From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Hentai (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Hentaigana.

A wide variety of hentai merchandise is commonly sold in specialized

stores in Japan.
Hentai (Japanese: ヘンタイ) is a style of Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime
and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games (commonly
known as eroge).

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The development of hentai has been influenced by Japanese cultural and historical attitudes
toward sexuality. Hentai works, which are often self-published, form a significant portion of the market
for doujin works, including doujinshi. Numerous subgenres exist depicting a variety of sexual acts and
relationships, as well as novel fetishes.

Terminology
In sexual contexts, hentai carries additional meanings of "perversion" or "abnormality", especially
when used as an adjective;[1]: 99 in these uses, it is the shortened form of the phrase hentai seiyoku (変態
性欲) which means "sexual perversion".[2] The character hen is a catch-all for queerness as a peculiarity
—it does not carry an explicit sexual reference.[1]: 99 While the term has expanded in use to cover a
range of publications including homosexual publications,[1]: 107 it remains primarily a heterosexual term,
as terms indicating homosexuality entered Japan as foreign words.[1]: 100 [2] Japanese pornographic
works are often simply tagged as 18-kin (18 禁, '18-prohibited'), meaning "prohibited to those not yet
18 years old", and seijin manga (成人漫画, "adult manga").[2] Less official terms also in use
include ero anime (エロアニメ), ero manga (エロ漫画), and the English initialism AV (for "adult video").
Usage of the term hentai does not define a genre in Japan.

The word hentai written in kanji

Hentai is defined differently in English. The Oxford Dictionary Online defines it as "a subgenre of the
Japanese genres of manga and anime, characterized by overtly sexualized characters and sexually
explicit images and plots."[3] The origin of the word in English is unknown, but AnimeNation's John
Oppliger points to the early 1990s, when a Dirty Pair erotic doujinshi (self-published work) titled H-
Bomb was released, and when many websites sold access to images culled from Japanese
erotic visual novels and games.[4] The earliest English use of the term traces back to the
rec.arts.anime boards; with a 1990 post concerning Happosai of Ranma ½ and the first discussion of
the meaning in 1991.[5][6] A 1995 glossary on the rec.arts.anime boards contained reference to the
Japanese usage and the evolving definition of hentai as "pervert" or "perverted sex". [7] The Anime
Movie Guide, published in 1997, defines "ecchi" (エッチ, etchi) as the initial sound of hentai (i.e., the
name of the letter H, as pronounced in Japanese); it included that ecchi was "milder than hentai".[8] A
year later it was defined as a genre in Good Vibrations Guide to Sex.[9] At the beginning of 2000,
"hentai" was listed as the 41st most-popular search term of the internet, while "anime" ranked 99th.
[10]
The attribution has been applied retroactively to works such as Urotsukidōji, La Blue Girl, and Cool
Devices. Urotsukidōji had previously been described with terms such as "Japornimation",[11] and
"erotic grotesque",[12] prior to being identified as hentai.[13][14]

Development of the term "Hentai"[15]

Meiji period (1868–

Hysteria
1912)
1917s Abnormal sexual desire.

1920s–1930s Perverted sexuality. Topics related to homosexual relationships.

Hentai seiyoku or "perverted desires". Homosexual relationships are still a major

1940s–1950s
theme.

The term becomes increasingly heterosexualised. The word "ecchi/etchi" appears for
1960s
the first time.

1970s and Development into a loanword in English with its own meaning, referring to a specific
afterwards pornographic genre.

In Japan, refers to male heterosexual perversion rather than a wide range of sexual
2000s
practices and identities. Also refers to the cartoon genre.

Etymology

A depiction of a male homosexual couple from the January 1928 edition of

Hentai shiryō
変態 (hentai; shinjitai; (listen )) derives from 變態 (classical Chinese, also kyūjitai), which is attested
ⓘ

in classical Chinese texts.[16] It functioned as a verbal phrase, from its two component morphemes,
變 meaning "to change" and 態 meaning "state" or "condition," hence "to change from a state to
another." Literal one-to-one English translations for this would be transform and metamorph,
wherein trans- and meta- correspond to 變, while form and morph to 態.This meaning is attested
in early Middle Japanese and later texts.[17]
In Chinese, 變 is primarily a verb meaning to "change," and secondarily a noun meaning "troublesome
event,"[16] but in Japanese, it was extended to an adjectival noun meaning "different," "unusual" or
"strange"[18] (compare other compounds such as hentai (變體, lit. 'unusual form') as in hentaigana (變體假
名), and henkaku (變格, lit. 'unusual style') as in henkaku katsuyō (變格活用)). This led 變態 to become a noun
phrase meaning "strange state," thus "abnormality,"[17][19] instead of the original "to change to another
state," in modern Japanese[17] and Chinese[16] publications, particularly in psychology and physiology.
A psychological application of this meaning is found in the phrase 変態性欲 (hentai seiyoku lit. 'abnormal
sexual desire'[19]), which has been cited as being shortened back to just 変態.[17]

Yet another meaning, "metamorphosis," which resemebles the original one, was first adopted by
the Entomological Society of Japan[17] and reintroduced into Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. This
meaning is used in the English translation of the light novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis,
although it is not directly entomological, and it may also reference the semi-sexual portions of the
work.

It is worth noting that 変態 is further shortened to H (etchi), the first letter of its romanization.
Both hentai and etchi (or ecchi in English parlance) are used to refer to sexual perversion/deviance,
or people therewith, as well as smut. A person accused of sexual perversion may be derogatorily
called hentai, while a sex scene in a film, TV show or erotic game is called H シーン (etchi shīn lit. 'H-
scene').[20] The distinction outside of Japanese contexts between "hardcore" hentai and
"softcore" etchi is entirely artificial.
The history of the word hentai has its origins in science and psychology.[2] By the middle of the Meiji
era, the term appeared in publications to describe unusual or abnormal traits, including paranormal
abilities and psychological disorders.[2] A translation of German sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's
text Psychopathia Sexualis originated the concept of hentai seiyoku, as a "perverse or abnormal
sexual desire",[2] though it was popularized outside psychology, as in the case of Mori Ōgai's 1909
novel Vita Sexualis.[2] Continued interest in hentai seiyoku resulted in numerous journals and
publications on sexual advice which circulated in the public, served to establish the sexual
connotation of hentai as perverse.[2] Any perverse or abnormal act could be hentai, such as
committing shinjū (love suicide).[2] It was Nakamura Kokyo's journal Abnormal Psychology which
started the popular sexology boom in Japan which would see the rise of other popular journals
like Sexuality and Human Nature, Sex Research and Sex.[21] Originally, Tanaka Kogai wrote articles
for Abnormal Psychology, but it would be Tanaka's own journal Modern Sexuality which would
become one of the most popular sources of information about erotic and neurotic expression.
[21]
Modern Sexuality was created to promote fetishism, S&M, and necrophilia as a facet of modern
life.[21] The ero guro movement and depiction of perverse, abnormal and often erotic undertones were
a response to interest in hentai seiyoku.[2]

Following World War II, Japan took a new interest in sexualization and public sexuality.[2] Mark
McLelland puts forth the observation that the term hentai found itself shortened to "H" and that the
English pronunciation was "etchi", referring to lewdness and which did not carry the stronger
connotation of abnormality or perversion.[2] By the 1950s, the "hentai seiyoku" publications became
their own genre and included fetish and homosexual topics.[2] By the 1960s, the homosexual content
was dropped in favor of subjects like sadomasochism and stories of lesbianism targeted to male
readers.[2] The late 1960s brought a sexual revolution which expanded and solidified the normalizing
of the term's identity in Japan that continues to exist today through publications such as Bessatsu
Takarajima's Hentai-san ga iku series.[2]

History
With the usage of hentai as any erotic depiction, the history of these depictions is split into their
media. Japanese artwork and comics serve as the first example of hentai material, coming to
represent the iconic style after the publication of Azuma Hideo's Cybele [ja] in 1979.[22] Hentai first
appeared in animation in the 1932 film Suzumi-bune [ja] by Hakusan Kimura [ja], which was seized by
police when it was half complete. The remnants of the film were donated to the National Film
Center in the early 21st century.[23] The film has never been viewed by the public.[24] However, the 1984
release of Wonderkid's Lolita Anime was the first hentai to get a general release,[25] overlooking the
erotic and sexual depictions in 1969's One Thousand and One Arabian Nights and the bare-breasted
Cleopatra in 1970's Cleopatra film. Erotic games, another area of contention, has its first case of the
art style depicting sexual acts in 1985's Tenshitachi no Gogo. In each of these mediums, the broad
definition and usage of the term complicates its historic examination.[22]

Origin of erotic manga

The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (1814), a well-known example of

Japanese erotic art (shunga)
Depictions of sex and abnormal sex can be traced back through the ages, predating the term
"hentai". Shunga, a Japanese term for erotic art, is thought to have existed in some form since
the Heian period. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, shunga works were suppressed by
the shogunate.[26] A well-known example is The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai, which
depicts a woman being stimulated by two octopuses. Shunga production fell with the introduction of
pornographic photographs in the late 19th century.

To define erotic manga, a definition for manga is needed. While the Hokusai Manga uses the term
"manga" in its title, it does not depict the story-telling aspect common to modern manga, as the
images are unrelated. Due to the influence of pornographic photographs in the 19th and 20th
centuries, the manga artwork was depicted by realistic characters. Osamu Tezuka helped define the
modern look and form of manga, and was later proclaimed as the "God of Manga". [27][28] His debut
work New Treasure Island was released in 1947 as a comic book through Ikuei Publishing and sold
over 400,000 copies,[27] though it was the popularity of Tezuka's Astro Boy, Metropolis, and Jungle
Emperor manga that would come to define the media. This story-driven manga style is distinctly
unique from comic strips like Sazae-san, and story-driven works came to
dominate shōjo and shōnen magazines.[27]

Adult themes in manga have existed since the 1940s, but some of these depictions were more
realistic than the cartoon-cute characters popularized by Tezuka.[29] In 1973, Manga Bestseller (later
known as Manga Erotopia), which is considered to be the first hentai manga magazine published in
Japan, would be responsible for creating a new genre known as ero-gekiga, where gekiga was taken,
and the sexual and violent content was intensified.[30] Other well-known "ero-gekiga" magazines
were Erogenica (1975), and Alice (1977).[31] The circulation of ero-gekiga magazines would peak in
1978, and it is believed that somewhere between eighty and one hundred different ero-
gekiga magazines were being published annually.

The 1980s would see the decline of ero-gekiga in favor of the rising popularity
of lolicon and bishōjo magazines, which grew from otaku fan culture. It has been theorized that the
decline of ero-gekiga was due to the baby boomer readership beginning to start their own families, as
well as migrating to seinen magazines such as Weekly Young Magazine, and when it came to sexual
material, the readership was stolen by gravure and pornographic magazines.[30] The distinct shift in the
style of Japanese pornographic comics from realistic to cartoon-cute characters is accredited
to Hideo Azuma, "The Father of Lolicon".[29] In 1979, he penned Cybele [ja], which offered the first
depictions of sexual acts between cute, unrealistic Tezuka-style characters. This would start a
pornographic manga movement.[29] The lolicon boom of the 1980s saw the rise of magazines such as
the anthologies Lemon People and Petit Apple Pie. As the lolicon boom waned in the mid-1980s, the
dominant form of representation for female characters became "baby faced and big chested" women.
[32]
The shift in popularity from lolicon to bishōjo has been credited to Naoki Yamamoto (who wrote
under the pen name of Tō Moriyama). Moriyama's manga had a style that had not been seen before
at the time, and was different from the ero-gekiga and lolicon styles, and used bishōjo designs as a
base to build upon. Moriyama's books sold well upon publication, creating even more fans for the
genre. These new artists would then write for magazines such as Monthly Penguin Club
Magazine (1986) and Manga Hot Milk (1986) which would become popular with their readership,
drawing in new fans.[33]

The publication of erotic materials in the United States can be traced back to at least 1990,
when IANVS Publications printed its first Anime Shower Special.[34] In March 1994, Antarctic
Press released Bondage Fairies, an English translation of Insect Hunter, an "insect rape" manga
which became popular in the American market, while it apparently had a poor showing in Japan. [34]
[35]
During this time, the one American publisher translating and publishing hentai was Fantagraphics
on their adult comic imprint, Eros Comix, which was established around 1990.[36]

Origin of erotic anime

A girl drawn in erotic anime style at the beach.

Because there are fewer animation productions, most erotic works are retroactively tagged
as hentai since the coining of the term in English.[clarification needed][citation needed] Hentai is typically defined as
consisting of excessive nudity, and graphic sexual intercourse whether or not it is perverse. The term
"ecchi" is typically related to fanservice, with no sexual intercourse being depicted.

The earliest pornographic anime was Suzumi-bune [ja], created in 1932 by Hakusan Kimura [ja]. It was
the first part of a two-reeler film, which was half complete before it was seized by the police. The
remnants of the film were donated to the National Film Center in the early 21st century by the Tokyo
police, who were removing all silver nitrate film in their possession, as it is extremely flammable.
[23]
The film has never been viewed by the public.[24]

Two early works escape being defined as hentai, but contain erotic themes. This is likely due to the
obscurity and unfamiliarity of the works, arriving in the United States and fading from public focus a
full 20 years before importation and surging interests coined the Americanized term hentai. The first is
the 1969 film One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, which faithfully includes erotic elements of the
original story.[37]: 27 In 1970, Cleopatra: Queen of Sex, was the first animated film to carry an X rating,
but it was mislabeled as erotica in the United States.[37]: 104

The Lolita Anime series is typically identified as the first erotic anime and original video
animation (OVA); it was released in 1984 by Wonder Kids. Containing six episodes, the series
focused on underage sex and rape, and included one episode containing BDSM bondage.[37]:
376
Several sub-series were released in response, including a second Lolita Anime series released
by Nikkatsu.[37]: 376 It has not been officially licensed or distributed outside of its original release.

The Cream Lemon franchise of works ran from 1984 to 2005, with a number of them entering the
American market in various forms.[38] The Brothers Grime series released by Excalibur Films
contained Cream Lemon works as early as 1986.[39] However, they were not billed as anime and were
introduced during the same time that the first underground distribution of erotic works began. [34]

The American release of licensed erotic anime was first attempted in 1991 by Central Park Media,
with I Give My All, but it never occurred.[34] In December 1992, Devil Hunter Yohko was the first risque
(ecchi) title that was released by A.D. Vision.[34] While it contains no sexual intercourse, it pushes the
limits of the ecchi category with sexual dialogue, nudity and one scene in which the heroine is about
to be raped.

It was Central Park Media's 1993 release of Urotsukidōji which brought the first hentai film to
American viewers.[34] Often cited for inventing the tentacle rape subgenre, it contains extreme
depictions of violence and monster sex.[40] As such, it is acknowledged for being the first to depict
tentacle sex on screen.[12] When the film premiered in the United States, it was described as being
"drenched in graphic scenes of perverse sex and ultra-violence".[41]

Following this release, a wealth of pornographic content began to arrive in the United States, with
companies such as A.D. Vision, Central Park Media and Media Blasters releasing licensed titles
under various labels.[39] A.D. Vision's label SoftCel Pictures released 19 titles in 1995 alone.[39] Another
label, Critical Mass, was created in 1996 to release an unedited edition of Violence Jack.[39] When
A.D. Vision's hentai label SoftCel Pictures shut down in 2005, most of its titles were acquired by
Critical Mass. Following the bankruptcy of Central Park Media in 2009, the licenses for all Anime 18-
related products and movies were transferred to Critical Mass.[42]

Origin of erotic games

Image of an eroge (Japanese-style adult video game)

The term eroge (erotic game) literally defines any erotic game, but has become synonymous with
video games depicting the artistic styles of anime and manga. The origins of eroge began in the early
1980s, while the computer industry in Japan was struggling to define a computer standard with
makers like NEC, Sharp, and Fujitsu competing against one another.[43] The PC98 series, despite
lacking in processing power, CD drives and limited graphics, came to dominate the market, with the
popularity of eroge games contributing to its success.[43][44]

Because of vague definitions of what constitutes an "erotic game", there are several possible
candidates for the first eroge. If the definition applies to adult themes, the first game was Softporn
Adventure. Released in America in 1981 for the Apple II, this was a text-based comedic game
from On-Line Systems. If eroge is defined as the first graphical depictions of Japanese adult themes,
it would be Koei's 1982 release of Night Life.[44][45] Sexual intercourse is depicted through simple
graphic outlines. Notably, Night Life was not intended to be erotic so much as an instructional guide
"to support married life". A series of "undressing" games appeared as early as 1983, such as "Strip
Mahjong". The first anime-styled erotic game was Tenshitachi no Gogo, released in 1985 by JAST. In
1988, ASCII released the first erotic role-playing game, Chaos Angel.[43] In 1989, AliceSoft released
the turn-based role-playing game Rance and ELF released Dragon Knight.[43]

In the late 1980s, eroge began to stagnate under high prices and the majority of games containing
uninteresting plots and mindless sex.[43] ELF's 1992 release of Dōkyūsei came as customer frustration
with eroge was mounting and spawned a new genre of games called dating sims.[43] Dōkyūsei was
unique because it had no defined plot and required the player to build a relationship with different girls
in order to advance the story.[43] Each girl had her own story, but the prospect of consummating a
relationship required the girl growing to love the player; there was no easy sex. [43]

The term "visual novel" is vague, with Japanese and English definitions classifying the genre as a
type of interactive fiction game driven by narration and limited player interaction. While the term is
often retroactively applied to many games, it was Leaf that coined the term with their "Leaf Visual
Novel Series" (LVNS) and the 1996 release of Shizuku and Kizuato.[43] The success of these two
dark eroge games would be followed by the third and final installment of the LVNS, the 1997
romantic eroge To Heart.[43] Eroge visual novels took a new emotional turn with Tactics' 1998
release One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e.[43] Key's 1999 release of Kanon proved to be a major success and
would go on to have numerous console ports, two manga series and two anime series.

Censorship
See also: Censorship in Japan and Pornography laws by region
Japanese laws have impacted depictions of works since the Meiji Restoration, but these predate the
common definition of hentai material. Since becoming law in 1907, Article 175 of the Criminal Code of
Japan forbids the publication of obscene materials. Specifically, depictions of male–female sexual
intercourse and pubic hair are considered obscene, but bare genitalia is not.[citation needed] As censorship is
required for published works, the most common representations are the blurring dots on pornographic
videos and "bars" or "lights" on still images. In 1986, Toshio Maeda sought to get past censorship on
depictions of sexual intercourse, by creating tentacle sex.[46] This led to the large number of works
containing sexual intercourse with monsters, demons, robots, and aliens, whose genitals look
different from men's. While Western views attribute hentai to any explicit work, it was the products of
this censorship which became not only the first titles legally imported to America and Europe, but the
first successful ones. While uncut for American release, the United Kingdom's release
of Urotsukidōji removed many scenes of the violence and tentacle rape scenes.[47] Another technique
used to evade regulation was the "sexual intercourse cross-section view", an imaginary view of
intercourse resembling an anatomic drawing or an MRI, which would eventually evolve as a prevalent
expression in hentai for its erotic appeal. This expression is known in the Western world as the "x-ray
view".[48]

It was also because of this law that the artists began to depict the characters with a minimum of
anatomical details and without pubic hair, by law, prior to 1991. Part of the ban was lifted
when Nagisa Oshima prevailed over the obscenity charges at his trial for his film In the Realm of the
Senses.[49] Though not enforced, the lifting of this ban did not apply to anime and manga as they were
not deemed artistic exceptions.[29]

Alterations of material or censorship and banning of works are common. The US release of La Blue
Girl altered the age of the heroine from 16 to 18, removed sex scenes with a dwarf ninja named Nin-
nin, and removed the Japanese blurring dots.[37] La Blue Girl was outright rejected by UK censors who
refused to classify it and prohibited its distribution.[37][50] In 2011, members of the Liberal Democratic
Party of Japan sought a ban on the subgenre lolicon but were unsuccessful.[51][52] The last law
proposed against it was introduced on May 27, 2013 by the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Komei
Party and the Japan Restoration Party that would have made possession of sexual images of
individuals under 18 illegal with a fine of 1 million yen (about US$10,437) and less than a year in jail.
[53]
The Japanese Democratic Party, along with several industry associations involved in anime and
manga protested against the bill saying "while they appreciate that the bill protects children, it will also
restrict freedom of expression".[54][55][56] The law was ultimately passed in June 2014 after the regulation
of lolicon anime and manga was removed from the bill. This new law went into full effect in 2015
banning real life child pornography.[57][58]

Societal effects of hentai

See also: Feminist views on pornography and Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States
There is existing research on the social implications of pornography, in general, as it pertains to the
sexualized and objectified image of women. In regards to how hentai particularly contributes to the
conversation of the image of women, recent research identifies evidence in which hentai promotes
rape myth acceptance, sexual violence, and racialization of women.

Rape myths
Recent studies have illustrated a correlation between the consumption of hentai and the promotion
of rape myths. In particular, studies have shown how viewing hentai can lead to an increase in
prejudiced and stereotypical perspectives on rape and sexual assault.[59] Increased consumption can
also lead to an increase in the normalization of sexual violence, rape, victim blaming, and further
stereotypes associated with sexual violence and sexually aggressive behaviors.[60] The origin and
culture of hentai as "abnormal" pornography, as highlighted through research studies, is also
described to perpetuate a desensitized view of sexual violence and rape play.[61] The distinction
between rape myth acceptance and sexually violent or aggressive behaviors has also been outlined
in various research studies.[62] The distinction between rape myth acceptance and sexually violent or
aggressive behaviors has also been outlined in various research studies.[62] Recent studies highlight
how a rise in the acceptance of rape myths is causally linked to rape proclivity and sexually violent
behaviors.[63]

Racial fetishization of Asian women in hentai

History
The racial fetishization of Asian women can be traced back to Western colonialism and imperialism
where Asian women were portrayed as "exotic" or submissive and such traits were in turn
romanticized.[64]

Classic media such as Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon also portray Asian women having intimate
relations with white men, ultimately to their demise. Critics say this perpetuates the notion that value
of Asian women is tied to their white lovers.[65]

A popular trope in hentai places the woman in a more submissive role, playing into the “lotus
blossom” stereotype where Asian women are thought to be more docile.[65] The increasing Western
audience of hentai exacerbates this portrayal of Asian women.

Portrayals of Japanese women

Since hentai is a broad genre of erotic media the portrayal of women varies greatly, however, almost
always is the girl slim and with large breasts. A paper by Hinako Ishikawa on the racialization of
Japanese women in hentai concluded that this portrayal directly plays into the sexual objectification
and stereotyping of Japanese women.[64]

Racial fetishization of Japanese women

Although the race of the female protagonists in hentai is not always clear, the film will often highlight
the character’s “Japanese-ness”.[66] This is done either through her clothes (wearing traditional dress
like kimonos), the setting of the film, or her mannerisms (eating with chopsticks) that imply the
character’s race.[66]

According to Ishikawa, this portrayal of Japanese women plays into the increasingly popularized
Asian fetish in the Western world, specifically citing 2022’s Pornhub statistics world wide trendy terms
put “hentai” and “Japanese” as top two most searched words.[64]
Demographics
According to data from Pornhub in 2017, the most prolific consumers of hentai are men.[67] However,
Patrick W. Galbraith and Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto note that hentai manga attracts "a diverse
readership, which of course includes women."[68] Kathryn Hemmann also writes that "self-identified
female otaku [...] readily admit to enjoying [hentai] dōjinshi catering to a male erotic gaze".[69] When it
comes to mediums of hentai, eroge games in particular combine three favored media—cartoons,
pornography and gaming—into an experience. The hentai genre engages a wide audience that
expands yearly, and desires better quality and storylines, or works which push the creative envelope.
[70]
Nobuhiro Komiya, a manga censor, states that the unusual and extreme depictions in hentai are
not about perversion so much as they are an example of the profit-oriented industry. [71] Anime
depicting normal sexual situations enjoy less market success than those that break social norms,
such as sex at schools or bondage.[71]

According to clinical psychologist Megha Hazuria Gorem, "Because toons are a kind of final fantasy,
you can make the person look the way you want him or her to look. Every fetish can be
fulfilled."[72] Sexologist Narayan Reddy noted of eroge, "Animators make new games because there is
a demand for them, and because they depict things that the gamers do not have the courage to do in
real life, or that might just be illegal, these games are an outlet for suppressed desire." [72]

Classification

An example of yaoi-inspired artwork

The hentai genre can be divided into numerous subgenres, the broadest of which encompasses
heterosexual and homosexual acts. Hentai that features mainly heterosexual interactions occur in
both male-targeted (ero or dansei-muke) and female-targeted ("ladies' comics") form. Those that
feature mainly homosexual interactions are known as yaoi or Boys' Love (male–male)
and yuri or Girls' Love (female–female). Both yaoi and, to a lesser extent, yuri, are generally aimed at
members of the opposite sex from the persons depicted. While yaoi and yuri are not always explicit,
their pornographic history and association remain.[73] Yaoi's pornographic usage has remained strong
in textual form through fanfiction.[74] The definition of yuri has begun to be replaced by the broader
definitions of "lesbian-themed animation or comics".[75]

Hentai is perceived as "dwelling" on sexual fetishes.[76] These include dozens

of fetish and paraphilia related subgenres, which can be further classified with additional terms, such
as heterosexual or homosexual types.

Many works are focused on depicting the mundane and the impossible across every conceivable act
and situation, no matter how fantastical. One subgenre of hentai is futanari (hermaphroditism), which
features a woman with a penis or penis-like appendage in addition to a vulva.[77] Futanari characters
are often depicted as having sex with other women,[77] but many other works feature sex with men or,
as in Anal Justice, with both genders.[32] Futanari can be dominant, submissive, or switch between the
two roles in a single work.[78]

Genres

Common English terms Common Type Description

Japanese
 terms

やおい / ボーイ
Yaoi / shōnen-ai / Boys'
ズ ラブ / ビー Gender Male homosexuality
Love
エル

Yuri / shōjo-ai / Girls' Love 百合 Gender Female homosexuality

Centered on prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent

Gender
Lolicon ロリコン underage girls, whether heterosexual (man-girl or boy-
and age
girl) or homosexual (woman-girl or two girls)

Centered on prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent

Gender
Shotacon ショタコン underage boys, whether heterosexual (woman-boy or
and age
girl-boy) or homosexual (man-boy or two boys)

A genre of pornographic media focusing on the

depiction of women with large breasts.[79] The word can
Bakunyū 爆乳 be literally translated to "exploding breasts".
[80]
Bakunyū is a subgenre within the genre of hentai
anime.[81]

Human females with cat characteristics, such as cat ears,

Catgirl / nekomimi 猫耳
cat tails and whiskers

Depictions of women that have both phallic genitalia

Futanari ふたなり
(penis either with or without scrotum) and a vulva

Incest 近親相姦 Sexual activity with family members

Related to swinging, infidelity and/or cuckolding,

abbreviated NTR; variations of being masochistically
aroused by seeing or knowing that one's spouse or lover
is having sexual intercourse with another person,
whether they do so voluntarily or not, lit. "being
snatched away".[82] In netorare, the
寝取られ / ネト
protagonist's adulterous partner wants to deceive and/or
Netorare / Netorase / Netori ラセーゼ / 寝取
break up with the protagonist to be with the cheater.
り
In netorase, the protagonist enjoys, actively encourages
or even causes the partner to have sex with others, often
with their informed knowledge and consent. In netori,
the protagonist finds a cheater in a marriage or
relationship and manipulates/blackmails them away
from their partner.

おもらし / お漏
Omorashi A form of urolagnia
らし
 Depictions of fetish revolves around a victim being
Ryona / Gyaku-ryona / Onn リョナ / 逆リョ
physically assaulted or psychologically abused by an
a Zako ナ / 女ザコ
offender;

Depictions of tentacled creatures and sometimes

Tentacle erotica 触手責め monsters (fictional or otherwise) engaging in sex or rape
with women and, less often, men

Depictions of a kathoey, male-

Josō-seme / cross-dressing
女装攻め crossdresser or tomgirl taking the lead (i.e. the "seme")
attack
or exhibiting dominance over a sexual partner

See also
 Erotica and pornography portal

 Cartoon pornography
 Dōjinshi
 E-Hentai
 List of hentai anime
 List of hentai authors (groups, studios, production companies, circles)
 List of hentai manga
 Nijikon
 Panchira
 Uniform fetishism
 アダルトアニメ ("Adult anime [animation]")
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Further reading
 Aquila, Meredith (2007). "Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction Writers: New Narrative Themes or the Same
Old Story?". Mechademia. 2. ISBN 978-0-8166-5266-2. Archived from the original on 15
December 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
 Buckley, Sandra (1991). "'Penguin in Bondage': A Graphic Tale of Japanese Comic Books",
pp. 163–196, In Technoculture. C. Penley and A. Ross, eds. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota. ISBN 0-8166-1932-8.
 McCarthy, Helen, and Jonathan Clements (1998). The Erotic Anime Movie Guide. London:
Titan. ISBN 1-85286-946-1.
 Napier, Susan J. (2000). Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York:
Palgrave. ISBN 0-312-23863-0.
 Perper, Timothy; Cornog, Martha (March 2002). "Eroticism for the masses: Japanese manga
comics and their assimilation into the U.S.". Sexuality & Culture. 6 (1): 3–
126. doi:10.1007/s12119-002-1000-4. S2CID 143692243.
External links