moe anthropomorphism

A fascinating way of dealing with enemies and unpleasant subjects; represent them as big eyed, cute little girls. This is the way of moe comics, a Japanese cultural phenomenon I read about in an excellent article from io9 (highly recommended).

Do these stories trivialize political issues and problems, or do they make them accessible to generalized debate by putting a softer face on them? I go with the latter view, especially since comics are the modern day court jesters; they have the freedom to have a little fun with their subjects while at the same time driving home moral lessons.

Most interesting are the stories about conflicts between nations, represented as children that don't get along very well. It is easy to relate to the snotty little brat Meriken as she picks on the underdogs Pakisu-tan and Afghanis-tan. These may be a bit on the cutesy size, but at least the Japanese have a way to discuss these issues and blow off a little steam. Beats FauxNews in my book.