History Moe / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' could be a prototype; it predates the rise of moe, but it follows the structure of many modern slice-of-life moe series with its almost entirely female cast of quirky characters and emphasis on their interactions and day-to-day lives, and is considered the TropeCodifier of [[SchoolgirlSeries such series]]. Unlike most moe series, the focus is more on humor than cuteness and the girl's personalities and quirks are PlayedForLaughs instead of {{Squee}}s. Special mention goes to [[CheerfulChild Chiyo]], [[HugeSchoolgirl Sakaki]], and [[SchoolgirlLesbian Kaorin]].

%%* How about adaptation moe? Beth March from the anime Anime/AiNoWakakusaMonogatari is shy,sweet and Kind.

* ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'' has [[{{Cyclops}} Manako]], the FriendlySniper. Whereas most of the cast is played for fanservice, her screentime mostly revolves around her social anxiety and shyness.

* Mikado Ryuugamine from ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'' has several [[FanNickname fan nicknames]], one of which is Moekado. [[spoiler: Others include Mootkado and Bosskado, but that doesn't stop him from being [[BadassAdorable adorable]].]]

* Sena of ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' is extremely moe, though whether it's intentional or not is up to interpretation. Nonetheless, in a series composed of manly men with nerves of steel, the main character's small, frail body, big dinner plate eyes, and timid yet strong willed personality make him extremely endearing to the audience.

* ''{{Manga/Gintama}}'': ''Kagura''. She's got wide, blue eyes, Creator/RieKugimiya's adorable voice and is generally a bit of a [[TheDitz ditz]]. [[BadassAdorable And she isn't too bad in a fight either]].

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo:'' Narancia Ghirga, the smallest (but surprisingly, not the youngest) member of Passione who still acts like a kid despite being 17. Although he's far from helpless, he's just so wide-eyed and innocent and loves his friends so much that he would die for them. And his past is ''so very, very'' tragic.

** During the [[spoiler:Punk Hazard Arc, we have Mocha, quite possibly the sweetest, most adorable little... er, [[CuteGiant big]] girl in the series thus far. After finding out how dangerous the "[[FantasticDrug candies]]" [[ArcVillain Caesar Clown]] were feeding her and the other children, she ''overdosed on the remaining batch to [[HeroicSacrifice prevent her friends from eating them]]'' when they were going through withdrawal. This caused the poor girl to reel over in pain and '''cough up blood'''! [[TearJerker It's a hard scene to watch]]. Thankfully, Mocha survives, but seeing a kid this young having to make such a lethal decision will definitely invoke this trope on nearly anyone and she]] was already ''very'' [=Moe=] to begin with.

* Cute characters such as Bridget (''VideoGame/GuiltyGear''), Mizuho (''VisualNovel/OtomeWaBokuNiKoishiteru''), and Jun Watarase (''VisualNovel/{{Happiness}}'') are often considered moe. The fact they are all [[WholesomeCrossdresser guys]] is incidental.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' could be a prototype; it came before moe, but it follows the structure of many modern slice-of-life moe series with its almost entirely female cast of quirky characters and emphasis on their interactions and day-to-day lives. Though unlike most moe series the focus is more on humor than cuteness and the girl's personalities are PlayedForLaughs instead of {{Squee}}s. Special mention goes to [[CheerfulChild Chiyo]], [[HugeSchoolgirl Sakaki]], and [[SchoolgirlLesbian Kaorin]].

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'':

** And Yutaka as well. Especially in the dub -- her voice actress is Creator/HyndenWalch, voice of [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Starfire]] and young [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Nia]]. The back of DVD volume 4, supposedly Minoru Shirashi's[[labelnote:*]]the character, not [[Creator/MinoruShiraishi his voice actor]][[/labelnote]] thoughts, has this to say:

** [[{{Tsundere}} Kagami]] was the winner of the 2008 Saimoe Tournament.
** The cast, really. It's arguably what the series is best known for.

* ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' which gained a strong following well outside the usual {{Moe}}[=/=]SliceOfLife fandom due to its generally cozy atmosphere being accessible to just about anyone, not just those who like cute female characters. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2020-12-30/laid-back-camp-producer-details-how-they-avoided-making-the-anime-too-moe/.167984 An interview with the anime's producer Shouichi Hotta]] reveals that they deliberately tried to avoid making the series ''too'' moe, which helped it reach a wider audience.

* ''Manga/YuruCamp'' which gained a strong following well outside the usual {{Moe}}[=/=]SliceOfLife fandom.

* ''Anime/MaiHime'' skewered the concept in a PostEpisodeTrailer (where a lot of things did indeed "burn") as well as foreshadowing the show's darker themes much later.

** Ochako Uraraka, a cheery, bubbly, pink-cheeked girl determined to become a hero so she can make life easier for her parents. Her and Izuku form a sweet MoeCouplet.

* Himeko in ''Manga/KannazukiNoMiko''. Blonde, clumsy, helpless, and oh so cute.
** Really, any Kaishaku work is guaranteed to be drowning in moe.

* Suzuhara Misaki from the manga version of ''[[Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer Angelic Layer]]''.

** After Koro-sensei's upgrades, Ritsu's moe level went through the roof. She's appropriately nicknamed in-series as "Box Full of Moe" later.
** Nagisa is incredibly adorable as well.

* ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'': [[DirtyOldMan Kaoru]] loves to see how much ''moe'' she can squeeze out of the other girls (''she's'' the one who insisted on pleated skirts for their uniforms), especially when she sees that one of her school friends is not only ''moe'', but ''{{dojikko}}'' as well. Two other [[DefeatMeansFriendship characters]] love ''moe'' anime too, but these {{Otaku}} are looked upon as weirdos.
** However, the series' crown prince of moe is none other than The Children's handler, Minamoto. It's the [[{{Meganekko}} glasses]]...and making the girls eat their vegetables.

* ''VisualNovel/HoshizoraEKakaruHashi''

* Another Osamu Tezuka creation is Unico the Baby Unicorn from the [[Manga/{{Unico}} manga series of the same name]]. He's an [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter extremely adorable unicorn]] who just wants to make friends. Unico is very friendly but also very curious and doesn't like being lonley. Another character from the same series is [[CuteKitten Katy the Cat Witch]], a cute cat that's able to [[CuteWitch transform into a human]] who also befriends Unico.

* Hikaru Azuma from ''Manga/WithTheLight'' definitely has his own way of being cute, even his younger sister, Kanon.FF

* Akari from ''Manga/{{ARIA}}''.

* Several characters from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia''. Notable examples include Italy (especially [[CheerfulChild when a child]]), [[ShrinkingViolet Liechtenstein, Canada]], [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Taiwan]], [[{{Tsundere}} Vietnam]], [[{{Manchild}} Russia]], Norway, Iceland, and Latvia. ''Every'' major character has some of this appeal. It's the franchise best known for moe males.
** Amongst the [[GenderFlip Nyotalia versions]], there is [[BadassAdorable Japan]], [[{{Meganekko}} England]], [[CuteAndPsycho Russia]], [[{{Kawaiiko}} China]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Canada]].

** [[PsychoLesbian Kaorin]] is also very moe.

** [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Chiyo-chan is very moe too]].

* '''[[Manga/BloodLad Liz]]'''. GOOD GOD. [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eM4sqHzlHfE/maxresdefault.jpg Just look at her!]]
** Fuyumi and possibly Bell also count.

* Erio Touwa from ''LightNovel/GroundControlToPsychoelectricGirl''. She's obscenely cute and acts half her age.

* [[{{GenkiGirl}} Genki Guy]] Shuichi Shindou of {{Manga/Gravitation}}.
** Also Ryuichi Sakuma, who [[{{ManChild}} alway carries his stuffed rabbit with him]].

*** And [[http://oi56.tinypic.com/2n6yvly.jpg this]] image will make you go {{Squee}}!!

** Also Kyon's sister and Tsuruya. Nyoron?

** As is Tama the pet tiger.

* From ''Manga/{{Hiyokoi}}'', the main character Hiyori Nishiyama is a positively TINY high school student (at 140 cm), shy, adorable and often described as reminiscent of a chick (as in baby bird). She probably rivals [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya Mikuru Asahina]]. Unlike [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Chiyo Mihama]], she's as old as her fellow classmates. She also cries a lot and likes to hide in lockers when stressed, upset or cornered.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn''
** Tsuna, after the ArtEvolution.
** Chrome Dokuro has always been Moe.

* Shun Matsuoka from ''Manga/KimiToBoku''. There are plenty of blogs online that talk about how cute he is, and he's been called cute in the series itself. It helps that he is more [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide girly]] than most actual girls.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP-3YaGuv6A MOE MOE KYUN~!]]
*** Utterly epic explosion of pink hearts for extra points!!
*** This has unintentionally made some people mistake moé for anything that TastesLikeDiabetes.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima's'' Setsuna is an interesting case, as her friendship with Konoka was essentially a mechanism to show off her moe traits, until it was emphasized into a romantic feeling.
** The manga series itself is notable. Class 3-1 and their Magic World friends represent most of the moe traits with widespread popularity; the strongest evidence being early notes for the series released as promotional material containing a chart with over 50 traits he thought would be interesting (with each girl seemingly getting about two or three). RobotGirl, CuteMute, {{Tsundere}}, ElegantGothicLolita, twin girls, CuteWitch, tomboy, ShrinkingViolet bookworm... with Akamatsu-san's frequent Naughty Tentacles, [[PantyShot pantsu]] and ClothingDamage situations.
** You can't have a page on {{Moe}} in anime and manga without mentioning [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Negi]].
** Even the current BigBad and his minions have Moe elements. [[spoiler:''especially'' [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody Shiori]], whose [[LuminescentBlush fa]][[CryCute ce]] on the last page of chapter 283 is perhaps one of the most Moe things yet seen in the manga.]]
** The concept is invoked when the normally {{Tsundere}} Chisame ends up entering a cosplay contest during the festival. She gets overcome with stage fright and has a minor breakdown on stage... only to end up winning because of this trope.

** Haruhi as a whole could be seen as Moe. Despite her general [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], and [[SnarkKnight apathetic]] nature, she has moe traits. Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru never fail to point out how [[HollywoodHomely 'plain' and 'dull']] she is, treating it as more of an endearing quality rather than an insult. The boys also love to dress her up in all sorts of outfits (granted, most are unisex or male--and Haruhi's not enthusiastic about it). She has few weaknesses, with the exception of a FearOfThunder, and is painfully ObliviousToLove. Read chapters [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ouran_High_School_Host_Club/57/01/ 57]] and [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ouran_High_School_Host_Club/58/01/ 58]] for an unusually Moe Haruhi (she goes back to her normal self a chapter or so later).

*** Also Kirimi NEKOZAWA is very moe.
* Melfina of ''Manga/OutlawStar''.
* Young Gilbert in ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' [[http://www.mangareader.net/350-24630-17/pandora-hearts/chapter-1.html is moe]] (he's the little weenie clutching his head there), but the (cheerfully sadistic) people around him like to create situations that make him even more moe. This is taken to [[http://notcliche.com/siriru/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Gilbert.png extremes]] in the first DVD omake.

** Which makes it kind of weird that if you watch ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}}'' now, Amelia [[UnbuiltTrope could easily qualify as a parody or subversion of the trope]], as the very qualities that make her {{Moe}} are also exaggerated to such degrees that they're actually a little unnerving, and her naivete has sometimes put her in genuinely dangerous situations.

** Nora definitely qualifies as well.

* Nia Teppelin from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is very, very ''moe''. Actually well used, as she counterweights Yoko's {{Stripperiffic}}ness and Simon's [[HotBlooded Hot Blood]].

* Subverted in ''Manga/TheDaughterOfTwentyFaces''; main character Chiko first appears to be weak, defenseless, [[SpoiledBrat naive and spoiled]], but by the end of the first episode we've already learned how clever and perceptive she is and by the sixth episode she can easily hold her own physically against TheDragon of the first narrative arc - and in all her flipping around still manages to avoid any trace of a ZettaiRyouiki. Chiko is the embodiment of what happens when an ActionGirl decides to go "the hell with moe".

* Every single girl in ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' has a {{moe}} moment at some point (even [[AttractiveBentGender girl Keima]] pulls it off. The most promiment ones are Elsie ([[Really700YearsOld 300-year-old]] who looks like 14 and acts like 7), Tenri, and [[ShrinkingViolet Shiori, the librarian]]

* Kyrie from ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'' is another male example. He can qualify in both of the manga and game version, but the Moe trait is especially apparent in the anime version.

* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' gives us Vash the Stampede, the "Pacifist with a Gun" who, despite his reputation, [[{{Adorkable}} is a goof-ball]] and a surprisingly vulnerable guy. Some of his [[FaceFault Face Faults]] are particularly adorable, and that little [[BeautyMark mole]] by his eye probably helps.
* Yugi Muto, the main protagonist of ''Manga/YuGiOh''; he's {{Adorkable}}, a PerkyGoth, a NiceGuy and a TinySchoolboy! What about that ''doesn't'' scream "Moe"?! ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' even jokes about Yugi being mistaken for a [[PandaingToTheAudience baby panda]] because of how cute he is.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia''--a rare example of a [[GenderInvertedTrope moe-boys anime]]--is stuffed to capacity with moe goodness, appropriately, as its huge cast of characters consists of [[MoeAnthropomorphism moe anthropormorphisms of countries]]. You've got your standard-issue "[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Hetare]]" (Hetalia is a contraction of "Hetare Italy," referring to North Italy, but many other characters also qualify), {{Tsundere}} (Germany, South Italy, and most notably, England), {{Yandere}} / CuteAndPsycho (Russia, (arguably) Latvia, and Belarus), [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Adorably Precocious Children]] (Sealand and Latvia), TheCutie (Taiwan), and various others. Listing all the {{Meganekko}} would take up half the page. England and Italy have been called tsundere and moe, respectively, ''in canon''.
** Also, Canada, [[MemeticMutation WHY SO MOE?]] Even when some Canadians [[SingleIssueWonk don't like]] [[UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism this]].
** Lithuania comes damn close to being the most moe, if simply through having ''hellish luck''. First, he's lackey to [[ValleyGirl Poland]], who has a good heart but is ''very'' selfish, then he winds up with [[{{Yandere}} Rus]][[PsychopathicManchild sia]], and, ''just to top it all off'', his [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter crush]], [[{{Yandere}} Belarus]], ''breaks all his fingers in less than five minutes''. Face it, this guy's ''entire life'' is made up of YankTheDogsChain moments.
** [[http://himaruya.blog61.fc2.com/blog-entry-643.html This post on Himaruya's blog]] adds ChineseGirl Taiwan pretty firmly to the {{Moe}} chain. Apparently confirmed in the drama track of China's CD, where she's given a quite child-like and girlish voice.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''

* Momo from ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion''. It's as if her character exists almost solely to exude her childlike charm and provide cute moments for the story.

* Yune of ''Manga/IkokuMeiroNoCroisee'' is built to pull the heartstrings, and boy does she. She's tiny, always wears fancy kimonos, is occasionally clumsy, is adorably stubborn about being useful, and is emotionally scarred from intense guilt. Despite her overall maturity, her girlishness breaks through sometimes; she just can't see a cat without wanting to pet it!

* ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi'': A rare male example is Mei the goat, mainly due to his charming and friendly interactions with Gabu and the other characters.

** Another Osamu Tezuka creation is Unico the Baby Unicorn from the [[Manga/Unico manga series of the same name]]. He's an extremely adorable unicorn who just wants to make friends. Unico is very friendly but also very curious and doesn't like being lonley. Another character from the same series is [[CuteKitten Katy the Cat Witch]], a cute cat that's able to [[CuteWitch transform into a human]] who also befriends Unico.

* ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi'': A rare male example is Mei the goat from, mainly due to his charming and friendly interactions with Gabu and the other characters.

* ''Franchise/SDGundam'' features many characters and mechs from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, now SuperDeformed and put into generally more lighthearted scenarios, like a parody of the Sengoku period, a parody of medieval fantasy, a parody of American Action Movies, etc. However, [[CerebusSyndrome it's not always cutesy.]]

** Momo Yaoyorozu, a SpoiledSweet ''ojou-chan'' who gets all happy and bouncy when excited to spend time with her friends. Sure, she can take care of herself, but the reveal of her self-esteem issues doesn't hurt. Watch what happens when her classmates beg her to help them study (because she has the best grades in the class) and she gets excited about them coming over to her house, talking about having her mother open up the hall and asking what kind of tea they like:

* Played half-seriously, half for laughs in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''. In her first appearance, Rei/Blair is a 12-year-old girl who not only fills in the moe charm after being "uncovered" (she had pulled a SweetPollyOliver first), but has in her first deck a ''card'' named "Maiden In Love", whose monster form is the one of a ''very'' moe girl who [[HelloNurse uses her charm]] to [[WoundedGazelleGambit gain the favor of other monsters and have them fall in love with her]]... as long as they're males. The moment Judai/Jaden summons a ''female'' monster, she snaps the "guys" out of it.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Madoka Kaname is a very good example. [[RoseHairedSweetie Pink hair]] that she wears in GirlishPigtails? Check. [[BigEyesLittleEyes Big]] [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow pink]] TaremeEyes? Check. [[FrillsOfJustice Cute frilly outfit]] [[PinkMeansFeminine with lots of pink]]? Check. [[NiceGuy One of the kindest, sweetest people you have ever met]]? Check. Often a subject of BreakTheCutie? [[TheWoobie Double check]]. And seeing her [[CryCute cry]] is [[TearJerker really heartbreaking]], too. She didn't win the 2013 Saimoe competition for nothing.

* Toboe of ''Manga/WolfsRain''. Let's see: adorable, shy, clumsy, quirky, instills the need to hug? Yep, all of the above.
* Popura Taneshima of ''Manga/{{Working}}'' manages to hire a new coworker simply by being adorable.
--> '''Takanashi:''' That ID and uniform... She's a senior at my high school? And she looks like a 12 year old and acts this cute? Is this even possible?
--> '''Taneshima:''' [-*ackshoo*-]
--> '''Takanashi:''' ''It is!''