Ask John: What Hentai Anime Are Overlooked Gems?

Question:
Which overlooked hentai anime does John want to be (re-)licensed?

Answer:
There are a number of ways I could approach this question. I could recite a list of the oldest and most obscure erotic anime titles I’ve watched, such as Matou Kitan Zankan, Eimi to Yobainaide, Call Me Tonight, and Rapeman the Animation. I could also list off old and obscure erotic anime series that I’m not very familiar with, like Mahou no Rouge Lip Stick, the Little Mermaid series, and the Fruits Version series. But I’d prefer to compose an honest answer rather than try to impress anyone with false knowledge. In order to provide an honest response, I’ll naturally have to limit myself to anime which I’ve actually watched. I’ll also unavoidably discuss anime that I’ve mentioned before in other public discourse. So I apologize in advance if my response doesn’t seem particularly new.

The Cream Lemon series is not the first adult anime, nor is it the very best. But partially for the sake of posterity I’d like to see most of it recieve a respectful and archival American release. The original 16 episode series has some weak episodes like the terrible Super Virgin and the nice looking but dull Mako-chan episodes, but the Ami series is a significant part of anime history; the Escalation series and Black Cat Manor still hold up very well today; and episodes like Pop Chaser, Nalice Scramble, and the classic Star Trap are just as funny now as they were in the early 1980s. The later Cream Lemon episodes have some outstanding episodes like White Shadow and Impression of Europe. The Shinseiki Cream Lemon: Escalation ~Die Liebe~ series is an excellent revival that brings interesting closure to the Escalation series by maturing the timid and victimized Rie into a dominant and independent young woman in command of her own sexuality. America could probably do without the disappointing Cream Lemon New Generation. I don’t think the vintage Cream Lemon anime would perform well in today’s American market, but considering that only random episodes of the Cream Lemon franchise have ever been released in America in versions of questionable authorization, I think this series is long overdue for a legitimate, archival American release targeted primarily at serious, adult, anime collectors.

I’m still bitterly disappointed that Studio A.P.P.P.’s outstanding 2004 OAV series Shadow remains virtually unknown and unavailable in America. Even though it was formally announced for American release by Super Techno Arts in early 2005, plans for that American release seem to have been canceled. Calling Shadow an erotic anime is actually a bit of a misnomer because the series is more accurately a ninja action series that happens to include a few graphic sex scenes. Shadow has far more in common with the fan favorite 1993 Jubei Ninpucho movie than it does with erotic kunoichi anime such as Kunoichi Bakumatsu Kitan and Kunoichi Gakuen Ninpocho. Shadow is simply one of the best looking, best animated, and most exciting ninja action anime ever made. Since AN Entertainment has previously brought A.P.P.P.’s Risky Safety to America, I’d love to also localize Shadow. But regardless of which distributor releases it, I think it’s a great loss to American fans that this series isn’t available in America.

Tsukino Jyogi’s Musou Diary and b37°c erotic manga are favorites among English speaking ero manga fans, so naturally the two episode Binetsuko 37°c OAV series would probably appeal to many American H fans. While this nice looking, playful and kinky series doesn’t quite live up to the erotic intensity of its source manga, at least it does capture the spirit of the original manga a bit better, I think, than other recent anime adaptations of popular H manga such as the recent Stringend OAV series which was nice looking, but not nearly as sexy and sensual as the original manga.

I can’t say that I’m actually a fan of the Aile Maniax and Bondage Game OAV series, but I think that the American anime scene feels incomplete without them. The three episode Aile Maniax series from 2001 combine sex with unsettling violence. The two episode Bondage Game OAV series from 2003 takes sexual humiliation and fetishization to extremes that most rational people can’t even imagine. Women in the Bondage Game anime become literal sex objects without status as human beings when they’re surgically altered and even have limbs amputated in order to make them more pleasing sex toys for their masters. It’s sickening and horrifying, and it’s fiction. I do think that American viewers with a stomach for it should have the opportunity available to experience exactly how extreme anime can be when it chooses to intentionally shock.

Finally, I hate to condone “double dipping,” re-releasing titles with minor additions or alterations obviously for commercial gain, but in a few cases of American adult anime releases, new editions may be warranted. For the sake of completion I’d like to see Inju Seisen Twin Angel and Inju Gakuen La Blue Girl re-released in America in fully uncut versions. The edits present in the American DVD release of La Blue Girl are minor ones that don’t affect the stories and don’t obscure any of the sex. Roughly 20 minutes of footage was removed from the American release of Twin Angels. In principle, I’d like to see these OAVs available in America fully intact.

Since its American debut, Bible Black has arguably become the most popular adult anime series in America. I’m sure that there are many American Bible Black fans who would be pleased to see an official American DVD release of the Japanese revised DVD version of the original series – particularly episode 3, which was extensively redrawn and re-animated to give characters more muscle tone, add more light effects and shadows, and provide more detail to facial expressions. American completists would also doubtlessly be interested in seeing the short “Bible Black Only Ban Imari Ryojoku Genba” special included in the Japanese Bible Black DVD boxed set.

Article revised November 16. Thanks to “Twinbee”