Manga creator lashes out at 'moe' fetishists

Manga creator Mimei Sakamoto has taken a shot at the "moe" (literally, "gushing") niche element of Japan's booming otaku culture, calling it a "pedophiliac fetish" and "nothing more than perversion."

"Moe," Mainichi Daily News says, "describes the warm feeling the otaku get when they see something they like." It typically means serious -- serious -- attraction to a young girl in manga or anime who's generally helpless or naive.

"Perhaps it's because Train Man [the story of an otaku who wins the heart of a pretty woman] was such a hit, but recently I've seen all these dorky guys walking around in thick glasses and checkered shirts and it pains my heart to think that they may be hoping to meet some pretty girl who's going to fall in love with them," Sakamoto told the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun. "Sorry guys, the chances of that happening are zero."

She continues: "This fetish you call 'moe' is a pedophiliac fetish and is nothing more than perversion. It's not really something you should be gushing over. In other countries, they'd call what you're fantasizing over 'child pornography' and you'd all be arrested. I'm ashamed that these 'otaku' who are perpetual criminals have entered the mainstream and started an otaku boom."