Ask John: Why is Nudity so Common in Anime?

Question:
What is it with Japan and nudity anyway? I mean I know they have hentai anime there but there is also some nudity in children’s anime too. Like in Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, the last episode, Sailor Moon was totally naked in most of the episode.

Answer:
There are two explanations for the frequency of nudity in anime. First let me begin with the cultural reasoning. The shame of nudity is based in Judeo-Christian morality stemming from the Old Testament of the Bible and original sin. When Adam and Eve gained knowledge, they became ashamed of their nudity. In the Asian countries, Christianity is a minority religion, and its influence is significantly less than it is in the West. Asian countries simply don’t consider nudity the obscene, shameful state that Westerners do. That’s not to say that Asian cultures don’t have any standards of convention, but nudity simply isn’t really a big deal in Japan the way it is in the US. Case in point, rural Japanese mixed bathing hot springs.

The commonality of nudity in anime isn’t limited to girls, either. While, as you’ve mentioned, there is nudity in Sailormoon, boys appear naked in children’s shows also. Shinnosuke of Crayon Shin-chan makes a point of exposing himself at every possible opportunity. In original Dragonball, the rustic Goku felt no hesitation to go skinny-dipping. In these cases, including Dragonball, Crayon Shin-chan, Rayearth, Sailormoon and Ranma, the nudity is presented as a matter-of-fact natural condition. There’s no titillation involved, nor is there any sense of pushing the envelope. The characters are naked simply because that’s most “realistic.” Furthermore, in shoujo series such as Sailormoon, Rayearth and Cutey Honey, nudity shows a complete stripping away of one personality or one form of convention or one stage of maturity for another. In these instances, the naked girls literally give everything, devote everything, to be heroic.

And to be more practical, sex sells. I don’t want to say that Sailormoon doesn’t interest or wouldn’t attract male viewers, but a little fan service can’t hurt a show’s marketability.