One of the things I’ve noticed in many discussions on anime, is the misuse of the words “moe” and “fanservice”. Commonly, they are thought of as genres, labels for various series. As the famous quote goes, “That’s cute….but IT’S WRONG!” (whoever gets the reference gets a cookie).Let’s start of with fanservice. What do you think the word “fanservice” means? It is a service for the fans of a character or series. This service can be anything also, not just T&A. A detailed close-up of the insides of a mech, a unexpectedly well animated battle, or cameo appearances (such as Akuma appearing in every episode of Street Fighter 2 V, or the Death Note characters walking past a shop in an FMP: The Second Raid episode) can be considered a service to the fans because they are things that the fans (people who aren’t mainstream viewers) appreciate, and are unexpected. Instead of using the word “fanservice” to indicate a genre, use “romantic comedy”, “harem”, or “ecchi” to describe series like Tenchi Muyo, Otome Wa Boku Ni Koishiteru, and Love Get Chu.

As for “moe”, Ken Akamatsu summed it up best. “Moe” means “burning”, and when used in the sense of something like the characters from Kannon, it means that you are “burning with a passion” for that character. Moe is an emotion, something that’s different for everyone. and just to make it clear, it’s not a romantic emotion. Thus, Kannon, Air, and others of that type, are just dramas or comedies.

So next time you try to define the genre of a series, be sure not to use “moe’ or “fanservice”. Okay?