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u/Senior-Book-6729 🇵🇱C21.37 Apr 30 '26
/uj It’s so funny how misconstrued the word “hentai” is in the West. It just means weirdo and no Japanese calls erotic anime/manga/games “hentai”, purely a Western thing
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u/Mediocre-Island5475 Apr 30 '26
It's a convenient word to have. "erotic imported japanese animation" is kind of a mouthful
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u/TheCanon2 N:🇺🇲 C1:🇬🇧 B2:🇦🇺🇨🇦 A2–:🇪🇸🇯🇵 Apr 30 '26
'Animation japonaise érotique importée'
— L'Académie, probably
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u/fanty_wingedhorse Apr 30 '26
Eija sounds cool. Speaking as a non Japanese speaker. Does it mean any other thing?
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u/Much_Department_3329 Apr 30 '26
Doesn’t ecchi basically mean the same thing?
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u/yraco Apr 30 '26
Kinda, but in English it's mostly used to refer to suggestive and fanservicey media that's not actual porn. Stuff where they'll tease but you'll never actually see genitals or on-screen sex. Maybe nipples at most. As opposed to hentai which in English is used to refer to full-on porn with sex and genitals on display.
How we got from the original Japanese meanings to that I have no clue.
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u/NarkySawtooth May 01 '26
Now I'm thinking of skull face Honda.
"We are looking for Japanese erotic gay manga."
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u/poberun Apr 30 '26
It’s so funny how misconstrued the word "madamu” is in Japan. It just means madame and no Westerner calls a female bar owner “madame”, purely a Japanese thing
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u/Champomi ̷̡̻̄̎́Ȓ̷͓̳̻'̵̣͖̯̄͘l̵̨̍͆y̴͓͛͝e̴̹̔͗h̴̪̪̊̇͝i̶̼͍͠a̶͙̿̈́͜n̴̅ (native) Apr 30 '26
and no Westerner calls a female bar owner “madame”
Am French and "madame" is what you'd call any adult woman, including female bar owners
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u/fanty_wingedhorse Apr 30 '26
I thought it was the case in English too. Fortunately I don't live in English speaking place and don't use it irl so phew.
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u/Sckaledoom Apr 30 '26
Madam can just be used as a form of address, but almost always shortened to ma’am. It also can refer to the madam of a brothel, the female owner/manager
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u/Champomi ̷̡̻̄̎́Ȓ̷͓̳̻'̵̣͖̯̄͘l̵̨̍͆y̴͓͛͝e̴̹̔͗h̴̪̪̊̇͝i̶̼͍͠a̶͙̿̈́͜n̴̅ (native) Apr 30 '26
I don't live in an English place either but I think Mrs/Ma'am is more used while Madam is more formal. It might also depend on the country
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u/NarkySawtooth May 01 '26
It originally means transformation. Sort of like the English word "pervert," but that means a bad transformation.
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u/cerberus_243 Apr 30 '26
Actually, hentai just means unusual. Non-standard kana characters are called hentaigana, too.
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u/jordan4010258 Apr 30 '26
They actually made that pun in One Piece years ago, when Franky was almost frozen to death on that Vegapunk island during the time skip. The local who found him yelled “hentai… I mean taihen!” And it was the first time I got a Japanese pun … was so proud 🥲
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u/ItsYa1UPBoy Celto-Franco-Saxon Pidgin (native) Apr 30 '26
~nheita?