Let’s pretend for a while that “moe” isn’t a blanket term for any quality a fan likes to see in an illustrated member of the sex in which they’re interested. Functionally it might be, but we’re pretending here.

The “essence” of moe is protectiveness; a moe character is one for whom you might take a bullet. And it isn’t about sexual attraction, I’d say, even if others might say otherwise. Have you noticed how characters in ero doujins are often stripped of their canonical personalities almost entirely? I’m guessing that’s a necessity. I’ve talked about this, about how I subscribe to a gradient model of moe and gar, before.

At any rate, when Otouto-kun, who I’ve conscripted into reading Love Hina, mentioned that Keitaro might be moe, I couldn’t help but wonder.

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Love Hina — it’s harem, yes. It’s by no means the first harem manga, clearly, but it was my first exposure to harem, and damn near my first exposure to manga, and so it played a formative role in my personal fandom. Even now, during my second re-reading (to which I will subject you, noble reader, be warned rest assured) I maintain that it’s quite good if you don’t mind the conventions it deals with. Beyond (and sometimes because of) the general over-the-top craziness I’ve come to expect from Akamatsu, it has a surprising wealth of clever, lucid moments.

For one thing, it puts the idea of college to work in a curious way, and if you’ve been listening to me at all since June of last year, you’ll know I have a bit of a thing for academia.

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