I write a lot about the theory and practice of moe (mo-eh), since it’s a subject that’s dear to me. Although the kanji literally means “sprout” (like a plant poking through the soil), my personal definition for the word is, “the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when contemplating your favorite anime character.” Moe is many things to many people, however, and when I asked my Twitter and Facebook followers what the word meant to them, I got a range of answers. One replied that moe is all about the incredibly shy reactions the characters make when they get embarrassed by something, and others are charmed by how helpless moe girls are without someone to rescue them, while some loved the inner conflict in a good tsundere, angry and haughty most of the time, but with a payoff of loving tenderness later. I find myself fascinated by the flaws that are found in every good moe character, like the dojikko clumsiness of Yui from K-On!, or those cute crooked teeth, called yaeba (yah-eh-bah) and illustrated as a single rogue tooth in the corner of the mouth, which make me feel all tingly inside.
I love the yaeba fang as a “moe charm point.”
