I always thought that my first blog post was going to be something substantial.  Maybe I'd finally finish that article on the Japanese structure of academic literature and its visible effect on story telling in Japanese games.
 
Nope, instead my first blog is going to be a knee jerk reaction to one incredibly dumbfounding rule I discovered at the middle school where I do tutoring at.  For awhile now, I've had many students with folders and binders almost bursting at their seams.  I finally decided to ask one today why he didn't just carry multiple folders, one for each subject.  He responded it would be a bit harder to keep multiple folders with him from one class to another.  Puzzled, I ask why not just keep them in the book bag instead of carrying them by hand.  His response: the middle school does not allow students to carry book bags because there could be a bomb in one of them.  
 
I...seriously...what?  I don't have words that can describe my complete and utter puzzlement at the logic behind that rule.
 
Edit: had I bothered to scroll a bit further down the screen, I would have realized this is not actually my first blog post.  But that's not the point!

To put bluntly, many simply don’t “get” moe.  This isn’t meant as a negative statement.  This isn’t a condemnation of those that don’t appreciate it, but rather an observation that the term, and what it means, seem to act as an ever existing puzzle to many, and acts as some invisible barrier between east and west.  However, the core concept of moe is actually very easy to understand, and here I will attempt to demonstrate it in as simple a way as possible.

Before we begin, there is one requirement: be willing to accept that the range of characteristics that attracts one to a character is not restricted to just what you set before yourself.  Good to go?  Alright, lets start.

Step 1. Imagine a character that you’re attracted to.  It doesn’t matter if it’s from an eastern or western game, animation, or manga/comic.  Simply be attracted to him or her.

Step2. Determine the some of the characteristics that  causes this attraction, whether they be physical traits, or personality traits, what have you.

Done?  You have just understood the concept behind moe.  Are you surprised at how simple that was?  Moe is at it’s base no different than your own attraction to a character.  It is an umbrella term that covers a certain set of attractive characteristics.  While they may be different from your basic TNA, the result is the same.  You don’t need to understand why some might find glasses attractive, or cat ears attractive.  Simply understand that they are for some, just as what attracts you to your character is true for you, and not for everyone else.

Suddenly moe isn’t so mysterious, is it?