Moe is defined as a strong affection for a character, usually female, from anime, manga, or video games. That definition is vague, especially with the rise of the waifu. It is an ever-evolving archetype and feeling. As we grow, so do our feelings and moe is no different. Moe is best thought of as cute girls doing cute things. ‘Cute girls doing cute things’ has evolved into ‘cute girls following their dreams and doing anything.’ They can camp, become survivalists, invent, and murder. What makes moe girls pull on our heartstrings? How do they make their world extraordinary?
Daily Dose of Moe
Moe fits naturally into the slice of life genre. The slow pacing and character-driven nature of the stories helps to bring out each character’s quirkiness. We can see this in the most recent season of Non Non Biyori Nonstop. The series revolves around the daily lives of first-grader Renge, fifth-grader Hotaru, and middle schoolers Komari and Natsumi. Episodes involve activities such as playing the recorder, planting tomatoes, helping someone overcome shyness, and a dodgeball game. Renge’s childlike wisdom shows her cleverness and sweetness. That uniqueness makes you smile. Hotaru, despite being in fifth grade and resembling a high schooler, has more childish moments than Renge. The rural setting becomes a heaven of stress relief as the characters deal with life’s changes in simple ways that make you remember that life is enjoyable.
Camp like a Moe
Laid Back Camp is about a group of high school girls who enjoy camping, mostly in winter. This series promotes the joy of camping in fun and informative ways. The pinecones have the cutest voices. Laid-Back Camp’s characters have varying outdoor skill levels, yet their enthusiasm for nature is inspiring. Rin, a solo camper, enjoys the solitary peace nature provides. Nadeshiko, the newbie, is new to camping and finds it exciting. She also makes friends as her interest grows. Chiaki and Aoi have camping knowledge, but little experience or money for supplies. They camp on the cheap. The cuteness comes from the drive the girls have in traveling on their own and getting camping supplies. In one instance, they try to convert a summer sleeping bag into a winter one, which results in one girl becoming a human package. The setting is based on actual locations and the characters’ reactions are just as authentic. Through their eyes, we experience Mt. Fuji as an accessible wonder.
Cute Girls Can Survive Anything
In School-Live!, the characters take surviving high school to another level. There’re no bullies, exams, awkward crushes, or the fear of being swept into an isekai. The girls in this show live in their school for an excellent reason (checkout episode one). They spend their days gardening, maintaining and gathering supplies, and staving off boredom with activities like tests of courage. The charm of this series is how the girls deal with the wear on their psyches from their survival situation. The star of School Live! is Yuki, whose positive outlook and antics raise the spirits of those around her. Which gives everyone a sense of normalcy that they need. Without her, the show would be very dark and depressing.
Moe Murder Mystery
Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) is a supernatural murder mystery series that first aired in 2006. The girls Mion, Shion, Rena, Rika, and Satoko are part of an after-school club with their friend Keiichi in the rural town of Hinamizawa. They find themselves involved in paranoia-induced murders and work to prevent them. The ladies of When They Cry are fun and eccentric. They are competitive and take their gaming seriously and always follow through on humiliating the loser. Nothing wrong with making your friends dress up like maids. Like Non Non Biyori, they love their town, but it’s their friendship that makes them endearing. They strive to help each other with personal and social problems, such as abuse. Instead of making their world more extraordinary like other shows, it becomes more terrifying. The moe aspect makes the horror more unsettling because it’s out of character and skews our perception.
Moe Inventions
How Clumsy You Are, Miss Ueno is about junior high science club president Ueno, who wants her crush to fall for her. She uses her various inventions, most of which could change the course of humanity, in perverted ways to gain his attention as well as to help the girls in other clubs. Ueno is cute because despite her genius-level intellect and planning something simple, like touching hands, flusters her. How Clumsy You Are, Miss Ueno, proves great things come from pursuing love, even the one-sided kind.
Moe Forever
Cute character designs combined with quirky eccentricities make moe shows fun to watch. The lack of a male presence in most shows gives the female characters room to breathe. Imagine a harem show without the protagonist. Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo would probably sleep less and space pirate more or focus on herself. In the end, moe shows us worlds full of hope and promise where dreams can come true, and effort always yields positive results. Their youthful perspective can ignite a fire in us and make learning more enjoyable. People started camping more after watching Laid-Back Camp. Moe has outgrown its roots to become an effective story technique in psychological horror as seen in When They Cry. The genuine appeal of moe is our yearning for stress-free happy days where the world is full of possibilities. Cute girls are extraordinary, and they brighten our day.
