I confess that the rate at which I watch anime has slowed in recent years. There’s numerous reasons for this such as having less time for recreation, a larger variety of hobbies, difficulty getting my hands on specific anime etc. However, one thing that I’ve come to miss is the stylish violence and sex of older anime. That’s not to say that these elements have vanished in the present day but it certainly feels like it’s receded. Therefore, I decided to share my thoughts on the matter.
I should first start off by saying that I’m not looking for violence and sex in anime for the sake of it. While I’m partial to a bit of gratuitous content, it isn’t the sole thing that draws me to works. If that were the case, I’d actually like things like Elfen Lied and Urotsukidoji rather than despise them. Rather, I love violence and sex when it works to enhance the story. There’s also a strong possibility that I have strong nostalgic attachment to the idea of graphic violence and sex in anime because I, like so many other fans of anime, first began watching anime due to a lack of adult content in Western animation. I also want to point out that, as I said before, I haven’t seen as much recent anime as in the past so it’s entirely possible that I’m missing some recent ones that would fit my criteria. If that’s the case, feel free to let me know about some recent anime that are of good quality but also possess a lot of violence and sex.
The 80s and 90s proved to be an exciting time for violence and sex in anime. OVAs were gaining in popularity and restrictions on TV anime were growing more and more lax. As for examples of older anime that contain violence and sex, some of my favourites are the Ghost in the Shell films, Ninja Scroll, Outlaw Star etc. That’s not to say that there aren’t any modern examples of anime containing violence and sex with some that I consider to be particularly notable being Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, Psycho-Pass, Hellsing Ultimate etc. but it does feel that the few that may exist are being swamped by slice of life comedy, isekai, harem etc. series.
I’d hoped that Noitamina would help usher in an era of anime that would cover a wide range of topics that would, yes, sometimes include violence and sex but we’ve seen them steadily devolve into just another shonen anime airing block. The decline of the OVA also hasn’t helped and it feels like it has become harder and harder for me to find the type of anime series that I can fall in love with. Perhaps one reason why I miss the stylish violence and sex of older anime is because I associate it with certain types of stories, stories that I’m not seeing enough of these days. Escapism often serves to have a rejuvenating effect and being able to experience strong content in a safe environment is something that I’ve found helps soothe my mind.
I’m not saying that every modern anime needs to include violence and sex. Far from it, some of my favourite modern anime can be quite tame when it comes to content but I would absolutely love to see more anime incorporating violence and sex into stories of war, sci-fi, fantasy etc. Of course, I’d want these works to be of high quality but I also just want to see greater variety in the type of anime being released and the inclusion of violence and sex would be a great and not so difficult to market start.
Of course, this is all just my opinion and I would absolutely love to hear what you think about all of this, whether you also miss the stylish violence and sex of older anime, any modern anime that you think that I might’ve missed that would fulfill this criteria, if you think violence and sex lends itself to certain types of stories, whether you agree or disagree with me about Noitamina and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!