Gap Moe
Have you ever heard of the word “Gap Moe“?
It means that a person’s attractiveness is evaluated in a positive way due to a change in impression, as in “He seems cold at first glance, but when I talked to him, I found him to be kind”.
The term “generation gap,” which is derived from the word “crack” or “gap,” is probably familiar to you as an expression of the gap in knowledge and senses between generations.
We also often hear in the news about the “communication gap” and the “culture gap“.
In other words, when you want to emphasize a difference, just add the magic word “gap” after the word that describes the cause of the difference.
A tree that has begun to sprout young leaves is called a “sprouting tree.” The word “moe” is used as Japanese subcultural slang to convey the intense emotional thrill that springs forth by replacing this leaf with a person or thing.
When this moe is converted into an emphatic expression following the gap utilization guidelines described above, it becomes “Moe-gap“.
Some of you may be thinking, “I’ve heard of gap moe, but I’m not familiar with moe-gap“.
The more one learns about the Japanese language, the more profound it becomes. There is a technique called inversion, in which a sentence is expressed in a striking manner by daring to use a different word order than usual.
Although the true meaning of this technique is not clear, I believe that this technique gave birth to “Gap Moe“.
Anime beginners who visit Akihabara for the first time may say, “This anime is moe! and “moe are often used“, but I recommend expanding the range of expression to “I can’t get enough of this character’s gap moe!”
You may come to be seen as a thoughtful gentleman, enjoying yourself at a maid cafe wearing a character shirt that stretches a little to the side.
Difficulty of giving gap
I am a person without gaps.
My friends and colleagues are never surprised by my normal behavior. I eat only what I look like, and my preferred curry spiciness is medium hot.
A junior staff member at Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, who has put on a big show, saying, “I like spicy food, despite appearances!” When a junior who has been so enthusiastic about spicy food at CoCo Ichibanya orders something less than 4 spicy, I am disappointed that “It’s not as spicy as it looks…“.
At Coco Ichi, you can change the spiciness of the curry according to your preference, but there is a big gap in spiciness between 4 and 5 spiciness.
In other words, “3 or 4 spicy may burn the fat of my juniors, but it does not make my heart swell“.
By nature, it should be difficult to give others a gap. Nonetheless, the junior who eats 3-spicy curry with relish continues to talk.
“I may look jovial and lax, but when I get into work mode, I am able to do my job well!”
“Isn’t it natural…. This is not a world where anything is permissible if he declares it with impunity.”
To begin with, I have never heard of a company that would allow someone who works in a jovial atmosphere and makes mistake after mistake. If such a paradise existed, I would want to change jobs.
Perhaps this “self-proclaimed gap-moe boy” is essentially the type of person who can do his job, but since he usually switches off, he is often regarded by those around him as lazy.
However, when the time comes, he switches his mind to a serious mode, and he wants to convey that he can do his job without a hitch.
I have explained this at length, but in a word, it can be described as a “gap fraud“. He would have a richer life if he would take it a little easier.
In my case, I don’t know where my motivation switch is, and even if I could find it, I usually live in energy-saving mode because I don’t have the confidence to control on/off according to the triggering of moe.
Like Elsa as the Snow Queen in the Disney’s Frozen, I show myself as I am.
I rarely cracks a joke, but people around me don’t expect my to be that funny, so I am not the least bit cold.
Ｇap power release
A senior colleague of mine from a previous job is an “appearance gap” person whose first impression is mistaken for a scary person.
In reality, he is a reserved person who prefers to listen rather than speak, but thanks to his nearly 190cm height and stocky build, he stands out wherever he is.
He is not the most efficient worker, so when he is behind schedule on a project, he shrinks his large body to hide his presence in the office so that the department manager does not notice. He was probably breathing less frequently.
Still, he was adored by team members because he was incredibly good at apologizing.
I’m sure you’ve all made mistakes in your work that have angered your clients, and you’ve probably had to go to them to apologize.
I myself once caused trouble for a client by being late with a delivery, and I was so worried that the client might stop doing business with me that I consulted with this senior colleague of the team.
Worried about what might happen, but not wanting to run away, we visited the office where the furious client was waiting for us.
After the reception desk on the first floor, I felt palpitations of tension and stress in the elevator heading to the 20th floor where the client was waiting for me.
The senior colleague standing beside me was repeatedly wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, as if he was nervous or just hot.
So far, I have not felt the superhuman awesomeness that I had heard from those around me, just the usual “Bruce Banner“.
The conference room is designed with a smoked glass wall, giving a faint view of the inside from the outside.
When I arrived in front of the room where the demons were waiting for me, led by a depressed and listless staff member in charge, I was shocked to see a shocking sight.
“Although the smoke did not allow us to see them clearly, they were all standing and waiting for us!“
I was about to look over to Bruce beside me, ready to “pick up the bones…“ when he suddenly knocked hard on the door.
“Come in!” he opened the door and entered the conference room with his large body bent at nearly 90 degrees, in a posture like a stick striking a temple hanging bell.
The other party seemed a little overwhelmed by the power of the large man suddenly entering with his face turned downward, and they clearly flinched as their bodies moved backward from their angry standing style.
As soon as the demons came to their senses, the senior who had turned into the “Hulk” said in a stately voice, “We apologize for the trouble we have caused you!”
They looked puzzled, and instead of yelling at us, they said, “Just look up and sit down…”.
In a battle that could not be won at the entrance of the conference room, Hulk’s strategy won out as he rushed forward in his lightning-fast, bell-post style and succeeded in getting the apology across to their heart.
After both companies had taken their seats and regained their composure, the Hulk would naturally receive a few words of complaint, but with a strong, incomprehensible warrior in front of them listening with a mysterious expression on his face, they could not get into a situation where they would become angry.
Sometimes the hulk would try to stand up abruptly to apologize, and each time this happened, the client’s posture would slightly buckle.
I am sure he was worried that “they would suddenly hit me!“.
After the apology had run its course, I was truly surprised at his response when he was pressed for an explanation for which the measures had not yet been finalized.
Sensing that he was about to be backed into a corner, Hulk abruptly got up from his seat and began walking slowly from the conference room exit to the “client’s boss,” who was seated at the top table at the far end of the room.
Then, “transforming back into his bell-ringer style“, he bowed his head and said, “I will propose a solution the next time I visit you!”
The client’s boss also has a “vivid image of the shock he felt when he entered the room“.
The boss, who fully understood that he could move forward in this style, could not bear to have Hulk bow in front of him, and had no choice but to say, “Please take care of me next time!
After reaching a consensus with the client, Hulk said, “Thank you! and from now on, he will bow in turn from the upper seat.
I was present at the meeting, had to do my best just to keep up with his shrimp-like movements as he moved little by little toward the exit of the meeting room, taking advantage of the recoil of his bowing.
A gap that moves people’s hearts. The degree of influence on the other party increases in proportion to the gap.
When I am faced with a new crisis, a switch somewhere in me suddenly turns on, and I hope to encounter “another me, like the Hulk“.
