What does this mean? Nothing in particular except signifiers have fluid meanings with their signifieds. That’s how I feel anyway.

Also, written with 燃 instead of 萌, “moeru” means “to burn” (if online Japanese dictionaries serve me well), and I think it has the connotation of being passionate about something, too. In that case, it could just refer to the emotion incited in the fan, though, given how hard it can be to pin down the origins of fandom terminology, I wonder to what degree the two moerus contributed to the birth of moe.

I did like the random closet scene; it was amusing in its own right, and I suppose you could say that it compounds Max’s…not cuckoldry, exactly; maybe his sterility, or simply lack of companionship…by having him sleep through the whole thing and limiting his waking interactions with the bunnies to “pay attention to the monitor!” I’d say it was the second most entertaining after-episode bit for me; it’s beaten out by Veffidas as a wandering kung-fu master.

I can’t say 7 is my favorite sequel, given Plus and all, but I do feel like I enjoyed it more than a lot of people would, not to mention far too much, probably.

Regarding the gender issue though… according to Wikipedia, moe translates into “budding,” which (watch American Beauty or, uh… ef-melodies and learn) sounds suspiciously female oriented to me. Like a Georgia O’Keefe painting. No, I swear, it’s a flower. Not a vagina.

Max Jenius, budding? I dunno. But I like the way you think. Because moe is not just contentious and open-ended, it’s misused without a hint of the thought that went into this.

Have you seen the short movie? If not, then you simply must. Also Encore, particularly the unaired episode: “Fleet of the Strongest Women.”

One of my favorite moments is when he falls asleep in a cupboard or someplace and his bunnies take turns taking advantage and try having their way with him. Now that statement sounds more exciting that it actually is, but it is a charming moment in an anime that runs almost entirely on charm.

Somehow, against my better judgment, Macross 7 has become my favorite sequel in the franchise. The beauty of shitty lovable animu.

The essence of gar probably isn’t based solely on anything, insofar as it’s as open-ended as moe at this point. Pardon my oversimplification.

@Cuchlann

Madarame has gar moments, sure. He jumps around from moment to moment. I recall him being alternately gar and moe in the chapter in which he buys clothes (moe insofar as his moments of direct or indirect pondering on Kasukabe render him moe-lly vulnerable, a proposition I’m not wholly prepared to defend — fuel for a future post, maybe).

@ghostlightning

Well, Max’s penis is important. I couldn’t let it remain without discussion…though a penis or lack thereof doesn’t factor much into my present application of moe, which is what I’m getting at here.

an unwashed hobo

-.-

cuddling old Max and drying his /m/anly tears

That does sound pretty exciting. Between Max and Milia, Max is basically the lady anyway.

Isn’t moe about wanting to protect the obect? Unless, it extends to providing comfort and reassurance. One can do without imagining a visage of an unwashed hobo cuddling old Max and drying his /m/anly tears, but it is an image I can no longer un-see.

That said, I salute you Pontifus for your epic marathon viewing of the series I love, and for immediately producing such fun posts to read, symmetrical with the lighthearted fun that can be found throughout the franchise itself ^_^

I love that you flipped the gender issue here; you’re right, it shouldn’t have to be connected to females, or even whatever gender it is the speaker is attracted to.

but I don’t especially believe that the essence of GAR is based solely upon admiration.