Ask John: What Was the First H-Game to Mainstream Anime Conversion?

Question:
I’ve been watching a lot of new series this season and I’ve noticed a number of them have been hentai games. Like Popotan, Da Capo, and Kimi no Nozomu Eien. Anyway, the question I have is what H-game started it all? Which H-game was turned into a non-hentai anime series first? I’ve attempted to look back, but all I’ve got is To Heart, Comic Party, and Pia Carrot 2 DX as being the oldest.

Answer:
Since adult PC games themselves aren’t relatively that old, the first anime adaptation of an adult PC game can’t possibly be that terribly old. Based on a bit of research and a bit of memory, I’m guessing that the very first anime adaptation of an adult PC game was the 1991 Dragon Knight OAV based on the game from 1989. But the Dragon Knight anime, although tame, was still an adult anime OAV. And since that 1991 release opened the floodgates, there have been literally hundreds of adult anime OAV series based on hentai PC games.

If I’m not mistaken, the first adult PC game to be adapted into a mainstream anime was Variable Geo. The original 1993 hentai game for the PC-9800 was adapted into a 3 episode OAV series in 1996. The anime still included the concept of losers in a waitress martial arts competition being stripped naked, but the anime was significantly toned down from the original adults-only PC game in which losing fighters were not only stripped naked, but also raped. Following the V.G. anime, Leaf’s blockbuster 1997 adult PC game To Heart was adapted into a sweet and non-offending 13 episode long TV series. As you’ve mentioned, To Heart was followed by adult PC games turned mainstream anime series Pia Carrot e Youkoso! 2 DX (game – 1997, anime – 1999) and Comic Party (game – 1999, TV anime 2001).