Moetan



Believe it or not, Moetan started as a way to teach the Otaku of Japan the English language. The phrases they learn aren't of use to anyone but an Otaku, but that's beside the point. With its cute mascot, Nijihara Ink, and her Magical Girl alter-ego Pastel Ink, it caught on. So much that they decided to make a series out of it.

Nijihara Ink is a high-school student, but you wouldn't believe that by looking at her. She looks like she's elementary school age, and refuses to be called that. Then there's Arks Elbyas, a strong magician turned into a duck who comes to turn Ink into a Magical Girl so he can be freed from his duck sentence. Ink uses this as a chance to teach her crush, Nao, the aforementioned otaku-centric English. Later includes two more magical girls and some self-referential humor.

The series aired in the summer of 2007.

See the quotes page for all of the anime's Gratuitous English lines.


 * And Knowing Is Half the Battle: Moetan Corner.
 * Badass Longcoat: Dandy. Don't mess with the dude.
 * Balloon Belly: Sumi in episode 10.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy
 * Catch Phrase: "Don't mind the minor details", uttered by various characters.
 * Censor Steam: Interestingly, the studio had to do this because the show had too much nudity.
 * Clark Kenting: Subverted: Sumi's maid knows exactly who she is post-transformation. Also lampshaded in the first episode: Pastel Ink, who her crush doesn't recognize, teaches him how to say "don't you think magical girls look the same after they transform?")
 * Cosplay: Ink and Sumi resort to this when they're unable to use magic to transform into their alter-egos.
 * The Dandy: His name is in fact Dandy.
 * Detached Sleeves: Ink.
 * Dojikko: Ink.
 * Ecchi/FanService
 * Expressive Hair: Sumi.
 * Fourth Wall Breaking: Episode 12: After Mio transforms, she's surprised to see that Shizuku has already changed. The response? "Due to the budget, we couldn't afford my transformation scene."
 * The Final Temptation: Parodied! Like everything else.
 * Gainaxing: Oh Remi.
 * Gratuitous English: The weirdest part has to be Moetan Corner. In this segment, Ink tries to teach you impractical English phrases. (No attacking during transformation scene!)
 * Heavy Sleeper: Sumi. Ruriko needs to resort to kicking her bed to get her awake. Also, she sleeps in kitty pajamas. Male kitty pajamas, no less.
 * King Incognito:, believe it or not.
 * Lens Flare Censor
 * Lolicon: Arks (he's not even being discreet about it).
 * Magical Girl
 * Magitek: The transformation devices are phones, and keypads are used to activate spells. This also makes them Functional Magic.
 * Marshmallow Hell: Remi's running joke.
 * Meaningful Name: Not only does Dandy have this treatment, Ink and Sumi are both references to painting styles.
 * Meido: Ruriko.
 * Mentor Mascot: Arks and Karts
 * Missing Episode: Episode 6, "The First Date", which was restricted to DVD-only for various reasons ranging from perversion to hyping up the DVD.
 * Noblewoman's Laugh: Sumi.
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama: Voice of Karks. Hell, his HIKARI NI NARE! is here!
 * Non-Human Sidekick
 * Nosebleed: Karts during Sumi's transformation, and Arks just drools during Ink's change.
 * Older Than They Look: Ink and Sumi are high school students and look like they're five.
 * Off-Model: Parodied.
 * The Ojou: Sumi.
 * Otaku: Nao and Mio. Like Brother and Sister
 * Otaku O'Clock: Unsurprisingly, this is when it aired.
 * Panty Shot
 * Puni Plush
 * Recap Episode: Episode 5.5.
 * Record Needle Scratch: Used whenever someone says or does something stupid, usually when the mood shifts from serious to "Let's drool over panty shots" mode.
 * Seinen
 * School Festival
 * Schoolgirl Lesbian: Remi loves to see Ink and Sumi in cute uniforms and hug them a lot.
 * Shaggy Dog Story: Episode eight, exactly.
 * Shout-Out: Loads. Many of the Gratuitous English lines are references to various manga and anime.
 * To Gundam Seed in episode 7.
 * To Super Robot Wars, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Lucky Star and Blue Comet SPT Layzner in episode 8.
 * Episode 11 features Potemayo figurines.
 * Theme Naming
 * Those Two Guys
 * Time Travel: In episode 5.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ink's two friends
 * Transformation Sequence
 * Unknown Rival: Sumi.
 * Visible Sigh
 * Widget Series
 * Zettai Ryouiki