| if it's as transparently cynical as you describe then it won't work on me. Can't speak for anyone else. But there are a lot of cynical people here on MAL who see any attempt, no matter how well written, to create an endearing, cute character as some form of hideous corporate manipulation meant only to sell merchandise. |
 |
| It was effective in the past, nowadays waifu bait is stronger. |
| If you have time to think of a beautiful end, then live beautifully until the end. ” -Gintoki Sakata |
| Hm, doesn't 'bait' normalls mean pretending that there is something there that actually isn't? Like Yuribait or Fujobait is used for shows that aren't actually yuri or BL but just kinda pretend they are. I don't think you can use the same for 'moe'. Either a character is moe or it isn't. It's always quite subjective, but always one or the other. You can't really 'fake' it in the same way because you can never say 'this character isn't moe'. If someone finds them moe, they are moe for them. But you can always know whether a show is actual GL or BL or just bait. If there's no confessions, no kissing, no sex, no nothing except fans reading stuff into it because they're intentionally vague or unclear, then it's XYZ-bait. So yeah, I don't like this usage of the word. It doesn't make much sense to me. Whether a character is seen as actually moe/cute or 'moebait' is just a personal thing of whether you like that character. There's no way of telling the difference just from looking at the show, it's always just someone's personal opinion/feelings towards that character. Calling something 'moebait' is not that far away from just insulting someone's taste in characters if they genuinely like that character. It's never an objective assessment of the show, but just a take absed on personal taste. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| The majority of anime airing in the last years are based around one good looking female character with a genetic boring story and people still love it so it's obviously very effective. I'd call it waifu bait and not moe bait tho. |
| are there even non moe characters left? Nearly everyone, especially girls, are moe style now |
| "This emotion is mine alone. It is for Madoka alone." - Homura or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. |
| It’s not really a thing anymore. Moe has essentially been incorporated into the dominant art style of anime so I think having specific moe anime will be left as a relic of the past. |
 |
| very effective, as in, it works every time, fooled me for hundreds of times |
    |
| Yeah, its pretty effective seeing as there are quite a number of comments(on ep discussion threads, both reddit and MAL) saying they just adore a certain character's cuteness. |
 |
| Is it effective? Yes, people can like the dumbest stuff just because there are moments that are cute, they can blackout the whole episode and just focus up on the wholesome 100 moments. Is it problematic? No, you can say that everything is a bait if you stretch the definition to that point, the issue is not the bait itself but the shamelessness and the intent of the bait, everyone is being fished at the end, you know? In my case, I don't mind honest sugary bloated characters that are incorporated with tact into the context of the anime, I can eat the dumbest can of candies and it wouldn't bother me if there is a clever or meaningful undertone to the flavor. The problem is always laziness or greed, and is quite trivial to tell when the characters or the story are being bended in order to fit a set of standards, as it disregard or go out of its line to portray such |
| Yes a few comes to mind Eevee Bochi Clara Shamiko |
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