Ask John: Are Americans Using the Word Hentai Incorrectly?

Question:
What is the correct name for hentai? I have seen people get ticked off when they call pornographic anime hentai. Half the people I know call it H, Eros, Porno Anime, and the other half get mad and say it’s called hentai. What is it really?

Answer:
Recently it seems as though a segment of the English speaking fan community has become vocally perturbed over the perceived misappropriation of the Japanese word “hentai.” The word “hentai” is both a Japanese noun that identifies something perverted or strange or obscene, and an adjective describing something or someone perverted. As in, “You are a hentai,” or “That is hentai.” Hentai is a stronger version of the descriptive term “ecchi,” which refers to something mildly lewd or risque. In fact, the word “ecchi” or “H” is an abbreviation of the first letter of “hentai.”

In common Japanese use, “hentai” is most often used to refer to lecherous or strange people, not pornographic material. Contemporary Japanese society has a multitude of terms used to identify different types of pornographic material. Live action pornographic videos are commonly referred to as “AV” (adult video). Sexually explicit anime and manga are commonly referred to as “H anime” or “H manga” or “ero anime” (meaning “eros” or “erotic”).

However, I personally don’t believe that there’s any reason for native English speaking fans to not use the term “hentai” to refer to erotic manga and anime. The word may not commonly refer to erotic manga and anime in Japan, but English speaking anime fans are not in Japan and don’t speak Japanese. I believe that the word “hentai,” as it’s used by English speakers, is not the same word that’s used in Japan. The word has been adopted and appropriated by English speakers, and given a revised implied meaning. It’s not the first time that the English speaking anime fan community has imported a Japanese word for its own use. We’ve done it before with “anime” and “otaku,” and much of the Western publishing industry seems to be trying to impose a similar corruption on the Japanese word “manga.”

To typical native Japanese speakers, the word “anime” refers to 2D animation regardless of content, style or origin. To the average mainstream Japanese citizen, Dumbo and Tom & Jerry are as much anime as Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. To Japanese speakers, “otaku” is a thinly veiled insult that implies an irresponsible and unhealthy compulsion. To Japanese speakers, the word “manga” describes native Japanese comics. On the other hand, English speakers traditionally use the term “anime” to identify Japanese animation. We don’t normally consider both Mickey Mouse and Vash the Stampede “anime.” The English speaking fan community has adopted the title of “otaku” as a respected distinction of honor. And much to the seeming vexation of Japanese fans, the American and European publishing industry seems to be making a concerted effort to make the classification “manga” include American and Korean produced comics that look like Japanese comics.

So while the way English speaking anime fans use the word “hentai” may not adhere to its proper Japanese origin, I don’t think that the word “hentai” as it’s used in English conversation, is a genuine Japanese word any longer. It’s a word of Japanese origin that’s been adopted into English use with an original English definition that’s similar, but not exactly identical, to its original Japanese definition. In the same way that Japanese language has imported and slightly altered English words like “Pasocom” (personal computer) and “sekuhara” (sexual harassment), English language has imported and slightly altered Japanese words. There’s no reason to be offended or shocked by this evolution of language. Not only is it a natural characteristic of communication, I believe that the adoption of languages represents a commingling of culture and a small degree of recognition and respect for the ideas of a foreign culture, slightly altered to become useful to the respective cultures that do the adopting.