J's Chimes: Let's Talk Hentai

A category less talked about on the outside but rants like crazy in the internet and forums, hentai is often associated with adult stuff, fetishes and perverseness. Or is it?Base on research and even on a dictionary, the real meaning of 'Hentai' is actually 'Someone who acts strangely'. In Japanese, 'Hen' means strange so the fact that it's been related to pornographic materials are somewhat strange indeed.


But looking back at adult anime games, they are normally called 'H-Games' by the context of people outside of Japan. The reason? The Japanese created a slang known as 'Ecchi' to 'Short form' the longer word for saying 'Let's have sexual intercourse' in which I believe you will not say it to your lover too when you have the word 'sex' as a generic term for it. Thus Ecchi sounded so much like the word H, which many people mistakenly believes it's known as Hentai instead... thus the misunderstandings occur...


Now, such are being corrected with new terms such as Ecchi or 'perverted' in English, Eroge or Galge (Adult Games). However, Hentai is still often used to differentiate between genres. For example, the infamous Bible Black is classified as Hentai whereas animes like To Love Ru or Ladies Vs Butlers are classified as Ecchi animes with plenty of Fan Service. So next time, remember saying the right term for the right stuff...