Perhaps you might be thinking, what’s with the current Japanese pop culture of turning objects, goods, or other non-human things into moe human characters? This phenomenon is commonly referred to as Moe Gijinka, and to get to know about it a little deeper, here’s our discussion on that topic.

What is Moe Gijinka?

In western culture, Moe Gijinka is better known as Moe Anthropomorphism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word anthropomorphism means the interpretation of nonhuman objects or events into an object that has human characteristics. One example of this anthropomorphic change is the animal-eared anime girls or kemonomimi.

Stories that are within the anthropomorphic theme have actually existed since a long time ago, such as Japanese folklore about the fox demon, kitsune - is just one example of the many stories that carry the elements of anthropomorphism.

Nowadays, anthropomorphism itself is often moe-dified or given cute and adorable characteristics. Most of the Moe Gijinka characters are taken from animals, but lately, a lot of Moe Gijinka characters from various other things. Let’s discuss it.

5. Moe Gijinka of Animals

One of the well-known terms in Japanese pop culture is kemonomimi. This term derives from the many characters with the bishoujo appearances (pretty girl) or bishounen (handsome guys) who have ears and tails of animals.

One of the famous anime that uses this type of Moe Gijinka is Kemono Friends, which consists of many animals, such as serval cats, owls, lions, panthers, foxes, and many more but has a human-like figure.

4. Moe Gijinka of Monsters

Monsters from legends, myths, and fantasies are transformed into moe girls are usually called as monster girls. Anime that carries this type is Monster Musume, which tells the story of legendary monsters, such as centaurs, mermaids, harpies, and lamias who live alongside humans.

3. Moe Gijinka of Cells

Hataraku Saibou or Cells at Work tells about the 'life' of blood cells in the human body that are tasked in supplying oxygen and nutrients, as well as protecting the body from viruses, bacteria, and parasites every day. The main characters of this manga are the Red Blood Cell and the White Blood Cell.

2. Moe Gijinka of Countries

"An anthropomorphic take on countries?". Yup, and there’s already one. An anime that carries this type of anthropomorphism is Hetalia: Axis Power. The anime turns the countries from both sides of the Second World War; the Axis with Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the Alliance with the US, Brittain, France, Russia, and China; into humans who go about their everyday life.

1. Moe Gijinka of Warships

The most popular Moe Gijinka in Japan at the moment. Warships throughout the First and Second World War are made into cute and adorable girl characters. It can be said that Moe Gijinka was initiated by a web game, Kantai Collection (KanColle). From KanColle, many games with the same theme have sprung up, for example, Azur Lane, Abyss Horizon, and Warship Girls.

There are actually many more Moe Gijinka that we did not include in this discussion, and perhaps in the future, there will be more ‘eccentric’ Moe Gijinka. Do you have any objects you have in mind you want to make into a Moe Gijinka? Let us know by leaving them in the comments and let’s discuss them.

Featured image source : Kadokawa Corporation

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