What do you think makes for good moe?
I think that, in order for something to be moe, it needs to stand out.
I watch something like Kantai Collection, and none of the girls appear particularly cute.
They all feel cookie cutter, like they were the result of focus testing otaku*.
However, I found all of the girls in Yuru Yuri to be very cute.
I believe this was because the show had enough original ideas for the characters to stand out.
For example, Chizuru is supposed to be a cutie, but her drawings are ugly and terrifying.
Furthermore, she is a rapist and a bully.
Akarin is a girl without much of a presence. The show plays with this in memorable ways.
Like the time travel episode, or the joke where she avoids the wave by not being in the frame.
In order to make good moe, you have to make the characters stand out, otherwise the audience can't care.
They need to feel more like people and less like pandering cartoons designed to make money.
What do you think makes for good moe?
*Maybe it's different in the card game I don't plan on playing