Ask John: Why Do Evil Characters in Hentai Always Win?

Question:
Why do evil characters in hentai always win? I don’t watch a lot of hentai, but when I do, it seems like there is always this very sinister evil character that does these crazy acts to women and most of the time gets away with it, Black Bible being one, along with some of the stories in Cool Devices. I’m sure there are a few where the good guys win, but it seems more like the bad guys win in hentai.

Answer:
In countless adult anime titles including Bible Black, Kisaku, most of the “Chikan” anime (including Itazura, Chikan Densha, Saishu Chikan Densha, etc.), Bondage Game, Shokuzai no Kyoshitsu, Shinjin Tour Conductor Rina, Kojin Taxi, and the “Onna Kyoushi” series, just to name a few, the primary theme is female subjugation by dominant, abusive men and sometimes other women. Moreover, in many examples within this subgenre, which also appears frequently in erotic manga, the vicious, aggressor “gets away” with his despicable actions and suffers no repercussions or punishment. Western viewers typically find these stories despicable because they promote a sexist objectification of women as tools for sexual gratification with fewer rights and less dignity than even domestic animals. It’s not my intention to defend such illustrations in anime and manga. I’ll only attempt to explain the reason for their existance.

Numerous fans theorize that the victorious evil figure in some erotic anime is representative of a heightened realism in which unrestrained desire is more powerful than social conditioning. The prevalence of the gratified sexual predator is also explained as a tangible representation of the dark, immoral tone of a lot of adult anime. While both theoretical explanations may have some validity, I think the most compelling explanation does not lie within the anime or manga itself. I think that this sort of content is present in some anime and manga, not as a means to convey another theme or idea, but as an ends in itself. The theme of a sexual molester being gratified is a satisfying and safe cathartic image for a certain sweep of viewers.

Japanese newswire reports from earlier this year state that as much as an estimated 10% of Japan’s male youths are “hikikomori,” people that have psychologically divorced themselves from society and social interaction. These young men literally live their lives in anime and video games, coming out of their bedrooms only occasionally for trips to the local convenience store for food. These young men, and other men who are intimidated by the opposite sex or feel betrayed or victimized by women, may secure a sense of fulfillment and validation by imaging themselves taking revenge on women. The overwhelming majority of these men are civil, law abiding citizens that would never intentionally harm another person. These men know that the fantasies they harbor are immoral and illegal. So watching a fantasy alter-ego exact punishment on women with impunity can be tremendously satisfying.

And it’s not just Japanese men that are to blame for perpetuating images of sexual violence. Japan’s live action pornography industry has a thriving following for rape fetish, bondage, and domination films that star female actresses that know full well the type of roles and stereotypes that they’re acting out. In fact, Japanese culture’s fascination with literal sexual bondage is such a part of Japanese tradition that it’s now considered an art form. Contemporary male and female bondage masters including Osada Eikichi, Randa Mai, and Sikou Sima have turned “Shibari,” Japanese rope bondage, into a form of erotic performance art acknowledged worldwide. So the foundation of acceptable sadomasochism has exited in Japan for hundreds of years. Fictional depictions of erotic domination and even abuse are tolerated, and even accepted in Japan because Japanese culture distinguishes a difference between fiction and reality. Even in reality, sexual submission in the form of live action rape fetish videos and Shibari performances, public and private, are produced, participated in, and appreciated by male and female Japanese. The illustration of a rapist or sexual abuser going unpunished in anime and manga can be gratifying to certain consumers because it relieves sexual and psychological frustration in a socially acceptable, non-violent way. American mainstream thought does not agree with this philosophy, believing that fictitious depictions of unsavory behavior condition people to accept such behavior and even encourage some to actually act out such behavior. But, obviously, Japanese culture does not have the same philosophical stance. I’m not going to try to argue the correctness of one cultural belief over the other. I’m merely presenting my theory.