64
Interview with
POP
CN
OOKS, I
SAI B
© SAN
POP (a self-professed seventeen-year-old) is an illustrator who popularized the word moé with his debut work, the manga Moeru eitango: Moetan (2003), where a cute girl character teaches the reader English using bizarre scenarios straight out of anime, manga, and games. His recurrent character has a round face and massive eyes, which along with the use of pastel colors gives his images a soft and feminine look. Despite being an infl uential fi gure in the moé boom of the 2000s, POP seeks to distance himself from the word moé in its contemporary use, which he feels is not true to the word’s original sensibility. In this interview, he explains what moé means to him.
POP
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Talking about Moé
at
the
Heart of Akihabara
Drawing as a Way of Life
Patrick W. Galbraith (PG): Where does your penname come from?
POP: I like the letter P and I wanted to call myself Popuri (the Japanese word for potpourri). But at
that time there was a character called Popuri from
the anime Fushigi Maho Fan Fan Pharmacy (1998–
1999), and I didn’t want it to look like I was taking that name. So I erased the end of Popuri and my
name became POP.
PG: Fan Fan Pharmacy is a magical girl show, right? Where you into that
genre?
POP: Not that particular series, but I
was into magical girl series before
then. I loved Creamy Mami, the
Magic Angel (1983–1984) [See Nu-
CN
nokawa Yuji, page 54], but in those
days I was basically holed up in ar-
OOKS, I
cades and didn’t spend much time
SAI B
watching anime.
© SAN
PG: When did you decide that
you wanted to draw professionally?
POP: I’ve been drawing pictures on a daily
basis ever since I was a child. It was kind of
Moetan: Nijihara Ink
part of my lifestyle. My parents worked and
TALKING ABOUT MOE
ÁT THE HEART OF AKIHABARA
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66
I was often alone at home. I didn’t like to
go out and play with others, so
I drew. Like many children, I
watched anime and tried to
draw the characters, but
this didn’t really evolve
into anything special
at fi rst. As I got older, I
started going to Tokyo’s
Akihabara district to buy
video games, the ones that
simulate relationships
with girl characters. To
advertise the games, staff
members of these stores
would hand draw charac-
ters on signs or posters. I
loved to see those draw-
ings. I think that’s most
probably where my desire
to draw professionally
C
comes from.
N
Moetan: Nijihara Ink
OOKS, I
PG: Did you go to Akihabara often?
SAI B
POP: I didn’t start going there until the late 1990s. In grade
© SAN
school, I was mostly hanging out in arcades playing more general games. I didn’t have any friends with similar interests, so I sort of pursued hobbies on my own. My parents didn’t care, as long as I studied and eventually took over the family business.
At university, I met a guy who was deeply into the otaku world of manga, anime, and video games. I learned from him that there were events where people sell fanzines, and he asked if I wanted to produce one with him. We started going to Akihabara, where we could gather information about events. My father passed away in 2002, and I had to consider whether to take over the POP
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family business, but then my debut work Moetan took off and I decided to pursue a career as a professional illustrator.
PG: Moetan features a cute girl character that is now widely recognized and much loved. Where did you learn to draw her?
POP: Rather than being good at drawing, you could say that I have become good at drawing. I was inspired to start practicing drawing girls while hanging out in arcades, where you sometimes fi nd what’s called a communication notebook, in which visitors write messages or draw pictures. In one particular notebook, there was a prompt to draw cute girl characters—so-called Lolita characters—but I didn’t know how and I really regretted that, so I began to practice drawing
them over and over again. Some-
AN
where along the way I developed
DNE
a certain amount of skill at
K ON
drawing cute girl characters. I
L IE
AST
was probably interested in them
© P
anyway, but it was my desire to
participate in that communication
notebook that got me drawing cute
girls repeatedly and with an eye
for detail.
PG: Do you have other infl uences
more generally?
POP: I have always liked picture
books and media for children.
There is a big bookstore in Tokyo
called Sanseido, and I can eas-
ily spend the whole day in the
children’s section there. I also
like Disney and Sanrio [licensor
of cute character goods includ-
ing Hello Kitty]. My tastes run
Moetan: pastel colors
TALKING ABOUT MOE
ÁT THE HEART OF AKIHABARA
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68
Everyone can re-
late to POP’s cute
girl characters
TD.
O., L C
toward genres that are usually con-
G
sidered to be for children or girls.
ISHIN
PUBL
Often I am the only man in a store
LAR P
full of kids and young women.
©SANR
O
IO CO., LTD.
© P
PG: You actually did an illustration for Sanrio or Sanrio
as part of their promotion for their Hello Kitty products, right? You’re a Hello Kitty fan, so that must have been exciting.
POP: I like things that are cute, and I’ve always preferred pastel colors. As a creator, I want to draw cute pictures that reach an audience from children to adults. Some people say that my drawings are gender neutral and can be enjoyed by both men and women. Because my name and style are gender neutral too, and I don’t make public appearances, no one really knows whether I am a man or woman. When Sanrio asked me to drawn an illustration of a girl who loves Hello Kitty, I wanted to make it cute and accessible to women. The basic image of the cute girl is POP
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69
the same as the one in Moetan, which proves that Moetan is not just for otaku. It isn’t that I want to draw works that are only for kids, but I also don’t want to draw works that are only for otaku. I hope to make something that everyone can relate to. Ideally, my work would be read by grandparents sitting with their grand-children.
PG: Are you attempting to change your style to reach this wider audience?
; POP: Well, I’m known for drawing cute girl characters and that’s what I want to be recognized for. If I can’t be accepted for the work I do, or need to change it to be accepted, that’s too bad.
PG: Since Moetan, your work has been associated with moé. What does that word mean to you?
CN
POP: Personally, I’d rather not even use the word. Moé is misused S, I
OOK
these days. The verb moeru in Japanese
SAI B
means a plant bursting into bud. Moegi-
iro refers to a yellowish or light green
S © SANEG
color. I associate moe with these things
IMA
but now it is used to mean simply
cute girl characters. I feel this is an
abuse of the word. Fans might kill
me for saying this, because Moetan
was my debut work and it was
in part responsible for the
TALKING ABOUT MOE
ÁT THE HEART OF AKIHABARA
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70
Moetan: Pastel Ink
CN
OOKS, I
SAI B
© SAN
spread of the word moé. But after Moetan, companies were just branding everything “moé” to sell products.
PG: For you, personally, what makes something moé?
POP: Whether or not someone has put love into it. If someone has put their heart and soul into a drawing, then it’s moé. A drawing that has powerful emotion behind it has much more impact than one that merely employs technical skill.
PG: When viewers call your drawings moé, what do you think they are responding to?
POP: When I draw cute girls, I focus on specifi c parts of the body that I personally like. I structure the illustration so that I can draw these parts. For example, I like thighs, and so I draw full-body portraits from a low-angle perspective. I also like armpits and bellybuttons. Put these together and there is a certain pose that works best. I think because I have been drawing this type POP
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71
of character for so long, and obviously
put so much into making the character
pose just right, the fans’ response can be
described as moé.
PG: Do you ever have trouble drawing
a character?
POP: Yes, absolutely. If you have an im-
age in your mind, then you can draw it,
but where does the image come from in
the fi rst place? If the image is not there,
then my hand doesn’t move. I can try for
hours or days and nothing comes out.
Those are the times that I go to Aki-
habara and just take in all the sights
and sounds. It doesn’t
even have to be
Akihabara, but just
somewhere other than where I am. I watch
or read things to get ideas, too. When my
head is full of all these outside infl u-
ences I go to a café somewhere and put
it down on paper. When I don’t have
to use the computer for creating, I
usually work outside. I probably
spend more time wandering
around Akihabara than a salary-
man spends in his offi ce. Drawing
is a way of life for me. They say
that the basic necessities for life are
CN
food, clothing, and shelter, but I
S, I
can’t live without drawing. This
OOK
SAI B
is not simply because it is my job
and I need money to live, but be-
S © SANEG
cause drawing is my life.
IMA
TALKING ABOUT MOE
ÁT THE HEART OF AKIHABARA
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72
Interview with
Momoi Halko
Momoi Halko, born in
1977, is a Japanese
singer, voice actress,
media personality, and producer
who enjoys hanging out in Tokyo’s
Akihabara district and talking about
bishojo characters and idols as much
as any otaku. Despite being one of
the most recognizable voices of cute
girl characters in anime and games,
Momoi is surprisingly ambivalent
about the moé phenomenon. There
was a time when she wanted to
NNA
wash her hands of the whole thing,
CHUM S
but she now considers moé fans as
ZT
FRI
a misunderstood subculture of men
Y B
PH
struggling with and against gender
RAGO
norms. In this interview, Momoi
TO
PH
stands up for those fans.
MOMOI HALKO
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The Voice of Moé
Asks for Understanding
The Struggle against Gender Norms
Patrick W. Galbraith (PG): You fi rst became well known for your writing about computers and games. Can you tell us how you fi rst got into that?
Momoi Halko (MH): I was really isolated in middle school because I was a big fan of anime and games but no one else was. Dial-up Internet in the 1990s was a godsend for me. In high school, I started to blog about my interests to make friends. An editor saw my blog and asked if I wanted to write for his magazine. I did, and then other magazines started to approach me. So I kind of became known as a writer. I was already going to Akihabara a lot, and from about 1996 I started singing live out on the street. I wrote my own music, recorded onto a cassette, which I would play back when I sang. My music was inspired by the sounds of games and computers.
PG: What was the response like?
MH: Well, other otaku seemed to like it. I released a CD titled Mail Me in
2000, but it wasn’t a big hit. Then,
TD.
one day, I was walking down the
O., L
street in Akihabara and saw this
IS CT
group of guys gathered around a TV
© LAN
in front of a store watching a demo
movie for a bishojo game, a type of
video game where players simulate Under 1
romance with the opposite sex. The
7
THE VOICE OF MOE
ÁSKS FOR UNDERSTANDING
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74
movie was playing, the music was blasting, and the guys seemed to be totally into it. I thought to myself, “This is it!” I was interested in games and computers, and bishojo games were popular in Akihabara. My voice is high pitched and people used to say I sounded like an anime character, which gave me a complex. But bishojo games feature anime-like character designs, so my voice was actually very suitable. In 2002 I formed a group called Under 17, which sang the opening music for bishojo games. Our music was really energetic, and we performed live, which earned us a lot of fans.
PG: You also debuted as a voice actress around then, right?
MH: My fi rst role in anime was Nakahara Komugi from The Soul Taker in 2001. My fi rst leading role was a spin-off series, Nurse Witch Komugi (2002–2005), where Komugi is an idol and visits Akihabara. I felt very close to this role. In fact, I even wore Komugi’s costumes when I sang her songs at live performances. At the time, anime fans were into cosplay (getting dressed up as a favorite anime or manga character) but it wasn’t something tha
t voice actresses and singers did. Fans were happy to see me getting into character.
TD
PG: Komugi is a young girl character
O., L
with a high-pitched voice, and
TION C
so is Mii, the character you
RODUC
voice in the anime Popotan
O P
(2003). Because you play
NOKUST
these kinds of characters,
A
© T
you have become associated
with the concept of moé. What
does moé mean to you?
MH: Basically, when otaku
say that they feel moé for
a character, they mean,
“I love that character.”
Nakahara Komugi
MOMOI HALKO
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75
Coming out and sa
Co
ying stuff like this
became m
be
uch more common in the
1990s because of the success of the
19
bishojo
bi
game Tokimeki Memorial (1994)
and the
an
TV anime Neon Genesis Evan-
gelion
ge
(1995–1996). It used to be taboo
to sa
to
y that you loved a fi ctional char-
acter
a
, but for people my age it was
not so str
n
ange for someone’s fi rst
lo
l ve to be Fujisaki Shiori from To-
kimeki Memorial
k
or Ayanami Rei from
Ev
E angelion. These characters were
super popular and people w
s
ere crazy
about them. This was all the more
true in
t
Akihabara, where you could
TD
buy fi gurines of these characters.
O., L
[See Morikawa Ka’ichiro, page 127.]
TION C
I’
I ve come to think that spending
my y
m
outh in Akihabara, surrounded
RODUC
O P
by anime
b
, games, and idols, was a
NOKUS
special kind of education.
s
The feel-
TA
©T
ing of
The Moé Manifesto Page 6