Whats appealing about Hentai?

[Paragon Fury]

While I don't like explicit stuff much myself, I think the answer is fairly easy;

Real women are an unknown, and the vast majority of women in porn aren't actually that attractive or good looking. And you actually have to search for them.

Drawn/animated women however, are near universally good looking and your "search" is literally just thinking of the name of a character you like.

 

[sageoftruth]

1) Much more freedom to display the weirdest kinks, including stuff that doesn't exist in real life or that wouldn't be sexy in real life (I have a guro fetish, for example).

2) Sometimes it's better to look at porn when it's fictional figures rather than real people who don't seem to enjoy themselves for real, at least mentally.

3) Much better narrative. No, really.

So true. When real porn tries to insert a narrative, I just

Our brains work such that drawn pornography can turn us on, and for some of us it does. That's really all there is to it.

I need to watch more Genshiken when I get home. I forgot how great that series was.

 

[sageoftruth]

I mean, I'm not scientist, but I'm willing to bet color plays into it.

I've noticed even with certain live action porn, I like the ones that have that vibrant colors. Yellows and reds.

That's a good point. I think I agree. I think color has always had something to do with my affinity for anime, hentai or not. Same goes for games too. Watching my friend play Dynasty Warriors got boring fast, but I just couldn't look away due to all the coloring and flashes. I think I might have an ADD problem.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I mean, I'm not scientist, but I'm willing to bet color plays into it.

I've noticed even with certain live action porn, I like the ones that have that vibrant colors. Yellows and reds.

That's a good point. I think I agree. I think color has always had something to do with my affinity for anime, hentai or not. Same goes for games too. Watching my friend play Dynasty Warriors got boring fast, but I just couldn't look away due to all the coloring and flashes. I think I might have an ADD problem.

Same thing does into, I think the people who do the photography of food. They put certain chemicals on stuff so it looks a certain way to get some primal emotion going.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

I watched too many cartoons, and I don't find real people sex very sexy.

Exactly.

Because YOU CAN'T COMPETE WITH A CARTOON/DRAWING!!!

I mean in painting you can make the best looking person ever with a flawless body.

Define "flawless body".

Is that a particularly healthy outlook, though? That reality doesn't stimulate as well as a contrived illusion? Being turned on by either's perfectly fine, of course, but a preference for a rejection of reality and all its nuance seems a bit off.

 

[Seraj33]

The appeal to me is very simple. You can get from hentai, what you can not from regular porn.
2D > 3D etcetera.

Although I use both forms of pornography, as I can get tired of one or the other, I do prefer hentai for the reason mentioned above. Hentai can hit all those fetish spots you didn't even know you had.

That being said. When I discovered hentai, I was affraid I'd loose any attraction to real women. I know now that real sexual interaction is something entirely different from spending an evening with your friend the right hand and some carefuly picked images.

Man. I love talking openly about this shit. It is a shame sexuality is such a cultural taboo.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Eh. I know where you guys are coming from, but you can get the same sort of creative freedom from well written erotica (no Shades of Grey doesn't count). While admittedly lacking in visual and auditory content, much of the same kinds of kinks or themes can be explored, perhaps even more effectively, through written narrative than hentai. But then again, maybe I'm a little bit biased due to how unappealing I find a lot of hentai/anime stylistic elements.

I have no idea how you would consider this a valid argument. In the same vein you could write all TV off as unnecessary, because we already have movies since they're both audiovisual media thus allow the same level of creativity. Hell, you could write off any and all forms of media other than written text as unnecessary if freedom of creativity is the only parameter we're going by. It's not like reading a comic book vs. reading just a normal book are in any way different experiences. It's not like having to picture something in your head vs. seeing the actual visual representation are any different. And so on. Geez.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Spoiler

Eh. I know where you guys are coming from, but you can get the same sort of creative freedom from well written erotica (no Shades of Grey doesn't count). While admittedly lacking in visual and auditory content, much of the same kinds of kinks or themes can be explored, perhaps even more effectively, through written narrative than hentai. But then again, maybe I'm a little bit biased due to how unappealing I find a lot of hentai/anime stylistic elements.

I have no idea how you would consider this a valid argument. In the same vein you could write all TV off as unnecessary, because we already have movies since they're both audiovisual media thus allow the same level of creativity. Hell, you could write off any and all forms of media other than written text as unnecessary if freedom of creativity is the only parameter we're going by. It's not like reading a comic book vs. reading just a normal book are in any way different experiences. It's not like having to picture something in your head vs. seeing the actual visual representation are any different. And so on. Geez.

Don't be too rough on him. This is the first time I've ever seen literary elitism applied to wanking material. I would like to learn more.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I watched too many cartoons, and I don't find real people sex very sexy.

Exactly.

Because YOU CAN'T COMPETE WITH A CARTOON/DRAWING!!!

I mean in painting you can make the best looking person ever with a flawless body.

Define "flawless body".

Is that a particularly healthy outlook, though? That reality doesn't stimulate as well as a contrived illusion? Being turned on by either's perfectly fine, of course, but a preference for a rejection of reality and all its nuance seems a bit off.

I have my sanity thank you very much. I am not like those people that marries their pillow with a drawing of an anime lady on it.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I tend to see more hentai with actual thought put into it than live action. Not all, of course, but enough that I'd consider it a trend.

Also, I usually find drawn erotica more immersing than live erotica. Watching live porn actors is fine, but always feels a little uncomfortably voyeuristic to me, and watching real people act means the bar is set higher for immersion; something I would find two people saying or doing in real life to be distractingly silly, I could more easily overlook in hentai. Even setting aside that a lot of what I consume has dialogue that is text-based (or in a language I only vaguely understand). Also probably helps that some of my favorite sexual media in terms of emotional appeal are eroge visual novels, which are (at their best[footnote]Depending on genre, of course.[/footnote]) basically romance novels with soundtracks and more extensive art.

Not that hentai can't be incredibly silly or disgusting, of course. It's just that animation's quality curve is wider from end-to-end compared to live action, and to me it's harder for an animated story to be ridiculous to the point of being a turn-off.

 

[chadachada123]

The appeal of hentai, for me, and I'm speaking only of manga/doujins, is that the characters AREN'T animated. Similarly, I can't stand live-action movies but am fine with pictures, especially non-nude pictures. The more that is left to the imagination, from the way the characters talk and act to, well, everything else, the better.

Actually, that's probably why VNs are so incredibly successful. With or without voice acting, everything else is purely within the mind, meaning nothing can go wrong unless your mind LETS it go wrong.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Well... hmm, what possibilities...

1. Idealized figures/imagery
2. More creative freedom (Weirder shit is possible)
3. Removed from porn industry (For people concerned about pornographic employee abuse)
4. Shit, I don't know, gives people boners

People outside of Japan though should realize that it can get them thrown in jail depending on where they live, as much of hentai illegal in numerous countries..

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/?+wired27b+%2528Blog+-+27B+Stroke+6+%2528Threat+Level%2529%2529
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/10/21/british-court-convicts-man-of-possessing-child-pornography-on-basis-of-stash-of-manga-cartoons/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/Canadian-Man-Jailed-For-Watching-Anime-Porn-5920.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8577037/Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33138
http://nerdreactor.com/2014/01/20/hentais-age-problem-could-get-you-in-handcuffs/
http://gamenime.blog.com/page/5/
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anime-fan-convicted-over-illegal-7958896

 

[DefunctTheory]

Well... hmm, what possibilities...

1. Idealized figures/imagery
2. More creative freedom (Weirder shit is possible)
3. Removed from porn industry (For people concerned about pornographic employee abuse)
4. Shit, I don't know, gives people boners

People outside of Japan though should realize that it can get them thrown in jail depending on where they live, as much of hentai illegal in numerous countries..

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/?+wired27b+%2528Blog+-+27B+Stroke+6+%2528Threat+Level%2529%2529
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/10/21/british-court-convicts-man-of-possessing-child-pornography-on-basis-of-stash-of-manga-cartoons/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/Canadian-Man-Jailed-For-Watching-Anime-Porn-5920.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8577037/Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33138
http://nerdreactor.com/2014/01/20/hentais-age-problem-could-get-you-in-handcuffs/
http://gamenime.blog.com/page/5/
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anime-fan-convicted-over-illegal-7958896

...Why would you quote me, of all people, for that?

 

[Tono Makt]

I would imagine some of it is about Censorship, and having to use a bit of an imagination as to what is being depicted actually looks like.

Wait, stop laughing. I'm serious!

The sexiest images of people generally don't involve lewdness or outright nudity, but the implication of nudity. A woman dressed in a slightly long t-shirt, looking seductively into the camera while pulling the shirt down over her genitals (and stretching it tight over her breasts), not actually showing her breasts or genitals but heavily implying that she's not wearing anything but the shirt. Or a naked man in a pose where one leg is in front of the other, so his penis is not seen (and not much of his rear is seen). These tend to be seen as more erotic and sexy than just naked man with an erection or naked woman pulling her legs apart to show you everything.

Most Hentai is censored for the genitals, and so it could be that this censorship is alluring or erotic or sexy in a way that just seeing the genitals out there on display is not. Also, it could be that finding hentai that is NOT censored is like finding a rare and unique object, something you keep hoping to find but just never can. (like a rare drop in a video game that drops items, maybe)

So looking for it is part of the charm of enjoying Hentai.[footnote]Okay, maybe it's more about how so much Hentai is about situations that just can't ethically be depicted in real porn, like rape, bestiality, underage sex (How many characters in Hentai are supposed to be 14-17? And how many are quite obviously pre-pubescent children? You don't find a lot with prepubescent children just out there for free consumption and generally it's fairly well noted (Loli, Lolita, etc. are used as tags), but... it's out there, and sometimes you won't know you've clicked on it until you're partway through a video. So my advice to anyone looking for hentai online - if the site doesn't have a way to preview the clip, don't click on it if you're unsure.), magical transformations leading to having sex with monsters or being raped by monsters, insane amounts of semen being spewed all over the woman, degradation, torture and murder, and "you're raping me but I love it now!" situations... the kinds of sexual depictions you hear sex-negative extremists on both sides of the spectrum warn about as the bottom of the slippery slope of pornography. People who want to explore that part of the slope are likely going to want to explore it via hentai because it's not easy to find with real women.[/footnote]

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Well... hmm, what possibilities...

1. Idealized figures/imagery
2. More creative freedom (Weirder shit is possible)
3. Removed from porn industry (For people concerned about pornographic employee abuse)
4. Shit, I don't know, gives people boners

People outside of Japan though should realize that it can get them thrown in jail depending on where they live, as much of hentai illegal in numerous countries..

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/?+wired27b+%2528Blog+-+27B+Stroke+6+%2528Threat+Level%2529%2529
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/10/21/british-court-convicts-man-of-possessing-child-pornography-on-basis-of-stash-of-manga-cartoons/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/Canadian-Man-Jailed-For-Watching-Anime-Porn-5920.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8577037/Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33138
http://nerdreactor.com/2014/01/20/hentais-age-problem-could-get-you-in-handcuffs/
http://gamenime.blog.com/page/5/
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anime-fan-convicted-over-illegal-7958896

...Why would you quote me, of all people, for that?

Adding to the possibilities of why someone would want to view hentai.. "Risky illegal behavior". LMAO
Often people view breaking the law as exciting.

 

[Jux]

Short answer: It's porn.

Slightly longer answer: I think a lot of people are drawn to hentai because it allows them to explore sexual fantasies that would be otherwise illegal or fantastical in nature. Seriously, the ubiquity of tentacle loli rape ain't out there because people have some kind of high minded interest in critique of the medium. It's cause they like watching pubescent or prepubescent looking girls violently raped by monsters, it gets them off.

 

[McElroy]

People outside of Japan though should realize that it can get them thrown in jail depending on where they live, as much of hentai illegal in numerous countries..

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/?+wired27b+%2528Blog+-+27B+Stroke+6+%2528Threat+Level%2529%2529
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/10/21/british-court-convicts-man-of-possessing-child-pornography-on-basis-of-stash-of-manga-cartoons/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/Canadian-Man-Jailed-For-Watching-Anime-Porn-5920.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8577037/Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33138
http://nerdreactor.com/2014/01/20/hentais-age-problem-could-get-you-in-handcuffs/
http://gamenime.blog.com/page/5/
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anime-fan-convicted-over-illegal-7958896

While Canada and the UK clearly forbid lolicon and the US law is weird about it, the EU law you link to here rather neatly allows all hentai as unrealistic imagery can't be child porn under the definition. Not that some countries don't individually broaden that definition. (Finland however, true to our EU ass-kissing style, keeps it as it is.)

OT: Weird stuff. Also some people REALLY love that anime art style. Though you'd think porn downplays the "strengths" of the anime style, but whatever really.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

People outside of Japan though should realize that it can get them thrown in jail depending on where they live, as much of hentai illegal in numerous countries..

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/obscene-us-manga-collector-jailed-6-months/?+wired27b+%2528Blog+-+27B+Stroke+6+%2528Threat+Level%2529%2529
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/10/21/british-court-convicts-man-of-possessing-child-pornography-on-basis-of-stash-of-manga-cartoons/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/LatestNews/News1/Canadian-Man-Jailed-For-Watching-Anime-Porn-5920.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8577037/Man-sent-to-jail-for-watching-pixie-sex
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33138
http://nerdreactor.com/2014/01/20/hentais-age-problem-could-get-you-in-handcuffs/
http://gamenime.blog.com/page/5/
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anime-fan-convicted-over-illegal-7958896

While Canada and the UK clearly forbid lolicon and the US law is weird about it, the EU law you link to here rather neatly allows all hentai as unrealistic imagery can't be child porn under the definition. Not that some countries don't individually broaden that definition. (Finland however, true to our EU ass-kissing style, keeps it as it is.)

OT: Weird stuff. Also some people REALLY love that anime art style. Though you'd think porn downplays the "strengths" of the anime style, but whatever really.

realistic images of a non-existent child involved or engaged in such conduct.

CGI/3D hentai is covered under that part of the law.

 

[McElroy]

realistic images of a non-existent child involved or engaged in such conduct.

CGI/3D hentai is covered under that part of the law.

Guess it comes down to the good ol' semantic, ambiguous metric of realism after all. No wonder people (countries) often tend to just rule all of it illegal.

edit: For the record you seem to be interpreting all hentai as lolicon, which is definitely incorrect.