Hentai
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).
The development of hentai has been influenced by Japanese cultural and historical attitudes toward
Terminology
In sexual contexts, hentai carries additional meanings of "
Hentai is defined differently in English. The
Development of the term "Hentai"[15] | |
---|---|
Meiji period (1868–1912) | Hysteria |
1917s | Abnormal sexual desire. |
1920s–1930s | Perverted sexuality. Topics related to homosexual relationships. |
1940s–1950s | Hentai seiyoku or "perverted desires". Homosexual relationships are still a major theme. |
1960s | The term becomes increasingly heterosexualised. The word "ecchi/etchi" appears for the first time. |
1970s and afterwards | Development into a loanword in English with its own meaning, referring to a specific pornographic genre. |
2000s | In Japan, refers to male heterosexual perversion rather than a wide range of sexual practices and identities. Also refers to the cartoon genre. |
Etymology
変態 (hentai; shinjitai; (ⓘ)) 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." 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 "strange."[18] 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 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.
Following
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
Origin of erotic manga
Depictions of sex and abnormal sex can be traced back through the ages, predating the term "hentai". , 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
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
The publication of erotic materials in the United States can be traced back to at least 1990, when
Origin of erotic anime
Because there are fewer animation productions, most erotic works are retroactively tagged as hentai since the coining of the term in English.[
The earliest pornographic anime was Suzumi-bune , created in 1932 by Hakusan Kimura . 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
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
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
Origin of erotic games
The term
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
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 "
Censorship
Japanese laws have impacted depictions of works since the
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
Alterations of material or censorship and banning of works are common. The US release of
Demographics
According to data from Pornhub in 2017, the most prolific consumers of hentai are men.[59] However, Patrick W. Galbraith and Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto note that hentai manga attracts "a diverse readership, which of course includes women."[60] Kathryn Hemmann also writes that "self-identified female otaku [...] readily admit to enjoying [hentai] dōjinshi catering to a male erotic gaze".[61] 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.[62] 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.[63] Anime depicting normal sexual situations enjoy less market success than those that break social norms, such as sex at schools or bondage.[63]
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."[64] 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."[64]
Classification
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
Hentai is perceived as "dwelling" on sexual fetishes.[68] 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
Genres
Common English terms | Common Japanese terms | Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Yaoi / shōnen-ai / Boys' Love | やおい / ボーイズ ラブ / ビーエル | Gender | Male homosexuality |
Yuri / shōjo-ai / Girls' Love | 百合 | Gender | Female homosexuality |
Lolicon | ロリコン | Gender and age | Centered on prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent underage girls, whether homosexual or heterosexual |
Shotacon | ショタコン | Gender and age | Centered on prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent underage boys, whether homosexual or heterosexual |
Bakunyū | 爆乳 | A genre of pornographic media focusing on the depiction of women with large | |
Catgirl / nekomimi | 猫耳 | Human females with cat characteristics, such as cat ears, cat tails and whiskers | |
Futanari | ふたなり | Depictions of women that have both phallic genitalia (penis either with or without scrotum) and a vulva | |
Incest | 近親相姦 | Sexual activity with family members | |
Netorare / Netorase / Netori | 寝取られ / ネトラセーゼ / 寝取り | Related to 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 does so voluntarily or not, lit. "being snatched away".[74] In netorare, the protagonist's adulterous partner want's to deceive and/or break up with the protagonist to be with the cheater. In netarase, the protagonist enjoys, actively encourages or even causes partner 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.
| |
Omorashi | おもらし / お漏らし | A form of urolagnia | |
Tentacle erotica | 触手責め | Depictions of tentacled creatures and sometimes monsters (fictional or otherwise) engaging in sex or rape with girls and, less often, men | |
Josō-seme / cross-dressing attack | 女装攻め | Depictions of a seme") or exhibiting dominance over a sexual partner
|
See also
- 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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In sexual situations, the "shemale" can appear male, female and something distinctly other as "shemale." Roles as attacker or "top" (seme) and receiver or "bottom" (uke) can shift throughout the work. The same "shemale" character can be in the role of a sadistic female top in one scene, and in another play a masochistic male bottom who enjoys being disgraced by women. Top and bottom roles are not necessarily based on appearance. It is not rare to depict a "shemale" character who is actually the dominant one, but shivers in ecstasy while being whipped by a brawny man and brutally raped. Furthermore, each character has their own "gender identity" (sei jinin), which can impact reader identification and self-projection.
- ^ Moore, Lucy (29 August 2008). "Internet of hentai". Student Life. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- ^ "Word Display". WWWJDIC. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
- ^ Sean Gaffney (26 September 2016). "Bookshelf Briefs 9/26/16". Manga Bookshelf. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
Further reading
- Aquila, Meredith (2007). "Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction Writers: New Narrative Themes or the Same Old Story?". ISBN 978-0-8166-5266-2.
- 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: ISBN 0-8166-1932-8.
- McCarthy, Helen, and ISBN 1-85286-946-1.
- 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. S2CID 143692243.
External links
- Media related to Hentai at Wikimedia Commons