Annett, Sandra. Animating Transcultural Communities:?Animation Fandom in North America and East Asia from 1906–2010. Thesis. U of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. 2011. Web. 6 June 2014.
He [Azuma Hiroki] calls these elements ?moé elements (42), because they inspire in otaku the complex and difficult-to- define emotion known as ?moé (??). Literally denoting a plant‘s budding or sprouting, moé indicates the intense sensation of mingled protectiveness, empathy, and attraction towards a fictional character or image felt by otaku. Moé elements are the appealing, codified, recurrent aspects of anime characters, plots and settings that evoke such feelings. (Annett 276)
The ahoge element is so integral to the series that women who ?cosplay or dress up as Hetalia characters will take pains to create wigs or extensions including just the right curl. And no wonder: the inclusion of such elements is the inclusion of fans themselves, who can both call a character such as Canada ?moé or say ?I am moé for Canada. (Annett 277)
They—we—were forced to confront some very difficult questions, questions which often trouble me personally as an anime fan and scholar. What do you do when a media work you love provokes behaviours you cannot always condone? (Annett 304)
More generally, how do you remain a ?fan of something that you can see is problematic, yet cannot help finding appealing? (Annett 305)
The point is not that fans should opt out of the media or perpetuate cycles of silencing by calling for bans on texts they find offensive. It is rather that they need to engage with the most problematic elements of texts and of their own readings of them self-consciously. In practice, many online debates still descend into unreflexive recriminations and insults. But such debates also make possible different kinds of re-imaginings across difference. (Annett 307)
referencing:
Azuma Hiroki, ed. 2007. The ideology of contents: Manga, anime, light novels. [Kontentsu no shis??manga, anime, raito noberu]. Tokyo: Seidosha.
RMCF (Rhetorical Memory Cosplay Fandom)