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The Disturbing Glorification of Pedophilia and Sexual Crimes in Anime
By Liam Crampton
In recent years, Japan has become a powerhouse in the entertainment industry. Whether it’s video games, music, or new technology, the country has provided fun in many different ways for its own people and others across the globe. One of its biggest forms of entertainment is anime and manga, Japanese versions of comics and cartoons that are growing in popularity worldwide every year. Series like Attack on Titan and One Piece have become icons in the fictional world, but with the good comes the bad.
In anime and manga, it is not uncommon for underage or infantilized characters to be overly sexualized for the sake of fan service. Series can go as far as to pass off sexual crimes as jokes or have them portrayed as seductive and attractive, regardless of the character’s age. This type of disturbing content has become so common that longtime fans have seemingly become numb to it. It does not take a genius to understand that normalizing pedophilia and sexual harassment is wrong, but how far down has this root grown? How exactly did it get this way?
As unbelievable as it may seem, possession of child pornography was outlawed in Japan only 8 years ago, in 2014. It is downright embarrassing and gross that a seemingly obvious law for any civilized country to have has only been implemented recently. Despite this, the strange pedophilic culture in Japan has not changed much. Services such as the schoolgirls of JK Alley, a street in Tokyo in which men, often middle-aged, will rent young girls for a period of time to go on dates and do weird favors, is perfectly legal as long as it does not involve sex. Chaku Ero, a disturbing type of softcore porn in which girls as young as six years old will pose and act in seductive manners, typically in swimwear, is also totally legal with limitations.
But the most common example of these disturbing activities is the distribution of lolicon manga and anime. Lolicon is a term that refers to characters in anime and manga that either appear or are young children, typically in sexually explicit manners. It can also be used as a derogatory term for consumers of the content. Lolicon characters can appear in all sorts of series, an example being critically acclaimed light novel author NISIOISIN. NISIOISIN’s hit novel and anime series, the Monogatari Series, is a supernatural collection of tales about a boy named Koyomi Araragi as he explores the mysteries of his hometown. NISIOISIN’s unique writing style and dialogue have earned the series plenty of praise, and in my opinion rightfully so, but there is one major criticism he has received.
The sexualization of lolicon characters and the perverted acts performed by Araragi can turn many off to the series. Some scenes in the series have been noted to make consumers very uncomfortable, such as the infamous “Toothbrush scene” in the third installment, Nisemonogatari, which depicts Araragi brushing his 14-year-old sister Karen’s teeth in a seductive fashion.
NISIOISIN and many other authors often use loopholes to twist the ages of the characters. Examples are Shinobu Oshino, the 600-year-old vampire stuck in the form of a young girl, and Mayoi Hachikuji, the 11-year-old girl who died in a traffic accident and has lived on as a ghost for many years. Some argue this makes it alright, but the depiction is still nonetheless of a child.
Australia recently took action to ban or censor series with content like this, such as Eromanga Sensei, a series about a young girl who draws sexual content as an online streamer, and No Game No Life a story about two siblings who go to world revolved around games that include lots of lolicon and incest-based humor.
As bad as those may seem, the raunchiest of all of these media is lolicon hentai, a form of pornography in manga and animated form. Many countries have outlawed this particular hentai, but Japan thrives off of its sales. The Japanese government has tried to fight against it, but authors claim it falls under free speech.
The main argument in favor of the hentai is simply, that it’s not real. Hentai in general, due to the unlimited ability of animation and drawing is typically a lot more graphic than regular pornography. If there is a sick fantasy you can think of, chances are there is hentai depicting it, and of course, this includes lolicon characters. Some have even argued that this is a safe way for pedophiles to pleasure themselves without harming real children.
Instead, therapeutic services should be advertised and made available to pedophilic consumers. Having a pedophile’s fantasy laid out in front of them in a comic will not stop them from committing the acts, in fact, it may encourage them or give them ideas. The correct way of handling people like this is not to cater to them, but to get them real professional help.
Real or fake, promoting and accepting the fetishization of children is revolting. Child pornography is something that should not exist, let alone be encouraged and allowed in any form. A quick trip to Akihabara can get you a few copies of lolicon hentai, often in the same stores where you’ll find things as innocent as Pokémon cards and candy. These kinds of works being of such easy access makes it seem as if there’s nothing wrong with them.
With anime and manga growing worldwide every year, more should participate in the call to change this. There is little to be done about already established and published series but in terms of this disgusting culture being continued, there needs to be more backlash. As for the hentai, it can surely be done without. If other countries take note from the UK and Australia and ban the distribution of these products, then Japan’s benefits from them will be diminished and it may help the narrative to rid of them for good.
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