably lacking, with many scenes having a distractingly low framerate. The flame around BRS's right eye was probably the most egregious example of this; it was poorly animated, and didn't look convincing in the slightest.

The character and art design was also pretty bland, with the exception of Huke's alternate world designs. Similarly, the music was forgettable, minus a couple of piano pieces at the end. Honestly, the whole presentation was underwhelming to me. It felt like a cheap, second-rate project... and nowhere near the quality we usually expect from OVAs. I realize that Studio Ordet was operating with limited manpower and budget, but I really think they could have made a better effort.

Green is the color of EVIL!

On the other hand, my feelings on Black Rock Shooter's story are mixed. I thought the real world storyline was pretty enjoyable, with believable characters and well-written dialogue. However, the alternate world scenes felt entirely extraneous and unnecessary until the very end. I realize that the battle between BRS and Dead Master was supposed to parallel the relationship of Mato and Yomi, but this comparison never really clicked for me. How are these alternate-world entities related to our real-world protagonists? Why is the girl's friendship represented by a battle? What caused Yomi to vanish? Why does her disappearance cause Dead Master to capture BRS? Is BRS actually Mato's alter ego? The OVA never bothers to answer any of these questions, making the whole affair frustratingly confusing.

Furthermore, the emotional conflict between Mato and Yomi never receives any meaningful resolution. Instead of addressing Yomi's feelings of alienation, this OVA seems to indicate that her depression was merely caused by Dead Master possessing her. In other words, it raises some very serious issues concerning friendship and its consequences, then hand-waves those issues away by saying "It was just alternate-dimension demonic possession all along." Such an unbelievably asinine deus-ex-machina I have not seen since the finale of Battlestar Galactica.

However, Black Rock Shooter is much sexier than Starbuck.

Overall, I found Black Rock Shooter disappointing. Although it had a a promising concept, the storyline was fragmented and the production values subpar. I can see this OVA being a good jumping-off point for a series, but on its own it fails to impress. I'm disappointed, Yamakan... I really expected better from you.

Could we be living in the last days of anime? One industry insider seems to think so.

This article featured on ANN is from an interview with writer Dai Sato, credited with writing episodes for Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell. He paints a rather grim picture picture of the decline and death of anime within the next few decades.

Sato dismissed the idea of "Cool Japan" and complained that much of the in-between animation work in anime is outsourced to people in other countries, who may not be aware of or invested in the work itself. Similar to director Hayao Miyazaki, Sato criticized politicians and other who promoted the image of Cool Japan for their own purposes. Sato also decried series that were more about escape than about confronting real problems, and proclaimed that the anime industry in Japan is a "super establishment system" rather than a creative force, focused more on characters and on merchandise. He suggested that manga was "the last hold out," and that if manga was lost then anime would not last without it.

While this reflects one person's opinion, there are others who think the industry is growing. However given the subpar offerings for the summer 2010 season I can understand the reasoning behind Dai Sato's statements.

Read my own opinion on this after the break.

Summer 2010 seems to be a dismal rehash of the same cliche plot lines and pandering fan service that we've all seen before, and it's getting tiresome. One wonders what the anime studios are thinking when creating a new anime series. Do they look at it for its entertainment value, or as a platform for marketing spin-off goods? It is my opinion the latter may be the truth. It seems as if every new anime these days comes with a slew of merchandise. An excellent example is K-ON!!'s bewildering blizzard of products, including good luck charms, beach towels, sweat pants and beach shorts, all emblazoned with the characters from the series. These items make tons of money, while the series itself is stuck in an endlessly looping plotline which leaves some viewers cold.

Kinda like this.

So is this growth? Instead of anime with quality production values or writing, we get shows calculated to sell as much merchandise as possible. Could this be the beginning of the end for the 'good anime series'? I can see a time when we are bombarded with nothing but moe, fanservice and other fluff of little or no substance.

"Wow did you see those figurines for blah blah blah? The series kind of stunk but those characters were so ........"

If that's the way the industry wants to go, it's wrong on so many levels, I watch anime for engaging storylines and interesting characters. If I wanted mindless fluff and such there is always reality TV.

When was the last time you saw a really interesting series that had substantial content and storyline driven by meaningful character development? For myself it's been almost ten years; an obscure sci-fi series called Crest of the Stars that was never completed because the industry passed it by in favor of moe fluff and other pointlessness. I'm not saying all anime these days is bad, but the good series are becoming few and far between.

What can we, as the consuming public, do to alter this trend? Maybe it's hopeless, but we can each influence the industry in our own small way. If you don't like something whether it be food, clothing, furniture or whatever, you take your money elsewhere. Why should it be any different for anime? If it's substance-less moe fluff, do not support it. If enough of us vote with our wallets, then maybe the studios will take notice. However if we all behave like mindless zombies and consume whatever anime is presented to us without question, then the problems we see now will only get worse. It's easy to produce a fluff series, with no complex drawings, expensive writers, or well-done  CG work. After all, why put any effort into the show itself when the figures and body pillows are what bring in the cash?

In closing, the future of anime lays in the decisions we as consumers make. If we accept this mindless fluff, then that's what we'll get. But if we start looking for substance and story, then maybe the studios will listen. With a little luck, we might start seeing quality shows like Cowboy Bebop again.

First off, sorry for the lateness of this Bakacast episode. Since Dustin is on vacation this week, I got to try my hand at editing the podcast, and it took friggin' FOREVER. On the plus side, I did get to pick the theme music this time around...

Anyways, this episode features a greatly expanded cast. Although Dustin is absent, I brought in Konata (aka Jeagle) and Shamisen (aka Larry) to fill his place. That means you're getting twice as many bakas for the same low price!

As always, you can download it directly, subscribe to our RSS feed, or let iTunes do all the work for you.

We start off with a discussion about the demise of One Manga, as well as the new Seven Seas licenses. Then, after drooling over recently-announced sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, we get into reviewing this week's new anime.

• Highschool of the Dead #3
• Occult Academy #3
• Seitokai Yakuindomo #3
• K-ON!! #16

And that's pretty much it. See y'all next week!

Yen Press, the US publishing company that holds the rights to titles such as Yotsuba&, K-ON! and Highschool of the Dead, has launched the online version of their monthly anthology magazine Yen Plus this week, replacing their now-defunct print edition. To celebrate this event, the August issue of the magazine is free, while any ongoing subscriptions will be $2.99 per month. The fact that this move occurs in the same week as the death of One Manga is perhaps only a coincidence, however with other publishing houses like Square Enix also putting content online, we may be seeing the beginning of a major shift in manga content distribution. What's your opinion: are you along for the ride?

More after the jump.

I know online subscription of content is nothing new, but with the proliferation of manga piracy it seems that the big publishing companies are finally releasing dynamic online content. Just think about it: a site owned by Square Enix where you could read Full Metal Alchemist as it was released. FMA itself may have finished, but there are other epic series like it where we consumers have to rely on scanlations to get their weekly fix. Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are other prime examples where the official translations are months behind and only in hard copy form. What if you want your fix now? This is where Yen Plus steps in. If successful as an online magazine, it could become the model for other companies to mimic and expand upon.

As you can see, the scans in Yen Plus are high-quality.

As for this month's edition of Yen Plus: I like the free trial idea, as that is pretty good for drawing in new people. At $2.99 a month it's definitely very affordable, even for those of us on a limited budget. But is this something which newbies like myself will want to read? Yes, very much so. I was easily drawn in by the presentation of the magazine, not to mention the manga chapters themselves. I can easily see myself enjoying some of the titles, despite missing previous chapters from earlier months. Minor annoyances include relearning how to read left-to-right (that is so backwards, geez) and lack of archiving, meaning in a month's time this issue will no longer be available online. This would force people to buy the manga in hard copy form later on (oh, darn).

One of the new manga introduced in this month's issue.

Time will tell if Yen Press can make their mark online, and I certainly hope they do. I will easily pay for the opportunity to read monthly releases of manga online, whether its in magazine form like Yen Plus or some entirely new format. The legacy of One Manga and MangaHelpers has shown how readily people embrace online manga distribution as long as it's easily accessible and user-friendly. Will new ventures like Yen Press provide a legitimate replacement for these defunct scanlation aggregators? I will certainly be giving these publishers my full support. Will you do the same?

HOORAY FOR ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT!

After last week's episode of Seitokai Yauindomo showed signs of improvement, I was hoping the next one would continue this trend. Unfortunately, like a sick twist of fate, this week's episode reverted back to the subpar quality of the first two--rife with overused innuendos, juvinile humor, abominably bad storytelling and nonexistant character development. It was a huge punch in the stomach to watch this disaster after I was so impressed with last week's episode. It pains me to do this, but it's time for me to pull out my good ol' ranting stick of nerd rage.

See my rage unleashed after the jump.

Only this show could make a bondage teddy bear joke unfunny.

We begin with Aria and Shino having returned from their trip to Kyoto, and--to sum up in a few words--they start ruining the show again. After a bunch of pointless and unfunny sex jokes from our prurient characters, we see the closest thing we'll get to a coherent plot: it's Shino's birthday, so the rest of the council decides to throw her a party. Meanwhile, the viewer prays there's no more juvenile innuendo. After this, we see our oh so banal protagonist Takatoshi walk Shino home in the rain, with them sharing an umbrella as though they're a couple.  This scene doesn't go anywhere, but it's the closest thing you'll get to character development in this show, so enjoy it while you can. As for the rest of the episode, it's merely composed of forgettable jokes that aren't worth mentioning.

As you can already tell, this episode was chock-full of the kind of humor I really despise--both the sexual and non-sexual jokes were as appealing as a slap to the face. None of them were funny. I must say, however, they started getting a little more... unique with the sexual ones. There's one scene in particular where Suzu is sucking a milk carton while speaking with Takatoshi, and from the other characters viewpoints it looks like this...

What a HILARIOUS misunderstanding!

I'll be honest, this scene was marginally funny, and it was probably the closest I came laughing during this episode. However, the other jokes didn't come close. It just feels like the writers weren't even trying to be funny anymore; they were just firing off every joke that came to mind, without bothering to weed out the bad ones. It was almost painful for me to have to force myself through the whole thing, and by the end, I felt as though I had been freed from some great burden. That's right... the humor was so overused and cliche, it was downright agonizing to watch. That's quite the accomplishment for any show.

I really hated this episode. It cost me half an hour of my time and a small piece of what's left of my sanity. I'm actually a bit upset that I feel the need to do this, but I don't have much choice. I am officially dropping  this show. I doubt I could sit through another episode without developing homicidal tendencies. Sorry, Seitokai Yakuindomo, I really tried to enjoy you, but I can only take so many uncreative and juvenile sex jokes. Goodbye and good riddance!

[Editors Note: Four episodes in, and this is the best fanservice shot in the entire show... a show that, I might remind you, is ALL ABOUT SEX. Now that's just pathetic.]

Everybody look! I'm showing a tiny amount of cleavage!

Who wants a sticker?

I've been quite enthusiastic about K-ON!! lately. Every episode since 13 has been good, and I was especially hyped after last week's enjoyable offering. Sadly, this week I was in for a disappointment. While the latest episode wasn't necessarily bad, I didn't enjoy it all that much. Sure, it had some really cute moments in it, but I feel that the plot was far too repetitive. It relied all too much on the cuteness, eschewing any meaningful plot or character development.  The end result was an episode that was a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't exactly bad... but it wasn't very good either.

Read more after the jump.

This won't end well.

This episode's plot mainly consists of Azusa repeatedly heading to the music room, where she encounters various other HTT members and tries to convince them to get serious and start practicing. First we see her find Mugi, who has fallen asleep behind the piano, and the two actually interact for once. This was definitely a rare sight, since these two have barely even acknowledged one another up until this point. Next Azusa finds Mio changing her guitar strings. These two girls then head over to Ritsu's home to eat. Finally, she encounters Yui, and helps her then clean out their turtle's aquarium. And with that, the episode ends. Not all that much in the way of plot, eh?

CUTENESS... OVERLOAD...

The episode was iffy. It wasn't at all bad, but it wasn't as good as I was hoping. My main problem was with how repetitive it is. It focuses mainly on Azusa's interaction with the other girls. She walks to the clubroom, determined to try and make the girls practice, then meets somebody and gets sidetracked. Rinse and repeat. They tried to break up the monotony by having Azusa visit Ritsu at home instead of the music room, but the difference was superficial. It would have been nice to see a bit more interaction between the girls, although it wasn't all bad. Seeing Mugi and Azusa together was enjoyable, since the two rarely speak at all. Similarly, the scenes with Ritsu were pretty funny. However, I had problems with the other two. Mio and Azusa barely speak to each other at all; instead we just watch Mio change her guitar strings. As for Yui and Azusa, they do nothing but clean out the aquarium. Couldn't they have added some dialogue to these scenes?

Are you happy yet, Azusa? Are you satisfied?!

But of course, this episode was still very entertaining. The jokes were hilarious, and they got the cute parts nailed. While I have some gripes with some of the more repetitive scenes, the episode as a whole still holds up pretty well. I liked seeing Azusa in the spotlight again, since we get to see her interact with the other major characters this time around. It feels a lot more enjoyable than just ogling her in a swimsuit.

Although this was a good episode, I think it could've been better. The repetition in the plot was the main flaw, and dragged the whole thing down. But, as usual, it was enjoyable to watch and won't leave you disappointed in the end. K-ON!! has been doing well these past few weeks, so lets hope that they can manage to keep this pace up for the future.

Well, it has finally happened. One Manga, one of the biggest scanlation hoarding websites on the internet today, is closing up shop at the end of this week due to 'publishers recently changing their stance on scanlations'. It was only a matter of time before the popular website submitted to pressure from the multi-national manga anti-piracy coalition, which aims to reduce the huge amount of manga piracy on the internet. Indeed, the scalp of One Manga will be a big victory for the coalition as, according to ANN, One Manga was ranked #935 on Google's 1000 most visited websites on the 'net. This is quite a staggering thought; to think that a website that relies on such blatant piracy could rise to become one of Google's top 1000. No wonder it had to go.

Do you visit One Manga frequently? I know I did, yet as I said in my previous article, and I say again now: lets pull our fingers out and start supporting the industry we love. Consider the death of One Manga the final wake up call.

Show us those pearly whites!

After the first two episodes of Occult Academy blew me away, I was expecting big things from the third. In hindsight, perhaps this was foolish; many anime have great introductions, but falter a few episodes in. Was I setting my expectations too high? Or was I merely so confident in the creative talent behind Anime no Chikara that I thought they could do no wrong?

Perhaps I'm being a bit drastic; the third episode of Occult Academy certainly wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. It rounded out Fumiaki's character wonderfully, and delivered more laughs than Seitokai Yakuindomo will ever manage. However, it barely added anything to the series' mythos or storyline, other than the rather bland new character Mikaze. In fact, this Mary Sue romantic interest and her date with Fumiaki took up far too much of this episode's runtime, and slowed the pacing to a crawl. The end result was an episode that, while still enjoyable, was nowhere near as good as the previous two.

Find out more after the break.

I never smile. Smiling is for weaklings.

This episode begins with two girls in Fumiaki's class discussing a recent string of attacks, which are rumored to be caused by a tengu. When Maya brings this to Fumiaki's attention, he dismisses the idea with a laugh. After all, tengu are mythological creatures... they couldn't possibly be real, right? However, Maya reminds him that aliens are due to invade the Earth soon, and an advance alien scout wearing an pilot's oxygen mask could easily be mistaken for a tengu. On the off chance the attacks are related to the Key of Nostradamus, Maya orders Fumiaki to investigate.

After class, Fumiaki encounters school bureaucrat Chihiro, who has grown suspicious of his relationship with Maya. In order to avoid her probing questions, Fumiaki desperately tries a diversionary tactic; he complements her dumpling-like hairstyle. Surprisingly, Chihiro is so taken aback by the compliment that she becomes infatuated and tries to kiss him.

That's going to show up in my nightmares.

After escaping from that eldritch horror, Fumiaki heads to his hole-in-the-wall apartment and encounters the landlord, a creepy old lady. Later, he catches a TV broadcast of his younger self, performing psychic tricks on a variety show. Feeling wistful, he calls up his old family using a pay phone, but hangs up before saying anything. Depressed, he heads over to a local eatery (run by another creepy old lady) and orders some curry. That's when he meets... her.

Sparkle sparkle!

Say hello to Little Miss Perfect, Mikaze Nakagawa (voiced by Minori Chihara of Haruhi fame). She's cute, cheerful, sensitive, big-breasted, wealthy and so utterly bland that she'll put you to sleep faster than an elephant tranquilizer. Naturally, Mikaze and Fumiaki hit it off almost immediately. After he frequents the diner for a few days, she asks him out on a date.

The date itself was the most boring part of this episode. It's basically just the two of them touring various historical sites around the city, punctuated by a rather tired running gag involving Mikaze recklessly driving her sports car and scaring the living daylights out of Fumiaki. Eventually, they wind up in Zouzan Bunker, a historical relic from World War II. Maya is also investigating the bunker as a possible source of the tengu attacks, but doesn't interfere with their date. After they leave, Maya runs across a shadowy creature, which she shoots with her crossbow. This has little effect on it, and it swiftly flies towards her and attacks. To be continued...

DUN DUN DUUUUN!

This was a good episode, but it had some problems. For starters, the pacing slowed to a crawl; the last two episodes blasted through their stories at lightning speed, whereas this one had a more mellow, relaxed tempo. Now, I understand they were trying to take their time and develop Fumiaki's character, and the effort is certainly appreciated. After all, the last two episodes were Maya-centric, and Fumiaki certainly deserved some screentime. However, did they really have to make it so boring? His date with Mikaze was just plain dull, and the reckless driving gag was utterly cliched and awful. Now, I'm not saying this kind of joke can't be funny; when Hiroyuki Morioka used it in Banner of the Stars, he made it fresh and interesting by spicing up the formula with hilarous dialogue and character interaction. Kiyohiko Azuma did much the same in Azumanga Daioh. However, in this show, Mikaze is too bland of a character to make this kind of comedy work. Instead, the animators toss in some bare-bones reaction shots of Fumiaki looking frightened and leave it at that. It just comes across as lazy, not funny.

At least they put some effort into drawing her boobs.

I'm not going to judge this episode too harshly just yet. It's the first half of a two-parter, meaning these disparate story elements could still be woven into something interesting. For example, I have a feeling that there's more to Mikaze than meets the eye. After all, why would they introduce such an obvious Mary Sue into a show that, thus far, has had superb writing and characterization? Here's hoping next week's episode picks up the pace; I'd hate for such a great show to ruin its potential.

Last week, Project Haruhi celebrated its first anniversary as an anime blog. We asked you, the readers, to help us come up with a witty and fun tagline that would suit this website. Well, congratulations to Kamanashi for the winning comment! Project Haruhi: We're not interested in ordinary cartoons is definitely something Haruhi herself would say and captures the vibe of the website perfectly.

Kamanashi, please forward your contact details to ryoko[at] projectharuhi.net and we shall send you your prize, a $50 gift certificate for J-List. Once again, congratulations!

Kamanshi's blog and Twitter

Honorable mentions:
Galen: I Can’t Believe Its Not Moe!
Starlogic: Because Sankaku Complex is NSFW
Zzeroparticle: Chocolate Cornets and Other Anime Musings; After School Tea, Cakes, and Anime

Is this moe's true form?

This is a refined and expanded version of an editorial I originally wrote for Japanator. The original can be found here.

It seems one of the biggest problems in the ongoing moe debate is the lack of any concrete definition for the term "moe." This has lead to all sorts of argument among otaku; some believe the term can be applied to any female character the viewer considers cute, while others argue it should be strictly limited to its original Japanese definition. Personally, I think the truth lies in between these two extremes. After all, language is defined by its usage, not by the opinions of a few crazed fanboys or some dusty old dictionary. Therefore, based on my own observations and research, I have created the Four Laws of Moe. I believe these laws lay out, in clear and concise detail, the exact parameters of moe and what traits a character must exhibit in order to be considered as such. Of course, these laws are merely a reflection of my own opinion; feel free to improve upon them, argue against them or even construct your own alternative theory. Whatever the case, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Read more after the break!

Moe moe kyun!

The initial definition of the word "moe" is far different from the one we use today. Originally, it referred to an interest in a particular kind of character; for example, a catgirl fetish would be "nekomimi-moe," a glasses fetish would be "meganekko-moe," and so on. Over time, the term evolved to describe any anime or manga character that elicited feelings of protectiveness in male viewers. Unfortunately, that definition is far too broad to be practical. Therefore, based on common archetypes present in the recent 'moe boom', as well as popular usage of the term in the anime fandom, I've compiled the following Four Laws of Moe. These laws explain what I believe to be the defining aspects of any moe character.

First Law: Moe characters are cute.

The concept of 'cuteness' is very important in Japanese pop culture, and moe exemplifies this. A moe character will always be as cute as possible, even at the expense of being sexually attractive. In fact, a moe character will not be outright sultry or seductive, as this takes away form their innocence (explored further in the Third Law). This is because many men find sexually confident women (including those in real life) to be intimidating or manipulative, and thus not ideal for fantasizing.

In order to facilitate maximum cuteness, moe characters will almost always be female and adhere to laws two through four. Naturally, such cute charm lends to their merchandising potential; hardcore otaku are always ready to buy figures and posters of their waifu. These merchandising sales, in turn, subsidize futher late-night anime production, and thus create more moe-type shows. This is the so-called 'vicious moe cycle' that some anime fans feel has lead to the downfall of the medium.

Second Law: Moe characters are young.

Generally, moe girls will be around junior or high-school age, the time when they are just starting to explore their sexual identity but still retain childlike innocence. This youth allows moe characters to be fetishized without making the viewer feel uncomfortable about lolicon, but still preserves the cute naivete (not to mention virginity) that creates feelings of protectiveness. These feelings are often linked to a fatherly instinct, especially among male otaku in their twenties and thirties. Incidentally, this demographic also has a great deal of liquid capital to spend on the aforementioned merchandise.

This is not to say older characters cannot be moe. As long as they are young at heart (like Mutsumi Otohime from Love Hina) and adhere to the other three laws, they still qualify.

Third Law: Moe characters are innocent.

This goes hand-in-hand with the second law. Moe girls are almost always virgins, and frequently have had no romantic experiences whatsoever. They often have a cheerfully optimistic view of reality, and are completely unaware of the feelings and/or perversions of those around them. In their first romantic encounters, they are usually extremely shy and tend to blush a lot. This makes them seem both physically and emotionally vulnerable, once again adding to the cuteness factor and creating feelings of protectiveness.

This is probably the most important law. Without innocence, it's hard to have a character retain the sense of vulnerability that defines moe. In fact, 2chan's infamous 'virgin hunters' value this trait above all else... even going so far as to throw temper tantrums when they discover their waifu isn't as uncorrupted as they had thought (NSFW).

Fourth Law: Moe characters are quirky.

Moe characters usually have some sort of quirk that makes them stand out from the crowd. This can be a unique physical feature (i.e. lolfang, glasses or twintails) or an unusual way of speaking (i.e. ending sentences with desu or nyoro~n). Another common quirk is behavioral in nature; common examples include the lazy girl who is always late for class, the clumsy girl who can't do anything right, or the tsundere girl who inflicts pain on those she loves. The best kind of quirk adds to the overall cute factor of the moe character in question, without being socially undesirable. For example, running to school with toast hanging out of your mouth is fine... but collecting porn magazines is not.

Of course, many of these so-called quirks have become so common that they are now tired cliches; thighhigh stockings, glasses and twintails are three particularly egregious examples. Despite this, they have become synonymous with the moe aesthetic, thus leading to their continued popularity.

As a test, let's apply these laws to a few examples from an old favorite of mine, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Any character that gets a score of 3 or higher is considered moe.

Kyon (not female, but bear with me)

Cute: NO
Young: YES
Innocent: NO
Quirky: Uh... kinda?
Score: 1.5/4
Verdict: NOT MOE

Haruhi Suzumiya

Cute: YES
Young: YES
Innocent: Uh... kinda?
Quirky: YES
Score: 3.5/4
Verdict: MOE

Yuki Nagato

Cute: YES
Young: YES
Innocent: NO
Quirky: YES
Score: 3/4
Verdict: MOE

Mikuru Asahina

Cute: YES
Young: YES
Innocent: YES
Quirky: YES
Score: 4/4
Verdict: MAXIMUM MOE!!

And that's my proposed system for determining moe. But how does this apply the medium of anime as a whole?

In my opinion, moe is a kind of highly specialized fanservice; it creates characters that are (to otaku) highly desirable, in both personality and sex appeal, without any of the perceived drawbacks real women have. That said, it is subject to all the limitations of regular fanservice. When moe is used sparingly, as merely one aspect of a character's personality, it can effectively complement their other traits and make them more well-rounded. However, when a character is defined entirely by moe, with no other redeeming aspects whatsoever, they becomes two-dimensonal and uninteresting. In otaku parlance, such characters are called moeblobs, since their personalities are so ill-defined that they are little more than useless blobs. Like the big-breasted nurse from Highschool of the Dead, who exists solely to titillate viewers, moeblobs are often relegated to menial fanservice roles. Mikuru Asahina is, in my opinion, an excellent example; she was the only female character in Haruhi that had no dignity, usefulness or interesting character development besides being Haruhi's sexual plaything. This made her a flat and boring character, and an excellent example of too much moe.

Cute but totally useless.

Well, those are my thoughts on moe. I'd love to hear yours in the comments below!

Further reading:

• TV Tropes on moe
• Wikipedia on moe
• Ask John: What is Moe?
• Moe: The Cult of the Child
• The Deal With Moe
• Examples of Moe Anthropomorphism