No More Moe

Complaining about clichés in media is usually pointless. There is a reason why some things constantly show up in movies, TV shows and songs: there is a demand for them. So for every one aficionado who lashes out against studios and record labels for producing the same material over and over, there are ten average Joes who eat it up.

Anime is no different. We all know our shonen series and harem shows. How many times have we watched an anime where a guy has to decide between 10 different but loveable girls, only to choose the one he first met?

There are many clichés in anime but the most recent and fastest growing seems to be that of Moe. Moe comes from the Japanese verb “moeru” which means to burn or glow (with passion). In context it is used to describe a character, usually female, that somehow inspires a kind of devotion among fans, whether it is the shy girl in glasses that can’t talk to the boy she likes or the outgoing girl who needs a strong male type to protect her. The concept of Moe revolves around a sympathetic weakness of a character that the fans want to be corrected (or at the highest state of Moe, to be corrected by the fan’s passion itself).

There are many different definitions and sub-definitions of Moe and I’m sure I’ll get an email correcting me or adding onto my definition, but it doesn’t really matter. The point is that Moe is getting really annoying.

A recent show that just finished in Japan and perhaps one of the best animes ever is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The show is animated well with mind blowing effects, the story is solid and interesting, the characters are charming, and the acting is top notch. The show is practically perfect. It has a couple of Moe-like characters but it doesn’t detract from the overall experience, and in fact it is actually necessary to the story that they are sympathetic.

But sometimes Japan releases little albums of the voice actresses singing their own songs or just talking about the show, and this is no different. The actress who voices Haruhi, Hirano Aya, plays her character with a very fitting and attractive voice that is practically music to my ears. Hell, she even sang the opening and closing songs. But on the radio album I got to hear her “real” voice. For some ungodly reason it is considered desirable for women to have really high pitched voices in Japan, so I’m used to hearing Japanese voice actresses sounding like leaky balloons. Hirano Aya’s voice however is something out of another plane of existence. Her voice was so forcefully high that my dog’s head exploded because he couldn’t take the onslaught of vibration.

On the radio CD the three main actresses for the show gather together to talk about shit that nobody wants to hear. Three different times one of the actresses leaves to get food and then the listener is treated to all of them saying “awesome” and “tasty” over and over. Can anyone in America or Great Britain imagine Monica Rial, Hilary Haag and Tiffany Grant recording a CD of them talking about how great their steaks at Texas Land and Cattle were? Of course not.

So what does this have to do with Moe? It shows that a complicated idea that arose out of imperfect fictional characters has transcended its media and crossed over to the real world. Now the voice actresses themselves are the targets of Moe passion, and they seem to enjoy it.

So what can you do? Hell if I know, I’m just pointing out an annoying trend. I can’t exactly knock on Japan’s door and politely ask them to turn the Moe down. One thing is for sure though, if you follow Japanese media at all be prepared to see a twenty-something woman with a helium voice talking about how none of her friends can tell which character she plays.