Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:22 am Post subject:
shoujo22 wrote:
Moe potential o__O??
New language form Otaku world "MOE"
�gWalkman�h, �gKaraoke�h, �gAnime�h, and �gManga�h... There are words exported from Japanese entertainment culture to the rest of the world. Of course, the word "Otaku" is recognized outside of Japan as a word for fans of Japanese Anime and Manga.
However in Japan, the meaning of "Otaku" is "people who get deeply into a kitschy hobby." It's quite different from simply being a "fan". More often, many Japanese people think a REAL otaku is a guy who plays simulation love games of featuring anime-looking character. "Otaku" has a feeling of "can't be so proud to have this kind of hobby."
And now a new word has emerged from otaku culture. It is called "Moe."
To help you understand what it means, let me translate the brilliant explanation from "Learning from Akihabara: The Birth of a Personaopolis" by architectural
theorist Kaichiro Morikawa.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'moe?'
You could split a group of people under thirty's in half based on their answer to this question. The first group are the people who think of plants sprouting the conventional meaning of the word. These are the people who don't know the new meaning of 'moe.' Then there are those who think of an anime or game character. They are the second group, and very roughly speaking, they are otaku or people who have a relation to otaku-like pursuits. Most people in the first group have no idea 'moe' has gained a new otaku-nuanced meaning."
"The new meaning of 'moe' is entirely caught up in issues surrounding hobbies and taste. Specifically, 'moe' means be attracted to a specific character or its specific partial element and to have a favor feeling toward it. 'Moe' suggests the condition of being infatuated with one character or thing and implies an image of someone burning with desire.
"The picture becomes clearer when we hear the frequent use of 'moe' referring to specific elements or characteristics, such as 'weak girl moe,' 'young lady moe,' and 'glasses moe.' The meaning of 'glasses moe' refers to a taste that is taken with a character who wears glasses; furthermore, this taste fetishizes the feature itself of glasses-wearing. In this case, glasses are the 'moe' element."
Also, here is a note written by Tomohiro Machiyama. (Although, please keep in mind that this is from a frank conversation, and is not his official statement on "moe.")
"In the 80's I knew everything about 'otaku' since I, myself, was the one. However, this case about 'moe' is not the same. First, this word started to appear after I moved to the USA, so I can't sense the situation clearly. Also, due to my age, I can only be attracted to woman over 30 and see women under 20 as daughters. When I told this to my friend Yanashita, he told me 'That's called "Moe", when you feel girl a girl is adorable without having sexual desire.'
What? Is that true?!. Anyway, I have to study more about this 'moe.' "
Being Otaku is a very indoor hobby and usually it happens in your room by yourself (reading manga, watching anime, playing games). You don't need someone else. In another sense, it's similar to masturbation. Also Japan prefers visuals instead of written words. Japanese prefer the essence of something rather than a logical explanation.
There are many fuuzoku (legal sex industry) in Japan, that offer paying customers everything from "peeping" "touch only" "cosplay" and so on.
Sure enough, most people enjoy actual sex. However, the sex industry in Japan can successfully run businesses to offer mental sexual stimulation.
This is similar to forms of sexual fetishism such as S&M and Bondage. The purpose of real fetishism is not intercourse. They are the for the sake of foreplay and mental orgasm.
The sex industry comparison is just an example to introduce the fetish side of the "moe" feeling. However then, why do people enjoy Anime look character to be even falling in love?
Please imagine the feeling when you first liked somebody. The passion pops up inside of your brain and heart. This is not logical and unexplainable. And "moe" is a feeling very similar to this specific moment.
Otaku culture, which produced the word "moe" entertains this type of special intangible feeling, such as anime, dojinshi and love simulation games.
Actually, this "moe" feeling you can find in pop culture is nothing new. Every teenager experiences it. For boys it was becoming an idol fan, while the girls screamed fir rock and roll stars. You fantasize about the star, longing for a person whom you can never touch or have an actual conversation with.
Another explanation about "moe" is that girls have already been using this language for a long time, like the word "Kawaii! (cute!)". Girls love cute things. And now, for the first time, boys have found the feeling and a way to express it. This explains clearly what Yanashita said. "Moe" doesn't always points to a sexual object and includes the feeling of "how cute!!"
Just as platonic love requires a kind of mental satisfaction, anime and manga fits right in with the inner world of virtual love.
Usually when you become an adult, you become busy and too logical to surrender to adolescent fantasy. However, otaku continues to have (and wanting to have) "moe" no matter how old they become.
Today, because of technological development, 2-D characters started to react more complex and show unique behavior. Therefore, Gal-Ge (love simulation games) have had a huge boom among many otaku. Then due to the necessity of expressing their joy, "moe" has become a common word.
Last edited by Tu_triky on Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:31 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:29 am Post subject:
shoujo22 wrote:
Oooooooooooooh. I see. Now I feel less stupid . Thanks for the info .
stupid? please...that's uncalled for...i think we ALL learn much, myself not least among them, from one another on this board! i know there's been examples of japanese slang that were alien to me until i asked for an explanation.
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:25 am Post subject:
Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture:
June 13, 2006
Some of the best tickets for Madonna's shows here in September will be sold on an online auction, Ticket Pia announced yesterday. The Queen of Pop will be playing in Japan for the first time in 13 years with her "Confessions" tour, and has shows set for Osaka Dome (Sept. 16) and Tokyo Dome (Sept. 20). Of the 3,000 Premier seats closest to the stage for each show, 500 will be put up for auction as "platinum tickets" between July 9-18. The face value of the tickets is \50,000. Pair tickets for shows in the U.S. have already fetched over $5,000 in auctions, and similar prices can be expected here. The measure is also partly an effort to deal with "dafuya" or yakuza-connected ticket scalpers, always a problem for popular shows.
• The second album from Def Tech has repeated the accomplishment of last year's eponymous debut. "Catch the Wave", released on April 26, has managed to stay in the charts and finally broke through the one-million barrier this week. The feat was achieved just over a year since "Def Tech" became just the second indies album to sell a million copies (the first was Mongol800's "Message" in 2002). "Catch the Wave" is the second album this year to go quadruple-platinum, after Koda Kumi's hits collection "Best - Second Session". In Japan, the threshold for platinum status is 250,000 copies, compared to 1 million for the U.S.
• Rock group B'z have extended their own record with their 42th single, "Splash". Needless to say it entered the Oricon charts at No.1, the 38th time in a row they've done it. The record stretches back to their 5th release, "Taiyo no Komachi Angel" in June 1990. Their 4th single, "Be There" released in May 1990, made the Top 10. So their string of consecutive Top 10 hits is now at 39, putting them in a tie for first place with SMAP. _________________
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject:
Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture:
June 14, 2006
Japan's No.1 pop group are going back on the road again. And when the boys of SMAP go on tour, it's a very big deal. Starting at the Sapporo Dome on July 30, they'll perform 21 shows at eight major venues across the country, playing to over a million adoring fans in all. Almost half that number will be attending the eight shows planned for three venues in the Tokyo metropolitan area - National Stadium and Tokyo Dome in the capital and Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. One of the biggest tours ever planned in Japan, it's sure to make the five-member band's new album - due for release in July - one of their best sellers yet and extend their record streak of consecutive No.1 hits.
• The NHK broadcast of Japan's opening game at the World Cup reached a peak audience rating of 61.2%. The average rating for the 3-1 defeat to Australia was 49%, though with the game also shown on NHK's satellite channels and at stadiums and sports bars across the country, the actual numbers were quite a bit higher. The 49% figure is higher than the 43.4% for the World baseball Classic final win over Cuba in March but lower than figures from the last two World Cups. Over 10 million households in the Kanto region were tuned in to the event despite the 10pm kickoff time. As the game entered the second half with Japan leading, fans probably expected to head to bed in a jubilant mood. But three goals conceded in quick succession left many supporters facing a depressing trip home.
• Former Fuji TV announcer Ariga Satsuki (40) and Wada Kei (53), a commentator with the network, have ended their 4-year marriage. It was revealed yesterday that the couple filed for divorce in mid-May. Ariga retains custody of their 3-year-old daughter.
• Singer Hirahara Ayaka (22) finished off her national tour yesterday with a show at the Nippon Budokan. She performed her smash hit debut song "Jupiter" accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra that included her father, Hirahara Makoto (54), on sax. She also gave the 8,000 fans their first chance to hear her upcoming double-A side single "Voyagers/Kokoro", due for release on July 19. _________________
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:06 am Post subject:
Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture:
June 15 2006
Popular all-rounder Wentz Eiji (20) is to make his "world" debut as a model. A regular on the variety show circuit and local fashion magazines, over the last year he has found a new level of success as one half of the acoustic pop duo WaT. Also an actor, he was recently at the Cannes Film Festival where he caught the eye of an editor from a top French fashion magazine. Wentz will appear in the October issue of the magazine Jalouse. He made his modelling debut at the age of four and later became a regular on an NHK kid's show. At the age of nine, he appeared on the famous New Year spectacle "Kohaku Uta Gassen" as a backing dancer for pop starlet Moritaka Chisato. He formed WaT with Koike Teppei in 2002, and the duo performed on the streets of Tokyo for three years before landing a recording contract with a major label. They have won two major newcomer awards this year. Though he is the second son of a Japanese mother and German-American father, he's got a lot of mileage from the fact that he's the only one in the family who has little to no English ability.
• The pop artist most young people would like to have perform at their wedding is Fukuyama Masaharu. He was followed in a recent survey by rock group Mr. Children and pop duo Dreams Come True, a particularly popular choice among females. The fourth most popular choice is Amuro Namie and crooner Hirai Ken is fifth. A bit quiet for the last couple of years, singer/actor Fukuyama's continued appeal was confirmed when his recently released new single "Milk Tea" entered the Oricon charts at No.1. _________________
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:32 am Post subject:
Entertainment news from Japan-zone.com-Your Guide to Japan and Japanese Culture:
June 16 2006
The latest collaboration by rock band Glay will feature Himuro Kyosuke (45). The former Boøwy vocalist met Glay leader and guitarist Takuro (35) on a radio show last year and the band went to visit him at his home in Los Angeles earlier this year. The resulting single "Answer", Himuro's first collaborative project, goes on sale August 2 and the artists will perform together at the Ajinomoto Stadium on August 5 & 6. Last year Glay teamed up with vocal/dance unit Exile and released one of the year's biggest hits in "Scream". It's been more than two years since they put out an original album, and their first 'solo' single since December 2004, "G4", is scheduled for release mid-July. Boøwy were one of the biggest Japanese bands of the late 80s and early 90s. It also featured legendary guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu, whose split with Himuro led to the end of the band.
• Comedienne Aoki Sayaka (33) has been chosen for this year's "Best Swimmer Award". Though she has released a best-selling book of nude photos, she is not the most shapely of celebrities. Her choice was due to her appearances on the TV Asahi variety show "Q-sama!!" in which she and other celebrities take part in pretty competitive swimming races. Award recipients usually turn up for the ceremony in formal wear but Aoki was true to form, arriving in a swimsuit and cap. Designed for purely PR purposes, the award is one of many handed out every year to celebrities. The list includes Best Jeanist, Best Leatherist and Megane Best Dresser, for the person who looks best in glasses, as well as more traditional titles such as Best Couple or Best Father. With Sunday being Father's Day, the latter will no doubt be announced this weekend. _________________
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Log in
