The other day I wrote about what Japanese people do when they catch colds, including strange things like wrapping leeks around their necks and eating watery rice called okayu, which is why Japanese people hate oatmeal (it looks like “sick food” to them). I added a picture of Miku Hatsune incapacitated with a fever to my update, and learned something interesting: there’s a lot of art of cute anime girls with high fevers out there. It seems there’s something about
a girl who’s sick that’s an integral part of the moe aesthetic, which no doubt makes (presumably male?) fans want to take care of the girl via some odd manipulation of our protective instinct. The “cute girl gets sick” story is a staple of many anime series since it combines character-driven drama with the potential for humor, as in the episode of K-On!! when Yui’s younger sister Ui — perhaps the most excellent younger sister character Japan has ever devised, though some may disagree — got sick, and dojikko (clumsy) Yui had to take care of her. (Incidentally we restocked the fever-reducing cooling pads on the site today, in case a moe girl you know ever gets sick.)
Love hotels are a unique facet of Japanese life; it’s hard to resist a cute moe girl with a fever.
