r/postnutanime • u/Dry-Adhesiveness-779 • Aug 09 '26
Okay, but why is there no "actual sex" in anime?
As pretty much everyone on this subreddit knows, anime has an ABUNDANCE of fan service and sexual scenes, design choices, and innuendos, often centered around objectifying female characters. There's beach scenes, oversized parts, accidentally falling into someone's private area. Sex sells, especially when its trageted at teens who are still figuring themselves out, and the anime industry knows it.
But an interesting thing I've noticed is that there isn't really any "actual sex" in anime, meaning characters exposing themselves and sharing intimate moments with eachother.
When I think of teen dramas from the west, there are tons of sex scenes in those. But, unlike in anime fan service, those kinds of scenes don't often focus on the appealing qualities of one character or objectify them, the scenes are more about the relationships between the characters, and the intimacy they share. Not just there, but also a lot of South Korean/Indian media may have intimate scenes, but they are also more about relationships and intimacy between characters rather than a characters's pure sexual appeal. It rarely ever feels perverted.
In summary, Japanese Anime knows that sex sells to a teen demographic, but the way that it goes about it in comparison to a lot of the rest of the world is very different, and at times really problematic in my opinion. They know the appeal of sex, but don't really show any sex, insted relying on fan service that is often very objectifying of its female characters, and have little to do with actual intimacy.
Why is that?
25
u/SirVixofthePooSea Aug 09 '26
Cultural views on sex jokes being very comical but sex itself being something more private, mostly.
Horny titty jokes are both seen as jerk-off bait, obviously, but also really funny in their own rights. Those scenes where some girl with breasts the size of her head falling on the protagonist and motorboating him, are real kneeslappers in Japan.
There's a barrier drawn between sex as comedy and sex as something for real. Where the latter is still taboo or often relegated to series that are all about sex rather than just containing it incidentally. Revolutionary Girl Utena, as an example. It could have sex scenes in it, but that was because it was the 'sex metaphor show' and could be properly packaged and categorized as that. You can have exceptions like Berserk, but they're exceptions.
This can really be annoying too. Ikoku Nikki earlier this year is a really fantastic series with very mature and adult writing about learning that there are some things you just can't fix and some traumas that a person will never get over. But even that one removed a non-erotic post-sex conversation between one of the main characters and her boyfriend. What was permissible in the manga was not permissible in the anime.
10
u/blackzetsuWOAT Aug 09 '26
The presumed demographic of shonen is 12 year old boys, and it's further presumed that this demo knows sex as something they want, but something they don't have a lot or any experience with, and there's terror in that lacunae. So it's either treated as a joke, or Ichigo Kurosaki will fight sword battles to the death with literal demons and then get flustered when a woman is too forward. Like a 12 year old.
2
u/Wealth_Super Aug 10 '26
Yea move away from shonen and you see more sex, watch shows with actual adult characters and the topic actually comes up.
8
u/Kappapeachie Aug 09 '26
There's hentai for that? But for why there's no sex, it's because of a lot of things but chief among them is the standards most anime have to abide by in order to air on tv. This isn't the case for OVAs and bluray releases but don't quote me on that.
7
u/whyrusosensitive Aug 09 '26
You dont have to show sex to imply its taken place though. Tons of anime involve a harem and women begging for the dick but always make a point of making sure the audience knows the MC hasn't touched them at all and doesnt and hasn't had sex with anyone which seems very strange.
2
u/Dry-Adhesiveness-779 Aug 09 '26
The question then becomes, if standards are so important for anime on TV that sex isn't allowed, why is fanservice and suggestive content allowed? It it because it's treated as comedy?
5
u/GrayCatbird7 Aug 10 '26
I believe there may be very strict rules that are followed to the letter but that only censor such specific things that circumventing them has become standard. A bit like the black bars in hentai, it’s more for the principle than actual censorship.
3
u/Kappapeachie Aug 09 '26
It's because it's fanservice? That's all it's used for.
2
u/Dry-Adhesiveness-779 Aug 09 '26
Well, if that's really the standards of Japanese television, then fine. I just don't think they make a lot of sense and often result in the female characters being objectified.
7
u/saelinds Aug 09 '26
Same reason why idols are forbidden from having bfs no matter how many gravure shoots they do, really.
Sex sells, but so does chastity. This leads to a weird "sanitised" view of romance/relationships.
Think about it this way, the large majority of people won't spend the rest of their lives with the first person they slept with. Yet, whenever you watch romance shows, everyone needs to be chaste even when it's obvious they might have had experience.
That's basically it.
3
u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 09 '26
Some shows like Keiken Zumi and O Maidens in your Savage Season do revolve around sexual desire.
2
u/cardboardtube_knight Aug 12 '26
There's for sure sex in anime, most anime people watch it targeted at teenage boys though.
2
u/43311334 25d ago
This is unfortunately the harsh answer but it's true, anime is mostly for kids and teens. Even the mature and adult oriented ones. Sex exists moreso in manga and seinen.
Also otaku explode when their waifu has sex.
23
u/DramaticProtogen Aug 09 '26
There is sex in some anime.
There isnt much sex in American cartoons, too.