Hentai
Hentai (変態) is Japanese animation ("anime") or comic-book-style magazines ("manga") with explicit sexual content (see Japanese pornography).
Meaning of the word
Hentai means "perverted" and "transformation" in Japanese. When used in English slang, it generally means Japanese animation or comics with explicit sexual or pornographic content. This usage is not found in Japan, where the word is never used to refer to "normal" sexual content or conduct.
Japanese Law
The actual amount of depictions of sexual activity in "hentai" manga or anime may vary. Article 175 of the Japanese Penal Code forbids publishing of "morally damaging" material, which is currently interpreted to include exposed genitals, so mosaic blurs or solid bars are usually found over the genitals in hentai images. Prior to 1994 this censorship law was also interpreted to include displaying pubic hair, a rule circumvented by simply drawing characters with no pubic hair. This has become very prevalent, even with the advent of a more relaxed interpretation.
