Tag Archives: akiba

Moe as Anti-Commercialized Desire

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Why is moé (萌え) not equivalent to kawaii (可愛い)?

This discussion assumes familiarity with kawaii and moé terms.

In certain situations, one might comprehend an overlap in feelings of moé and kawaii. Similarly, differences exist, constrained by unique perception of visual characteristics.

However, distinctions between moé and kawaii might also be perceived in social dichotomies, more definitely that between physical space, by which I mean specifically the opposition of Akihabara and Shibuya.


Ressentiment, by Kengo Hanazawa

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Department of Alchemy Podcast: Panels from Anime Boston 2009

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I’ve decided to flavor the blog with audio under the moniker Department of Alchemy Podcast. Occasionally, I’ll post audio from panels or discussions here, but don’t think of it as a regular podcast, à la Anime World Order.

This past weekend, I took my new audio recorder to Anime Boston 2009, and while I tried to record a number of panels, I had a few mishaps and some of them didn’t save. However, I did pick up a handful of them, so I’ll try to repair the audio a bit and upload them here.

First up is one of the five panels that I spoke at: Akiba Empire: The Otaku Influence. The convention’s booklet reads: “Otaku spending pumps over 4 billion dollars annually into Japan’s economy. Discover how nerdy anime fans went from basement dewllers to a powerful cultural, economic, and political force.” Please listen! Or download here.

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More panels from AB will be posted shortly!