Ask John: Is All Hentai Erotica?

Question:
If there was an anime with full nudity or graphic sex, but everything was used to further the plot and for characterization, would it still be considered hentai?

Answer:
I can immediately think of two hentai anime OAVs that include nudity, sex and violence, but are still not what most viewers would call erotic or sensual: Ichi the Killer and A Kite. I’ll discuss the Koroshiya Ichi Episode Zero OAV (Ichi the Killer: The Animation Episode Zero) first. This graphic and gruesome OAV includes graphic nudity and extreme violence, sex, masturbation, and builds upon a foundation that connects sex with violence. This brutal, gruesome and offensive OAV is undeniably hentai, however it is not erotic in the least, nor is in intended to create any sense of sexual arousal. The entire OAV is a psycho-analysis of repressed sexuality and latent violence. As such, its sexual and violent content is absolutely necessary to the story. The Koroshiya Ichi anime is far too extreme in content to be thought of as anything less than a hentai title for resolute adult viewers, but I can’t imagine anyone of stable mind drawing any comparisons between Koroshiya Ichi and a hentai title like La Blue Girl, which is intended to create entertaining sexual gratification.

Although it has even more violence, nudity and sex than the Koroshiya Ichi anime, the uncut version of Kite has almost no unnecessary, gratuitous sex. Yet Kite is also still considered a hentai. The only sex scene in Kite that’s absolutely inconsequential is the 2 second long sequence glimpsed when Sawa is falling out of the building during the climax of the bathroom shoot-out. (This brief sequence was edited out of the Anime Works version of Kite.) All of the other scenes of nudity and sex in Kite establish character history or personality by revealing sexual abuse and examples of abusive personalities. Even though virtually all of the nudity and sex in Kite is included for the purpose of establishing and developing setting and character analysis, Kite is still undeniably a hentai title.

The word “hentai” itself means “abnormal” or “perverted,” but when it’s applied to anime and manga, it usually just refers to anything grossly sexual. When used in association with anime, the word “hentai” refers to adult content or subject matter, but it doesn’t immediately qualify something called “hentai” as erotica. There’s no reason why hentai cannot be serious, dramatic and artistic. The term “hentai,” used in reference to anime and manga, serves only as notice of adult content. It’s not a defamatory classification and shouldn’t automatically be assumed to have negative connotations. In simple terms, when the word “hentai” is used in reference to anime and manga, it’s just a genre classification no different from other identifying names like “sci-fi,” “action,” “sports,” “shoujo” and “mahou shoujo.” When it’s used in association with anime, “hentai” is not a bad word. It’s just another style of anime- a type of anime intended only for adult viewers.