There are plenty of Ecchi (or “Erotica”) shows, and that’s okay (in a vacuum).
“School, Ecchi” stories are gross by default.
Even if an anime lacks “Ecchi” descriptor, it still often features fanservice.
The medium needs to stop with randomly adding fanservice to stories.
Even in this day and age, if you ask someone who’s not very familiar with the medium “what is anime?”, there’s a high chance they’ll reply with either “it’s cartoons for little kids”, or “it’s animated pornography for perverts.” The first notion is understandable — Hays Code ensured that for many years, cartoons produced in the West were as toothless as possible, and even with the recent rise of adult animation, the notion is still holding strong. The second notion, however, doesn’t necessarily come just from 18+ works.
Ecchi is always there
There’s this setting that might as well be a genre at this point — ecchi (which is, well, erotica). Shows that show characters in various stages of undress, and often in very compromising positions and situations. Some of them are borderline pornographic — like Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers), while others try to have their cake and eat it too, by making these stories into shounen-esque fighting series (Queen’s Blade), or combining them with other genres (Shokugeki no Souma).
And there’s nothing wrong about ecchi shows in a vacuum. However, they do become a problem when they are combined with another popular anime setting — School Life. Because let’s face it, not everyone is okay with erotica featuring schoolkids (and to be honest, rightfully so). Yes, these are drawn (or animated in 3D software) characters. They are also animated characters depicting school kids — which is more than enough for some people to nope straight out of giving anime a fair shake.
But okay, both “Ecchi” and “School, Ecchi” are kind of a warning by themselves — though in some cases, there are no warnings.
When ecchi isn’t there, it still kinda is
Goblin Slayer, while not being stated as being “Ecchi”, dedicates one fourth of its first episode to graphic scenes of sexual assault. Likewise, Skeleton Knight in Another World (Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekakechuu) doesn’t just feature such scenes — it STARTS with one in its very first episode. Both were made for the sake of Day 1 controversy, of course — but it doesn’t help much.
A-Channel is a show about cute girls doing cute things. It’s based on a 4-koma, and is not listed as “Ecchi” anywhere — because, well, it’s not. Though for some reason, it still decides to include a joke about one of its schoolgirl characters Run Momoki forgetting her panties at home in its first episode. And it’s not alone — Lucky☆Star is also periodically interested in schoolgirl panties, and even Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei features “comical” schoolgirl pin ups.
All this is to say — fanservice in the anime industry is practically everywhere. If you love fanservice — that’s okay, you have the shows specifically labeled as such. If you don’t — it’s luck of the draw whenever a show you are interested in will suddenly decide to flash you with a pair of panties, or make an “obligatory beach/onsen episode”. Which could happen in any show.
And unless this stops being a problem, perhaps anime will not get rid of its “animated pornography for perverts” stigma.
And it IS a problem.
Summary
There are plenty of Ecchi (or “Erotica”) shows, and that’s okay (in a vacuum).
“School, Ecchi” stories are gross by default.
Even if an anime lacks “Ecchi” descriptor, it still often features fanservice.
The medium needs to stop with randomly adding fanservice to stories.
Even in this day and age, if you ask someone who’s not very familiar with the medium “what is anime?”, there’s a high chance they’ll reply with either “it’s cartoons for little kids”, or “it’s animated pornography for perverts.” The first notion is understandable — Hays Code ensured that for many years, cartoons produced in the West were as toothless as possible, and even with the recent rise of adult animation, the notion is still holding strong. The second notion, however, doesn’t necessarily come just from 18+ works.
Ecchi is always there
There’s this setting that might as well be a genre at this point — ecchi (which is, well, erotica). Shows that show characters in various stages of undress, and often in very compromising positions and situations. Some of them are borderline pornographic — like Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers), while others try to have their cake and eat it too, by making these stories into shounen-esque fighting series (Queen’s Blade), or combining them with other genres (Shokugeki no Souma).
And there’s nothing wrong about ecchi shows in a vacuum. However, they do become a problem when they are combined with another popular anime setting — School Life. Because let’s face it, not everyone is okay with erotica featuring schoolkids (and to be honest, rightfully so). Yes, these are drawn (or animated in 3D software) characters. They are also animated characters depicting school kids — which is more than enough for some people to nope straight out of giving anime a fair shake.
But okay, both “Ecchi” and “School, Ecchi” are kind of a warning by themselves — though in some cases, there are no warnings.
When ecchi isn’t there, it still kinda is
Goblin Slayer, while not being stated as being “Ecchi”, dedicates one fourth of its first episode to graphic scenes of sexual assault. Likewise, Skeleton Knight in Another World (Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekakechuu) doesn’t just feature such scenes — it STARTS with one in its very first episode. Both were made for the sake of Day 1 controversy, of course — but it doesn’t help much.
A-Channel is a show about cute girls doing cute things. It’s based on a 4-koma, and is not listed as “Ecchi” anywhere — because, well, it’s not. Though for some reason, it still decides to include a joke about one of its schoolgirl characters Run Momoki forgetting her panties at home in its first episode. And it’s not alone — Lucky☆Star is also periodically interested in schoolgirl panties, and even Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei features “comical” schoolgirl pin ups.
All this is to say — fanservice in the anime industry is practically everywhere. If you love fanservice — that’s okay, you have the shows specifically labeled as such. If you don’t — it’s luck of the draw whenever a show you are interested in will suddenly decide to flash you with a pair of panties, or make an “obligatory beach/onsen episode”. Which could happen in any show.
And unless this stops being a problem, perhaps anime will not get rid of its “animated pornography for perverts” stigma.
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