User blog:Melonramune/Shota, Loli, moe terms→Re:LittleMephiles's blog

But I noticed there were some confusion with the terms Shota, Loli, and Moe... Here're some clarifications.
 * A little late, I'm sorry. I don't check blogs often...

Moe
The exact origins of Moe are unknown, but it means "budding/young, attractive, cute/adorable" and is used to describe characters that are appealing to the senses and some times look or are young. Moe is said to originate from either Sailor Moon and/or Kyoryu Wakusei. Neither series are hentai, ecchi, or anything for audiences above 15. In fact, Sailor Moon is a shoujo series, not seinen or josei and for audiences under 16 [nowadays it's considered for 13 and under], and Kyoryu Wakusei is a kodomo [for children 10 and under] series. It did not have adult origins but infact origins from manga directed towards younger audiences. It still doesn't always refer to characters from adult series.

Loli
It originates from the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. [Great book, btw] In terms of the book, Lolita [from the name Dolores, shortened to Lolita then Loli] would mean a younger girl attracting an older man with trickery, considering how Lolita lured Humbert with sexual favors to get money from him. But when the term Lolita traveled to Japan, it means the Victorian fashion where girls would wear Victorian era clothes and would look cute and young. Lolita later became lolicon, which is a sexual infaturation with significantly younger girls or girls than look very young [lolita + complex portmanteu]. But then the word loli came about. [Note that loli is almost never used in Japanese culture unless it's lolita or lolicon. It is more often used overseas than in Japan. Sometimes in anime and manga loli would be used in place for lolicon, but that's very, very rare. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything.] Loli would mean that the girl either looks younger than she is or is very young. In this case, loli came from a mature material source. [Though, I somewhat disagree since the book Lolita is sexualized, but it's heavily disguised. I read it last year when I was 14 and I wasn't "deranged" by it or anything.]

Shota
Shota came from the series Tetsujin 28-go/Gigantor, where the protagonist's name is Shotaro and he is a young boy. Shota doesn't have mature origins because Gigantor is a kodomo series. Shota later on became Shotacon [shotaro + complex portmanteu], which refers to a sexual attraction for underaged boys or guys that look young. Later, shota seperated and became a word on it's own, much like loli. Shota came to mean a young looking guy or a really young boy. Likewise, shota is used more overseas and very rarely used in Japan. The only time I remember shota being used by a Japanese was in Suteki Tantei Labyrinth where Minori said "Sho-sho-shota!?" when she discovered that she had feelings for the protagonist Mayuki, who was the same age as her though he looked like he was several years younger.

So evidently, only Loli had actual mature origins. Moe and Shota can refer to mature connotations, but not always. Loli and Shota very rarely refer to their mature meanings, Lolicon and Shotacon. Moe can have mature meanings only if the user finds mature subjects appealing. [I've heard people say guro is moe... So it's highly subjective.]