Ask John: How Are Anime Classified as Hentai and Not Hentai?

Question:
Is there, and if so, what is the official definition for determining whether an anime qualifies as hentai? Are there any anime that are technically hentai but that you believe are not meant for titillation or at least that have solid merit for their other aspects aside from that?

Answer:
I’ll guess that the motivation behind this question is anime titles like Bible Black, La Blue Girl, and Urotsukidoji that consist equally of complex, literary narrative and hardcore sex. Anime series like these may be pornographic, but labeling them as strictly pornography seems unjust because the classification inherently disregards their integrity as legitimate film. The solution to this dilemma doesn’t lie in the characteristics of particular adult oriented anime, or even in the process of classification. The solution to the dilemma lies in understanding the meaning of the word “hentai.”

In Japanese language, the word “hentai” means “strange” or “perverted.” While the term may be applied towards sexuality, its meaning isn’t exclusively tied to sex. For example, in Japanese, the work of “guro” manga artists like Shintaro Kago and Junji Ito may be called “hentai” because they’re twisted and bizarre, but not necessarily pornographic. In fact, Japan’s anime community typically doesn’t use the word “hentai” to refer to pornography. In Japanese conversation, sexually explicit manga and anime are usually called “H” (“ecchi”) or “ero,” not “hentai.” In the same way that the English speaking fan community has adopted its own, unique definition of the Japanese word “otaku,” the English speaking fan community has revised the meaning of the word “hentai” for use in English language. In English, the word “hentai” exclusively refers to pornographic heterosexual or lesbian content. (Homosexuality in manga and anime, in English, is typically categorized as “yaoi” rather than “hentai.”)

So in Japan, the word “hentai” probably wouldn’t be used to describe Bible Black or any other pornographic anime. The American fan community has not yet developed specific and exclusive terms to identify sexually explicit anime with a sole purpose of providing sexual stimulation and sexually explicit anime that revolves around sex or uses sex to enhance or illustrate an adult oriented story. From a Japanese perspective, both examples are hentai because adult-oriented anime and outright pornography are both “perverted,” but at the same time neither example is “hentai” because terms like “ero-anime” would typically be used in place of the word “hentai.” From an American perspective, both examples are hentai because both anime are egregiously sexually explicit. One would simply add an additional clarification to explain that Bible Black is anime pornography with respectable artistic and cinematic qualities while a title like “Boobalicious” (“Milk Junkies”) is straightforward pornography. I think that it’s legitimate to debate whether or not titles like Ninja Scroll, Shadow, and Mezzo Forte, which include graphic sex in small ratio to their story, should be classified as “hentai” under the American sense of the word, I don’t believe that there’s any reason not to classify both Bible Black, Angel Blade, and Urotsukidoji as “hentai” along with countless other abject pornographic anime titles. In its American use, the word “hentai” refers to “sexually explicit,” but shouldn’t imply any degree of artistic quality. The artistic respectability of titles like Urotsukidoji, La Blue Girl, and Bible Black should adequately prove that the fact that something being “hentai” doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad, unintelligent, or lacking in artistic and creative quality. At the present time, English language doesn’t have a singular term for erotic anime with respectable artistic and literary integrity, and I’m not convinced that English language needs a separate term for this particular variety of erotic anime.