What is Hentai?
The term ‘hentai’, which stands for “perversion” in Japanese refers to pornographic animations outside the Pacific State, which are cartoons and Mangas (Japanese for comics).
If you are wondering what an assaulting, horny octopus has to do with porn; then here’s your answer: Explicit penis representations are censored in Japan. The tentacle porn was born out of necessity. Due to graphic loopholes, the variety of representations in hentais is almost infinite. Even what would be forbidden in reality becomes possible.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly where the crux lies. Many Hentai films and comics sexualize children and are considered aggressive and misogynistic. Since penetration is often not mutually agreed on, hentais are also criticized for fueling rape culture and staging rape as a sexual role-playing game.
The illustrator Apollonia Saintclair offers feminist perspectives on the tentacle erotica, which makes up a whole hentai genre. Another genre that mainly appeals to women is Yaoi. At the center of these mangas are homosexual relationships including explicit actions between male readers.
