Moenetics: Hooray for Kadokawa Pictures USA!

So I have a certain unnamed series that was licensed for release in the US by Kadokawa Pictures USA sitting in front of me that somehow arrived on my doorstep a couple weeks before the street date. I don’t really have the slightest clue as to why TRSI does this, but it’s quite fun.

Anyway, in the liner notes of said unnamed anime, there is a defintiion of moe. It is as follows:

Moe is defined as a strong but innocent love of anime or video game characters based on their appearance and personality. To a hardcore otaku, moe is not about sexual attraction, but about looking at an idealized character that is so innocent and loveable to the point of triggering an emotional response.

Let’s look at a certain segment of that quote again:

[…]moe is not about sexual attraction, but about looking at an idealized character that is so innocent and loveable […]

Just to be absolutely clear that you’re se eing what I’m seeing:

[…]moe is not about sexual attraction[…]

Thank god the industry understands this. As a short, concise definition of moe (the actual definition would require a doctoral thesis, and at any rate that definition would simply belong to the author of the thesis and wouldn’t really apply to anyone else) that communicates essential fundamentals about the concept to an unknowing audience, it’s brilliant. The adjectives are perhaps a bit limiting, but I wholeheartedly endorse this official definition. It’s much better than Tokyopop’s as found in the back of Welcome to the NHK! volume 1.

If only I could find some way to send a message to every anime fan by generating subliminal messages that would be recorded onto every broadcast of every anime ever, so that all fans everywhere understand the concept of moe, even if they, personally, don’t like it. Maybe I should read more of The Mysterious Benedict Society, it might give me some important hints and tips as to this feat. Step one: find an island loaded with precious metals and gemstones that no one knows has precious metals and gemstones. Step two…