First new content since Otakon! Woooo! It’s mildly NSFW, so continue on after the break.

Personally, I love anime because I think the medium offers the possibility to express more ideas than live-action. When limbs contort, and characters shift in and out of SD, I am in heaven. Just go watch Paprika if you don’t quite know what animation can do for serious storytelling. But sometimes, our visual vocabulary falls short. And then, anime sends mixed messages. It’s about to get NSFW-esque, so let’s continue after the break.

Here’s a scene from Ladies Versus Butlers where the main character Hino Akiharu accidentally gropes Mimina Osawa while eluding pursuit. This is a bad touch situation. Of course, the show is playing it for laughs, since Hino spends most of the first episode on the run from another character who he similarly molested (on accident of course). This whole trope is problematic, of course, but what interests me is how the show depicts Mimina. Notice the flush on her cheeks (even moreso than the rosy color the show gives every girl at the academy) and her arched eyebrows. If it looks familiar it’s because it should.

This still comes from Moonlight Lady. Hardcore, must-fuck-to-release-magical-energy hentai. This is not a lone grope. I stole this screenshot in the middle of an enthusiastic sex scene. Notice how similar the facial expressions are? Same eyebrow positions, same fluster.

True non-consensual sex rape and other situations of questionable consent (the aphrodisiac flowers could be mapped to alcohol, but when a sex-crazed ghost mounts a willing-because-of-magic dude and they both have a good time, what’s really going on? I HAVE NO IDEA) is a core theme of Moonlight Lady, so maybe the two facial expressions appear similar for that reason. HERE’S THE THING, near as I can make out, what you fap to, or what your fetishes are is your private business. Especially if it happens between you, a screen and your hands/toys/tentacle-like appendages. But, as these visual markers for arousal start to show up in ecchi anime for laughs, you’re talking about maybe something else. There, you’re hinting that despite protestations, women like to be manhandled (or womanhandled—see bath episodes) against their will. That they find it arousing. Simply put, that’s not a good message to send.

EDIT: Language changed due to Maverynthia’s recommendation.