is a

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

term in the

Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...

for playfully sexual actions. As an

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

, it is used with the meaning of "sexy", "dirty" or "naughty"; as a

verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...

, means "to have sex", and as a

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

, it is used to describe someone of lascivious behavior. It is softer than the Japanese word ' ( from " Eros" or "erotic"), and does not imply perversion in the way ''

hentai Hentai () is a style of Pornography in Japan, Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games (commonly known as ''eroge''). The developme ...

'' does. The word ''ecchi'' has been adopted by western fans of Japanese media to describe works with sexual overtones. In western culture, it has come to be used to refer to softcore or playful sexuality, as distinct from the word ''hentai'', which connotes perversion or

fetishism A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent non-material value, or powers, to an object. Talismans and amulet ...

.Sebastian Keller: ''Der Manga und seine Szene in Deutschland von den Anfängen in den 1980er Jahren bis zur Gegenwart: Manga- mehr als nur große Augen'', GRIN Verlag, 2008, , p. 127 Works described as ecchi by the western fans do not show

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

, but sexual themes are referenced. ''Ecchi'' themes are a type of fan service, and can be found in most comedy shōnen and

seinen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...

and

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

.Robin E. Brenner: '' Understanding manga and anime.'' Libraries Unlimited, 2007, , p. 89.Ask John
Why Do Americans Hate Harem Anime?
animenation.net. May 20. 2005. Note: fan service and ecchi refer to similar concepts.

Etymology and use in Japan

The correct transcription of the word in Hepburn notation is "". However, it is typically written as "ecchi" in the Western world. ''Etchi'' in and of itself is merely an abbreviation of ''

''. There is no distinction between "hardcore" ''hentai'' and "softcore" ''etchi'' in proper Japanese. See Hentai#Etymology for further etymology. ' was introduced in the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

as a term for ''change of form'' or ''transformation'' in science and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. In this context, it was used to refer to disorders such as

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

or to describe paranormal phenomena like

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

. Slowly, the meaning expanded until it had the meaning of ''non-standard''. In the 1910s, it was used in

sexology Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, Human sexual activity, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social crit ...

in the compound expression "" (, ''abnormal sexual desire'', which is rephrased as " sexual perversion" in modern times) and became popular within the theory of sexual deviance ('), published by Eiji Habuto and Jun'ichirō Sawada in 1915. In the 1920s, many publications dealt with deviant sexual desires and the movement. Goichi Matsuzawa calls it a period characterized by a "''hentai boom''". In the 1930s, censorship became more common, leading to fewer books being published on this theme. After the Second World War, in the 1950s, interest in hentai was renewed, and people would sometimes refer to it just by the first English letter, ''H'' (pronounced as , ). In 1952, the magazine ''Shukan Asahi'' reported that a woman who was groped by a stranger in a movie theater reacted with ''""'' (''"hey, that's perverse"''). In this context, ' should be understood as ''sexually forward'' and is synonymous to ' (, dirty or disgusting) or ' (, a person with sex on the brain). From this, the word ' started to branch off, and assume new connotations. In the 1960s, ' started to be used by youth to refer to sex in general. By the 1980s, it was used to mean ''sex'', as in the phrase ' (to have sex). Other neologisms such as ' are often used to refer to sex, in addition to the term ''ecchi.'' ''Ecchi'' is now used as a qualifier for anything related to erotic or pornographic content. Its exact meaning varies with context, but in general, it is most similar to the English word "naughty" (when used as an adjective). The Japanese media tend to use other words, e.g. ''ero-manga'' (), ''adult manga'' (), or anime / manga for persons over 18 years (, ). The prefix "H-" is also sometimes used to refer to pornographic genres, e.g. H-anime, H-manga, etc.

Western usage

In Japan, oiroke manga (お色気漫画) is used to describe manga with very light or playful erotic content, such as is found in shonen manga. In western nations, though, ''ecchi'' has become the preferred term. The more explicit manga (, ') are more likely to be referred to as hentai in the west. This does correlate to a similar distinction in Japanese. For instance, if a young woman were to call a young man ', that might be construed as flirting, whereas ' sounds more like condemnation. Works aimed at a female audience can contain scenes which are seen as ecchi. Examples are ''R-18 Love Report!'' from Emiko Sugi and ' from Risa Itō, which are aimed at the and josei audience, but contain rather explicit content. Common elements of ecchi include conversations with sexual references or misunderstandings (e.g.

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

innuendo An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called in ...

), misunderstandings in visual depictions (e.g. suggestive posing), revealing or sexualized clothing (e.g. underwear or

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

), nudity (e.g. ripped apart clothing, wet clothing, clothing malfunctions) and the portrayal of certain actions (e.g. groping). This kind of sexuality is often used for comical effect. A typical example scene would contain a male protagonist that trips over a female character, giving the impression of sexual harassment. The concept of ecchi is very closely related to fan service. While fan service describes every aspect to please the fans, ecchi relates to sexual themes. A special kind of fan service, that is usually bound or justified by the narrative.Robin E. Brenner: '' Understanding Manga and Anime''. Libraries Unlimited, 2007, , p. 295

Typical examples

There are many elements that may classify a work as ecchi, but these elements have to occur quite often (for example, in all episodes of a show). Graphically speaking, different techniques are used to show sexy pictures, usually by revealing parts of the female body such as the back or breasts. Some of these patterns are recurrent, such as scenes in a shower, hot springs (''onsen''), or fighting scenes in which clothes are torn apart. The imagination of characters is also a common device for showing their sexual fantasies, as well as transformation scenes of

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

s. In the end, any excuse is valid to show a character partially or completely nude.

Nudity

Levels of nudity vary strongly between works, depending on the intended audience and the preferences of the authors. For example, in some cases, though the breasts are shown on the screen, nipples and genitals are obscured by props, clothing, or effects. This kind of censorship was typical for Lala Satalin Deviluke in '' To Love Ru'', Blair in '' Soul Eater'' and Asuka Langley Soryu from '' Neon Genesis Evangelion''. Conversely, in '' Ladies versus Butlers!'' and other such anime, the nipples are clearly visible through clothing, no matter how thick it is. In any case nosebleeds as a comedic trope are a typical masculine reaction to female nudity or semi-nudity inasmuch as they represent one extremely exaggerated component of

sexual arousal Sexual arousal (also known as sexual excitement) describes the Physiology, physiological and psychological responses in preparation for sexual intercourse or when exposed to Sexual stimulation, sexual stimuli. A number of physiological response ...

– increased

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

Panties

The use of panty shots ''(

panchira is a Japanese language, Japanese word referring to a brief glimpse of a woman's underwear. The term carries sexual suggestiveness , risqué connotations, similar to the word upskirt in English. In anime and manga, ''panchira'' usually refers t ...

)'', or visibility of the underwear ( panties), is one common motif. Typically the male character will react in an exaggerated manner and be castigated. Furthermore the color and style of the panties are an indication of the character, personality, and range sexual experience (or lack of it) female character, e.g. white for the innocent, striped for the shy, and red for the experienced. Panties are the main theme in some ecchi (for instance, '' Chobits'' and '' Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt''), but they can also appear in other anime simply for a bit of gratuitous sex appeal.

Sexual activity

Although revealing or sexualized clothing, nudity or groping may occur in ecchi works, there usually is no explicit sexual intercourse in such works (although in the West they may be erroneously classified as

). Furthermore in this genre may appear that whilst it appears that a couple ''are'' having sex. E.g. the two may be seen in silhouette from outside a tent, or making sounds during exertion.

References

{{Film genres Anime and manga genres Anime and manga terminology Japanese sex terms Pornography