# What's wrong with tentacle hentai? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 15, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501 "2008-04-15T21:51:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/21 "2008-04-15T22:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Mmm, sushi! [/QUOTE] Mmm, calimari, (And as far as octopi/octopodes go, those Japanese maidens speak a language in which nouns are the same in the singular and plural, so they would be screaming “okutopusu!” or something like that, regardless of the number of cephalopods entwining them with their tentacles.) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/22 "2008-04-15T22:55:24Z")
very well. I admit there are probably worse things. Somebody once said that out on the internet, at any given time, somebody was spanking it to both your most horrific. scream-inducing nightmare and your sweetest, most innocent childhood memory… at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/23 "2008-04-15T22:58:42Z")
[QUOTE=KidScruffy] I think the problem is that it de-sensitizes you to the point where, if you see someone actually being raped by some purple alien tentacle, you’re much less likely to call the police, or help out. Hence the widespread call for tentacle samaritan laws. [/QUOTE] Well played, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/24 "2008-04-15T23:18:32Z")
FWIW, it’s my understanding (and I welcome correction) that Japanese “standards of decency” differed somewhat from those of the West a few decades back, when graphic porn (as opposed to photographic porn) was first becoming popular. Key to this was that nudity was not an issue – naked anythings, from Sumo wrestlers to small girls, were legally acceptable. What was not acceptable was intromission – penetration of anything on someone else by a penis. So tentacle porn provided a means of getting around that – an artist could draw an extremely phallic-looking tentacle\* and show it penetrating vagina, mouth, anus, etc., without breaking the law against showing intromission. Personally, the whole concept squicks me out big time – but I found that “fact” (which I have no cite to prove) interesting enough to remember it. - Which gives rise to the question, “Is Cthulhu circumcized?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a8b319/32.png) [@Eben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eben)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/25 "2008-04-15T23:22:45Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] Mmm, calimari, (And as far as octopi/octopodes go, those Japanese maidens speak a language in which nouns are the same in the singular and plural, so they would be screaming “okutopusu!” or something like that, regardless of the number of cephalopods entwining them with their tentacles.) [/QUOTE] Tako! Tako! Seems like there’s some joke fodder there, but a very very poor and tastless joke it would be. -Eben, abusing what little knowlede my Japanese class gave me. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/26 "2008-04-15T23:33:17Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] FWIW, it’s my understanding… that Japanese “standards of decency” differed somewhat from those of the West a few decades back, when graphic porn (as opposed to photographic porn) was first becoming popular. Key to this was that nudity was not an issue… What was not acceptable was intromission – penetration of anything on someone else by a penis. [/QUOTE] I recall being told that this particular censorships dates to the post-war occupation, and may have as its cause one General MacArthur. (I’ll try and find a cite… but I’m a bit wary about googling around Japanese censorship rules here are work). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/27 "2008-04-15T23:40:02Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Just for example, I talked (briefly) with someone who was eagerly waiting for [Charles Ng](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/ng/call_1.html) to be executed - because he thought that might mean that he could use FOIA requests to get a hold of the videotapes that Ng and Lake made of their victims. :eek: [/QUOTE] There are not enough :eek: s in the world for that. Wow. I am actually a bit of a serial killer nut, but watching a special on Ng made me nauseous for a month. What I particularly don’t like about tentacle porn is the emphasis on the size of the tentacles and their tendency to split little Asian girls’ bodies in half, raping and killing them. It just kills my boner. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/28 "2008-04-15T23:49:54Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] \What was not acceptable was intromission – penetration of anything on someone else by a penis. So tentacle porn provided a means of getting around that – an artist could draw an extremely phallic-looking tentacle\* and show it penetrating vagina, mouth, anus, etc., without breaking the law against showing intromission [/QUOTE] Well, Wikipedia says yes and no. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Tentacled creatures appeared in Japanese erotica long before animated pornography; among the most famous of the early instances (and perhaps the first) is a Hokusai woodcut called The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, depicting a woman sexually entwined with a pair of octopi. This woodcut arose in the Edo period in Japan when Shinto was making a resurgence; the resulting animism and a more playful attitude to sexuality combined powerfully in Hokusai’s piece. But: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Toshio Maeda’s manga Urotsukidoji created what might be called the “modern paradigm” of tentacle porn, in which the elements of sexual assault are emphasized. Maeda explained that he invented the practice to get around strict Japanese censorship regulations, which prohibit the depiction of the penis but apparently do not prohibit showing sexual penetration by a tentacle or similar (often robotic) appendage. Looks like someone took a pre-existing common idea and expanded it to get around certain laws. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/29 "2008-04-16T00:08:06Z")
[QUOTE=Eben] My take is that thinking it’s horrible enough that anyone watching it is a serious deviant shows that the person making the statement doesn’t understand true horror. Now if it’s just about it being cartoony, then that’s different. [/QUOTE] “I’m not a sick fuck because some fucks are even sicker” is not a valid defense. “But it’s only _mostly_ violent, degrading rape!” isn’t much better. > [@Eben](#): > > p.s. Egads! Am I publicly defending tentacle hentai?!? Yeah, it’s a little late to pretend that you’re not into this shit. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/30 "2008-04-16T00:47:51Z")
_peeps in, looks around, clears throat_ IMHO, it’s not tentacle hentai in and of itself that has anything “wrong” with it. Most of the ones I have seen (about ten or twelve) have involved aliens and/or cyborgs, which - to my ind - isn’t too far off from having a crush on that one alien chick from Star Trek. (Uhura? Is that right? I never saw it.) The part that squicks me is that nearly every tentacle hentai I’ve ever come across has been non-consensual (to put it mildly!) Of course, this can be said for many non-tentacle hentai, but the problem (for me) lies in trying to sift through to get to the good stuff. As for hentai in general, I can’t take ANY porn seriously, so the funnier the better. Rape does not equal funny. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/31 "2008-04-16T02:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] very well. I admit there are probably worse things. Somebody once said that out on the internet, at any given time, somebody was spanking it to both your most horrific. scream-inducing nightmare and your sweetest, most innocent childhood memory… at the same time. [/QUOTE] It’s keeping me pretty damn busy, too. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/32 "2008-04-16T03:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] It’s not simply that it’s non-consensual, IMNSHO. It’s that the victims in the examples I saw were raped to death, in a most graphic manner. [/QUOTE] Ah, I see. That venerable old classic, _Urotsukidoji_… ( 😛 or one if its many imitators) The biggest sin of the producers IMO was not in doing the archetypal hentai horror flick (with a plot, even!) but going Friday 13 on the concept with endless sequels. Some tentacle-hentai does tend to try and change things around, but of course, without depriving the pervs of their kick. _LA Blue Girl_ has quite a bit of comic relief and the heroine repeatedly triumphs --but only after the multitentacled demon has, um, “won the first round”. So no escape from that… Yes, as has been mentioned before, there is a longstanding tradition of odd sexual representations in Japanese graphic art (see the aforementioned Hokusai print of “Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”) so it’s not surprising to do the bizarro thing in modern animated porn. And yes, to current Western sensitivities, the fact that Japanese pornmongers never got the memo that any connection whatsoever to rape (and for that matter, incest, or adolescents) is supposed to make you run screaming from the room, can be jarring. Combine the two and things look more dire than they are. Japan also produces tons of perfectly normal porn, and just moderately unusual porn. But the deal is, the export audience can already get homegrown normal porn. The novelty, for us outside Japan, is a tape about a strip-rock-scissors-paper tournament where the losers must blow random audience members. 😃 Or, one about alien tentacles. And it seems that among Western pornsumers, the hentai with the stuff that mainstream western porn houses would not touch with a double-condomed ten foot pole, has a very, um, motivated audience. (Hey, where ELSE can this audience go for cartoons about tentacle sex with uniformed schoolgirls at a convent where all the nuns are into WS? :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/33 "2008-04-16T03:38:52Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] “I’m not a sick fuck because some fucks are even sicker” is not a valid defense. “But it’s only _mostly_ violent, degrading rape!” isn’t much better. Yeah, it’s a little late to pretend that you’re not into this shit. [/QUOTE] Jesus, dude. You’re making my dick soft. the writer of this post may or may not be in possession of a penis. It is unlawful to read this post while in the state of Utah. ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@Leah\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leah_M)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/34 "2008-04-16T03:40:48Z")
I don’t find anything inherently ‘wrong’ with it. I’ve even watched some with friends for the entertainment value. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/35 "2008-04-16T03:56:28Z")
It’s a cartoon. I’d rather watch tentacle porn than, say, _Captain Planet_. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/36 "2008-04-16T03:58:46Z")
You mean, tentacles are more erotic than muscular blue men in red underpants? Hm, that’s a tough one. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/37 "2008-04-16T04:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] You mean, tentacles are more erotic than muscular blue men in red underpants? Hm, that’s a tough one. [/QUOTE] Everyone knows that Captain Pollution is the hot one. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/38 "2008-04-16T04:07:44Z")
[QUOTE=Sierra Indigo] Everyone knows that Captain Pollution is the hot one. [/QUOTE] No thanks! Do you have any idea where that’s _been_? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/39 "2008-04-16T04:08:41Z")
Oh, come on- he’s got a green mullet. How is _that_ sexy? ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501/40 "2008-04-16T04:21:13Z")
Well, if his mullet would just morph into some massive nest of writhing horny tentacles, we’d be in business. I wonder if there’s any Captain Planet slash out there? “You can help me save the Earth, Jenny. All you’ve got to do is take off your panties. Quick, there’s no time to waste!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-tentacle-hentai/445501.md?page=3)