Ask John: Why Does So Much Hentai Concentrate on Sadism?

Question:
Why is it that the majority of hentai seems to have large sections of sadistic and masochistic scenes, some bordering on such extremes that they become hard to watch? Themes of humiliation and punishment seem too common to simply be considered anything other than the driving factor of the anime. What makes these topics so prevalent in hentai when they are not as touched upon in “common” pornography?

Answer:
The pornographic anime genre traverses a wide range of themes and concepts, but any diligent observer must recognize that a large percentage of contemporary adult anime concentrates on depicting sexual violence, rape or coerced sexuality, and deviant fetishism. I think that there are a number of explanations for the prevalence of this variety of erotic anime. The most superficial and simplistic answer is that violent and misogynistic erotic anime exists because it’s popular. Naturally, when a certain type of anime sells well, producers and sponsors commission the production of additional similar anime in order to court sales from an obviously fertile consumer market. While this simple supply and demand analysis may be valid, it doesn’t explain the reason behind the consumer demand.

To some extent erotic anime depicts what cannot be filmed with real actors. Erotic anime may often rely upon depicting unusual situations and themes because live-action pornography is adequate and effective at fulfilling a demand for video of conventional sexuality. However, this explanation isn’t entirely unassailable either. Average Americans may be unaware that Japan’s live action adult video industry is quite diverse. Themes and situations including simulated rape, bestiality, slave training and domination, and scatology occur in mainstream Japanese pornography much more often than in mainstream American pornography because there seem to be fewer legal prohibitions against such material in Japan than in the US. So, to some extent, misogynistic themes appear in anime because these stories and situations are easier and safer to depict in animation than with living actors. Yet this explanation also falls short of revealing why viewers are interested in watching violent, misogynistic sexuality.

Ultimately, depictions of humiliation, punishment, sadism, and masochism in a sexual context are depictions of sexual empowerment and fulfillment. Particularly the Japanese otaku that make up the largest audience for this material may feel sexually frustrated or inadequate. Particularly male otaku, who are already considered a fringe social element, may feel inordinate anxiety about approaching women, dating, and sexuality. In order to satisfy their sexual urges in a way that avoids embarrassment and shame while nurturing a sense of self-satisfaction and empowerment, otaku may turn to anime that satisfies their desires. Erotic anime that depict men dominating, controlling, and over-powering women, and forcibly satisfying their own sexual desires allows a viewer to vicariously feel sexually fulfilled, forceful, dominant, assertive. At the same time, depictions of female humiliation and victimization allow viewers to exert an emotional punishment and revenge against women in a cathartic way that doesn’t harm any real people. Men that feel inadequate or frightened of rejection may naturally develop an irrational feeling of resentment and blame toward the perceived cause of these feelings – women. But, I think, most Japanese anime consumers are rational enough to recognize their own emotional and psychological weaknesses. The dominant influence of Japanese social convention also restrains average Japanese men from physically taking out their frustration on real women. So Japanese men, and many men worldwide that are attracted to misogynistic erotic anime, use this anime as a cathartic outlet for feelings of sexual frustration and tension. The sex often depicted in adult anime is mean, angry, aggressive, and violent in order to allow viewers to expel their own feelings of sexual stress in a safe, private, non-harmful way.

There are erotic anime designed for pleasurable viewing. There are comedy and romantic hentai intended to entertain and arouse viewers like Missus Junky (“Consenting Adultery”); Kininaru Room Mate (“The Roommate”); Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro; Oshiete Re: Maid; Shimai Tsuma, Aneki ~My Sweet Elder Sister~; Iyashite Agerun Saiyuki; Kateikyoushi no Oneesan; Hatsu Inu; and Renketsu Houshiki, just to name a few. But there are also a large number of adult anime that seem to exist for the purpose of relieving sexual tension rather than providing lighthearted erotic entertainment. The duality of hentai anime has existed as long as hentai anime itself has existed, but I suspect that particularly vicious erotic anime wasn’t especially common during the 1980s and early 1990s because the entire adult anime genre was in its relative youth. However, in the late 1990s and 2000s, as adult anime matured as a genre and the entire anime industry turned toward diligently appealing to overt otaku demand, the adult anime industry may likewise have become more conscious of developing animation that fulfills the darkest and most personal interests of male erotic anime viewers.