What and how can the anime industry in Japan get out of the moe gutter

Anime's rep isn't connected to moe's rep. Most people have never heard of the concept. The reputation problem is a combination of the Animation Age Ghetto and "Japan sure is weird", with latter dealing mostly with porn and gameshows. The average westerner would most likely consider moe shows to be harmless, if boring

I don't get where your "Japan is worse about it than elsewhere" thing is coming from other than what moe shows are doing, though.

Now excuse me as I gratuitously apply more skin whitening cream.

I've found that it really depends on what environment you usually live in(along with what your parents and grandparents and maybe a few other ancestors lived in but not too far lol) whether you're caucasian or asian(at least east asian, can't say much about any others.)

MMORPGs are serious business.

Uh, nope. Sorry, but anime is currently seen as in the cluthes of moe catastrophe (still). Ex. See this thread.

I already said it.

The West is obsessed with youth as well, but at least limited to teenage-level or young adult beauty. The West also tends to react with horror if we sexualize girls (or boys) younger than teenagers. Or looks younger than teenagers.

(shrugs) These "moe" characters do not look like teenagers.

edited 16th Feb '14 4:24:06 AM by probablyinsane

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

...so it is just the moe thing, then?

I mean, if you had mentioned the Lolita fashion or something I might be seeing where you could be coming from (ignoring how fiercely people that wear it tell others that they are not trying to be children or alluring in that way, or outright deny anything that could possibly be seen as childish on it) but i'm not really seeing anything unless you're saying that people trying to be forever 21 (no pun intended...hehe) counts as "before teenager and fetishized because of that"...

MMORPGs are serious business.

This thread is evidence that people already in the anime fandom see it as a problem, yes, but I thought we were talking about the outsiders' perspective? And everything I've seen suggests that they mostly just know about shounen fighting series and tentacle rape

I'm just stating what I think is the main reason for why "moe" gets so much criticism.

It looks pedophilic. To some people, it is pedophilia. Within the anime fandom. Outside the anime fandom. In Japan. Outside of Japan.

I've already come across tidbits from people living in Japan, explaining that Japan's national age of consent (13 years) keeps on getting misinterpreted and that they're having a hard time with the false stereotype of Japan being OK with adults having sex with minors.

So basically, Japan itself is having anime's problem. Both are stereotyped as being perverted.

edited 16th Feb '14 4:59:53 AM by probablyinsane

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.

Well, I mean shit—damn near every show I currently watch has at least one fetishized middle-school student. Every time you see a girl in a sailor fuku providing fan service, remember that she's supposed to be somewhere between 13 and 16 years old.

In anime, Fukus look◊ like this◊, but in Real Life, they look like this◊.

edited 16th Feb '14 5:17:38 AM by KingZeal

the short skirt thing is so prevalent when someone with a longer skirt shows up (or EVERYONE is wearing longer skirts) I start to freak out, wondering if i'm dreaming it up or hallucinating

i'm all like "AM I STILL WATCHING ANIME?"

but seriously I don't get why there are so many miniskirts in anime (especially when they show up in kids' shows, this example being even more extreme than the usual◊) but then children's card games also have things like loli succubi sometimes so eh

MMORPGs are serious business.

In some cases it might be that long skirts have to move more when the character does and are just harder to animate.

edited 16th Feb '14 6:21:32 AM by Elfive

Expanding on the misinterpretations of Japan's Age of Consent.

The 13 year old consent thing is for 13 year olds consenting to have sex with others close to their age. Like the Romeo Juliet law in the USA. Adults having sex with minors under 18 is not allowed.

Japan also has Child Welfare Act which states that under 18 is considered children.

Also, different prefectures have different ages for consent.

the national age of consent is 13 in japan, yeah. but prefecture laws generally take precedent in japanese matters, and the different prefectures tend to have age of consent laws way above 13, all the way up to 18, even higher than in the us, at 16.

Unfortunately, Wikipedia does make it seem like Japan is OK with adults having sex with minors so long as they are at least 13 years old.

edited 16th Feb '14 6:55:35 AM by probablyinsane

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.