The reach of moe is long...

04.04.2010 by Patrick W. Galbraith

OK, so anime of late tends to put in cute girls to attract viewers and sell merchandise. Some people criticize and dismiss it for this reason. But on a recent trip to Nagoya, I realized just how natural the trend towards moe marketing is. A furniture store on Akamon-Dori (the otaku street in Nagoya) put out the advertisement: "We can do moe furniture!" Yeah, a custom couch with a cute anime girl on it. This man, an older gentleman, had survived in a neighborhood fast becoming a young otaku haven by turning to where he knew the market was. It doesn't matter how good his couches are if no one notices them, buys them and sits on them. And it takes the power of moe to get people in the seats. That's as true for furniture stores as it is for anime.