Look But Don't Touch Flops With Koreans

Best shot of a maid?
Originally uploaded by Lorenzosama.

Korean otaku turn aprons up at 'moe' warm, fuzzy feelings

Japan and South Korea are at it again. This time, though, the traditional rivals aren't fighting seriously, but they are competing to see who can have the most effective otaku culture, according to Weekly Playboy (5/21).

Anime, manga, cosplay and maid cafes have become as popular in parts of Seoul as they are in Tokyo's geek capital of Akihabara, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Koreans have matched the accomplishments of the original Japanese otaku.

In fact, there are considerable differences between the geek culture of both countries, with the Koreans not adapting to the concept of moe - the Japanese otaku's buzzword for whatever turns them on, but which has a decidedly "warm fuzzy" feeling about it.

Perhaps that's why Korea's only maid caf? shut its doors just eight months after opening.
[...]
Korea doesn't have the swimsuit pin-up idols prominent among Japan's otaku. It's difficult for the Koreans to understand the concept of moe.

"Korean sex services are straight shooters. They tell you what you can do and that's what you pay for," Chan says. "For Koreans, it's a totally foreign concept to sit with a pretty woman all night and get nothing other than small talk like in Japanese nightclubs, or the maid clubs where you're not allowed to touch the women at all. There's no way these places would ever become popular."

There are many Japanese otaku who shun real women because they find them "scary" or "difficult" compared to virtual reality girls, but again Korean otaku find such an idea hard to comprehend. Thanks perhaps to compulsory military service, few young Korean men have not experienced women in some way and when it comes to relieving sexual frustration, no punches are pulled.

But while Korean otaku are going for the full throttle approach, Japan's attraction to vagueness continues. Nowhere is that more evident than in the thriving maid industry.

Some dudes dressed as maids prancing in the street yelling, MOE. From Kitsune Tsukai photstream.