Exploring the Concept of Moe and the Piracy of Anime

Anime Piracy

     Since the advent of broadband internet and programs such as Bittorrent, piracy of media has been a major issue.  Millions, potentially billions, of dollars are lost each year to the seemingly unstoppable onslaught of internet piracy, yet Hollywood seems relatively unphased.  The entertainment industry is a multi-billion dollar per year business in the U.S. and one can argue that while huge amounts of potential profits are lost, Hollywood can afford it.  Some believe this to be true with the anime industry as well, they could not be more wrong.  It is this attitude and ignorance that is killing the businesses that provide the entertainment I love most.

     Piracy of current anime properties is accomplished with the aid of internet groups that produce ‘fansubs.’  A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is made by obtaining a raw, unaltered copy of the show they want to work on and then using (often pirated) video editing and subtitling software to add subtitles in their respective native language.  The process is very much the same for piracy of manga (comics), referred to as ‘scanlation.’  A person obtains the original pages from a Japanese copy of the manga then scans them into their computer and uses a photo editing program to clean up the images, hide the Japanese text, and finally replace it with their own text.  Then they proceed to upload their product to one of the various websites that distribute pirated goods, free of charge. (Lee, 2011)

     While fansubs have become detrimental to the anime industry in the present, in the past they were actually instrumental in establishing a market and fanbase in the U.S.  In the late 70’s/early 80’s anime fandom was in its infancy.  The primary way one would go about viewing anime was via local anime clubs.  These clubs would typically watch VHS or Beta tapes (occasionally Laserdisc) that were legally purchased during someone's vacation in Japan or a bootleg copy.  Fansubs did not exist until the early 90’s so clubs would have to be content with watching untranslated programs of which they would rarely have any means of understanding.  Occasionally they might have access to a transcript or summary, provided by other fans, for what they watch and people would have to read along or listen as someone acts as a narrator for the program. (Lee, 2011)  Fans would have to work for their entertainment giving the person a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that they were part of an exclusive club that few people knew about.  The club would not remain exclusive for long.

     Speaking from personal experience, anime fans are an extremely passionate group that are more than happy to introduce the world of anime/manga to anyone who shows even the slightest interest.  This passion aided greatly in the spread of anime’s popularity.  Some fans even took things to the next level and started their own distribution companies in the US(e.g. ADV Films[now defunct]).  Because of this the anime market started coming into fruition in the US and some of the Japanese companies started taking notice.  They believed enough in the potential of the US anime market that we finally had a steady stream of new titles reaching our shores via the home video market.  At long last otaku in the US could finally watch anime in a language they could understand, either via professionally translated subtitles or an English language track.

     “Until recently, alongside the industries’ enforcement of copyrights, the technological limitations of mechanical reproduction itself and the costs involved in the reproduction and distribution process functioned as an effective mechanism to regulate unauthorized copying.” (Lee, 2011)  Thanks to Bittorrent (a filesharing program), broadband internet, and various free computer programs piracy of any form of media is now easier than ever.  The process of creating a fansub is easier than ever.  A fansub group, usually just a handful of people, obtain a copy of the show they want to work on either via the internet, Japanese DVD/Blu-ray, or directly recorded from a TV station in Japan.  They then proceed to translate the dialog and create subtitles that they will edit into the show with, often pirated, editing software.  The show then goes through a quality check process to make sure everything is in order, if it looks good it is then uploaded to to multiple download sites for the rest of the world to obtain.  This entire process takes on average a mere thirteen hours from start to finish.  Episodes of the most popular series often appear even faster, around five hours after the Japanese debut.

     Though there is no official number of active fansub groups, according to info found on two different websites there is an estimated 740-2000 (including non-english) fansub groups.  “The golden age of anime” here in the US occurred between roughly 2003-2007.  During that time there were eight major US companies distributing anime on a weekly basis, there was a surplus.  150-200 new shows/movies would premier each year in Japan with a large portion of them being released twelve to eighteen months later in the US.  Digital fansubbing was in its infancy but it was growing at an alarming rate.  By December of 2007 the US anime industry suffered its first loss with the demise of Geneon Entertainment.  Geneon was probably the third largest distributor at that time and it’s fall was a rude awakening to the ever growing problem of online piracy.  A large portion of Geneon’s titles had notoriously high piracy rates while the rest of their catalog just never found a following in the states.  Poor business choices were certainly a factor in their death but fansubs were the poisoned dagger that initially pierced their back.  Would they still be around today if piracy was fantasy instead of reality?  Probably not.  But they certainly would have endured for at least a few more years and possibly been able to exit the industry with a little more grace.

     So why do the passionate American otaku keep “twisting the knife” by continuing to download anime?  Convenience and a mistaken sense of entitlement.  A fair amount of fansub groups follow a general rule of taking down links to certain shows upon their license by a US company but some are extremely stubborn and arrogant:

The world is bigger than what R1 [Region 1: United States DVDs] licenses cover . . . Sorry, but we won’t abandon the rest of the world simply because someone bought the R1 license. (A well-recognized speed subbing group’s website) (Lee, 2011)

It is this kind of attitude that has killed the anime DVD market in America.  Just a few years ago my local Best Buy had three full sections dedicated specifically to anime DVDs, now it has shrunk to a miniscule two shelves near the floor with about six different titles.  The home video market is in a decline thanks to a slew of legal digital copies bundled with physical copies or purchased off of websites.  Between rampant piracy and an evolving digital distribution market the US anime industry has fallen from eight major players to just two major companies, Funimation Entertainment and Sentai Filmworks.

     Despite anime being more accessible than ever before, fansubs are still abundant.  Thankfully legal streaming websites appear to be alleviating some of the industry’s problems.  Sites such as Crunchyroll and The Anime Network offer a wide variety of anime programming that anyone can watch for free or, if you subscribe for a small monthly fee, you can have access to HD, commercial free videos.  These sites also offer simulcasts of major titles which are posted either as they air in Japan or within an hour or two of broadcast.  There really isn’t much of a need for fansubs anymore.  Until attitudes change however, the cycle will continue.  I cannot help but wonder if the pioneering fansubbers of the early ‘90s would have followed the same path if they had known they were creating a monster.  Now it is up to us to reign in the beast.  The situation is still very delicate but things appear more stable than they have been in years.  If we veer off the current course we could lose it all.  Only we can save the things we love.  For the time being I remain cautiously optimistic.

The Concept of Moe

     Moe (pr. moh-ay) is a fairly recent concept in the world of Japanese otaku (geek/nerd).  It takes on many forms and has even become a market unto itself with moe merchandise geared specifically toward otaku bringing in millions of dollars annually.  Moe is a genre, a feeling, even an emotional response to extremely cute things (otaku will sometimes exclaim ‘Moeeeee!’ when they see something they deem irresistible).  Though mostly innocent, there is a darker side.  To an outsider looking in, some moe otaku can be seen as borderline pedophiles due to their preference for fictional girls who typically are drawn to appear fourteen years old or younger.

     The term moe is the shorthand of the term moeru meaning ‘to bud or sprout,’ and can also mean ‘to burn’ when spelled with different kanji.  ‘To bud or sprout’ refers to the young, typically female, characters otaku obsess over being on the verge of womanhood while ‘to burn’ is referring to the burning passion they develop for the character(s) they love.  While the feeling of moe seems to have been around for much longer than the term, Patrick Galbraith states that: “In the 1990s, the word appeared on the bulletin board website 2channel in discussion of young, cute, and innocent anime girls, and a burning passion for them.” (2009)

     Though the term originates in Japanese subculture it has since transitioned into mass culture thanks to Densha Otoko, a title I discussed in my previous essay.  In the TV series the main characters, a group of otaku, would often exclaim ‘Moeeeee!!’ whenever they were in the presence of their favorite things.  The fact that the series paints otaku in such a positive light is likely a large factor as to why the term was able to make the leap from an obscure otaku related exclamation to becoming part of the common Japanese lexicon.  The Japanese have a well documented obsession with things that are cute in nature which is why it comes as no surprise that merchandise of moe characters has turned into a billion dollar per year business.  According to Galbraith it made an estimated $888 million in 2005. (2009)

     While the basic definition of moe may be rather simple the word has more complex connotations.  Touru Honda, a novelist and self-styled moe critic believes characters that inspire moe provide something to believe in beyond the self, which makes the self possible, and these characters thus become an important support like family or a romantic partner. (Galbraith, 2009)  I am inclined to agree with what Honda says.  The otaku that fall in love with these characters are often social pariahs that cling to every bit of affection they can get.  These characters are specifically designed to stir up these kinds of emotions and create a desire to protect the character the way a father protects a daughter or a brother protects a little sister.  Otaku are drawn to this because they are often shunned by their own families due to their choice of hobby, it makes them feel needed.  Honda also argues that moe allows men to stop performing socially sanctioned masculinity and indulge femininity, which can be very soothing.  He sees in this the potential for a balanced gender identity; moe men can burn with masculine energy and bud with feminine emotion. (Galbraith, 2009)  I found this theory fascinating and plausible.  Japanese society is very strict and it’s citizens often harbor repressed emotions and desires, eventually one needs an outlet in which to vent pent up frustrations.  Playing a dating simulation game or watching anime with cute characters in need of nurturing can be a great way to do this in the privacy of their own homes, away from society’s judgemental eyes.

     Moe seems to be a concept that resonates most strongly with otaku born in the 1980s amid the entertainment boom that occurred in that era.  During that time there was a major growth of media and merchandise that specifically targeted otaku.  As time went on and moe characters gained popularity companies eventually started designing products specifically to elicit an emotional response.  The market for moe merchandise has grown so much that companies resorted to creating original characters that were not tied to any form of media and had no backstory, if the character is cute enough the feeling of moe that it inspires should be all they need to make the sale.

     What makes a character moe?  Some common characteristics: they are typically young girls, have large, pupil-less eyes, glossy skin, small (or no) breasts, and an innocent or pure personality.  The character Rei Ayanami from the legendary anime Neon Genesis Evangelion is a personification of moe characteristics; she is a clone of the protagonist’s mother housing the soul of an otherworldly being in the body of an adolescent girl.  She is a fourteen year old virgin who plays the role of both mother and daughter for various characters. (Galbraith, 2009)  Of course not all characters follow this archetype, some may place emphasis on one or two specific personality traits.  An example of this is the popular tsundere (pr. soon-deh-reh) personality type.  These are characters that may come across as extremely mean or ‘bitchy’ but, deep down, are actually sweet and caring girls who just have trouble expressing themselves and take their frustrations out on the male protagonist.

     While everything discussed thus far seems innocent enough it can be hard to dissuade foreigners from viewing moe otaku as borderline pedophiles.  “. . . it is the pre-violation child that is moe, or that which does not know the world and is fetishized as pure.  However, while protecting and nurturing, the child becomes a lover.  This theme is so pervasive that it has become a genre unto itself, ‘nurturing simulation games.’ (Galbraith, 2009)  One must respect the culture of other countries and recognize that some things that are taboo in one part of the world may be normal in others.  When it comes to anything that could potentially be linked to pedophilia it becomes exceedingly difficult to convince any person that this is acceptable behavior on any level.  Even if you try to explain that sex with the object of their affection is the farthest thing from their mind it is still a hard pill to swallow.

     The concept of moe is an extremely broad topic that is difficult to fully explain in a few short pages.  More than anything it gives us an intriguing glimpse into a very unique culture.  I cannot think of a single cultural phenomenon in America that can be compared to it, it is uniquely Japanese.  American otaku are relatively ignorant of the term and its deeper meanings or connotations, rather they simply associate it with anything that is exceedingly cute.  Moe is just another captivating aspect of an already ravishing country’s subculture.