And as more and more of these games began to hit the shelves, more and more of us began to ponder: these aren't just "ecchi games" (sex-only games), these are rather "games with actually great stories that just happen to have sex scenes in them." They actually began to put real effort into actually great stories. Suddenly, these games weren't just about sex anymore. When one company made a huge success in story-based games, many other companies followed. And as these games became more and more hardcore with rape, bondage, and tentacles, you guys began to refer to these pictures as being "hentai," whereas in Japan, we just referred to them as being "H-scenes" (ecchi-scenes).īut somewhere around the mid 1990s, (some say it began with Leaf's "Shizuku" and "Kizuato," others point a little later to "To Heart") these games gradually began to distance itself from hardcore pornography to story-centric love-simulation games (many point to the immense success of Konami's "Tokimeki Memorial" that started this whole love-sim phenomena). For some reason, in the overseas, you guys understood that "ecchi" (H) meant the first letter for the word "hentai," so you began to refer to these animes and games as "hentai anime" and "hentai games." (While in Japan, we never used those.we just used the letter "H" only). In Japan, these were referred to simply as "H-anime" (ecchi-anime) and "H-games" (ecchi-games). By now, I take it that most people here knows that the word "ecchi" stems from Japanese pronounciation for the English letter "H" - the first letter in the romanized word for "hentai."ĭue to this use of "ecchi/hentai" as a replacement for "sex" in the 1960s, the word stuck into the Japanese that "ecchi" (or in Japanese usage, we just write the English alphabet "H" for sex) meant sex (or at least sexual content).īy 1980s and early 1990s, we started seeing porno anime and porno games in Japan. The actual Japanese word for "sexual intercourse" is "seikoui." But then again, who the heck is going to use "Let's have sexual intercourse" when a shorter, blunter version "Let's fuck" is available? Same thing in Japan, rather than saying "Anata to seikoui shitai" (I want to have sexual intercourse with you), a shorter, blunter saying "Ecchi shiyouze" (Let's fuck) is available. By means of media and slang term, someone started using "ecchi" as a replacement for sex. Sex, started becoming more open, as the young postwar generation began to rebel against the older prewar generation. The world was going through a counterculture revolution - anti-war, sexual openness, etc. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at I'm also available on social media on Twitter or on Instagram.The actual original dictionary definition for "hentai" is "someone who acts strangely." Technically, by the old terminology, oh let's say.someone who wore hats on their feet and shoes on their head would be coined as "being a hentai."įlash foward to the 1960s. If you’re not a subscriber, please support local journalism and consider a subscription to The Times-News.Įlizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. La Fiesta Mebane, 1040 Mebane Oaks Rd.: 98 Court Square: 100Ĭastle Mediterranean Restaurant, 1925 S. Main St.: 94Įl Palmar Mexican Restaurant, 203 W. Front St.: 92Īnna Maria’s Pizzeria and Restaurant, 1059 S. Smithfield Chicken ‘N’ Bar-B-Q, 1372 Tiki Lane: 96.5 San Marcos Mexican Restaurant, 3111 Waltham Blvd.: 98.5 Sakura South Japanese Steakhouse, 3272 S. Sakura North Japanese Steakhouse, 2130 N. Red Bowl Asian Bistro, 3140 Walden Lane: 96.5 Harusaki Sushi Bar and Grill, 1449 University Dr., Ste. Church St.: 99Ĥ9 Neighborhood Store, 2668 N.
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