Surprisingly, the word “hentai” in the sense we understand it is not used at all in Japan. This word describes a state of human activity or sexual dysfunction. “Hentai” consists of two hieroglyphs: ‘hen’ (strange) and ‘tai’ (state, behavior). Namely, “hentai” in Japanese culture is applied to people who are perverted or sexually diverted.
Although one might think that hentai is a relatively recent phenomenon, in reality, Japanese erotic drawings are hundreds of years old. What is hentai, how it originated, and why it is compared to real pornography, read the article prepared by sekss.lv.
Japanese cartoons for adults are simply called “ero” (ero-manga – erotic manga) or “seijin manga” (adult manga).
HENTAI AS CARTOONS
It all started with twelfth-century Buddhist scrolls, with small political cartoons of animals mocking nobles and clergy. These humorous drawings later became ukiyo-e prints. These prints were made of wood engravings and could be produced faster than hand-made rolls and spools. The cartoons tried to ban and punish their admirers, but it was useless because, as you know, what people like is not so easy to eradicate.
Hentai, in the form we know it today, did not appear until the 1970s. Its origin was a mangaka (called artists who draw mangoes), named Go Nagai, who in 1969 drew the manga “Shameless School”.
Video recorders appeared in the 1980s, which gave a new impetus to the spread of cartoon pornography, but later the Internet became the main promoter of animation.
CENSORY, PROHIBITIONS
In many countries, drawn pornography is treated in the same way as real pornography: its production, distribution, acquisition, and use are governed by the same legislation.
From World War II until the early 1990s, realistic human genitals were banned in Japan, so artists who held a more traditional view of things simply retouched the images, while others chose monsters, aliens, and tentacles as the heroes of their stories.
“Hentai” in Japanese culture refers to people who are perverted or sexually abused.
After the ban was lifted, it became more open. In countries where hentai is not banned, however, there is still censorship of drawings involving minors – either the age of the characters is changed during translation (for example, a schoolgirl becomes a student), or certain scenes are simply cut out.
IS HENTAI A REAL PORNOGRAPHY?
There is still no consensus on whether drawn pornography can be equated with real life. There is an opinion that the depiction of sexual activity equates hentai to real pornography, while others dispute that it is an animation with fictional, unreal characters and stories.
Hentai can be classified according to various criteria – according to the main characters of the story, as well as according to genres – comedy, melodrama, fiction, fantasy, etc.
One of the most common directions in hentai is the tentacle, in which the character combines with phallic tentacles. In fact, the first embodiment of this idea became the engraving “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife” by the famous artist Hokusai in 1814.
Japanese society has historically been very patriarchal, and this is often reflected in hentai art, where female characters are fragile and vulnerable, while male characters are dominant and harsh.