So you're a male loner in high school, and you've been single for such a long time that you can only imagine a sweet
Moe girl (of the
Manic Pixie Dream Girl bent, of course), could save you from loneliness. Now you intend to draw her.
Well, we know what you think. There's no denying that this is your first basic idea of what she will look like:
- she is going to cheer you up → smile
- improve on your social skills → open mouth
- be interested in you → wide-open eyes
That's why this vaguely coquettish facial expression is now worn by almost every female character in
moe series and has become ubiquitous in series' promotional materials.
The next facial expression you will draw is going to be the Moe Squint, because she is
full of wacky quirks and idiosyncrasies.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- Pictured on your right are Saga and Sugar of A Little Snow Fairy Sugar.
- Bottle Fairy
- Moon Phase
- Aoi House from beginning to end
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the Maiden In Love
.
- The pic that used to be on◊ Late Arrival Spoiler, taken from a Lyrical Nanoha cover of Megami a magazine that specializes in Moe series.
- Haruhi can send people some confidence and energy by concentrating her essence and zapping it into people by staring at them. Or at least creep them out by trying.
- This◊ external link on Rapunzel Hair.
- Basically every picture of Tohru from Fruits Basket outside when she's suffering actual physical harm.
- This is also the default expression of one Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga. Though it's more to show that she's a happy-go-lucky Cloudcuckoolander than anything else. It starts becoming slightly creepy to see Osaka carry this expression while spacing out, and turns into out-and-out Nightmare Fuel when she stands over Yukari-sensei while brandishing a kitchen knife and smiling blankly... To illustrate....◊
- This crops up a lot in Mahou Sensei Negima!, especially early on, and especially involving Konoka or Sayo.
- In the Negima Neo spinoff manga, everyone has this expression, all the time.
- A favorite expression of Yuno Gasai, which in her capable hands becomes rather disturbing. In fact, it's the page image◊ for Yandere.
- My Girlfriend Is The President brings us Gender Flipped Putin, looking moe.
- This animated GIF(site has NSFW ads) with the faces of many anime girls. It's quite unsettling.
- Mostly anything that's animated by Kyoto Animation.
- Male example: Pre-Time Skip Simon from Gurren Lagann. D'aaaaw.◊
Film
- All of the covers and ads for the Yogi Bear movie have had the epynomous bear and Boo-Boo wearing this expression, though it doesn't come across as cute so much as vapid.
Video Games
Western Animation
- Dubois's wife in The Boondocks has this as her default expression.
- This is also the default expression for Cornchip Girl in Recess
- T.J. uses this trope in "A Great State Fair" in order for Gretchen to help him.
