The phenomenon of moe started in the middle of the 90s, peaked with the release of K-On! in 2009, and went full throttle in the past decade, infecting all types of media, not just anime and manga: moefied characters appeared everywhere. The specifics of moefication lie in the shift of emphasis from the story to the character: you enjoy the show because it has a certain character in it, while before we enjoyed the character because they appeared in a certain show. This shift changed the whole market.
Moe is not specified by a specific genre; moe characters can appear anywhere. It's not just a combination of certain stylistic choices — it also includes personality. When the term was coined, "moe" was applied to characters that the readers and viewers wanted to protect. This feeling isn't necessarily awakened by the character looking cute, but it was first applied to those characters who could be viewed as younger sisters — hence the innate will to protect them and their overall younger, rounder appearance.
But there is a transformation happening, showing that currently, moe applies to vastly diverse characters, not just those who look young and have big round eyes. This may be a result of stylization, but one of the most recent moe characters who doesn't fit the visuals of the current moe stereotype is Kobeni from Chainsaw Man. And the fact that she doesn't look moe but behaves moe sparked a lot of controversy during the anime's run.
She's created seemingly useless, panicky, and overly emotional, her motions can be categorized as cute, and compared to other characters, she has a slightly rounder design, but doesn't go to extremes. This contrast between her quite realistic looks and her behavior that falls into moe category but is portrayed with the addition of some bodily liquids with no cuteness in it resulted in people calling Kobeni annoying.
Characters who are undoubtedly moe and do not break any specific rules are currently prevalent not in the anime, but in the other media: the majority of gacha games thrive on moe concept, and the vtuber industry promotes deepening parasocial relationships with deliberately moe personas. This moe migration caused the anime industry to change and adapt. Maybe the era of widespread moefication in anime is finally over?
Or have they just changed?
The phenomenon of moe started in the middle of the 90s, peaked with the release of K-On! in 2009, and went full throttle in the past decade, infecting all types of media, not just anime and manga: moefied characters appeared everywhere. The specifics of moefication lie in the shift of emphasis from the story to the character: you enjoy the show because it has a certain character in it, while before we enjoyed the character because they appeared in a certain show. This shift changed the whole market.
Moe is not specified by a specific genre; moe characters can appear anywhere. It's not just a combination of certain stylistic choices — it also includes personality. When the term was coined, "moe" was applied to characters that the readers and viewers wanted to protect. This feeling isn't necessarily awakened by the character looking cute, but it was first applied to those characters who could be viewed as younger sisters — hence the innate will to protect them and their overall younger, rounder appearance.
But there is a transformation happening, showing that currently, moe applies to vastly diverse characters, not just those who look young and have big round eyes. This may be a result of stylization, but one of the most recent moe characters who doesn't fit the visuals of the current moe stereotype is Kobeni from Chainsaw Man. And the fact that she doesn't look moe but behaves moe sparked a lot of controversy during the anime's run.
She's created seemingly useless, panicky, and overly emotional, her motions can be categorized as cute, and compared to other characters, she has a slightly rounder design, but doesn't go to extremes. This contrast between her quite realistic looks and her behavior that falls into moe category but is portrayed with the addition of some bodily liquids with no cuteness in it resulted in people calling Kobeni annoying.
Characters who are undoubtedly moe and do not break any specific rules are currently prevalent not in the anime, but in the other media: the majority of gacha games thrive on moe concept, and the vtuber industry promotes deepening parasocial relationships with deliberately moe personas. This moe migration caused the anime industry to change and adapt. Maybe the era of widespread moefication in anime is finally over?
