May 30, 2009 4:47 PM
Moe! - My Foray into the Dark Side
Anime Relations:
K-On!
Okay, so for the first time in my life, I watched an episode of a moe anime: K-ON.
How the fuck did this happen?
Well, I saw a random YouTube video with Danny Choo, in which he danced around Tokyo in a stormtrooper outfit, playing a guitar to what sounded like a decent rock-oriented jpop song. Soon after, the video began playing a "Japanese Alvin and the Chipmunks" song which I couldn't stand, so I looked up the first song on YouTube. Then I realized that it was the ending from K-ON, a show that gave me creepy moe vibes as I read about it. THe second song was the opening to this show.
I must confess, I'm still not sure what moe is. For as long as I've been into anime and manga (going on 5 years), I've had an intense dislike for the "cutesy" and lolita tendencies inherent to the field. It creeps me out quite frankly, and pedophiles are ranked up there with nazis and rapists in the "pass me the gun I'll do it myself" category. I only recently learned the word "moe", and wish I hadn't. It seems like moe is all about loving and caring about pre-pubescent anime characters, with an alleged "non-sexual" component, which leaves the person buying toys and posters and generally obsessing over the character's innocence.
I made the decision to watch the first episode, armed with an impatient tinge of curiosity. I don't socialize with anime/manga fans outside my computer, and I don't go to anime conventions, so I literally went into this episode with no clear idea what to expect from a "moe show".
Watching K-ON is exactly like watching Pikachu, a cutesy character from Pokemon, run around with his friends for 20 minutes. The characters are vapid, and the narrative relies on squeamish facial expressions and awkward body movements. I really didn't detect anything sexual about it, except for the ending, ironically enough. It featured all four protagonists topless, with one character "singing" through a frameset of coy, empty facial expressions. The voice actors used their normal "adult" voices, and sounded nothing like the young characters they voiced for the rest of the episode.
I literally have no idea on how to rate this show. It's "shit" the same way an episode of Blues Clues or Dora the Explorer is shit: it has nothing interesting for me that I can relate to, so I just don't care about it.
So yeah... I've seen 20 minutes of moe, and rather than working myself into a frothy rage, I just got bored. Not the reaction I was expecting. Turns out the 1100 pound gorilla of my fandom is an empty box of fluff.
I'm still completely stumped as to what the appeal to this sort of thing is, by the way. I understand moe even less than I did before, if that's possible.
How the fuck did this happen?
Well, I saw a random YouTube video with Danny Choo, in which he danced around Tokyo in a stormtrooper outfit, playing a guitar to what sounded like a decent rock-oriented jpop song. Soon after, the video began playing a "Japanese Alvin and the Chipmunks" song which I couldn't stand, so I looked up the first song on YouTube. Then I realized that it was the ending from K-ON, a show that gave me creepy moe vibes as I read about it. THe second song was the opening to this show.
I must confess, I'm still not sure what moe is. For as long as I've been into anime and manga (going on 5 years), I've had an intense dislike for the "cutesy" and lolita tendencies inherent to the field. It creeps me out quite frankly, and pedophiles are ranked up there with nazis and rapists in the "pass me the gun I'll do it myself" category. I only recently learned the word "moe", and wish I hadn't. It seems like moe is all about loving and caring about pre-pubescent anime characters, with an alleged "non-sexual" component, which leaves the person buying toys and posters and generally obsessing over the character's innocence.
I made the decision to watch the first episode, armed with an impatient tinge of curiosity. I don't socialize with anime/manga fans outside my computer, and I don't go to anime conventions, so I literally went into this episode with no clear idea what to expect from a "moe show".
Watching K-ON is exactly like watching Pikachu, a cutesy character from Pokemon, run around with his friends for 20 minutes. The characters are vapid, and the narrative relies on squeamish facial expressions and awkward body movements. I really didn't detect anything sexual about it, except for the ending, ironically enough. It featured all four protagonists topless, with one character "singing" through a frameset of coy, empty facial expressions. The voice actors used their normal "adult" voices, and sounded nothing like the young characters they voiced for the rest of the episode.
I literally have no idea on how to rate this show. It's "shit" the same way an episode of Blues Clues or Dora the Explorer is shit: it has nothing interesting for me that I can relate to, so I just don't care about it.
So yeah... I've seen 20 minutes of moe, and rather than working myself into a frothy rage, I just got bored. Not the reaction I was expecting. Turns out the 1100 pound gorilla of my fandom is an empty box of fluff.
I'm still completely stumped as to what the appeal to this sort of thing is, by the way. I understand moe even less than I did before, if that's possible.
Posted by
younger
| May 30, 2009 4:47 PM |
2 comments
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PVo3Ctraf9g9YyLu | Sep 5, 2009 8:49 AM
I watched a few episodes of "Melancholy of HS" before I threw the DS back at my cousin. It was too boring and lame for me. The same reason why I dropped "Myself, Yourself", "Kanon", "Clannad". I have to admit, I was ready to shoot myself on episode 6 of Clannad. My cousin is obsessed with this anime and I TRIED to like it, but I couldn't. >_>;; I only watched K-On because I was in a good mood LOL. Saskie |
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YoungVagabond | Jun 9, 2009 1:42 PM
Pretty good description of how I felt after watching something like "Melancholy of HS"...."what, that's it? It's just so boring, generic, and slow....what the hell is the appeal?!"
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