Category: Manga

There are many reasons for the increasing popularity of anime and manga worldwide but an often overlooked cause for the rapid growth is the female market which is prominent in many countries and continuing to grow overall. Interestingly, one of the aspects that appeals to many women is “Bishonen”. Given this fact, I thought it might be interesting to look at the history of bishonen in anime and manga, the art-style of drawing beautiful men.

The concept of beautiful men is not a recent one and can be found throughout the history of East Asia. One of the most famous examples would be the wakashū, adolescent males who were “sexually available to both men and women” who wore kimonos and were associated with many aspects of femininity such as flower arranging and makeup. Another aspect of Japanese culture that fed into what would become bishonen were Onnagata, male actors who would play female roles in kabuki theater. These actors were often young with feminine qualities who carefully studied female mannerisms and were also considered desirable by both men and women.

Recently, Kent State University had a book called “Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation” by Dr. Susan J. Napier added as a reading material for one of their courses. Since then, the book has seen controversy as Ohio lawmakers are now threatening to withdraw funding unless the book is removed from the curriculum. Dr. Susan J. Napier herself has responded by saying that she suspects that the offending material comes from her chapter on pornography in Japanese animation, also known as hentai, but that she thought that it was important to discuss the topic as a part of anime culture. While I confess that I’ve been uncomfortable with discussing this topic in the past, her words have given me the courage to take a look at and discuss the history of the sex-filled world of hentai.

It might be interesting to begin by explaining the word hentai itself. The word is made up of two kanji with the first, 変, meaning strange and the second, 態, meaning attitude or condition and, when combined, 変態 can mean abnormality or pervert. However, it is far more commonly associated with media that features the art-style of anime and manga, also including video games with that art-style, that depict pornography. While I have touched on the topics of fan service and sexualisation in the past, hentai goes beyond that to show graphic sexual intercourse between characters.