In the world of Anime, we come across various characters with a plethora of personalities. This is only the tip of the iceberg regarding anime as a whole.
In today’s article, we wanted to focus on the term “gap moe.” Now you may be wondering, what is gap moe? Well, we got you covered.
What is Gap Moe?
Gap Moe refers to how people perceive you on the outside as utterly different from how you are on the inside. Think of a person who seems like a delinquent who does nothing but skips class and gets into fights, but on the inside, they are highly intelligent and very soft; the gap moe represents that difference between the two. That gap moe attracts fans to the character, thus making them more popular.
We hope you found a character that piques your interest!
- 1. Gintoki Sakata/Gintama
- 2. Katsuki Bakugou/My Hero Academia
- 3. Boa Hancock/One Piece
- 4. Shikimori/Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
- 5. Izumi Miyamura/Horimiya
- 6. Zenitsu Agatsuma/Demon Slayer
- 7. Tatsu/The Way Of The Househusband
- 8. Maika Sakuranomiya/Blend S
- 9. Satoru Gojo/Jujutsu Kaisen
- 10. Mikey(Manjiro Sano)/Tokyo Revengers
- Summary
1. Gintoki Sakata/Gintama
Gintoki is one hell of a funny protagonist. In Gintama, one of the main tropes we see is a comedy; sometimes, it can run dry, but the creators manage to keep it fresh with every experience.
An example of his gap moe-ness comes from his lazy attitude. Gintoki is the type of guy to give sage-level advice that would make you want to turn your life around, but then he would go gambling with his friends and ignore all responsibilities. Despite his lazy/lax nature, he can be earnest in helping those who need it and is dedicated to his job.
Gintoki suits gap moe to a tee; his sarcastic nature hides his serious nature inside, thus making him our king of gap moe. Another exciting aspect of his gap moe-ness comes from how he was written in his comedic stories. He’s portrayed as a coward and the first to leave at the drop of a pin, but then he gets super serious about protecting those close to him.
2. Katsuki Bakugou/My Hero Academia
Bakugou is, well, quite the scary kid. From how he talks with others to how he looks, he has “do not cross me” written all over him. On top of being a natural talent, Bakugou does develop a superiority complex that he is not afraid to display, but he has times when he can be humble and tame.
He values working hard for what you want to achieve, and he does not tolerate playing dirty. Bakugou only accepts a victory that has merit to it so he can feel proud of himself, unlike if someone cheated, he would be through the moon with anger and disgust. Also, although he comes off as a hothead ready to strike at any time, he does know when to back down and when he is outclassed.
His gap-moe-ness made him a fan favourite for humanizing him and giving him a cute side to enjoy.
3. Boa Hancock/One Piece
Boa Hancock the waifu of many One Piece fans and the boon of anyone who crosses her way and she doesn’t like them. Captain of the Kuja pirates and former warlord, Boa, is a treat for the gap moe enthusiasts.
Her gap moe comes from being the coldest woman you’ll probably meet; even during Marineford, she insulted the marines soo much that she looked down on them. But due to Luffy breaking that thick piece of ice around her heart, she becomes a maiden who is dearly in love with our MC. One moment she could turn men to stone in disgust at them; she can be seen fawning over Luffy, thinking that by calling her by her first name, they’re married.
Her gap moe is not strangely unique as we see it in other characters, but it’s still a treat to enjoy. At the age of 15, she was the reason for my current taste in women, haha.
4. Shikimori/Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
Usually, when we got female characters who have gap moe, they go from angry to cute, but Shikimoro breaks those boundaries. This confident and kind girl is well-received by her peers for her competitive nature and her cuteness, but it’s when she gets cool is where she swoons us.
An example of her gap moe is during the ball sports tourney where when she was cheered on by her boyfriend, she activated this cool side to her and won the hearts of both boys and girls in her class. Her boyfriend, Yuu Izumi, has some pretty bad luck, but she’s always there at his side to cheer him up. She does make him blush with her cool side; in one scene, she goes from the cutesy girlfriend to doing a kabedon on him, showing her cool side.
As I mentioned, she takes the regular gap moe females have and turns it around; in my opinion, she’s an icon.
5. Izumi Miyamura/Horimiya
I relate to this character the most on this list; Izumi Miyamura is perceived as a quiet, soft boi, but he’s hurting inside. Due to the pessimistic nature he developed, he got tattoos and piercings as an anchor when he felt school was just too much.
His gap moe comes from his hidden side discovered by Kyouko Hori. Izumi’s hidden side shows a more laid-back and friendly attitude, a 180 from how he is perceived on the outside. According to the fandom wiki, Izumi’s classmates consider him an otaku with good studying capabilities. In contrast, he can be pretty dense sometimes; in some cases, he almost revealed his tattoos at school.
We see this gap moe troupe a lot, but it’s interesting because it is more intertwined with the character’s past.
6. Zenitsu Agatsuma/Demon Slayer
Zenitsu is a real gap moe individual. Being the user of Thunder breathing, he’s the furthest thing from being a straight bolt with 1 use. He, in my opinion, has 2 gap moe traits.
His first is that of a regular human being (think of Spongebob’s “Hi, How are you”), but when any beautiful girl comes his way, he turns into the biggest simp. Another gap moe trait is how at face value, he looks cowardly but is actually super strong. He can get scared straight into sleeping, but once asleep, he becomes soo OP, not even lower-rank moons could deal with him.
Zenitsu’s gap moe shows us a trope we rarely see, like being cowardly on the outside, but once ASLEEP, he turns on thunder god mode?! He definitely threw me for a loop when I first read Demon Slayer.
7. Tatsu/The Way Of The Househusband
What if your partner was a Yakuza member? would you be scared of them? Tatsu is a Yakuza house husband; yeah, you read that right; he’s pretty whipped.
His gap moe is that 1. he comes off as a Yakuza, scary as can be, and you don’t want to cross him, but on the inside, he wants to do his best in his role as a house husband supporting his wife. Even in one scene where he won her a prize, and the old man taunted him, in his most yazuka-esque way, he said, “the real first prize is my wife’s smile!!” to which he got hit in embarrassment by his wife.
Tatsu is that guy; we guys gotta become cool on the outside but loving and caring on the inside. Tatsu is a genuine Sigma.
8. Maika Sakuranomiya/Blend S
For 4 months straight, all I saw was his cute shy girl on my feed. Lo and behold, when I came around to watch the anime, she was far different from how she was portrayed.
On the outside, This 16-year-old girl comes off as sweet and shy, but her eyes are so sadistic that even when Dino first meets her, he hires her as the sadistic maid for his cafe. Despite being the sadistic maid and having to treat her customer like a sadist, she does feel bad, and when they leave, she apologizes profusely.
Maika is interesting because, from a distance, you would think of her as any regular maid character, but upon a closer look, she’s got that sadistic look about her.
9. Satoru Gojo/Jujutsu Kaisen
For 1,000 yen, name someone who is a sensei but acts like a kid. Satoru Gojo follows a common trope of sensei who are overpowered and a threat to society if they turn evil, but is a kid and easygoing.
His gap moe comes from his lazy and childish attitude. Being considered the strongest sorcerer and damn near could destroy the world if he wanted to, he takes on a more playful attitude when he’s around his students. Some have even said that his face doesn’t match his personality.
Gojo Schtick is pretty cool because the author took a common trope we saw but added more onto it by not making him too childish on the inside to balance out his character. This caused many fans to fall in love with him as their favourite just because he’s soo cool yet relatable.
10. Mikey(Manjiro Sano)/Tokyo Revengers
Mikey is the leader of the Toman Manji Gang; at a young age, he was trained in martial arts and was already catching bodies, but as he got older, something didn’t leave him, and that’s his light-hearted personality. Keep in mind, Mikey is pretty feared for his monstrous strength, so when I say his gap moe turned us upside down, it did.
Mikey, Toman’s prominent bad gang leader, likes to eat kids’ meals. That’s right, this absolute unit loves eating kids’ meals, and don’t forget he almost fooled Takemichi into thinking he was in a fight, but in reality, the waiter had forgotten to put a small flag.
We gotta love Mikey’s gap moe because as badass as he is, it helps ground him for some more light-hearted moments. It also helps capture the hearts of the fans by presenting them with a gap moe amidst all the chaos we usually see in the show.
Summary
Whether it’s a girl who’s cute on the outside but cool on the inside or a yakuza househusband who’s scary on the outside but wholesome on the inside, these contradictions are what make these 10 characters fan favourites. the varying tropes also refresh us on gap moe, making us never tire of seeing them.
We hope you found a character that piques your interest!
Be sure to keep checking back on our site for more great anime recommendations!