Interest
Chinese Social Game Turns Historical Figures into Moe Girls
posted on by Eric Stimson
The moe boom has led to a wave of anime and games representing macho Asian historical figures as cute girls, such as Koihime Musō and The Ambition of Oda Nobuna. A Chinese social networking game, Meng Wang EX ("Moe King EX"), has nonetheless raised eyebrows among a few Japanese netizens for its take on "great" political and military leaders of the past. Mostly, it's because it includes one of Japan's staunchest adversaries: North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un.
"Great leader, shining body, eternal general secretary, the sun of his people, he ranks among the heroes of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."
The game ranges beyond East Asia, however, to include famous figures from the West as well.
Adolf Hitler
Napoleon
Vlad the Impaler (the historical "Count Dracula")
Julius Caesar
Japanese warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi is included, clad in (sexy) samurai armor of course.
Chinese figures are also involved. On the left above is the reinterpretation of Zhu Di, a ruthless emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).
Zhao Kuangyin, founder of the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) and apparently a lightsaber aficionado
Li Yu, Zhao's nemesis, who was more devoted to the arts than war ("the arts" apparently being broadened to include pop singing, although in reality he preferred poetry)
Meng Wang EX is available for download on Android and Windows platforms here. Judging by this gameplay video, it's an action game with a Chinese orchestral soundtrack.
In 2012, Ikaros Publications released a book portraying a similar range of dictators as moe girls, illustrated by several anime character designers.
Sources: Hachima Kikō and Netlab; Images from Baidu