Hentai

File:Lolicon comicbooks sold in Japan 001.jpg

Hentai tankōbon on display in Japan

Hentai (変態 or へんたい) is a Japanese word that means "abnormality" or "metamorphosis". However, in slang situations it often means "perverted" and is subsequently used in many other countries to refer to anime, manga and computer games with explicit sexual or pornographic content (see Japanese pornography). The word is never used this way in Japanese; commonly used terms include "jū hachi kin" (18禁; prohibited for sale to persons under 18), "ecchi/H anime" (sexual/pornographic anime) "eroanime" (エロアニメ; derived from erotic anime), or "seinen" (成年; adult, not to be confused with 青年 young adult).

The term "hentai" is commonly used (outside of Japan) to refer to pornographic animation in general that is not necessarily anime or manga. This is most often the case if the said animation is an imitation of a pre-existing cartoon or character (e.g. Princess Jasmine hentai).

Background

The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, a 19th century shunga woodcut

H anime is an artistic expression of pornography in Japan. As opposed to photographic erotica, they allow full use of the imagination as well as scenes that run counter to accepted society and culture. Elements of sexual fantasy are represented in ways that would be impossible to film.

This is not without precedent in Japan. During the Edo Period, which was the heyday of ukiyo-e wood-block prints, ukiyo-e had a pornographic variant, called shunga, which also had scenes that were sometimes surreal.

Each culture will have a different understanding about the line between pornographic content and mainstream works. It is important to understand ways that the Japanese line might be different from that in other cultures. Children's anime can depict nude characters, for example in Sailor Moon it is implied that the girls are nude during their transformation, and in Digimon Frontier and Digimon Tamers, Zoe, Jenrya, Takato, and Ruki are nude during spirit evolution sequences and bio-mergance, respectively. Many artists add nudity as fanservice. On the other hand, H material tends to use explicit erotic content.

As a form of expressing sexual fantasy, depictions can include those which are unacceptable in society, or run counter to social norms. Such fantasies can be depicted in the extreme, often demonstrating subconscious desires or purely carnal motivations. This contrast between accepted—and in some cases legal—behavior and primal sexuality is a primary motivation for many works of pornography, and H art is no exception.

This form of Japanese culture acquired some popularity in the West, thanks, to a large extent, to the Internet. Although there have been many pornographic comic books and animations produced in the West, they never were as popular as H manga is today. Comic book artists who focus on provocative female figures often use their talent for mainstream comic companies rather than adult works, and may fear ridicule for working on niche adult titles that are not as widespread, compared to Japan where a large group of artistic talent draws pornography.

In comparison to other forms of pornography, H art often portrays women as regular people in society who end up in some kind of sexual encounter, and are often aroused by the encounter to the point of no return. Characters may be portrayed as shy or have no conscious thoughts about sex, until placed in a situation where they are stimulated and aroused. While there is a common theme of a male stranger convincing a woman to become aroused physically by her own body and whatever the male desires, there are also depictions of consensual sex between couples, as well as assertive women who initiate sex.

Often, H artists try to portray situations in the most extreme manner possible, in order to break the boundaries of the viewer's comfort zone. This results in artists competing to show successively more excessive situations over time. An example would include bukkake and group sex, which demonstrates extreme sex that isn't usually performed by the average person. Other forms of demonstrating extreme sexual activity include bondage, tentacles, or other fetishes. Some artists may prefer to do the opposite, and focus on lighter titillation and nudity, or on character relationships and story.

Meaning of the word

In Japanese, the word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 (hen meaning "change" or "strange") and 態 (tai meaning "attitude" or "appearance"), it can roughly refer to "pervert". It is never used to refer to pornographic material, only to a person. The terms 18-kin (18禁, literally "18-prohibited") meaning "prohibited to those not yet 18 years old", and seijin manga (成人漫画 "adult manga") are used when referring to pornography.

Compare otaku for another word altered somewhat in this transition. The English use is compared to the Japanese slang エッチ (H, etchi, often spelled ecchi), which refers to any sexually explicit content or behavior — or simply a lewd comment. Etchi is simply the spelling-out of the Japanese pronunciation of the letter H; and is believed to be a shortened form of hentai used as a polite codeword in the 1960s. (Note that even in Japan the origins of etchi are unclear — one playful suggestion is that an H is someone who always follows a G, or girl.) Another possibility is that etchi is not a pronunciation of anything; it simply means "dirty". On forums and chat rooms "ecchi" is used to refer to pictures that are softcore pornography, showing nothing more explicit than women's breasts.

Exactly how the term hentai came to refer to all sexually explicit content in American anime fandom is unknown. With the rise of the World Wide Web, however, the term was extensively promoted by pornographic sites selling access to (frequently bootlegged) erotic manga. Banner ads promoting these sites might, for instance advertise "live girls and hentai", with the latter meaning erotic manga as opposed to photographs. In addition, many people outside of anime and manga fandom had come to associate anime with a particular genre of extreme pornography (e.g., tentacle rape) which could easily be called hentai in Japanese as well.

"H" in Japan is now broadly used to refer to all sexual content or activity, so "H manga" are manga with sexual content—however, "H" and "hentai" are no longer interchangeable. Also, the term "ero" (エロ), short for "erotic" but closer in meaning to "porn", is now used more often instead of "H".

Hentai classification

There are two main categories of hentai: works that feature mainly heterosexual interactions (often abbreviated "het" by its readers), and those which feature mainly homosexual interactions. This second group can be further split into yaoi and yuri styles. Yaoi refers to homosexual male pairings, and yuri to lesbian pairings.

Yaoi commonly features males of ambiguous gender in both physical appearance and mannerisms. These males are called "bishōnen", which literally means "pretty boy". The traditional "bear" of gay porn in other countries is very rare in Japan. Yaoi also exists outside of the hentai genre, since it is an ambiguous term that is applied to any form of anime that includes male homosexuality. However, it is different from shōnen-ai (literally, "boy-love"), in which two males simply express romantic feelings for each other and never actually have sexual relations.

Yuri is very similar to yaoi, except that the focus is on homosexual female interactions, and the females in a typical yuri illustration or animation tend to be far less realistic than the males in yaoi. The females in yuri are known as "bishōjo," which, predictably, translates as "pretty girl". Shōjo-ai ("girl love") is the female equivalent of shōnen-ai.

The scope of hentai encompasses the entire range of sexual fetishes, including:

• Bakunyuu, the depiction of women with large breasts. Literally translated to "busty".
• BDSM, focusing on domination through use of ropes, tools, sex toys, and elaborate devices. Themes can include empowerment, restriction, and submitting to sexual urges.
• Bukkake, a common representation of a female having as many males as physically possible ejaculate on her. Often depicted in public or in areas with a large number of males present.
• Catgirls (also known as "nekos" - Japanese for "cat" - in online slang) and other anthropomorphic characters, who display animal attributes such as ears, claws, and a tail. Generally, skin is made completely visible and not covered entirely by fur, a distinction from furries.
• Coprophilial and urolagnial
• Deformity
• Ecchi, focusing on nudity, partial nudity, and provocative clothing rather than pure sex.
• Futanari, a depiction of females who have some form of male genitalia. Occasionally, the size of the penis and/or testicles is inflated to proportions that are physically impossible.
• Guro, focusing on imaginative gore and mutilation.
• Incest, sex with a close family member.
• Lolicon, depicts prepubescent or preadolescent girls.
• Maiesiophilia
• Erotic Lactation
• Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
• Shotacon, the depiction of young boys having intercourse with other boys, men or women.
• Tentacle sex, the depiction of tentacled creatures or monsters (imaginative or otherwise) engaging in sex or rape with girls and less often men.

Hentai media

• Adult anime, or H anime, is anime that relies primarily on sex.
• 3D rendered graphics, a more recent development that has evolved with graphics technology. Styles tend to emulate drawn art as well as video game art. Can be in image, game, or animation form.
• Adult manga, or H Manga, is manga designed for purely pornographic purposes. Plot is still used to develop character and setting, but the ultimate goal is to show scenes of sexuality. Adult manga is often sold in convenience stores, book stores, and magazine stores in Japan, and also other public places such as airports, and is far more prolific and accessible than the US adult comic book market. It is usually distributed in digest format, containing several stories by different artists.
• Adult CG artwork includes individual drawings by artists. Art can be available on websites, CD-ROMs, or in printed art books. CG artwork is used frequently in adult video games.
• Adult video games, or eroge, are games with a pornographic element. They can include bishoujo games that involve character driven plots, can exist as sex simulations.
• Adult Dōjinshi, or H dōjinshi, refers to a type of work that uses copyrighted characters presented in sexual situations. It usually refers to printed manga, but can also refer to any type of visual work depicting copyrighted characters, including video games, animation, and CG artwork. Familiarity with a particular character or setting can add a sense of relating to the character over a generic character used in mainstream hentai, making dōjinshi more appealing to fans of a particular work. Despite not representing characters and licensed properties as intended, companies often view these works as a free form of license recognition and advertising through dedicated fandom. Some mangakas create hentai dojinshi with characters from their own manga. Like Kazushi Hagiwara who himself created Bastard - Expansion, a pornographic dōjin with characters from Bastard!!.
• In Western fanfiction circles, hentai-based works are popularly referred to as "lemon," based on a more popular hentai title called Cream Lemon. Fictions referred to as "Lime" are ones in which the characters do everything short of having sexual intercourse with each other. In Japan, the works may be referred to as "lemon" or "pink" ("pink" having sexual connotations similar to the term "blue" in the west).
• Hobbyists often add an extreme adult element to sculptures, models, figures, dolls, mannequins, or outfits.

See also

• Anime
• Bishōjo game
• Bishōjo
• Bishōnen
• Cartoon pornography
• Eroge
• EroGuro
• H anime
• H manga (and list of same)
• List of H authors (groups, studios, production companies, circles)
• Lolicon
• Manga
• Panchira
• Shotacon
• Shunga
• Yaoi
• Yuri (animation)

External links and references

• Hentai: Past and Present
• Comparative English and Japanese uses of the word
• A short History of 'Hentai', by Mark McLelland