@Xalef@shitposter.club The term's origin and etymology are unknown. Anime columnist John Oppliger has outlined several popular theories describing how the term would have stemmed from the name of anime heroines, such as Hotaru Tomoe from Sailor Moon (Tomoe is written as 土萌, relevant kanji is the same) or Moe Sagisawa from the 1993 anime Kyōryū Wakusei.[6] Psychologist Tamaki Saitō identifies it as coming from the Japanese word for "budding", moeru (萌える).[7] Ken Kitabayashi of the Nomura Research Institute has defined moe as "being strongly attracted to one's ideals"[8] Kitabayashi has identified the word moe to be a pun with the Japanese godan (五段) verb for 'to sprout', moyasu (萌やす), and its homophone 'to burn', moyasu (燃やす).[8] Along the same line of thought, Kitabayashi has identified it to be a pun with the Japanese ichidan (一段) verb for 'to sprout' moeru (萌える) and its homophone 'to burn' moeru (燃える), which mean 'to burn' (in the sense of one's heart burning, or burning with passion).[8] Galbraith states that the term came from 2channel in the 1990s, discussing female characters who were "hybrids of the Lolicon (Lolita Complex) and bishoujo (beautiful girl) genres". This accurately describes the aforementioned Hotaru Tomoe, and coincides with her height of popularity in 2channel, giving strength to the theory that the term stemmed from her name.[9] Another reason why the term could have originated from Hotaru Tomoe is her background story. The term has been associated with characters that give off the aura that they need to be protected because they are vulnerable, and Hotaru fits that category; in the manga, a lab accident kills her mother and leaves Hotaru severely injured.[10]