In anime, some characters wear clothing with overly long sleeves, covering their hands either partially or completely. These hand-hiding sleeves are called "moe sleeves," moe-sode 萌え袖, and they exist simply because some people consider it cute.
Anime: Maoujou de Oyasumi 魔王城でおやすみ
Anime: Saki Achiga-hen 咲-Saki-阿知賀編 Episode of Side-A
Anime: Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun 地縛少年花子くん
Anime: SSSS.GRIDMAN
Anime: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, マギ
Anime: Shokugeki no Sōma: San no Sara 食戟のソーマ 餐ノ皿
How to Say in Japanese
In Japanese, these overly long sleeves are called:
- moe-sode
萌え袖(dic.nicovideo.jp:萌え袖, dic.pixiv.net:萌え袖),
Literally "moe sleeves." - sode-amari
袖余り(dic.pixiv.net:萌え袖)
[Having] too much sleeve.- amaru
余る
To have more of something than necessary, expected, or normal.
- amaru
Some other terms for sleeve sizes in Japanese:
- naga-sode
長袖
Long sleeves, that reach the wrist.. - nana-bun-sode
七分袖
"Seven-parts sleeves."
Three-quarter sleeves, which reach below the "elbow," hiji 肘, but above the "wrist," tekubi 手首. - han-sode
半袖
"Half-sleeves."
Short sleeves, which end above the elbow. - noo suriibu
ノースリーブ
No sleeve. (wasei-eigo 和製英語.)
Sleeveless. (English term.)- sode-nashi
袖なし
Without sleeves.
- sode-nashi
- amerikan suriibu
アメリカンスリーブ
"American sleeve." (wasei-eigo.)
American armhole. (English term.)
A diagonal cut from under the armpit to the neck, which exposes the trapezius between shoulder and neck.
Some other sleeve-related terms:
- sode
袖
Sleeve. (that covers the arm, e.g. of a shirt.) - oku no te
奥の手
"Hand of inside." (literally.)
Inner move, as in one's most secret and close-kept move.
Ace up one's sleeve- te wo utsu
手を打つ
"To hit a hand."
To make a move. (in a game, or strategically.)
- te wo utsu
- sode-makuri
腕まくり
"Sleeve-rolling."
Rolled sleeves.- makuru
まくる
To roll something that covers something else to reveal it. (e.g. a sleeve.) - maku
巻く
To wind. To roll. (e.g. a scroll.) - korogasu
転がす
To make something roll. (e.g. a boulder.)
- makuru
- koshi-musubi
腰結び
"Lumbar-tie."
To tie the sleeves of a shirt, etc., around your waist. Normally, you'd do this if you leave wearing a jacket but then it gets too hot so you remove the jacket and tie it around your body, like how a salaryman ties a necktie on their forehead, but some characters just wear this fashionably, like a cape, e.g. Jin Mo-ri 진모리 from God of High School. - pafu suriibu
パフスリーブ
Puff sleeve. - hime-sode
姫袖
Princess sleeves. Loose sleeves with frills. - detacchido suriibu
デタッチドスリーブ
Detached sleeve. Sleeves that aren't connected to the top, and are worn separately.- kafusu
カフス
Cuffs. (bunny girls often have detached cuffs.)
- kafusu
- kata-dashi
肩出し
"Shoulder-exposing."
Exposed shoulders.
For a more complete list of terms in Japanese, see the following website:
- modalina.jp - ファッション・アパレル用語索引, accessed 2021-06-11.
Some terms for clothing that typically feature extra long sleeves:
- toreenaa
トレーナー
Sweatshirt. - seetaa
セーター
Sweater. - burausu
ブラウス
Blouse. - jaketto
ジャケット
Jacket. - burezaa
ブレザー
Blazer. - hakui
白衣
"White clothes." White robe.
Lab coat. (which is white, absolutely necessary for any self-respecting mad scientist.)- uwagi
上着
Coat, which you "wear", kiru 着る, "above," ue 上, something else.
- uwagi
Types
Covering Hands Completely
Sometimes a character has sleeves that cover their hands completely, which sounds pretty impractical if you think about it.
Anime: Last Period: Owari Naki Rasen no Monogatari, ラストピリオド －終わりなき螺旋の物語－ (Episode 1)
Right: Momoki Run 百木るん
Anime: A-Channel, Ａチャンネル (Episode 4)
- Context: the ultimate protection against hand holding.
Anime: Saki Achiga-hen 咲-Saki-阿知賀編 Episode of Side-A (Episode 15, OVA, Stitch)
- Context: how do you even play mahjong like this.
- zettai ryouiki
絶対領域
"Absolute territory." The space of bare thighs between a mini-skirt and higher-than-knee socks.
Covering Hands Partially
A more realistic—and harder to notice—type are sleeves that go over the wrist, but don't cover the hands or the wrists completely.
Anime: SSSS.GRIDMAN (Episode 1, Stitch)
Anime: Inu x Boku SS, 妖狐×僕ＳＳ (Episode 9, Stitch)
- Context: flowers in the background are a hint a character is in love.
- jito-me
ジト目
Staring eyes. Half-closed eyes.
Anime: Shokugeki no Sōma: San no Sara 食戟のソーマ 餐ノ皿 (Episode 5)
- hebime
蛇眼
Snake eyes. (with vertical slit pupils.)
Game: Helltaker, ヘルテイカー
- haato-me
ハート目
Heart eyes.
Anime: Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。 (Episode 13)
Without Hands
When over-sized sleeves completely cover a character's hands, it might look like don't actually have hands, specially if you never get to see them. Sometimes, this is actually the case. For reference, some examples:
Anime: Nichijou 日常 (Episode 1)
- Context: Nano, who is a robot, realizes she lost one of her hands somewhere.
Anime: Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun 地縛少年花子くん (Episode 7, Stitch)
- Context: Mitsuba is a ghost. He doesn't have a right hand, it was amputated when he died, leading to an unusual asymmetry of the trope.
- Do you prefer moe-sode with fingers visible or not?
- Yes.
—author, probably.
- ashidon
足ドン
A kabedon 壁ドン done by placing a foot on a wall.
Anime: Vampire Hunter (1997, OVA) (Episode 2, Collage)
- Context: Lei-Lei is a ghost, specifically a Chinese hopping ghost/vampire (jiāngshī 殭屍). She appears to have four arms at first glance, two human arms, and two huge claws wrapped in over-sized sleeves, however, the claws don't actually have arms attached to them, the sleeves are mostly empty inside..
- There's an opening in the sleeves that she uses to swiftly hide her human arms into the sleeves.
- Some of her attacks include retracting the claw into the sleeve and pushing out some other weapon, like a morning star, that she had hidden in the sleeve.
- Oddly, it seems she doesn't need to hide her arms into the sleeves to control them, she can control the sleeves independently, perhaps because she is a ghost with psychokinetic powers, so it really looks like she has four arms, even though sometimes the claws lay limp on the floor.
Anime: Maoujou de Oyasumi 魔王城でおやすみ (Episode 5)
- Context: Harpy is a monster girl. She has wings, feathery non-human ears, and talons for lower legs and forearms. Canonically, her "girl power," joshi-ryoku 女子力, is 8 stars (☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆), and it's implied the reason she wears detached, overly long sleeves is to cover her uncute claws.
- From the manga, volume 2, chapter 18, 布団, last page omake おまけ:
- sukoshi mae made no nayami:
"watashi no te...... kawaikunasa-sugimasu"
saikin no nayami
"hime to naka-yoku naritai-n-desu kedo......"
少し前までのなやみ
「私の手･･････可愛くなさすぎます」
最近のなやみ
「姫と仲良くなりたいんですけど･･････」
[Her] worries until a while ago:
"My hands...... are too uncute!"
Recent worries:
"[I] want to become [friends] with the princess......"- 「」 - quotation marks.
- kawaikunasa-sugimasu - masu ます form of sugiru すぎる, "too much," attached to the sa さ form of nai ない, "not," attached to kawaii 可愛い, "cute."
Cute-not-ness too-much.
Lacking cuteness too much.
Too much not cute.
Too uncute. - X wa {naka ga ii}
〇〇は仲がいい
X have a good relationship.
X are in good terms, in friendly terms.
X are friends.
Right: Alba, アルバ
Anime: Sen'yuu. 戦勇。 (Episode 7)
- Context: Ruki thinks Alba didn't do anything the last battle, then Alba tells her she wasn't paying attention, reminding her of his heroic feats. Convinced, she says:
- sou da na, Aruba-kun mo ganbatta ne
そうだな、アルバくんも頑張ったね
[That's right], Alba-kun worked hard, too, huh. - *she pats him on the head*
- arigatou Ruki.. tte nani kore!? ude dou natte-n-no!?
ありがとうルキ・・って何これ！？腕どうなってんの！？
Thank you, Ruki.. wait, what is this!? [What is going on with] [your] arm!?
- dou natte-n-no - contraction of dou natte-iru no どうなっているの, literally "what has [it] become."
Kimono 着物
One type of clothing known for its overly long sleeves is the traditional Japanese kimono 着物, and its lighter variant, the yukata 浴衣.
Right: Hinata ヒナタ
Anime: En'en no Shouboutai 炎炎ノ消防隊 (Episode 11)
- kazari-me
かざり目
A term for >ω<.
The same style of garment is often seen in miko 巫女, "shrine maiden," "priestess" outfits. Non-Japanese characters, specially nobility, also wear similar clothing. The kimono is originally Chinese, so series based on Chinese culture are likely to have an outfit of sort.
Although this can't be said about every character, some timid, maiden-like characters who have overly long sleeves appear to have mannerisms based on maidenly, kimono-wearing characters, princesses from historic tales, period pieces, and the sort.
Tropes
Connected Sleeves
Sometimes, a kimono-wearing character place one hand inside the other hand's sleeve, connecting them together.
Anime: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, マギ (Episode 13, Stitch)
Anime: Nurarihyon no Mago ぬらりひょんの孫 (Episode 2)
As far as I know, this only happens with kimono, no anime character does this with a jacket, though I'm pretty sure I have done it with a jacket, personally, but I'm no anime character.
Traditional, kimono-wearing characters have a tendency to keep their hands close to their chests. I'm not sure where this custom comes from, if it's just a matter of etiquette, or there were practical reasons for this, e.g. it's simply cold, so everyone keeps their limbs close to conserve heat.
In any case, the reason why some modern, jacket-wearing characters with long sleeves weirdly keep their hands next to themselves is likely because a kimono-wearing character would have done it.
Bottom: Ryuuya 柳也
Anime: AIR (Episode 7)
Covering Mouth, Timid Characters
Sometimes, timid characters with long sleeves cover their mouths with sleeves. Traditional characters do this too, may use a "fan," sensu 扇子, instead, although in their case it's typically more about looking composed than being shy.
- sode de kuchi-moto wo kakusu
袖で口元を隠す
To hide [one's] mouth with [one's] sleeves.- kuchi
口
Mouth. Sometimes in the sense of entrance, opening, or hole. - kuchi-moto
口元
The mouth and surrounding area, i.e. not only the hole that is the mouth, but the part of the face where the mouth is..
- kuchi
Shirasaka Koume 白坂小梅
Fujiwara no Sai 藤原佐為
Kogami Akira 小神あきら
Uraha 裏葉
Ruki ルキ
Shuna シュナ
Anime: The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, アイドルマスター シンデレラガールズ (Episode 8)
Anime: Hikaru no Go ヒカルの碁 (Episode 1)
Anime: Lucky☆Star, らき☆すた (Episode 1)
Anime: AIR (Episode 8)
Anime: Sen'yuu. 戦勇。 (Episode 3)
Anime: Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken, 転生したらスライムだった件 (Episode 9)
- Left: modern.
- Right: traditional.
Ghosts, Creepy Characters
In anime, overly long sleeves are sometimes associated with ghosts, probably because characters that wear them tend to keep their hands close to their chests, like a ghost going "boo" around, or a zombie, or something like that.
- Koume, from Idolmaster, likes horror movies, and it's sometimes implied that she's a psychic that can see ghosts.
- Adenela アデネラ, from Shinchou Yuusha 慎重勇者, is simply creepy as hell.
- Tooru, from A-Channel, likes horror movies, and is quiet and eerie, specially when her irises become fully black (beta-me ベタ目).
Anime: Princess Connect! Re:Dive, プリンセスコネクト！Re:Dive (Episode 10, Cropped)
- Context: Miyako is a ghost that likes pudding.
Silly Characters
Sometimes, a character that wears overly long sleeves does so because they're a silly, free-spirited character, that doesn't care about rigid things like wearing clothes that are actually for your size.
Anime: Zombieland Saga: Revenge (Episode 6)
- Context: a random social media user comments on the legendary Yamada Tae, who is also known by the pseudonym "number 0," zero-gou ０号.
- zero-gou kami-kawa!!!!!!!
０号神かわ！！！！！！！
Number 0 is super cute!!!!!!!
Right: Matsuno Juushimatsu 松野十四松
Anime: Osomatsu-san おそ松さん (Episode 17)
- Context: Juushimatsu is always smiling. Always.
- taiiku-zuwari
体育座り
"Physical-education-sitting."
A term for sitting holding your knees.
Little Girls
Sometimes, small girls, loli characters wear adult-sized clothing instead of child-sized, ending up with overly long sleeves.
Although there are scenarios in which this would make some logical sense, most of the time it just happens because someone thought it was cute, and the character could totally have worn appropriately sized clothes if they wanted to, they just didn't.
- Tooru, from A-Channel, is much shorter than the other characters. Her sleeves being too long is part of a recurring joke on her height: in episode 4, she puts on a shirt over bloomers, and it looks like she's wearing a dress.
Anime: Maoujou de Oyasumi 魔王城でおやすみ (Episode 4)
- Context: Aurora used an item that turned her into a child, making her already loose sleeves become even larger, relatively speaking.
Anime: Akiba's Trip The Animation (Episode 4, Stitch)
- Context: Hakase wears a lab coat that's over-sized for her, despite being just normal-sized for her fellow researchers. Presumably, the high cost of university tuition left her unable to afford a tailor.
Anime: Lycoris Recoil (Episode 4)
- Context: a genius hacker wearing a virtual reality helmet.
Anime: Mikakunin de Shinkoukei 未確認で進行形 (Episode 2, Cropped)
- Context: Mashiro, 9 years old, is a high school student, wearing a high school uniform, for some reason.
Anime: Lucky☆Star, らき☆すた (Episode 1)
- Context: one of the most forced but convincing attempts at looking cute ever seen in the history of anime.
Further Reading
For reference, some other sites to see:
- anidb.net, "long sleeves" tag
A list of characters with long sleeves. - reddit.com/r/AnimeSleeves
A subreddit for these long sleeves.
References
- 萌え袖 - dic.nicovideo.jp, accessed 2021-06-09.
- 萌え袖 - dic.pixiv.net, accessed 2021-06-09.
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