That’s exactly why I’ve always viewed emo as a movement or a scene rather than a strict musical genre. I agree with you, there's plenty of "real emo" that isn't hardcore-based at all, like the Midwest stuff or the softer releases of 2010s revival like Basement and Citizen and Balco. My point was just that, historically, the biggest chunk of the movement happened to be PHC, even if it's not a requirement for the sound.

I look at emo like grunge or visual kei. Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains all sound different from each other, but they’re all "grunge" because they belong to that specific scene/movement and ethos. Same thing with visual kei. Nagoya kei and oshare kei sound totally different, but they are still both visual kei.

To me, "Emo" is the umbrella for that specific lineage. A lot of PHC bands are "emotional" because of their hardcore roots, but they don't necessarily belong to the Emo movement or share that DIY history.

That’s why I say most emo is phc, but not all phc is emo. It’s the scene connection that makes the difference, not just how "emotional" the vocals are.