What is Ecchi? [Definition, Meaning]

When you read the word ecchi, what do you imagine? Close your eyes a second. Think about it. Ok, what did you see?

Stripped panties? Nudity? Boobs?

Edgy and erotic, ecchi is a distinct thematic element in anime that toes the delicate line between the obscenity and propriety, dipping slightly in smut, while also maintaining a demure veil of restraint. For the decriers of anime, ecchi is possibly one of their main points of contention, associating its titillating content with hentai. Due to its perceived connection to the pornographic, understanding what ecchi is and does can be confusing. With hopes stripping away the misunderstanding, we will lightly probe the history of ecchi and its current usage before looking at it in action within anime.

So, time to ecchi it up.

To even begin exploring ecchi, hentai must also be explicated due to their interrelatedness. While ecchi is not hentai, it can perhaps be said that ecchi is hentai’s child, albeit a child in a raging adolescent. Regarding the usage of these words, hentai in its original Japanese refers to things “non-standard” or “strange.” Though in English hentai is used to describe Japanese pornographic material, in Japanese it can be used to describe both sexually explicit media and behavior. Nonetheless, the term carries connotations of sexual explicitness.

Historically speaking, the word ecchi derives from the “H” in hentai, “ecchi” being the Japanese pronunciation of the English letter. Before it was used as a term when referring to anime and manga, young Japanese people in the 1950s began using ecchi as a slang term for hentai. As the postwar period continued, it developed its own nuanced meaning indicating naughtiness that is not necessarily sexual explicit.

The development of ecchi as a thematic element in anime is also tied to the obscenity laws in Japan. During the post WWII period, depictions of adult genitals were ruled as obscene and censored. In this way, censorship of genitalia displaced sexual focus outside of sex itself, leading to the developments of sexuality within the bounds of censorship.[ *1 ] Within the context of anime, ecchi describes an element that in English is termed as “fan service.” Rather than “real sha-bang,” ecchi offers the hint of the explicit like a skirt blown up by the wind and the flash of shimapan (stripped panties).

Ecchi is largely viewed as oriented for male views and is a common element in shounen and seinen manga due to the sexualized ways in which ecchi anime and manga depicts women’s bodies. With this in mind, it is perhaps easy to view ecchi as exploitative of women’s sexuality. Yet, this is a rather simplistic view of ecchi because it can also be used in anime to explore and test our own views of sexuality as can be seen in shows like Kill la Kill and Panty, Stocking, and Garter Belt.

However, it’s one thing to talk about ecchi and another to see it in action. The following is a small sampling of recommended ecchi anime:

[*1] Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan, Anne Allison, pg.149-154

Hopefully this has fully titillated your interest in ecchi. As we can see, ecchi embodies a border between the obscene and the proper within the context of Japanese society. Though many argue ecchi poorly represents women, it can at the same time be an element critiquing and revealing the modern ideals about sexuality and propriety. If you have any questions, complaints, comments, or concerns with ecchi or the anime recommended, please leave a message below!