Eye of the Beholder: The Elegant Succubus

New site is up and running!

2011-07-18T23:25:00.005-04:00

I am pleased to announce that after MANY hours of work, my new site is up and running. Any future posts will be on the new site, so be sure to stop by!

http://elegantsuccubus.com/

So far, I've transferred the Animated Futanari Compendium and posted a new doujinshi translation project. Please be patient as I'm still learning all that Wordpress has to offer.

Good news!

2011-06-22T21:37:00.004-04:00

Thanks to all of the informative and encouraging comments and e-mails I received (you guys and gals are awesome!), I've decided to continue my blog, but on a different site. Please bear with me as I spend time learning an entire new blog engine and the intricacies of web hosting. Once my new site is up-and-running, I'll post a link here.

My new blog will have a slightly expanded vision, and below is a mysterious teaser image for what I plan to be an epic introductory post when my new site is up and running. I hope to see you all again soon!

I'd be VERY surprised if anyone knows who this is.

All Good Things...

2011-06-10T08:22:00.009-04:00

I was preparing my next long overdue post when I received an e-mail from Google stating:
"We've recently received reports that inappropriate content has been posted to your Google Account for Picasa Web Albums. One or more photos displayed in your gallery violates our Program Policies and has been removed. Please note that if you continue to violate these Program Policies, we may suspend your Picasa Web Albums account."

In my case, the "one or more" images that were removed turned out to be one of my two large folders of images on this blog, including every single animated GIF. I spent hours compiling and organizing these images, and now they are all gone. Bloggers on blogger.com have no choice but to use Google's Picasa Web Albums as the storage location for all blog images posted.

When initially conceiving my site, I had assumed blogger.com would be an appropriate venue since I could choose to classify the blog as "contains adult content". However, if I had known that Google could decide to outright delete anything that "contains adult content", I obviously would never have selected blogger.com in the first place.

Note that the one remaining folder of images on this blog contains content similar to that of the content in the folder that Google deemed offensive. Therefore, you may see other images drop off in the future if they are selected for deletion. I am truly disappointed by Google's actions, pretending to accept blogs with adult content and then turning around and deleting such content. Since it's clear to me now that Google can delete blog content at their whim, I have no desire to make any further updates here.

However, I would consider continuing this blog's content on another more receptive blogging site... one that doesn't just SAY they allow adult content but truly ALLOWS adult content. If anyone knows of such a site, let me know, and I may decide to continue further updates there. If I do continue at a new site, I will definitely post a link here. ^_^

I want to thank all of the great visitors and subscribers to this blog for their fascinating comments and insight into drawn Japanese erotica. Thank you!

To keep up to date on all new Shimoyakedou doujinshi releases, you can visit his Doujinshi Mugimugi entry which other fans of his works are now keeping up-to-date.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #12

2011-03-06T14:37:00.007-05:00

(Updated 24-Jul-2011) Congratulations to Kusojijii for winning the final DDC on this old blog with a submission that leads in very nicely to the theme of the next one. Future challenges will be on my new blog.

Congratulations to Xion for winning previous Challenge #11!

INSTRUCTIONS: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some "situational information" in brackets. The person who submits the most creative and laughter-inducing entry will be declared the winner and join the illustrious ranks of past winners:

This latest challenge comes from the emotion-filled 4-part story 'Melt' at the beginning of Cuvie's tankobon 'Shitai Kara Suru No / I Do It Because I Want To'. This panel occurs at the very end of a flashback induced by Mitsuki's attempt to give Kazuki (the male lead) a blowjob. Although the flashback is quite horrific in nature, this breathtakingly beautiful panel at its end is what prompted me to investigate this story. In fact, it turned out to be one of the best love-triangle-themed erotic works I've ever read, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Top 15 H-Anime Scenes of ALL Time

2011-02-11T18:00:00.013-05:00

ALL 3 PARTS AVAILABLE!

It wasn't easy, but after much deliberation, I have finally identified and ranked my all-time favorite h-anime scenes in order from #15 to #1. It was originally going to be a 'top ten', but I just couldn't narrow it down without feeling like I'd be omitting some greatness. If any of these scenes just happen to be one of your favorites as well, definitely post a comment on which one it was!

With the exceptions of #14 and #11, I strongly recommend the entire shows that each of these scenes come from. Many of these titles are commercially available on DVD, and I would be elated beyond words if this post prompted blog visitors to purchase one or more of them. My challenge to you: Identify your all-time favorite licensed h-anime title that you don't own on DVD and buy it. Just be sure that you're getting the official version and not a bootleg. If anyone accepts and completes this challenge, please accept my gratitude, and be sure to comment on which title you bought and why.

Many thanks to mustang17 at Hentalia for helping put together these compilations.

Shiki

2011-02-08T22:26:00.014-05:00

Okay, I just can't help it. This impromptu post is completely unrelated to the main theme of this blog, but I just have to get this off my chest.

Now I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, and I rarely watch an entire show in the span of 3 days, but my GOD, the 22 episode anime Shiki completely blew my mind... so much so that I only got two hours of sleep the night after I finished it. The reason for my restlessness was not because of its horror theme (although it was very creepy at times) but rather the intense and thought-provoking moral quandary I was in as I thought about it all night. In particular, I can't get my mind off of the intensity of episodes 14 and 22, which feature several of the most emotionally powerful scenes I've ever witnessed in any show, animated or otherwise. When I ask myself "How would I act if I were that character in that situation?", and it's not a clear-cut answer... that's when I know the show has some deep meanings.

Shiki features a fascinating and diverse cast of characters, an intelligently written plot, and intense emotional situations that raise a whole host of moral questions. Do not miss this great show.

09-FEB-2011 EDIT: After some further introspection, I now know why I love this show so much: the characters. I cared so much about the characters and what was going to happen to them. (Well, everyone except Masao. I can't imagine anyone liking him). Whether it be Megumi's and Shizuru's extreme hotness, Toshio's determination, Sunako's enigmatic nature, Ritsuko's kindness, Kaori's trepidation... I could go on and on, but it's clearly the well-developed characters that get the viewer emotionally invested.

This animated GIF shows that Shiki isn't completely devoid of a little ecchi content. Go, Megumi!

Koe de Oshigoto! The Animation

2011-02-02T22:23:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack of new posts recently. Although I have been keeping my compendiums up-to-date... ^_^

Although I haven't yet read the manga on which it is based, I wanted to bring to your attention the first episode in a great new daring OVA series: Koe de Oshigoto! The Animation. Having just finished Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, I was pleasantly surprised how much further KdO took its subject matter. The plot revolves around Kanna, a shy girl who decides to help her older sister at work by serving as a voice actor. It sounds fairly innocent, right? Well, her sister is in the eroge business, which means Kanna has to learn to say all sorts of naughty things in front of others at the studio.

Plus, she has an amazing ability that is revealed at the end of the episode. Don't miss it!

Yeah, you tell 'em, Kanna!

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #11

2010-12-04T10:07:00.011-05:00

(Updated Mar 6, 2011) Xion wins this challenge with a hilarious entry that had me on the floor laughing. Ivan's "We need to go deeper" entry was a VERY close second.

Congratulations to TheCampbell AGAIN for winning previous Challenge #10!

INSTRUCTIONS: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some "situational information" in brackets. The person who submits the most creative and laughter-inducing entry will be declared the winner and join the illustrious ranks of past winners.

This latest challenge comes from the delicious and extremely well-drawn short story The Girl from that One Time (あの時の彼女, Ano Toki No Kanojo) by Sahashi Ren'ya (左橋レンヤ) from COMIC TENMA 2009-04. While visiting a neighboring city, Yuuya suddenly finds himself bewitched when he sees a gorgeous girl in passing. It coincidentally turns out that this girl is actually Mayama from his high school class, although he doesn't recognize her because she has changed her appearance. SHE recognizes HIM, though, and wastes no time seducing him to alleviate her intense need for sexual relief. The charm of this story comes from the fact that Yuuya previously stated he had absolutely no interest in any of the girls in his class because they were too "childish", yet he unknowingly becomes completely enchanted by Mayama. It's a shame this is just a short story and not part of a larger work... It would be neat to see the events leading up to Yuuya's discovery of Mayama's true identity. Be sure to check out Brolen's wonderful translation. (My only minor quibble is the awkward use of the word "chick" in place of "onee-san").

The panel shown above occurs just after Yuuya ejaculates on Mayama due in no small part to her sensual paizuri. Wanting relief herself, she removes her panties and spreads her legs wide, giving him a really good look deep inside her. His shocked reaction isn't surprising seeing as how this is his first time being with a girl. However, I'm betting the creative readers of this blog can think of some rather humorous spins as to why he's reacting like that. ^_^ Good luck!

'Top 10 H-Anime Scenes' - Reader Suggestions

2010-11-26T08:28:00.009-05:00

In preparation for the long-awaited release of the 'Top 10 Most Faptastic/Shlicktastic H-Anime Scenes', what scenes do YOU think should be on the list and, just as important, why?

Hetero, yuri, futanari, solo... anything goes, but please limit suggestions to specific scenes and encounters, not entire episodes. Suggestions can even come from ecchi titles that border on hentai. Although high animation quality definitely adds a lot to a scene, don't discount sultry voice acting, alluring character designs, unique settings, passion intensity, and even the background musical score when sharing what you feel are the best scenes ever conceived. You may comment on as many scenes as you want, but please put effort into explaining why you find each scene so faptastic/shlicktastic.

Now's the time to pay tribute to the best-of-the-best in the world of hentai.

(TRANSLATION) Kuronekotachi no Kyouen

2010-11-19T17:00:00.003-05:00

TITLE: 黒猫たちの饗宴 ~La Banquet de Chat Noir~
Kuronekotachi no Kyouen ~La Banquet de Chat Noir~
Feast of the Black Cats ~La Banquet de Chat Noir~
AUTHOR: 春風ソヨグ Harukaze Soyogu
CIRCLE: Gust
PARODY: Noir
THEME: Yuri
PAGES: 34
ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE: Dec 30, 2001
ENGLISH RELEASE: Nov 19, 2010
TRANSLATOR: The Elegant Succubus
EDITOR: Beotkkot (Thank you SO much!)
PLOT SUMMARY: Having already given her emotional, heartfelt letter to Mireille, Kirika has yet to act on the strong feelings she has for her. When Mireille asks Kirika to recite the letter, the mood suddenly gets a bit romantic... Will Kirika finally open up and be true to herself? Will we finally discover whether or not Mireille wears panties underneath that large button-down shirt she likes to lounge around in? (C'mon... Everyone who saw episode 11 had to be wondering that. ^_^ The cover kind of spoils it, though.)
DOWNLOAD LINKS: RapidShare , MediaFire

Yes, I'm a Noir nut. What can I say? I've never seen a show that focuses almost entirely on developing two pairs of female characters. Given that, it's quite odd that the show is practically devoid of any ecchi content such as nudity and panty shots with the obvious single exception being a certain water-reflection scene towards the end. I still remember closely following the US release dates of the DVDs as they were being released in painfully slow 4 episodes per month intervals. The final DVD seemed like it lasted mere minutes. The show also introduced me to the immaculate goddess Yuki Kajiura who quickly became my all-time favorite music composer... yes, even beating out John Williams.

This doujinshi and the other two in this Gust trilogy are easily my favorite erotic parodies of Noir. This first title features great artwork that mimics the official character designs and even opens with an action scene. It offers authentic portrayals of the characters' personalities and includes major plot themes. However, it also lets the characters deviate slightly so as to explore erotic aspects of their relationships that the anime only hinted and cruelly teased at. Alas, part of me wishes there was more focus on the loving yuri elements that pages 14 and 15 did so well. If the whole doujinshi involved Kirika and Mireille cuddling together nude and exploring each others' contrasting bodies, I would have no complaints.

Stay tuned for the second doujinshi in this trilogy. Enter Chloe! (What a misleading cover this first title had).

Top 30 Doujinshi/Ero-Manga - Part 3 of 6

2010-10-14T18:41:00.006-04:00

TITLE: Hanafuda / 華札
AUTHOR: okama
RELEASE DATE: Oct, 2002
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Original
THEME: Drama, Action, Straight Sex, Group Sex ; PAGES: 116 (Full Color)

In Hanafuda, artist Okama takes the most uniquely artistic approach to eroticism that I have ever seen. Although I am no expert in the field, every single page "feels" like a painting from Japanese times of old, lovingly crafted for what seems could have only been hours on end, all in full exquisite color. In addition to the eye-catching pale-skinned characters and their intricately designed clothing, the artist focuses just as much attention on the backgrounds and nature elements. Leaves, flowers, trees, wheat, landscapes, mountains, towns, butterflies, deer, birds, foxes, and more adorn page after page, immersing the reader in the world Okama has so wonderfully envisioned. The last time I felt such a strong immersion in nature was when I saw the movie Mononoke-hime.

The book's story is one I have not heard before: a unique interweaving tale of the love, betrayal, revenge, and heartbreak of two pairs of lovers. Unlike typical sex-driven ero-manga, not one of Hanafuda's numerous sexual encounters comes across as forced or unnatural. Although there is one specific encounter that some readers may find objectionable, each sex scene further enhances the story as well as the depictions and motivations of the well-conceived characters: the honorable and self-driven Izuna, the beautiful and tender Kiri-hime, the sex-inebriated Yone-nobu, the enigmatic transforming Kitsune, and the two cruel "ogres" (hardly resembling the classic fantasy creature) named Red and Blue. A commenter simply known as 'C' on Hentai Rules states: "I felt I was reading more of a manga with great sex scenes than a hentai with a storyline." My thoughts, exactly.

Also, I have an extreme fondness for antagonists who are portrayed with believable motivations and emotions as it allows me to relate to them and be concerned with their fates just as much as the protagonists. The scene in which Red is holding Blue in her arms as Izuna approaches is fascinating in that regard... The reader can suddenly FEEL the wave of emotions running through Red at that moment making the subsequent scene sad beyond words.

Another fascinating aspect of this book is that each of the twelve chapters is themed around the flower themes and special cards of the twelve suits of the Hanafuda Japanese playing cards. For example, the chapter titled Peony has the characters huddled amidst peony flowers and butterflies, that suit's special card. If you read this book while cross-checking with the detailed card list in the Hanafuda wikipedia article, you will discover the unique ways the artist integrated the special cards into the story. I finally understood why the girls in the Chrysanthemum chapter were all laying in a large sake cup. ^_^

In regards to presentation, Hanafuda is an absolute visual delight. Panels are well designed, structured, and organized, and the high attention to detail continues from start to finish. The large multi-colored kanji title on the cover is an eye-catching glossy embossment, and the book itself is A4 sized (8 1/4" x 11 3/4"), slightly larger than a standard doujinshi. I also want to thank the team of dedicated fans who spent months putting together the exquisite English release: their translation and editing were top-notch, and the font choices blend wonderfully with the artwork. If you're a fan of Japanese drawn erotica, you absolutely must check out this breathtaking title, one that truly adds the "art" to "erotic art".

TITLE: Favo 1
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Manitou / Nakajima Rei
RELEASE DATE: Original: Aug 13, 2006; "Tipe R" Version: Sep 20, 2006
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Disgaea / Etna x Laharl
THEME: Straight Sex, Humor; PAGES: 24 (B&W)

TITLE: Favo 2
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Manitou / Nakajima Rei
RELEASE DATE: Original: Dec 31, 2006; "Tipe R" Version: Apr 25, 2007
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Disgaea / Etna x Laharl
THEME: Straight Sex, Humor; PAGES: 24 (B&W)

The lack of high quality Disgaea doujinshi parodies involving Etna is a sad shame. The uniqueness of her wonderfully envisioned visual design as well as her carefree yet crafty personality warrants her inclusion in many more titles than currently exist. For a time, Studio Katsudon's Makai Ojou was my favorite...

Then I ran across this seductive panel on an image board, prompting my furious search for its source. I quickly identified the artist as Nakajima Rei upon discovering his art style... in particular, his trademark lettering "NI" that he writes on the cheeks of every character. Although I was certain I had found the drawing's source when I discovered the immensely enjoyable Favo, I was sadly mistaken. I then learned that there was a sequel, Favo 2, but online scans were nowhere to be found to confirm. After tracking down and ordering physical copies of both titles, I was delighted upon opening Favo 2 and turning to the second page. ^_^

Favo begins with Laharl getting upset with Etna when she forgets to record his favorite TV program. When she teases him that he should watch more kid-oriented shows, he tries to "prove his adult manliness" by pushing Etna down and having his way with her. She accepts the submissive role, but Laharl's clear lack of sexual experience comes to the forefront as he ejaculates prematurely over Etna's invitingly exposed rear. From this point onward, Etna takes command and things get a bit more interesting...

However, Favo ends on a rare note: It concludes without a climactic finish. Just as the prior events and their expressions indicate they are about to have a powerful shared orgasm, Etna cruelly disengages, much to Laharl's dismay. The doujinshi hints at a sequel which author Nakajima Rei provides several months later with Favo 2, a great conclusion to their sexual exploits.

Nakajima's drawing style is perfectly suited for the character designs of Laharl and Etna, and his depictions of them look almost official, giving these two doujinshi a strong air of authenticity. Etna's attire and appearance, including her delightful lack of breasts, is meticulously recreated. Although one might think that her flat chest is the reason for the lack of breast-play in these two stories, breasts typically play a very small role in all of this artist's works, even when well-endowed characters such as Xenosaga's Kos-mos and Shion are featured. The artist's earlier drawing style in which he drew the nipples with the same shade as the surrounding flesh even further downplays the presence of the characters' exposed breasts.

Instead, Nakajima focuses his attention on drawing what I feel are among the most dynamic and cutest depictions of vaginas and butts. First, Nakajima draws some of the most provocative "present oneself and look back" angles, with my favorite depiction shown to the left... Hell, even her anus looks cute in this drawing. Another example occurs near the beginning of Favo 2 just after Etna drops her panties and sits back. Her coy vaginal spreading is drawn in such a way that gives it immense depth, transforming it from a simple slit to a deep, multi-layered channel of visual seduction. The artist even goes so far as to acknowledge how her firm tail contorts the soft flesh of her surrounding butt cheeks.

The only quibble I have is that the action in Favo and Favo 2 moves so rapidly that there is sometimes little or no transition from one sexual act to the next. Both doujinshi are primarily just a series of sexual positions rising in intensity without any real narrative.

Although there are several minor Etna x Laharl feature-ettes by this author in Destino de Abril and Favo 3, I wholeheartedly recommend Favo and Favo 2 given that they focus entirely on this pairing. If you do manage to find physical copies, make sure you get the "Tipe R" versions since they feature less censoring and, to the discerning eye, slightly more provocative cover art: Etna exposes more of her vulva, hikes her skirt up further, and squeezes her breast tighter.

TITLE: Remake / リメイク
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: House of Karsea (ハウスオブ KARSEA) / Syouji (将司)
RELEASE DATE: Sep 18, 2005
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Azumanga Daioh (あずまんが大王) / Osaka x Unnamed Male
THEME: Straight Sex, Humor; PAGES: 34 (B&W)

It's not very often you run across a character as unique as Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh. She sees the world in her own very peculiar way, and I was intrigued to see how her character would behave in a sexual encounter.

When I first stumbled across House of Karsea's Remake doujinshi, I was astounded by the artwork and character designs that were so extremely faithful to the series. It's so good, in fact, that if it didn't evolve into an ero-doujinshi, I might have guessed it was official. Even the plot, which starts out completely innocent, would fit right in with the show: The unnamed male protagonist is forced by his peers to jokingly "confess his love" to any girl in his class. He chooses Kasuga thinking that she will no doubt reject him which would immediately end the charade. Imagine his surprise when she instantly accepts his offer before even learning his name.

As they continue on as boyfriend and girlfriend, the story maintains its innocence until the guy, deciding he wants more out of the relationship than hearing her random thoughts all day, gropes her breast. This leads to what is easily the funniest bit in the entire doujinshi: Kasuga's moaning. Unlike traditional "ah's" and "oh's", Kasuga emits a rather odd "ふえ" (fu-eh) sound that somehow manages to turn the guy on. Her later awkward attempt to sound normal by forcing herself to moan more traditionally is very reminiscent of what I believe to be the funniest moment in all of hentai... Check out this brief clip from Daiakuji episode 6, and tell me it doesn't cause you to laugh out loud.

Kasuga's sexual encounter remains rather traditional and isn't nearly as weird as I thought it would have been. Thankfully, Kasuga's uniqueness resurfaces again after the encounter when she discusses the concept of "blue cum". The story has several very brief cameos from other Azumanga characters, and the events of what happens immediately after the classic scene from the show in which Kasuga loses a shoe while walking home from school with Chiyo is a nice touch.

Between House of Karsea's awesome artwork and Yuecchi's excellent translation and editing, this title is a must for Azumanga Daioh fans seeking a well-produced erotic parody.

TITLE: Flossy Frosty
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Rapid Rabbit (急行兎) / Tomotsuka Haruomi (ともつか治臣) aka MrPavlov (Mr パブロフ)
RELEASE DATE: Dec 28, 2008
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Final Fantasy XI / Shiva x Unnamed Male
THEME: Straight Sex, Drama; PAGES: 56 (B&W)

To fully appreciate this doujinshi, one should familiarize oneself with the official origins of Final Fantasy XI's Shiva which one can find nicely translated on this wiki. This plot-driven doujinshi uses the official tale as the backbone for the first of its two stories...

First Story: The Mirror's Illusion
Although the first story is rooted in the official canon, author and artist Tomotsuka Haruomi noticeably diverges via some shocking and graphic twists that I will not spoil here, further depicting Shiva as an even more tragic and emotionally fragile character. Her deep-blushed reaction upon baring her body to her determined male visitor serves as the beginning of her internal emotional struggle as she rediscovers the warmth of physical pleasure... an experience she has not had in a long time.

Adorning the underside of Shiva's large breasts are ice-like textures that give them a fresh and unique visual design and make them a constant eye-catching highlight throughout the story as well as a subject of curiosity in her partner. Immediately after Shiva exposes her breasts, her companion gently fondles one of them and is strikingly amazed at its warmth given its ice-laced appearance. He then embarrasses her even further by commenting on their immense size after comparing them with those of her past human form portrayed on a nearby painting. Although Shiva's sexually-pronounced outward appearance initially conceals the deep emotional scars from her past, her introspection amidst the ensuing passionate love-making causes her long pent-up emotions to rise to the surface as evident in her wonderfully drawn teary-eyed expression on the bottom panel of page 19. In fact, the physical/emotional dichotomy of this encounter is what I found to be the most fascinating aspect of the first story. Whereas many artists would simply take Shiva's visual design and use it for a shallow, uninspired sex story, author Tomotsuka-san takes it one step further and imbues her with true emotion. Great stuff!

Second Story: My Shining Star
The second story does not contain the elaborate backgrounds, plot, and flashbacks from the first. However, it does include the same two characters in the first story as well as introducing a new male summoner and his own Shiva "copy": an alternate version of Shiva who can be summoned indefinitely from a crystal as long as the true "mother" Shiva from the first story exists. Although these Shiva copies are typically nothing more than empty emotionless shells who do their summoner's bidding, the Shiva copy in this story somehow acquires feelings, and her emotional bond to her summoner is what leads her to the brink of death as she nearly sacrifices her own existence to save him. Although he could summon another Shiva copy upon her disappearance, he simply cannot bear to see this specific Shiva die and desperately seeks the aid of the true Shiva to save her. As the dying copy resigns to her fate, she requests that her master take care of the next Shiva he summons, implying that her unique identity... her memories, experiences, and feelings for him... would be completely lost if she did expire, adding an emotional significance to her existence.

During this Shiva's ensuing sexual encounter, her breasts become a focal point as they grow in size as her master continues to fill her with his seed. In fact, the transformation of her entire body from child-like and near-death to voluptuous and healthy makes for a rather unique and appealing visual progression throughout the story. To top it all off, there's even a little sumata thrown in for good measure. Although My Shining Star lacks the detailed polish of the first story, it is still a very enjoyable follow-up, giving the reader two doujinshi for the price of one.

Although I was amused by FF13's twin Shiva tribadism transformation sequence, I find myself yearning to see Shiva's character rise beyond just an elaborate summoning scene. However, with each passing FF game, I continue to be let down with her shallow portrayals, and I never would have thought that my favorite depiction of this fascinating character would be in an ero-doujinshi. Both stories feature excellent artwork, captivating emotion-filled character portrayals, and passionate love-making, making this doujinshi the best Shiva-themed title out there and one that I am very proud to own.

As I was doing online research for this review, I was delighted to discover that Tomotsuka-san is also the artist for some of my favorite stand-alone drawings featuring monster-girls. His earlier works focused on female characters and monsters from Final Fantasy XI, including Garuda, Shiva, mithra, Marilith, and other lamias.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #10 - BONUS!

2010-06-21T21:33:00.019-04:00

(Updated Dec 4, 2010) TheCampbell wins yet AGAIN with this creative entry for one of my favorite doujinshi panels ever drawn. If you've ever seen Magic Eye pictures in the past, you know how just visually absorbing they can be. Likening Kirika's complete absorption in Mireille's breast to the visual captivation of Magic Eye pictures is a brilliant comparison! Note to TheCampbell: Since you won this challenge, you get to select a doujinshi scene you'd like to see featured in the future. However, I can't contact you because your google account is not available, so please e-mail me with your selection. Thanks!

Congratulations to Anonymous for winning previous Challenge #9!

This scene comes from circle Gust's 2001 doujinshi La banquet de Chat Noir (Kuronekotachi no Kyouen, 黒猫たちの饗宴), the first in a wonderful three doujinshi parody of the anime Noir, one of my favorite shows. In the opening action sequence of this doujinshi, Kirika saves Mireille's life, after which they return to Mireille's apartment to tend to Kirika's wounds. However, one thing leads to another, and Mireille's innocent flirting causes Kirika to become overwhelmed with passion. Mireille must be one hell of a kisser to elicit Kirika's cute shuddering climax just moments into their yuri-licious encounter.

The following scene (the panel in this challenge) shows Kirika relaxing her head on Mireille's chest while gently cradling and admiring Mireille's bared right breast, commenting on how envious she is of its size, warmth, and softness. Mireille downplays Kirika's admiration by saying that her breasts are really just an annoyance in her profession as an assassin-for-hire. This adorable scenario and the contrast between Mireille's apathetic expression and Kirika's entranced stare make this one of my favorite doujinshi panels... ALMOST as good as page 17 of Ayanami Shiro. I've been waiting forever to use this panel in one of these challenges.

The rules are simple: I've removed the original dialogue from this doujinshi scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. Feel free to use either dialogue order sequence: "A followed by B" or "B followed by A". The most creative entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

...BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

To show my appreciation for the great ongoing participation and creatively humorous entries over the past nine Doujinshi Dialogue Challenges™, I've decided to offer a special bonus privilege to the winner of this momentous tenth challenge. To be eligible, your posted comment must include an e-mail address at which I can contact you if you do win. You can either (i) include your e-mail address directly in the text of your comment entry or (ii) create a google ID such that your e-mail address is linked when hovering over your name in your comment (a better way to avoid potential spam). Anonymous entries or those with no e-mail information can still win the challenge but will not be eligible for the bonus privilege since I will have no way of contacting and confirming the lucky winner.

I bet you're all wondering: "What is this bonus privilege!?" Well, the winner of this challenge gets the distinct honor of selecting the very next doujinshi scene that will be used in the upcoming 11th Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge. Let the contest begin!

The Thinning Line Between Ecchi and Hentai

2010-06-17T19:14:00.017-04:00

Mainstream anime series continue to slowly push the limits of mainstream-accepted sexual content by integrating subject matter that was formally only present in hentai titles. Perhaps the most daring scene yet occurred in the fourth episode of The Qwaser of Stigmata. Having already been completely smitten with the young Ekaterina from the moment she first laid eyes on her in episode 3, Hana returns to her home at the end of episode 4 to find that Ekaterina is already inside uninvited. What follows is one of the most amazingly erotic sequences I've ever seen in animation...

[Rapidshare Link]

And with that, in-your-face cunnilingus now becomes an acceptable act to depict in mainstream anime... Awesome! (Readers: I'm fairly certain this episode features the very first such depiction in a non-h title, but please correct me if I'm wrong). This VERY erotic scene, more so than many hentai titles manage to achieve, is fascinating on so many levels:

> Although Ekaterina's brief offering of her vagina to Hana earlier in the episode was only a coy seductive tease, in this scene she completely gives herself to Hana, who eats her up with the utmost enthusiasm. This act of cunnilingus serves as a plot element to cement their new relationship as "Qwaser" (a being with supernatural control over a chemical element) and "Maria" (a Qwaser's partner who provides energy via breast-milk). Click on the animated GIF to the right for the most daring display in this entire scene: a 12-frame sequence in which we see underneath Ekaterina's spread legs, just below her exposed butt (the bottom of both cheeks plainly visible), as Hana slowly licks up and down. I never thought I'd see THAT in a mainstream anime... and that's not a complaint. ^_^

> Hana's transformation in this scene from an arrogant bitch to a completely submissive servant is perhaps the quickest and most drastic personality shift I've ever seen in any character in any story. When she was first introduced, I never would have guessed the outwardly tough Hana would have ended up like she did... a testament to Ekaterina's powerful seductive skills.

> The fact that Ekaterina doesn't wear panties underneath her gothic laced skirt and yet isn't afraid to make that fact known is quite a provocative character design trait, wouldn't you say?

> The animation and drawing quality in this scene are especially superb. Hana's dazed, wide-eyed reaction just after Ekaterina lifts her skirt is full of euphoric bliss, and the extreme close-up of Ekaterina's narrowing eyes as she looks down at Hana who is slowly and uncontrollably drawn to her vagina is an expression of "you're all mine now". What a fascinating character relationship...

> Ever since I discovered that the popular seiyuu Asakawa Yuu voiced the succulent Nailkaizer in Angel Blade (I'll never be able to look at Azumanga Daioh's Sakaki the same way ever again), it's always a treat hearing professional mainstream seiyuu in erotic scenes. Although this is the first time I've heard Hikasa Yoko (Hana), I've enjoyed Hirano Aya's (Ekaterina) roles in many other shows, including Misa in Death Note and Lumiere in Kiddy Grade. Ekaterina's sudden gasp and ensuing soft breathing as Hana makes contact with her vagina wonderfully complements Hana's emphatic and overjoyed moaning as she eats her out. The calm, soothing background music fits the mood very nicely.

> As if that wasn't enough, this scene features an exquisite nipple erection sequence... the second non-h title to do so. It's also one of the most unique in that, unlike all other such scenes, Hana's nipple erection is prompted solely by mental stimulation... Although Ekaterina did tweak Hana's nipples earlier, there was no tactile or magic-induced influence immediately preceding their erection. Ekaterina's sudden lifting of her skirt, revealing her bare vagina no doubt prompts Hana's recollection of an earlier scene in which Ekaterina suckled on her nipples. This is such a huge mental shock to Hana that her nipples, which are now the new conduits for replenishing Ekaterina's powers, start to pulsate, harden, and lengthen beneath her clothing. Thankfully, the viewer is offered a transparent view to see the erection in all its glory. Be sure to check out Hana's entry on the Animated Nipple Erection Compendium.

It's a shame the scene cuts away before the conclusion of their encounter. None of the really naughty bits are shown onscreen, but that only adds to the stimulate the viewer's imagination. Based upon Hana's deliriously euphoric reaction upon seeing Ekaterina's exposed vagina, it must be quite delectable indeed.

If anime titles continue to push the sexual boundaries like The Qwaser of Stigmata, the line between ecchi and hentai will become so blurred that the two genres will merge together as one. This will be a very good thing since animated erotic storytelling has been sorely inhibited by traditional h-anime formatting. Three OVA episodes is simply not enough time to properly develop characters, motivations, and plots. With erotic content now expanding into 13+ episode series, though, deeper character development and more detailed plots support the erotic scenes, making them even more powerful.

Dante's Inferno - Breast Physics

2010-03-21T13:48:00.004-04:00

Refer to my updated In Support of Bouncing Breasts essay for details on another fascinating breakthrough in the world of video game breast physics engines. Visceral Games did a magnificent job in its portrayal of a topless Cleopatra, the boss of the second circle of Dante's hell (Lust), and deservingly joins Namco Bandai and Team Ninja as a premiere developer in the world of breasts physics engines.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #9

2010-02-28T13:33:00.008-05:00

(Updated June 22, 2010) Anonymous wins this challenge with a well-placed reference to the great old American-produced cartoon She-ra. A super-heroine whose alter-ego transformation is triggered by exposing her breasts and receiving a full-body ejaculation sounds like a great ero-manga concept, if you ask me. Just think of all the erotic comedy hijinks that would ensue between her and her likely male sidekick... "C'mon, CUM on me already! Hordak's getting away!" ^_^

Congratulations to TheCampbell for winning previous Challenge #8!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The most creative entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

This scene comes from the short story Honeymoon by Sasagawa Hayashi (笹川ハヤシ) from COMIC Mujin 2009-02. After transfer student Nagafune Miya joins a rooftop sexual encounter already in progress between her fellow student Hideo and their teacher, they compete to see who can please him the most. As Hideo climaxes from the overwhelming pleasure induced by the teacher's act of paizuri, Miya extends her arms wide and revels in the resulting ejaculatory shower. Like most all new transfer students in Japanese fiction, though, Miya is more than she appears... just look at her shadow!

This scene is ripe for potential hilarity... May the best entry win!

Top 30 Doujinshi/Ero-Manga - Part 2 of 6

2010-02-22T21:51:00.011-05:00

I now bring you the next five titles in my ongoing series of my "Top 30 Doujinshi/Ero-Manga". Have any of your favorite titles shown up in my list thus far?

With a few exceptions, I own all of the titles that I will be presenting in this series. Do you physically own any doujinshi or eromanga? If not, why not? If so, what prompts you to buy them, how many do you own, and where do you put them (on display, on shelves, hidden away in boxes)?

TITLE: Naked Association / 裸のつきあい
ARTIST: Nekomata Naomi (猫又なおみ)
RELEASE DATE: Nov 25, 2007 (from Futanarikko Lovers 6)
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Original
THEME: Futanari; PAGES: 16 (B&W)

Artist Nekomata Naomi (猫又なおみ) has been a favorite of mine ever since I discovered the wonderful futanari story Naked Association. Non-traditionally, neither of the two female leads in this story are named, but that does not detract from the story. The scenario is brilliant in its simplicity and quick execution: When asked if they want to go to an open air bath, they both decline. After their friends leave, the first girl drops her skirt and pulls down on her panties to show the other girl a large butterfly tattoo, which reveals why she cannot go with them. (Tattoos are forbidden in most Japanese public baths). She assumes that the other girl is in the same situation and starts to pull on her pants to see what her tattoo looks like. SURPRISE! Not only is there no tattoo, the ~~other girl's~~ futanari's full blown erection, prompted by the other girl's unexpected skirt-dropping, suddenly erupts in the intruding girl's hands due to it being her first experience of someone touching her penis.

The contrast in comfort level between the two girls is what makes this story a pure delight. I especially like the shy, submissive futanari's reactions as she allows her eager, dominant friend to "apologize" by initiating various sexual techniques. The surprise kiss on page 10 is beyond cute, but page 13 features what I feel is the best drawing in the story: As the tattooed girl sits atop the other girl whose penis is buried deep inside her while their breasts are docked, she stares off into the distance, showing her very first signs of losing herself to pleasure. The x-ray view, although simply drawn, imbues the scene with even more passion as the reader sees just how fully united they are. This drawing also highlights Naomi's artistic trademark: character designs with a slight yet distinctive "plumpness" in both the facial cheeks and body proportions.

Gosh, I love this title. Be sure to check out Naomi's latest work Assault Mama Tank (突撃ママタンク), a title that somehow managed to become the second cross-dressing title that has ever won me over. Sumata for the win!

TITLE: Nijuu Ra Sen / 二重裸せん
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Pinvise / Ryougetsu Kurara (涼月くらら)
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2009
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Gurren Lagann / Simon x Nia x Yoko
THEME: Group Sex; PAGES: 28 (B&W)

If you're a fan of Gurren Lagann, stop reading this review right now and check out Nijuu Ra Sen. Parody ero-doujinshi simply don't get much better. It's a shining example of how to take official character designs and spin them together in a wonderfully humorous and erotic tale. Not only is the artwork faithful to the show, the characters behave like their official counterparts... if they were all imbued with a heavy dose of uncontrollable sexual desire, that is.

The contrasting character designs of Yoko and Nia (i.e. breast sizes) provide appeal for a wide audience. Not unlike her anime counterpart, Yoko is depicted as completely shameless when it comes to nudity, and her massive breasts take center stage in almost every scene. She is balanced by the cute, innocent, and relatively flat-chested Nia (young form) who is so faithfully recreated that you can almost hear the sweet voice of Yukari Fukui. Simon basically submits himself to their tender loving care as they work together to try and calm down his erection. The joint double sumata on page 14 is as epic as the show itself.

In addition, with scenes such as Yoko's sudden revelation on page 7 and Nia's successful paizuri on page 13, this doujinshi's erotic humor is off the charts. (Have I become so desensitized to erotica to think that Nia's paizuri scene is actually cute?!) Even the non-ero Evangelion scene at the very end had me laughing so hard I was in tears.

The only problem I have with this doujinshi is that it appears to have been printed in a very limited quantity... It is nigh impossible to find a physical copy anywhere. I repeatedly check all Japanese doujinshi and auction sites I know of and continue to come up empty. Hopefully Pinvise will re-issue this masterpiece someday. If anyone knows where to find a copy of this elusive title, please let me know! EDIT (6/18/2010): Although it cost me a pretty penny, I finally managed to locate and snag a copy of this. My doujinshi collection felt incomplete without this masterpiece.

TITLE: Otome's Desire / Otome no Yokkyuu / 乙女の欲求
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Chaotic Arts (カオティック・アーツ) / Mita Kurumi (みたくるみ)
RELEASE DATE: Aug 13, 2006
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Mai-Otome / Lena x Sergay
THEME: Shota; PAGES: 28 (B&W)

Looking for the most epic yet-to-be-translated doujinshi for my first solo translation project did not take long. I had always wanted to understand the dialogue in Otome's Desire and was shocked it had remained untranslated for so long. It was only after I translated the entire doujinshi and edited two pages that I discovered Slayerjammer had already finished this project weeks before. Talk about bad timing on my part!

Until I read this doujinshi, the theme of shota had never appealed to me in the slightest. However, the official history between Lena and Sergay in the anime served as a wonderful foundation for the erotic events in this doujinshi, which focuses on two things: (i) Sergay's complete infatuation with Lena, and (ii) Lena's burning sexual desires as an otome who has taken a vow of celibacy. The story also remains true to the official Mai Otome canon and explores the likely origins of main protagonist Arika.

The artwork is exquisite with its multiple layers of detailed shading, and the story wastes no time as it jumps right into the action with Sergay secretly watching as a sexually frustrated Lena masturbates in her room. After Sergay is discovered and apologizes, Lena takes advantage of his innocence and flat out seduces him. After convincing him to masturbate in front of her, she gently guides him through what appears to be each of their very first sexual encounters. I cannot help but notice that Lena's offering of her breasts to Sergay is reminiscent of Velvet's offering of hers to Gwendolyn at the beginning of Shimoyakedou's Orchid Sphere.

After some deep thought, I finally realized what it was about Lena's breasts that was so fascinating in this doujinshi. On five separate occasions, her breasts are shown in an asymmetric state due to either her or Sergay fondling one of them. The contrast between the fondled breast and the untouched breast highlights just how soft and supple this dynamic part of the female anatomy really is. The untouched breast serves as a visual reference point for how the fondled breast would appear were it not being touched. My absolute favorite depiction of this concept occurs on page 17 as Lena straddles Sergay just before their first joint climax. Her right breast, held upwards by Sergay's supportive hand, distinctly contrasts with her left breast which dangles freely above him. This visual cue pulls the reader even deeper into the encounter by providing a notion of the tactile response of her breasts. Just imagine how non-dynamically bland this scene would be if both of her breasts were hanging down freely. (This concept is exactly what I find so fascinating with the similar scene featuring Mitsugu in the Resort BOIN eroge... refer to my previous essay).

Also, this doujinshi features one of the most elegantly drawn external ejaculations I have ever seen. Many artists' depictions disregard the fact that ejaculations are a series of contractions that form several distinctively separate streams of semen. However, page 25 acknowledges this, and one can actually follow the path of several well-defined long streams that span the various parts of Lena's body: from her stomach, across her right arm, then her left arm, over her chest, up her breasts, along her neck, and onto her face. (I absolutely adore Quadrastate's cum-covered Rinoa drawing for the same reason). Lena's delightfully joyous reaction fittingly concludes their loving encounter. Bravo, Mita Kurumi, bravo!

TITLE: Ayanami Shiro / 綾波・白
CIRCLE/AUTHOR: Studio Wallaby (スタジオ・ワラビー) / Kura Oh (蔵王)
RELEASE DATE: Apr 30, 2007
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Evangelion / Rei x Shinji
THEME: Straight Sex; PAGES: 34 (B&W)

Seeing as how I recently translated, released, and reviewed this doujinshi in a previous post, I don't have too much to add. I am truly honored that I could help bring such a beautiful work to the English-speaking community. Not unlike Otome's Desire, I was shocked this title had not yet been translated as it is easily my favorite of all of Kura Oh's works thus far. Oh, and did I mention I really like page 17? I do... I really do...

TITLE: You Don't Have to Hide It (隠さなくてもダイジョブ)
AUTHOR: Wan-yan Aguda (完顔阿骨打)
RELEASE DATE: Apr 18, 2008 (Futanari Yesterday / ふたなりイエスタディ)
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Original
THEME: Futanari; PAGES: 34 of 200 (B&W)

Futanari Yesterday is a collection of the artist's older works that opens with two fantastic futanari stories, the first of which I prefer just barely over the second. Although I am not normally a fan of futa-on-futa action, and the artist uses a penis design a bit over-proportioned for my tastes, the futanari school setting is wonderfully conceived.

In this story, Rieko, a new transfer student at an all-futanari school, discovers that "swim class" there is unlike anything she was expecting. Not only do the students and teachers use this time as an opportunity to let their penises bask in the sun (fully erect, of course) outside their swimsuits, Reiko discovers that this class has absolutely nothing to do with swimming. Instead, teacher Matsuri grades the ejaculatory performance of their penises, and as Reiko watches the students start to casually pair up and begin having sex, her new friend Mika suddenly pairs up with her.

There are two aspects of this story that I feel are particularly well done. First, the students' and teacher's casual approach to nudity and sex makes for a particularly unique setting. Through Rieko, for whom this strange school is a completely new experience, the reader sees what life might just be like at a futanari school, where copulation is as common as classwork. Reiko's constant confused inquiries are adorable.

The second aspect I found intriguing was the challenge everyone had in trying to make Reiko ejaculate. After Mika fails, Matsuri decides to try and help... only to fail as well, much to the surprise of the students. It wasn't until Reiko experiences the simultaneous sensations of being buried inside Matsuri, having Nagata insert a dildo inside her, and having Mika anally engage her that Reiko finally lets loose. The humorous closing scene wraps up the story nicely.

The next story, Hoping for Lots Down There (あそこいっぱいの期待), is also well done and worth a read, especially for those who adore the oh-so cute "clothes sniffing" theme. [Raises hand]

(TRANSLATION) Kuchisake-onna With Ooku

2010-02-14T09:43:00.046-05:00

EDITED 2011Jan23: Many thanks to anon for pointing out that I was missing the opening two pages of this story. I've updated the download link below to include them. As if seeing the girls of the Hino-Banshu get struck down while fighting and running for their lives wasn't hard enough, seeing the two opening girls getting cut down while simply relaxing in the bath was very cruel, especially since they were depicted in a cute super-deformed mode traditionally reserved for comical scenes. :(

WARNING: The violent/action theme of this doujinshi is a major change of pace from the typical erotic content featured on this blog.

TITLE: Kuchisake-onna With Ōoku (口裂け女 With 大奥)
ARTIST: Rabbit
CIRCLE: N/A
PARODY: N/A (Original)
THEME: Action, Violence, Non-H
PAGES: 35
ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE: March 24, 2009
ENGLISH RELEASE: Feb 14, 2010
TRANSLATOR & EDITOR: The Elegant Succubus
PLOT SUMMARY: The quiet and peaceful life inside the Ōoku, a female-only section of ancient Edo castle in which women connected to the Shogun reside, is suddenly shattered when the demoness known as the Kuchisake-onna mercilessly assaults its residents. Will the brave and honorable members of the Hino-Banshu led by the Midaidokoro ward off this attack? ...or will they fall to the Kuchisake-onna's superhuman abilities?
DOWNLOAD LINKS: MediaFire

REVIEW
Warning: Spoilers ahead! Do not proceed until after reading the doujinshi.
I was completely awestruck when I first laid eyes on this original work and immediately knew it was going to be my next translation project. The artist's unique mix of cute female characters in such an intensely violent setting is as fascinating as it is unsettling. The antagonist, the Kuchisake-onna, is based on an actual Japanese urban legend of a scissors-wielding woman who wears a mask to cover her grotesque facial disfigurement. Her tattered depiction as a seemingly invincible being of absolute terror as she mercilessly assaults the skilled yet clearly outmatched girls of the Hino-Banshu results in tear-jerking depictions of duty, honor, and sacrifice. The image on the right which shows her standing over the body of her first victim as the Hino-Banshu approach her is broodingly spine-chilling.

The reader strongly empathizes with the female combatants who put up a strong yet futile resistance as they try to protect the noblewomen. Once the last-standing swordswoman realizes her assailant is invincible, her determination quickly transforms into fear, and her attempt to escape results in one of the doujinshi's most brutally sad scenes. The ensuing desperate flight of the now completely defenseless noblewomen is equally heartbreaking, and never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed the fate of Tsubaki, easily the cutest character in the story.

From a presentation standpoint, each of the consistently well-drawn characters, whether named or not, is individually identifiable from panel-to-panel, and the action flows quickly and logically. I am a huge fan of plots that involve a host of characters being introduced and then eliminated one-by-one as the reader wonders who will be left, not unlike Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None. What I don't understand, though, is what makes Chiyo so special that everyone goes out of their way to protect her. Even the Kuchisake-onna spares her in the end... Why?!

What makes this violent tale particularly unique is that it features a twist to a typically one-sided gender role: all of the characters are female, even those of the Hino-Banshu. Traditionally, roles involving no-named short-lived combatants are almost exclusively reserved for male characters, such as the stormtroopers in Star Wars, random mech or starfighter pilots, and the nameless enemy grunts in practically any video game. The only two anime I know of which frequently feature this rare theme are Agent Aika, including its various spin-off series, and Go Nagai's God Mazinger, both shown to the right. (Code Geass R2 also has several such instances, but I will save that topic for another post).

As my Japanese is still developing, I did have to make some assumptions with the translation, especially on the text-heavy final pages. I hope my many hours of researching, translating, and editing this original story do justice to artist Rabbit's magnificent work. Due to the creative and original nature of this work, I would never have edited and released it if it was not available for completely free viewing on the artist's website. Be sure to check out the other titles in this series, including the recently released Kuchisake-onna With Magic Fantasy which is available for online digital purchase here. Be sure to support such creative artists such as Rabbit. Not only does it reward them for their efforts, it lets them know their works are appreciated and they will likely continue to produce similar works... a win/win for all!

Constructive feedback, positive or negative, is always welcome. Does anyone else share my overwhelming sense of grief when reading this sad story?

'Obscene' U.S. Manga Collector Jailed

2010-02-13T01:46:00.017-05:00

I would like to take a moment and inform everyone of a very disturbing piece of news. A U.S. manga collector named Christopher Handley has recently been sentenced to six months in jail for possession of lolicon-themed Japanese manga with specific pages that others deemed "obscene" for not containing any "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value". (I initially assumed that the artwork in question was of a photo-realistic style but shockingly discovered that it is your typical everyday manga style... about as far from a real-life depiction as one can get). In addition, upon completion of his six month sentence, he will undergo psychological testing to determine if he poses any risk from a child sexual abuse standpoint, even though he has no history of such tendencies or even possession of underage photos.

Uhh... Is anyone as completely baffled as I am? Setting aside the corresponding law's subjectivity and clear violation of freedom of speech, do people still lack a basic understanding of simple logic? The statement "if P then likely Q" does NOT mean the converse "if Q then likely P" is automatically true.

Example 1:
P = Person has real life violent tendencies.
Q = Person plays violent video games.

Example 2:
P = Person has real life tendencies of child sexual abuse.
Q = Person owns lolicon manga.

Does anyone else think this case is a grave injustice and the law subjectively silly? Think about it: One can violate this law at any time in the privacy of one's home with nothing other than a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and some artistic talent. I was quite literally fuming with rage as I wrote this post and had to press backspace many times to delete non-constructive words so as to avoid it sounding like an angry outburst. For more details on this unfortunate turn of events, check out the AnimeNewsNetwork and the OtakuReview. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Hmmm... I wonder if anyone will flag this specific scene from Evangelion 1.0 as not containing any "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" prior to the March 9th U.S. Blu-ray release. If so, will owners of this movie be rounded up en masse and sent to the slammer?

Top 30 Doujinshi/Ero-Manga - Part 1 of 6

2010-01-22T23:00:00.017-05:00

As an avid collector and follower of the doujinshi/ero-manga world for over 10 years now, I wanted to share what I feel are the absolute finest titles ever conceived. I was originally going to make a "Top 10" list, but given the abundance of artists, styles, and themes out there, too many deserving titles would have had to have been omitted. Therefore, I ultimately compiled a "Top 30" (!?) list which I will be presenting in six parts. Note that several parody titles will involve personal bias due to my fondness for the show on which it is based, but a majority of them are marvelous reads even to those unfamiliar with the related show.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here is part 1 of my "Top 30 Doujinshi/Ero-Manga":

TITLE: Meiji Chanbara Roman Porno / 明治チャンバラロマンポルノ
CIRCLE: Yamaguchirou (やまぐち楼)
RELEASE DATE: Aug 15, 1997 (Comic Market 52)
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Rurouni Kenshin / Kaoru x Kenshin
THEME: Straight Sex (Consensual) ; PAGES: 46 (B&W)

As one of the very first first anime I ever saw, Rurouni Kenshin completely blew my mind with its great characters, plot, and drama. The intensity of the action and the deep character development were unlike anything I'd ever seen before in animation, and I quickly became infatuated with the relationship between main characters Kenshin and Kaoru. I soon thereafter discovered the world of doujinshi and took a liking to Yamaguchirou, a circle that focused many of its titles on tender and loving encounters between these two characters. I searched for and collected a number of this circle's works, and my all-time favorite is the humorous yet consensually passionate Meiji Chanbara Roman Porno.

The scene in which Kaoru turns Kenshin's head towards an awakening Yahiko as Kenshin utters his trademark "Oro?" is one of the funniest moments in doujinshi I've ever seen. Oddly enough, though, this title's seductive introductory drawing of Aoshi sitting below a standing, partially-nude blushing Misao who is holding his sword behind her is my single favorite drawing from this circle. I'm thankful that this artist was around during the heights of this show's popularity... Otherwise, the quality and quantity of Rurouni Kenshin doujinshi parodies out there would be sorely lacking.

TITLE: SMILE CAT / 明治チャンバラロマンポルノ
ARTIST: Riki
RELEASE DATE: Dec 24, 2008
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Original
THEME: Consensual & Non, Violence, Action, Futanari ; PAGES: 159 (color)

Although not typically a fan of tentacles and non-consensual encounters, I felt the manner in which this original story depicts them is a wonderfully refreshing departure from the norm. Instead of glorifying these themes, the artist uses them to evoke a strong sense of pity, thereby providing the reader with an invested emotional attachment to the female leads Minya (ミーニャ) and Nyan (ニャン). Minya's committed devotion in her quest to rescue her beloved Nyan amidst the numerous obstacles thrown at her is heartwarming. In addition to the three sexy female villainesses and the thrilling combat that ensues during Minya's encounters with them, I especially like this story's use of casual nudity and sex... Spontaneous copulation is as normal as breathing in the universe this artist has imagined.

Finally, the book itself has absolutely wonderful production values. The cover involves two overlaid jackets below the silver embossed title, the entire work is completely full color with a unique exaggerated drawing style, and there are two double-sided fold-outs of Minya and Nyan inside. You can find this amazing original work for a mere $20 on amazon.co.jp. Highly recommended!

TITLE: Petit-roid3 / Petit-ろいど3
ARTIST: Kouda Tomohiro (幸田朋弘)
RELEASE DATE: Sept 25, 2003
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Original
THEME: Harem, Comedy; PAGES: 554 (B&W, 3 volumes + 2 extra stories)

Shimabata Youichi is one really lucky guy: His grandfather sends him three uber-cute robotic girls whose rabbit system programming requires they be "rewarded" (i.e. sexually satisfied) whenever they reach a certain threshold of points they obtain by doing things that please him, such as cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc. Although often over-sexed to the point of exhaustion, Youichi cannot ignore their needs since failure to reward them in a timely fashion will result in them self-destructing and taking out the entire city. Also, the girls can transform into teenage (two girls combining) or adult (all three girls combining) versions of their young base forms.

The female leads appear to be loosely inspired by those in Magic Knight Rayeath: Mistuski is a quiet bespectacled girl who excels at house choirs, Karin is a short-haired flat-chested energetic tomboy, and Kirara is an enigmatic, narrow-eyed, and well-endowed (well, at least in her adult form) master of technology. There is some cute competition between the girls over his affection, but what I absolutely love about this story is that, unlike a typical harem anime/manga, all three girls completely accept each others needs for his love and attention without excessive bickering or fighting. For example, a wonderful two-page spread in Act 9 has all three girls presenting themselves to him while Kirara offers, "Go ahead and pick whichever one you want." Talk about unselfishness...

From the girls' early morning "randomized" system for determining which of them has sexual priority for Youichi throughout the day to Kirara's entering the Konami code on teenage Mitsuki's breasts (hilarious!) to a recurring "hands-on" female antagonist complete with her own host of android girls, this lengthy 3+ volume work is full of so many original and humorous moments that I enjoy it every time I read it. The only negative is that the story remains unfinished as it ends right when a new kunoichi-themed robot girl named Raika joins them, and we only see a fraction of the 78 possible combinations and 36 different forms of all the robot girls. Nevertheless, with well-designed original characters, a fascinating mix of humor and eroticism, and wonderfully consistent artwork, Petit-roid3 gets my top vote for "eromanga most deserving of an animated series."

TITLE: Orchid Sphere
CIRCLE: Shimoyakedou (しもやけ堂)
RELEASE DATE: Aug 17, 2007
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Odin Sphere / Velvet x Gwendolyn, Mercedes
THEME: Yuri, Futanari, Consensual ; PAGES: 64 (B&W)

My previous detailed review pretty much sums up my thoughts on Orchid Sphere, currently my all-time favorite doujinshi from my favorite circle. This title, which involves a beautiful and lovingly consensual encounter between Velvet and Gwendolyn that is a mind-numbing feast for the eyes, represents my favorite artistic style from a linework and shading standpoint and contains an equal amount yuri as it does futanari. Plus, any doujinshi that prompts one to buy the related game and play it to completion has GOT be good, right? ^_^

TITLE: D.L. Action 13
CIRCLE: Digital Lover
RELEASE DATE: Aug 11, 2002
PARODY/PAIRINGS: Ragnarok Online
THEME: Group Sex, Shota ; PAGES: 52 (B&W)

A shy low-level male Acolyte gets more than he bargained for when he meets up with a high-level female Mage and Archeress.

Having just recently celebrated its 50th release in the D.L. Action series, circle Digital Lover has been a favorite of mine which I have closely followed ever since I laid eyes on D.L. Action 13. Although I have never played the online game on which it is based (although I did enjoy the spin-off game Ragnarok Battle Offline), the characters in this doujinshi are simply adorable. Each girl's shuddering orgasm is, dare-I-say, cute beyond words, and the climactic finish no doubt spawned my intense fondness for the depiction of "double sumata."

I have debated spending the time to translate this story so as to fully understand the characters and their interactions. Unfortunately, the artist hand-writes all dialogue (a trademark which continues to this day), making some of the kanji difficult to read to a newbie translator such as me. Someday... someday...

Do you agree or disagree with any of the titles I have listed? What are your all-time favorite doujinshi and why? Bonus points to those who can guess any of the remaining 25 titles in my list.

The Qwaser of Stigmata

2010-01-17T14:10:00.017-05:00

I would feel extremely remiss if I did not bring to your attention a new 13 episode anime that has just started airing: The Qwaser of Stigmata (聖痕のクェイサ - Seikon no Qwaser).

from Wikipedia: "The story takes place on the grounds of St. Mihailov Academy, a Japanese Eastern Orthodox school, and draws heavily on religious references from the aforementioned religion. Here it follows the trials and hardship of two of its students, Oribe Mafuyu and Yamanobe Tomo, until the encounter with a mysterious, silver-haired, Russian boy named Alexander, or Sasha for short. This puts them and the whole school in an all-out war between the Church itself and the so-called 'Adepts', a sect of individuals wielding powers linked to the elements of chemistry."

Based on an ongoing manga that started in 2006, this show sounds like a traditional action anime, right? Well, yes, but consider the unique source of a qwaser's powers: breast milk. Yes... This is the first anime (or non-anime for that matter) that features breastfeeding as an important plot element. Unlike other shows that delicately skirt the border between ecchi and hentai, though, The Qwaser of Stigmata does not over-rely on comedy to downplay the eroticism. Nor does it go to the other extreme and turn into a mindless sex hentai. Watch a short 1.5 minute clip from the episode's ending battle and see what you think...

Mirror: Mediafire

Just be sure to watch the uncensored version, though. The violence and nudity is so heavily censored in the aired version that some scenes lack the impact they should have (such as the poor, poor girl in the opening scene) while others are flat out confusing (such as when Mafuyu suddenly and violently assaults Sasha after Tomo falls on him). If this anime maintains its high quality animation, develops its well-designed characters, and continues to be as daring and creative as the first episode, it may just help usher in a new era of "ecchi/hentai hybrid" anime that blends eroticism and storytelling in ways never before seen. What a great time to be an anime fan!

(TRANSLATION) Ayanami Shiro

2009-12-03T05:51:00.061-05:00

INTRODUCTION
Being a huge fan of the Evangelion anime and movies, I have read hundreds of related doujinshi parodies. At the time of this writing, there are a total of 1094 Eva-themed titles listed on The Doujinshi Database Project. Unfortunately, a vast majority of these doujinshi feature characters that (i) do not remain faithful to the original visual designs, (ii) behave inconsistently from their official counterparts, and/or (iii) are thrust into unappealing compromising positions. I recall downloading a massive 100 Eva-themed doujinshi collection a long time ago thinking I'd find at least several gems, but alas, I found nothing but despair... a classic example of quantity over quality.

RE-TAKE
Years later, artist Kimimaru of Studio Kimigabuchi, a circle which had already released a number of traditional ero-doujinshi primarily focusing on Gainax-produced titles, broke the doujinshi mold at Comiket 66 in Aug 2004 and released the first of what would eventually be a six volume ero-doujinshi series entitled Re-Take. Unlike a typical ero-doujinshi, Re-Take features an intricate, well-written, and ongoing story which serves as an absorbing alternate telling of the events following Shinji's escape from the twelfth angel in episode 16. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Re-Take, however, is that the erotic scenes, which are as graphic as those in any traditional ero-doujinshi if not as numerous, serve to support the plot instead of being the primary focus. Seeing the characters in this adult setting feels refreshingly unique and, with a plot full of twists, turns, and shocking surprises I would never dare spoil, Re-Take comes with my highest recommendation for successfully imbuing eroticism into an official-worthy story. It was so well received by fans that it spawned a soundtrack, a full English fan translation, and an edited (argh!) all-ages compilation.

Alas, to allow for its in-depth exploration of the relationship between Asuka and Shinji, Rei unfortunately played only a minor role in Re-Take. The image on the right, taken from page 22 of the second volume of Re-Take, pretty much says it all. As I always found Rei's enigmatic character slightly more intriguing than Asuka's, I still had not found an ero-doujinshi that I felt portrayed Rei properly... that is, until I discovered Studio Wallaby's Ayanami Shiro, a title that I found so fascinating that I decided to make it my first solo doujinshi translation-and-editing project. Without further ado, I am proud to present it to you here:

AYANAMI SHIRO

TITLE: Ayanami Shiro (綾波・白)
ARTIST: Kura Oh (蔵王)
CIRCLE: Studio Wallaby
PARODY: Neon Genesis Evangelion
PAIRINGS: Rei x Shinji
THEME: Straight Sex
PAGES: 36
ORIGINAL JAPANESE RELEASE: April 30, 2007
ENGLISH RELEASE: Dec 3, 2009
TRANSLATOR & EDITOR: The Elegant Succubus
PLOT SUMMARY: After Rei and Shinji meet in a run-down abandoned building after school, they struggle while trying to open their hearts to one another. Will their encounter remain a superficial physical pairing, or will they find a way to fully consummate their affection?
DOWNLOAD LINKS: RapidShare , MediaFire

REVIEW
(Warning: Contains spoilers for the Evangelion series!)
The most intriguing theme to me in Evangelion is the recurring concept of the emotional walls/barriers people use to isolate and protect themselves from others, symbolized in the show by the AT Field. Although these barriers provide individuality and protect one from emotional harm, they also prevent two individuals from becoming fully intimate with one another. One of my most memorable anime viewing moments occurred at the end of the End of Evangelion movie during which all of the characters' AT Fields came "tum...bel...ling down" one by one. Seeing their various reactions, ranging from euphoria to terror, just before exploding into pools of LCL is the single most surreal anime viewing experience I've ever had. But I digress...

Although Ayanami Shiro is a stand-alone story that does not feature nearly as in-depth of a plot as Re-Take, it does focus heavily on this intriguing concept of breaking down emotional barriers. Just like in the anime, Shinji suffers from sexual frustration and a strong longing to be one with another while Rei especially struggles opening herself up to anyone. This makes for a fascinating authentic encounter as they try to consummate their awkward relationship.

At the start of the doujinshi, Rei approaches a dilapidated building and is surprised to see Shinji waiting for her. She realizes something is amiss, though, when he kneels down in front of her and reaches under her skirt to slip off her panties. She acquiesces to his sudden advances, though, and without the slightest bit of foreplay, Shinji promptly inserts himself inside her. Rei remains passive as Shinji thrusts harder and faster to try and satisfy his own selfish sexual urges. "Ugh", I recall thinking when I first read this. "It's another one of THOSE doujinshi". My eyes then widened, however, when I saw what happened next...

Realizing something is not right, Shinji begins to verbally exclaim his confusion, suddenly stops thrusting, and sheds a tear that falls on Rei's face. They pause as the tear trickles down Rei's face, giving the appearance that she, too, is crying. This serendipitous tear-sharing event symbolically foreshadows the ensuing emotion-bonding scene on pages 16-17, a sequence which I feel is the single best scene ever conceived in an ero-doujinshi:

With their bodies now inert but still sexually united, Shinji is confused as to why his heart will not open to her. Sensing his dismay, Rei suddenly yet silently takes action by propping herself up, unbuttoning her blouse, and lifting her bra. Blushing heavily with her breasts now exposed and her head turned away, she expresses her concern about whether he wants her anymore. With Rei having finally opened herself up to him, Shinji reacts in kind, and their ensuing mutual embrace (one of the most beautifully erotic panels ever conceived in a doujinshi) evokes a strong sense of complete physical and emotional consummation. Shinji has realized that becoming one with another is more than just physical unity... it requires emotional fulfillment as well.

With their uncertainties now quenched, the encounter continues at a more traditional pace, complete with foreplay and a passionate rise to climax. One scene that particularly strikes my fancy is the prolonged eight-panel sequence that occurs immediately after Shinji first ejaculates inside Rei's mouth. With Rei having been dazed from his sudden release, her left breast dangles tantalizingly above Shinji's face for a number of panels as he simply stares upwards at it in awe. Upon recovering, she senses his curiosity and kindly lowers her chest, allowing him to finally suckle it.

The brief cuts to Asuka and Kowaru are also an amusing diversion and provide an even more authentic reading experience since they, too, are faithfully depicted. When Asuka storms off feigning boredom at the end of the story, though, I can't help but suspect that she went to go masturbate somewhere. Kowaru sure seems to know something. ^_^

SYMBOLISM
- I already discussed the tear-sharing scene above.
- Rei's blouse could be seen as symbolizing her AT Field since upon its opening, all emotional barriers between her and Shinji suddenly shattered.
- I feel as though the feather that is prominently featured throughout the doujinshi is supposed to mean something, but I am completely clueless. ...And why does Asuka have wings, anyway? Ideas, anyone?
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Fantastic artwork and authentic depictions of the original character designs in appearance, attire, and personality.

Wonderful flow from panel to panel with a pleasingly gradual increase in intensity leading to their explosive climax.

Equal developmental focus on both Rei and Shinji.

Thought-provoking symbolism.

Page 17... Page 17...

Not much of a plot to speak of.

The final dialogue between Rei and Shinji hints at a sequel... Sadly there is none.

(DRAWING REVIEW) Non-Sexual Futanari?

2009-10-06T17:24:00.022-04:00

UPDATED 2010DEC14

Almost all futanari-themed drawings have very strong sexual connotations with the girl's extra part being the primary focal point of the drawing. This simply goes hand-in-hand with the concept of futanari... Is it possible for an artist to portray a phallic-endowed female in a non-sexual manner? I feel the answer is a resounding "yes" since, every so often, an artist will conceive a drawing that challenges the typical overtly-sexual nature of futanari and instead focuses on the character or setting with the futanari aspect playing a secondary role. This drawing by Rasukaru is one such work that I find absolutely mesmerizing...

SOURCE TYPE: Fanart

ARTIST: Rasukaru (らすかる)
SOURCE TITLE: Neon Genesis Evangelion
CHARACTER: Souryuu Asuka Langley

This is a very faithful visual recreation of Evangelion's slender Asuka with a remarkable attention to detail in the shading of her hair as well as in the countours of her reflective plugsuit. The contrasting lightly-clouded blue sky in the background highlights her profile nicely while playing off of the blue vs. red polar opposite aspect of the show (Rei: blue hair, red eyes; Asuka: red hair, blue eyes).

However, one cannot help but notice the rather atypical manner in which she is portrayed. Instead of her normal fiery and arrogant personality, her blushed complexion and raised eyebrows indicate a certain degree of embarrassment. A quick scan down the drawing reveals why she is turned away from whoever it is she is looking at... Her skin-tight plugsuit cannot mask the realistically proportioned yet fully erect penis contained underneath.

Although I find it difficult to imagine Asuka as a futanari given how well-developed her character has become over the course of an entire series and various movies, this is perhaps the best such futanari rendition of her, especially to those intimately familiar with her personality. To whomever is looking at her from behind, her attempt at perceived self-confidence with her bent right arm's hand resting on her hip is at complete odds with her left hand's subtle touch to the tip of her penis, an act which would be hidden from their view. However, from OUR perspective, we see the entire enchanting duality of her situation. I applaud artists like Rasukaru who manage to take the futanari genre to a more mature level than it is typically known for. Have you ever seen a drawing (not necessarily futanari-themed) that treats its typical sexual subject matter in a unique non-sexual manner?

In related news, I am extremely intrigued at the upcoming portrayal of Kainé in Square-Enix's NieR Replicant for the PS3 as she will be mainstream video gaming's first futanari character. Will the fact she is a futanari play some role in the game? ...or will it simply be a miscellaneous "fun fact" about her character that one would never know otherwise? I sure hope that it is the former. ^_^
UPDATED 2010DEC14: The futanari elven archeress drawing below by artist caracol is another GREAT example of non-sexual futanari. Many thanks to Randomguy664 for finding another depiction of this extremely rare theme!

(TRANSLATION) Otome's Desire

2009-09-26T09:04:00.029-04:00

Although I agree that style, artistic quality, and theme can make or break a doujinshi parody, I feel that the portrayal of authenticity is the most important aspect of any such title. By playing off of the reader's intimate familiarity with the original anime's story and desire to see the associated characters in a more sensual setting, elite doujinshi authors craft situations that would be entirely plausible in the official show while remaining true to the characters' personalities.

Unfortunately, many of these authentically themed titles may never be translated nor receive the attention they so rightly deserve, ending up lost in the vast sea of ever-growing doujinshi. Having finally reached a level of proficiency in Japanese at which I feel I can do justice to the original author's intent, I am proud to present one of these lost gems as my very first solo doujinshi translation-and-editing project...

Mai Otome's Sergay and Lena
As it has been many years since I watched Mai Otome, I had to re-familiarize myself with the story and characters involved in this doujinshi, in particular the hinted-at relationship between Lena and Sergay which is its primary focus. In an episode 4 flashback, Sergay reacts rather emotionally (supported by the background lyrics) when he finds his daughter looking at a special photo that he has kept of Lena. The author of this doujinshi expands on this tiny bit of plot that is so quickly glanced over in the show and forges a wonderful story that remains faithful to the original characters and design. Whereas many doujinshi are based on actual scenes that are then twisted into "alternate realities" completely diverging from the original events, this doujinshi actually builds off of the official Mai Otome canon and showcases events and major revelations that do not contradict anything in the show... at least none that I am aware of.

Just like a good book, I find that intricately-crafted doujinshi are even more fascinating when read slowly to take in the character's expressions, subtle details, and evolving "flow" of its events. Therefore, I will be presenting a page or two from this fascinating doujinshi each day or so as I finish editing it, after which I will reveal its full details (title, cover, author, etc...). I gladly welcome any feedback, especially those from fellow Mai Otome fans.

[What would have been...]
My First Solo Doujinshi Translation Project
TITLE: Otome's Desire [乙女の欲求]
RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2006 (Comiket 70)
PARODY / PAIRINGS: Mai Otome / Lena Sayers x Sergay Wáng
THEME: Consensual, Shota
PAGES: 28 (B&W)

Taking place at Windbloom castle, the doujinshi opens amidst a "private" masturbation scene. When I first read this doujinshi, I almost quit after seeing the first page as I am not a fan of shallow "nothing but sex" plots. However, the curious lack of nudity, the uber-soft breast fondling in the fourth frame, and Lena's reaction upon discovering she was being watched set the stage for the fascinating events that follow...

UPDATE SEPT 27, 2009: Apparently my initial seach to verify that this title was still untranslated was not thorough enough... As fate would have it, a finished translation of this title (Otome's Desire by Chaotic Arts) was already released about a month ago. As there's no point in me continuing to finish the editing in this project anymore, just click here to see this amazing doujinshi in its full translated glory. Slayerjammer did a remarkable job on it, and I learned a number of things when I compared his translation with mine.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #8

2009-09-20T09:23:00.012-04:00

(Updated Feb 28, 2010) TheCampbell wins again... Two in a row!

Congratulations to TheCampbell for winning previous Challenge #7!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The most creative entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

This scene comes from Classmates, a cute and humorous original story from artist Unagimaru's collection Double Lip, in which two call girls, Takahashi (on the left) and Oka (on the right), end up at their classmate Nishimoto's residence by mistake but decide to provide their services to him anyway. The most endearing aspect of this story is Takahashi's embarrassed reactions as she tries to hide the fact that she actually has feelings for Nishimoto. SPOILER: [Unfortunately, the story cops-out at the end by not forcing Nishimoto to choose between the girls. Instead, he somehow manages to ejaculate inside both of them simultaneously... a missed opportunity at a little character development if you ask me.]

I would like to extend a special thanks to Oliver who specifically recommended this scene for a challenge... This story is translated and available on his website HentaiRules. Although my initial attempt to spice up these challenges with reader-contributed scenes met with utter failure, please feel free to share scenes that you think would make a great subject for these challenges.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge: Reader Contributions

2009-09-09T18:09:00.017-04:00

Now that everyone knows how this works based upon past challenges, I'm going to try something a bit different on this one... I'm going to let YOU pick the scene that gets featured in the next Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge!

All you need to do is share a sexually-themed doujinshi page that has a scene meeting the following requirements:
- It must have a pre-existing dialogue bubble (or two at most).
- It must have potential for humorous alternative text.
- It must have at least some degree of artistic merit.
- Although not a requirement, bonus kudos go to those who provide the source of the scene (artist and/or doujinshi name).

The winning entry will be featured as the next Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge for everyone to comment on just like always. So send me your submission via e-mail or Yahoo! Messenger. C'mon... Impress me and everyone else with your fine artistic taste and impeccable doujinshi knowledge!

[Number of entries thus far: 1]

Bare-Breasted Bouncing Debuts in Mainstream Gaming

2009-09-06T13:47:00.025-04:00

I realize I'm a little late to the party, but be sure to revisit my In Support of Bouncing Breasts essay as I have just updated it with details on a most remarkable depiction from the Afro Samurai game released seven months ago for the PS3 and XBOX360. To celebrate this moment in video gaming breast bouncing history, I put together a brief video of relevant clips and screenshots I painstakingly gathered from the game. Bravo, Namco Bandai... Bravo! The four seductresses in detail, from left-to-right:

Kunoichi #1 - Seen seductively sliding down a pole upon entering the room, this girl has a medium-sized bust with red nipples and wears heart-shaped earrings, black elbow gloves, and black stockings.
Kunoichi #2 - This flat-chested maid-themed girl wears a white headdress, stockings, and miniskirt. Although her areolae are the smallest of all four girls, her pink nipple texture is by far the most pronounced.
Kunoichi #3 - The only one with footwear and without stockings, this girl is adorned with a red flower over her left ear and has a breast size and nipple design that look almost identical to those of the first kunoichi.
Kunoichi #4 - The most intricately designed of all, this bespectacled girl with hair chopsticks and torn black stockings boasts massive breasts, more so than that originally conceived in the official concept art above, with fittingly large pink nipples.

From the advent of 3D gaming to modern times, there have been countless depictions of scantily-clad females as playable characters. Although a select few have been topless by official design, no company has had the audacity to feature another such portrayal since modern advances in detailed breast bouncing physics engines. Given the fact that non-playable supporting characters are now bouncing around bare-breasted, do you think we will see a playable character featured with such a daring lack of attire in the near future?

Hentai Character Spotlight - Sutra from Twin Angels

2009-09-04T15:30:00.070-04:00

CHARACTER: Sutra (スートラ)

CHARACTER DESIGNER: Rin Shin (りんしん)
J-TITLE: 淫獣聖戦XX (eps 1, 2, 3, 4)
TITLE: Twin Angels (vols 3 & 4)
SEIYUU: Nagasawa Tomoko (永沢知子)
VOICE ACTRESS: Sonny Dey

ORIGINAL RELEASE: Jun 1997 thru Sept 1997
MY RATING: GODDESS

INTRODUCTION
I would imagine that the most difficult challenge in any hentai title is the creation of compelling and distinctively memorable characters. Challenges include: (i) creating an enchanting visual design while delicately balancing design complexity with "animate-ability", (ii) developing personalities and mannerisms that distinguish the characters and suit their appearance, (iii) finding talented, convincing, and fitting seiyuu to voice them, and (iv) providing gripping encounters and settings to allow the characters' sexualities to come alive. Not to discredit doujinshi artists, many of whom create magnificently detailed works, but most have it relatively easy from this standpoint since the characters they feature have already been designed and voiced in the official anime being parodied. By playing off of the reader's emotional attachment to these preexisting characters, many doujinshi artists never have to face the difficult challenge of creating and developing new ones.

One thing that greatly upsets me is when incredibly well-conceived original characters go unrecognized. Therefore, to bring much deserved attention to (and hopefully rekindle interest in) such characters, I present to you the first Hentai Character Spotlight.

THE "QUEEN OF SEDUCTION"

Sutra serves as a beautiful seductress in the Kijyu Demon Clan under the command of her master Tokihira. Augmented by her unique magical and sexual powers, her high level of combat agility and skilled swordplay firmly establish her as an especially versatile and powerful antagonist. Sutra is always in the company of her similarly-skilled male companion Kama with whom she enjoys a sensual and reciprocative sexual relationship.

The origin of her name (along with that of her companion) is from the Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian text on human sexuality. When disguised as a school student, though, she goes by the pseudonym Fujikado Miyako, with Miyako having the Japanese meaning "Beautiful Night Child"... a rather appropriate name given her exotic beauty, ebony skin, and demonic heritage.

CHARACTER DESIGN
Character designer Rin Shin went above and beyond the call of duty when he designed this lovely temptress. Her bewitching visual design is eye candy in its purest, most concentrated form... a downright fascinating display of harmonious colors and revealing attire. With ground-long silver ponytailed hair that contrasts wonderfully with her dark skin, she sports a simple red bra top that is thin enough to accentuate the perpetual hardness of her bright-pink nipples concealed underneath and small enough to highlight her otherwise bare upper torso. She wears a long orange/yellow sarong around her waist over which hangs a dual red pubic veil. Sutra's bright golden eyes match her golden accessories: a choker, bracelets around each wrist, anklets, and two hairbands. The only asymmetric aspects of her attire are the lack of a gold upper armband on her left arm and the manner in which the front of her sarong hangs from her left to her right. A red upside down question mark tattoo adorning her forehead symbolizes her unworldly descent.

Two aspects of Sutra's visual design, however, really stand out as being quite unique in the world of hentai. (i) Her lengthy twin payots (sidelocks) are looped around back and tied into the hairband that forms her ponytail, thereby creating a distinctive hair style that very few characters in anime possess. (ii) Although hentai characters forgoing panties is not uncommon, Sutra does so in an extremely sly manner, utilizing her sarong and veils to give the false appearance that she is fully clothed. As demon_kama (blog visitor and fellow Sutra enthusiast) points out, this allows her to effectively "go from zero to sex in less than a second," thereby allowing her to quickly employ skills that require immediate vaginal access. For example, the animation to the right shows how Sutra flaunts her nudity while dancing, shaking her hips to flip her veils up, thereby offering brief glimpses of her exposed vagina to her entranced seductees. Note that Sutra also goes panty-less when undercover as schoolgirl Miyako.

PECULIAR SWORD-FIGHTING TECHNIQUE
Favoring speed and adeptness over power, Sutra takes advantage of her superior dancing skills during combat, elegantly dodging and countering her opponents moves. Her one-handed sword features a spiraled handle with what appears to be a yellow belled geisha ball embedded in its tip. She uses the sword not only for combat but also for self pleasure by repeatedly inserting the tip of the handle (and hence the geisha ball) inside her. Note that the ball can apparently be removed, as evident during one sexual encounter in which she almost succeeds in inserting it into Mai's vagina.

The most intriguing aspect of her combat style, though, is the unorthodox manner in which she uses her sword in combat: she holds it by the bladed end while striking with the handle. Given the fact that she uses the handle as a masturbatory aid, I suspect her unique sword-holding style is intended to symbolize how she sees the handle as a physical extension of her own sexuality. By attacking with that which gives her pleasure, perhaps this is just her way of imbuing traditional combat with a degree of sensuality.

BEREFT OF ORGASM
Although Sutra is no stranger to sexual pleasure, perhaps the most bizarre fact about her portrayal is that not once is she shown reaching orgasm. For a character so prominently featured in eight sex scenes spanning four episodes to never show her o-face is simply unheard of in hentai. Note also how, on more than one occasion, Sutra appears to be completely lost in sexual passion one moment, only to immediately regain full composure moments later as she engages in combat. Does she have such a commanding control over her own sexuality and become so benumbed to pleasure over her years as a seductress that she can no longer reach the extreme height of orgasmic pleasure?

KINDRED DARK-SKINNED SPIRITS
Given the relative rarity of dark-skinned leading ladies in hentai, I suspect most fans are familiar with Angel Blade's Nailkaizer, a character highly regarded by many as the embodiment of hentai and who I feel is character designer Masami Obari's finest work. However, four years prior to Nailkaizer's domination, Sutra had already established herself as a truly compelling dark-skinned enchantress thanks to her prominent leading role in four episodes of the Twin Angels series. Based upon their number of similarities listed below, it would not surprise me if Obari-san's Nailkaizer was partially inspired by Shin-san's Sutra. Note especially how a number of these traits are uncommon in the hentai genre.

DESIGN - Their designs both involve dark skin, long silver hair, and panty-less attire. Nailkaizer's proportions and exotic avant-garde outfit that completely exposes her breasts and privates make Sutra's attire seem rather modest in comparison.

ROLE - Both characters serve as completely self-confident and sultry antagonists with loads of screen time spanning four or more episodes.

UNDERCOVER AGENTS - Both characters disguise their true identities as members of a local school... Sutra as gentle-speaking third-year student Miyako and Nailkaizer as professor Houjou.

LOYAL SERVANTS - Both Sutra and Nailkaizer loyally serve masters who ultimately see them as nothing more than instruments to achieve their own goals. Although Sutra's master Tokihira acknowledges her skills, he flat out calls her an "instrument" and issues commands that she obeys without question or hesitation. Compare this with Phantom Lady who, although she does share a physical relationship with Nailkaizer and claims that she loves her like a daughter, ultimately betrays and attempts to sacrifice her while trying to kill the protagonists... much to Nailkaizer's dismayed acquiescence (and upsetting departure from the series).

ROOFTOP MASTURBATION - Leave it to Sutra and Nailkaizer to be the only characters I know of to so audaciously showcase their assertive sexuality to the entire world by masturbating in plain sight on a rooftop... granted,with differing motivations. Sutra's rooftop masturbation scene serves to advance the plot by enhancing the surrounding area's sexual aura so as to open a large vaginal-shaped portal connecting the human and demon worlds. In contrast, Nailkaizer's scene simply involves her fawning over Angel Blade's inner strength from afar, masturbating solely out of need for sexual release which resultsin perhaps the most artistic animated ejaculation ever conceived.

SEXUAL COMBAT SKILLS - Immediately following its extension from her vagina, Nailkaizer's electrified penis is capable of incapacitating all nearby opponents in a bright flash of energy. Sutra, in addition to being able to transform herself into alluring guises of others, can employ multiple illusions of herself having sex that prompt intense stimulation in her opponents, confusing them so she can easily go in for the kill.

SEXUAL VERSATILITY - Sutra and Nailkaizer enjoy playing both dominant and submissive roles in their various sexual encounters. Whereas Nailkaizer only has sexual engagements with other females, Sutra is bisexual and capable of seducing both males and females alike.

CONSERVATIVE FUTANARI - Given the fact that Angel Blade's opening scene shows Nailkaizer flying through the air with three penises, she employs her skills as a futanari relatively sparingly. Sutra, on the other hand, is never shown as a futanari in the official Twin Angels anime. However, a published collection of fan comics does briefly portray her as one in a three page sequence that culminates in her ejaculating on Mai's face.

SWORDPLAY - Both are skilled in one-handed swordplay.

AIR GLIDING - Nailkaizer uses her wings to glide through the air whereas Sutra's superhuman abilities allow her to leap in high and far strides.

ANTICLIMACTIC SERIES DEPARTURES Although I am not a fan of long, drawn-out "dramatic" death scenes in any medium, I absolutely abhor the other extreme in which characters are simply abandoned anticlimactically when they still have so much more potential to enthrall the viewer. Nailkaizer's introspective depiction in the sequel Angel Blade Punish, with nightmarish flashbacks to her past and a solemn forlorn attitude that intriguingly contrasts with her previously confident and sexually outgoing personality in the original series, hints at what could have been an absolutely fascinating and dramatic character development for a hentai series. However, after being saved from Phantom Lady's betrayal, Nailkaizer is unaccountably never seen again (aside from in a brief angelic vision), leaving so many questions unanswered. Sutra's equally anticlimactic fate is described in the following section.

ALL GOOD THINGS...
SPOILER ALERT! Highlight the following text to reveal:
[With Sutra and Kama having established themselves as near-invincible antagonists in every direct confrontation, the "heroes" resort to a cowardly tactic in an attempt to slay them indirectly. While scouting for protagonists Ai and Mai, Kama and Sutra repeatedly leap high above the surrounding area, unaware that the "heroes" have magically enchanted a seemingly harmless bamboo grove. As they glide over the grove, an unseen force suddenly pulls Kama downwards, impaling him on a bamboo stalk that the "heroes" have sharpened to razor-tip points. In her first (and sadly last) act of selflessness, Sutra cries out for her beloved compatriot and descends, only to get ensnared herself. Completely helpless, she looks down in horror as the magical aura pulls her down bare-vagina-first onto another bamboo stalk. Her bloodcurdling scream amidst her full-body impalement, followed eerily by complete silence, is absolutely bone-chilling, and the gruesomely graphic frame pan that follows leaves little to the imagination... a most unbefitting end to one of the most beautiful and erotic animated characters ever conceived.]

A VICTIM OF CONTENT EDITING
A number of scenes in the third volume of the VHS and Region 1 DVD releases in which Sutra seduces Onimaru in his human form were edited to remove content deemed objectionable by Central Park Media. As one who despises all forms of content editing, I decided to purchase the original unedited Japanese R2 DVD to see Sutra in all her seductive glory. Although there was not as much "new" Sutra content as I had originally hoped for, it was most enjoyable, and I can go to my grave happy. ^_^

NONEXISTANT FAN FOLLOWING
When Twin Angels was released in 1997, the internet was still in its infancy and did not have the multitude of information, dedicated fan sites, image boards, and other mechanisms to share fandom that is so prevalent today. As a result, there are but a paltry handful of Sutra fan drawings out there. Sutra does play a role, albeit minor, in the collection of Twin Angels fancomics published by Anthology Comics in 2006. The fan artists do a wonderful job faithfully recreating her design.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Having bridged the gap between the hentai world and the real world by seducing this enthralled viewer, Sutra will forever remain one of my favorite hentai characters of all time and is easily Rin Shin's pièce de résistance.

Absolutely breathtaking visual design remains consistently detailed through all four of her episodes.

Extremely strong and confident personification of sexual desire and lust... To her, sex is no more significant than breathing air.

A classic evil villainess with highly adept combat and dancing skills.

An intentional covert lack of panties by design is a fascinating concept that more hentai character designers need to embrace.

No known personal motivations to support character depth or development. Never rises above the "blindly follow orders" servant role.

Number of sexual encounters: 8, Number or orgasms: Zero. Also, her stiffly animated breasts suffer from the same non-dynamic portrayal as those of all other females in Twin Angels... Where's Satoshi Urushihara when you need him?!

SPOILER!: [Suffers a humiliating, empty, and solitary death that completely dismisses her true abilities.]

Surprisingly omitted from Rin Shin's Character Illustrations Artbook, an extensive collection of his various character designs.

(I must say that it took FOREVER to splice together the two large full-body shots of Sutra I put together for this essay due to the show's annoying corner shadowing effect... but it was worth it!) Given how far the internet has advanced in the past twelve years and the vastly greater number of fan artists and doujinshi circles in existence today, I cannot help but wonder: If Twin Angels had been released in modern times, would fans have been more enthralled with Sutra's character? Would Sutra-themed fan art and doujinshi be prevalent? I sincerely hope this essay spawns more appreciation for this enchanting and sultry vixen of years long past. To those of you familiar with Sutra, do you agree or disagree with my various points in this essay? To those of you who never saw Twin Angels, did my essay prompt you to watch it, and if so, what did you think of her? If any visiting artists would care to do her character design justice with some fan art, I'd consider offering my doujinshi translation and/or editing services in return...

Real Physics of Anime Breasts - Lesson 2

2009-08-11T17:20:00.028-04:00

Although this recurring series of posts is a slight diversion from this blog's primary purpose, I want to dispel any rumors that ecchi and hentai are not educational by exploring how true real-world physics relates to the wonderful allure of anime breasts. I would like to extend a special thanks to all my college professors who have made this possible, unbeknownst to them.

LESSON 2: BUOYANCY
One often overlooked yet delightful aspect of breasts is that their density (typically 0.9 g/mL) is less than that of water (1.0 g/mL). This means that when breasts are submerged, the surrounding water applies an upwards force on them. This phenomenon is perhaps best portrayed in Inmu OVA 2 just after swimming instructor Izumi finally acts on her feelings for her student Aki. As Izumi lowers the top half of Aki's one-piece swimsuit, Aki's breasts bounce free in a very atypical manner... Unlike most all other sudden top-removing scenes in which the breasts burst out bouncing and full of energy, Aki's submerged breasts react with a single bounce, rising rapidly followed by a slow dampened descent. This intriguing yet well-conceived animation sequence is a result of the artist's acknowledgment of the effects of buoyancy on Aki's breasts.

A more popular theme involving buoyancy occurs in many anime bathing or onsen scenes involving well-endowed females who submerge themselves just deep enough that their partially-immersed breasts freely float on the surface of the water. Not only does this provide a temporary relaxing sensation of weightlessness, it also provides a stimulating visual treat to those nearby. One of many such displays occurs in the onsen scene from the first episode of Minami-ke Okawari... Haruka slowly lowers her body further into the warm relaxing water, and, instead of submerging out of sight, her breasts remain afloat due to the fact that they are less dense than water. Haruka's tranquil expression is a testament to the relief she is experiencing as her body is suddenly free from having to bear the weight of her breasts.

The following equation defines the upward force exerted on a fully submerged breast...

...where V is the volume of the breast, ρ is the density of the liquid it is submerged in, and g is gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s^2 on Earth). Let's explore this theme with a simple exercise to start...

EXERCISE 1
------------------------
In the last of the three Read or Die OAVs, Nancy Makuhari is knocked unconscious underwater. Assuming that Nancy's well-endowed form has breasts with a wholesome mass of 350g each, calculate the upwards buoyancy force that the water induces on both of them.

This is a relatively straight-forward calculation. First, we need to determine the volume of each of Nancy's breasts using the density equation originally introduced in lesson 1.

To calculate the buoyancy force, simply use the equation introduced in this lesson above...

Okay, but what exactly does 7.6 N of buoyancy force mean? ...How does it relate to her dire situation? Let's do a more comprehensive follow-up exercise building off of this:

EXERCISE 2
------------------------
Nancy's motionless body begins to rise to the surface. How much of a role do her breasts play in regards to the time it takes for her body to rise? Assume she weighs 45kg, was initially submerged 5 meters, and that her current body density is approximately 98% that of water.

The following solution is a bit more involved than the first exercise... Let's start by drawing a free-body diagram to visually portray all of the forces acting on Nancy's body.
Summing the forces and simplifying:

To understand how time factors into this calculation, we need to utilize the following equation of motion:

where s is the distance submerged, a is Nancy's upwards acceleration to the surface, and t is time. Substituting a=F/m (from Newton's second law of motion) and solving for t yields:

Combining the two equations yields the final all-telling equation:

This effectively calculates the time it takes for Nancy's body to rise to the surface based upon the various forces acting on her body. With the hard work essentially done, now we simply compare two scenarios:

(SCENARIO 1) Consider ALL forces, including the buoyancy force of Nancy's breasts which, as we calculated in the first exercise, is 7.6N.

(SCENARIO 2) Completely neglect the upwards buoyancy force induced by Nancy's breasts.

WOW... The buoyancy force from Nancy's breasts reduced her surfacing time by almost 2 seconds! Not only this, but note the positioning of Nancy's unconcious body. Instead of mimicking reality in which a motionless human's floating position involves the chest down, face submerged, and the upper back exposed, the animators even further accentuate Nancy's buoyant breasts by having her emerge breast-first and floating chest-up, thereby exposing her mouth and allowing her to breathe. Bottom line... If it wasn't for her well-endowed character design, it is quite possible she would not have survived this encounter.

In closing, here are some more works that highlight this wonderful theme... Their artists' depictions of breast buoyancy elegantly portray accentuated calm and relaxing moods.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #7

2009-07-26T12:45:00.010-04:00

(Updated Sept 9, 2009) A very creative last minute entry by TheCampbell acknowledges the scene's bathroom setting while providing a cleverly crafted punchline in the caption... Great work! Thank to everyone for their submissions, and here are the runners-up:
Hakumoki: "I don't care how good your aim is when you're erect. You'll just have to wait until I'm done..."
Sephiroth: "You'd better just be letting it out for some air because two of you other options are occupied, and the last one bites."
Ero-otoko: "I hear anal sex is good... for constipation." [What really disturbed Omoida was how much that turned him on.]

Congratulations to *slurp!* for winning previous Challenge #6!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

The scene for this sixth challenge comes from the first of artist Inu's two-part manga Black Cat Boogaloo in which "Black Cat," the female lead who has a very strong sense of smell, seeks to sample the scent of male character Omoida's seminal fluids to see if he might make a suitable dating partner. This manga ends with her receiving a surprise passionate kiss just moments before one of the most beautiful united orgasms ever drawn. You might recognize this art style since Inu also created the more well-known manga Hatsu Inu, which spawned two, two-episode animated series. Good luck on this challenge!

Animated Nipple Erection Compendium

2009-07-16T18:15:00.057-04:00

'The Animated Nipple Erection Compendium' now resides on my new site:
http://elegantsuccubus.com/

Bouncing Without Honor or Humanity

2009-06-11T17:39:00.025-04:00

Amongst anime and hentai titles, artists have created hundreds upon thousands of different animated interpretations of bouncing breasts by using different combinations of breast size, shape, density, weight, momentum, rebound, frame rate, and decorating attire (or lack thereof). As I discussed in my previous Animated Looping Sequences post, they are divided into two main visual categories: Whereas many hentai titles utilize realistic depictions to titillate their viewers, mainstream anime often opts for more comical exaggerated types to downplay the associated sexual connotations. Side Note: One cannot discount the significant role that the accompanying audio also plays... Watch this short clip to see the dramatic impact of how different audio can make a sex-induced bounce seem comical and an otherwise innocent bounce seem erotic.

To showcase the sheer variety of breast bouncing animations that continue to be developed in both anime and hentai, I created my first AMV (anime music video) several years ago: Bouncing Without Honor or Humanity. The background song, Battle Without Honor or Humanity, served as an excellent audio canvas as it offered a great variety of beats and rhythms with which to creatively integrate and time the various bouncing clips.

DOWNLOAD [38.6 MB]

Given how much I enjoyed making the first video, I created a sequel the following year: Bouncing Without Honor or Humanity Yet Again. I used a remixed version of the song and added an extra feature inspired by a certain bonus extra on my Plastic Little DVD... a feature that should have but sadly never took off in the anime DVD world.

DOWNLOAD [35.8 MB]

I hope you enjoy watching these as much as I enjoyed making them. Were there any bounce syncs that you found particularly amusing? And now... some challenges! The first to comment with the correct answer wins the respective challenge. Good luck!

BRONZE CHALLENGE WINNER: Torn. Identify the one bouncing clip that I reused in both videos.

SILVER CHALLENGE: Only one scene in these videos features a character whose breasts are bouncing as she engages in penile/vaginal copulation. Name the character (or show).

GOLD CHALLENGE: Identify a song (preferably instrumental) that would be well-suited for another non-stop breast bouncing video of this type. If your suggestion peeks my interest enough for me to start work on another video, you get the gold!

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #6

2009-06-06T11:55:00.007-04:00

(Updated July 26, 2009) This was perhaps the most difficult challenge yet. I was most fond of *slurp!*'s entry because it fit in well with the entire scene (Tatsuro's surprised expression, Megumi removing her shoes, no panties). Well done! Thank you all for the submissions, and here are the runners-up:

kodi: "Stop! Ok, I believe you. You don't have to put the other shoe in there too!" (Aside from the fact that Megumi is actually holding her other shoe in her left hand, I did laugh out loud at this one. ^_^)
Azimuth: "Thank god you're not a guy!"
Anonymous: "Yahtzee!"

Congratulations to Ero-Otoko for winning previous Challenge #5!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

The scene for this sixth challenge comes from Yukimi's short story Ai no mama ni, Wagamama ni in which Megumi nonchalantly yet dramatically reveals her under-skirt secret to her completely caught-off-guard boyfriend Tatsuro. Good luck!

Enchanting Underutilized Characters: Part 1

2009-05-29T13:31:00.034-04:00

Pop quiz: How many of the seven characters in the image below can you immediately identify?

Popular anime, manga, and video game characters are often instantly recognizable due to one or more unique defining traits involving hair color/design, eye color/shape, body proportions, facial features, attire/accessories, and voice acting. With the multitude of characters already in existence nowadays, I suspect character designers have to put a lot of effort into creating new lead characters that are both appealing and memorable. On occasion, very minor, sometimes insignificant, characters will also receive the same detailed treatment. A good non-anime example is Star Wars' Boba Fett... Although he had only four lines of dialogue in the original trilogy, his unique costume and enigmatic presence made him one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe.

I am simultaneously infuriated and fascinated when shows take this "minor character" aspect to an extreme. When new stunning character designs are introduced and then suddenly killed off mere moments later, part of me feels cheated by their brief existence. (One must wonder if the original artists who invested so much time in these characters' elaborate designs feel the same way). With that being said, though, such insignificant characters are often more captivating and intriguing than lead characters due to the overwhelming and powerful sense of pity evoked when they meet such abruptly tragic ends. In addition, the lack of any knowledge about their past, personalities, and motivations sparks the imagination to fill in the gaps.

This will be the first of a series of posts in which I will explore specific characters in anime, hentai, and manga who do not get the screen time they so considerably deserve. SPOILER ALERT: I will be discussing very minor character deaths... so minor that they have no significant bearing on the plot and could hardly be considered spoilers. There are to be NO discussions regarding spoilers for major or significant minor characters. Please adhere to this if you leave any comments... Thank you!

Unnamed Black World Red-Dressed Seductress
The erotic thriller Wicked City was my very first foray into the world of Japanese animation, and I vividly recall its shocking imagery when I saw it many years ago. This movie dares to treat eroticism with stylized dignity, and the sex scenes, unlike most hentai titles, do not overshadow or detract from the plot but instead complement it. Each of the three female antagonists are portrayed as very strong individuals and have wonderfully conceived demonic powers themed around their genitalia or breasts: The spider-lady flaunts a tooth-lined vagina that can quite literally dismember those who are unfortunate enough to be lured inside. The massage parlor woman's large breasts dissolve to ensnare fondling hands as well as covertly expel parasites through their nipples. The highlight, though, is the third female antagonist whose character designer was especially imaginative...

Just over halfway into the movie, a woman in a scarlet-red form-fitting sleeveless sheath dress makes an appearance. Her similarly red-shaded lips, fingernails, and heels complement her long dark wavy hair that completely obscures the right side of her face. A beauty mark below her lips, a very narrow purple left eye, an elaborately designed earring, and a gold headband complete her beautiful visual design. With the camera clearly focused on her firm buttocks, she walks silently towards her victim (main character Taki) save for the echoing clicks of her heels. Her brief pause with her hand at her hip serves to accentuate her curvaceous body. However, viewers do not get an opportunity to admire her fully attired status for long as she proceeds to slowly push aside the upper straps of her dress. Click on the image to the right to revel in the beauty of her undeniably graceful animated disrobing... Note the detail in how the dress briefly catches on her left nipple as it starts to fall as well as the manner in which she slowly uncrosses her arms to let the weight of the dress do all the work as it gently slides itself down off her body. The subsequent revelation that she wears no undergarments is a delightful surprise, and a close-up of her coy smile and slow narrowing of her eyes concludes her majestic poise. Seriously: This woman gives the phrase "knowing how to make an entrance" a whole new meaning.

Having clearly established that she is proficient in utilizing her body in conventional seduction techniques, she further augments her seduction by employing hypnosis via an earring that produces a mesmerizing ringing sound as it spins. Now perhaps I am looking too far into it, but the earring's heart-within-a-heart design seems so very appropriate for her. The heart shape has often been considered an abstraction of a female's spread vulva. (In this case, is it just a coincidence that the small sphere at the outer heart's upper cusp is in the same position as the clitoris would be?) The lack of such a sphere on the inner heart would imply that it represents a different person altogether. Now why would her earring symbolize someone completely surrounded by a spread vulva? I wonder... ^_^

With her nude body on prominent display, the woman suddenly unveils her unique and shocking Black World ability. Click on the image to the left to see how she quickly opens a large fissure on her stomach, extending all the way from between her breasts down to her pubic area. With each pulse of this throbbing vaginal-shaped orifice, streams of fluid squirt outwards, clearly intending to represent a state of feminine sexual arousal. It is at this point she finally reveals her calm soothing voice while, in one very slow yet enticing motion, she curls the fingers on her extended left hand, retracts the hand towards her body, and invitingly inserts its fingernails inside her large vagina while moaning sensually. O_O

With Taki appearing to be completely bewitched, he slowly approaches her and actually "enters" her body while she lets out an orgasmic yet controlled outcry. Unfortunately, the scene has resorted to a series of close-ups that sadly leaves the actual entering of his body into hers to the viewer's imagination. With the inside of her vagina represented by fluids slowly dripping down the screen, she then reveals that interrogation is her true motive behind this elaborate seduction.

However, the pleasure-filled atmosphere comes to a jarring halt as Taki reveals that he has been playing her the entire time. Without saying a word, he takes advantage of her completely vulnerable state and promptly shoots his powerful gun directly into the center of her large vagina... Unfortunately for her, I am not speaking metaphorically. Amidst this unsettling mood shift, the fact that none of the characters show concern over or even simply acknowledge her misfortune is downright inconsiderate of her incredible character design. Even the movie itself completely disregards her death with the camera panning away as she falls away into the darkness, never to be seen again.

Unlike the former two female antagonists, she never showed any intent to inflict harm upon Taki or any of the characters. For all we know, she could have simply been a source of raw, unbelievable pleasure used as a unique interrogation tool by the Black World. By falling victim to Taki's feigned seduction, she is yet another example of the classic "tricked and made vulnerable" demise so unfortunately common amongst female antagonists.

The passing of this mysterious enchantress sparks the imagination to no end. Did she physically take Taki's body into hers? Was that large opening actually a portal to an alternate "vaginal dimension"? Given her obvious experience in this technique, what did she do with her previous victims once she successfully seduced and interrogated them? Did she ever seduce a female in this manner? What is her name?! I demand a prequel... Wicked City: The Red Dress Chronicles. ^_^

(ANIMATION REVIEW) Penetration Pulchritude

2009-05-16T08:00:00.024-04:00

Tinklebell's 2005 eroge PunyuPuri EX - Tsun Dere! introduces futanari teacher Fujimoto Haruna and her blue-haired student Himesaki Orie. These two characters share a very enchanting relationship which is further explored in the sequel, Tsukiakari no Raspberry: Tsun Dere 2. So as to keep their sexual adventures a secret, they share their many passionate encounters in secluded school settings: a bathroom, a classroom (after hours), the roof top, and the nurse's office. Tsukiakari no Raspberry begins with them encountering each other in the school hallway, immediately after which they waste no time hurrying to the nearest bathroom to satisfy their burning desires. This introductory bathroom encounter highlights just how completely infatuated Haruna and Orie are with one another and leads to a marvelous depiction of penetration...

TITLE: Tsukiakari no Raspberry: Tsun Dere 2
SOURCE TYPE: Eroge
ARTIST/GROUP: Tinklebell
CHARACTERS: Fujimoto Haruna & Himesaki Orie

[DOWNLOAD CLIP WITH SOUND]

The beauty of this animated loop stems from its very detailed portrayal of the female vagina. Although the lack of speed and penetration depth would initially lead one to believe this comes from the beginning of the encounter, Haruna is actually on the brink of climax and trying hard not to over-stimulate herself by gently inserting and removing only the tip of her penis.

Notice how Orie's vagina seems almost sentient as it repeatedly pulls in Haruna's penis with a rousing accompanying sound effect. This illusion is actually the result of Haruna having discovered exactly how much force it takes for her to penetrate Orie and delicately skirting that threshold with restrained thrusts. When Haruna's penis penetrates, the vaginal resistance drops off significantly, giving the appearance that Orie's vagina is "swallowing" the penis by itself. To demonstrate my point, try depressing a key on your keyboard such that you are just about to activate the key. With just the slightest additional force, you cannot help but fully actuate the key, right? This same phenomenon holds true during the ensuing retraction in which her vagina seems to forcefully expel Haruna's penis. The animated graph to the right offers a more visual representation of this variation in vaginal resistance. It is a shame that most animated titles do not invest animation frames to explore this rather alluring aspect of the female body.

This visually captivating cycle of superficial penetration continues until Haruna's brinksmanship skills succumb to the no-doubt insanely pleasurable sensations. After passing the point of no return, she makes one final thrust so as to forcefully release herself deep inside Orie. The ensuing climax is one of the most impressive scenes of animated nakadashi I have ever seen... As both of their bodies quiver in ecstasy, the viewer can almost feel the powerful euphoria on display. As Haruna continues to ejaculate inside Orie, Orie forcefully spurts out Haruna's ejaculate around the outside of her still inserted penis, quickly spattering it across the floor between Haruna's legs. Thanks to this eroge's unique animation style, Orie's "counter-ejaculation" is not restricted to conventionally low animation frame rates which often cause a visually detracting slow motion effect during scenes involving airborn ejaculate.

Over the course of both eroges, Haruna and Orie share over a dozen well-animated sexual encounters together. Tinklebell's uniquely detailed animation style, character designs with expressive eyes, and focus on consensual and loving relationships make Haruna and Orie one of the most enchanting futanari x girl couples in all of Japanese erotica. How I long for the day that these titles are translated into English so I can further understand the characters and the details behind their loving relationship.

Do you have a favorite sexually-involved character relationship in hentai, doujinshi, eroge, or manga? What do you think makes it so fascinating?

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #5

2009-05-09T21:12:00.010-04:00

(Updated June 6, 2009) My goodness! The influx of hilarious submissions for this challenge was so overwhelming, choosing the winner was a challenge in and of itself. Ultimately, I most delighted by Ero-Otoko's entry that perfectly matched the characters' expressions while putting a unique spin on the life-draining aspect of succubi... Hilarious! Runners-up:

Oliver: "Told you, 60 degrees Celsius."
Bil: "Next, it's my turn to stick it in you."
Campbell: "I told you it had a tongue!"

Congratulations to Quiet One for winning previous Challenge #4!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi (or eromanga) scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

The scene for this fifth challenge comes from a COMIC AUN short story by artist Sakai Hamachi in which a guy gets more than he bargained for after purchasing a "Devil Hole" masturbator. This one is RIPE for insane hilarity... Good luck!

(DOUJINSHI REVIEW) Orchid Sphere

2009-05-03T10:00:00.092-04:00

PROLOGUE
The primary reason that animation and video games from Japan continue to fascinate me is the fastidious level of detail associated with their various production elements: animation quality, story depth, settings, supporting soundtrack, and life-like character design and relationships. The mark of a truly incredible work, though, is one that is so well thought-out that hidden meanings, symbolism, and character nuances continue to be discovered even after many repeated viewings (shows like Evangelion come to mind).

Even more fascinating to me is how artists of erotic doujinshi and manga imbue similarly meticulous levels of detail in their works. When I can read through a doujinshi, and on the tenth reading I am still discovering new subtleties, then I know the artist truly put his or her heart into it. Such titles deserve recognition, and one such title that I would like to delve deep into and share my thoughts on is Shimoyakedou’s brilliantly executed Orchid Sphere.

ODIN SPHERE
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of doujinshi is that it allows independent artists to create erotic storylines, either independent or spin-off, featuring official anime, manga, or video game characters often in non-canon sexual pairings. By tapping into the emotions that fans have already invested into such characters, doujinshi artists often create very intense responses in their readers, fulfilling their curiosities as to how these characters would behave in sexual situations that are either never explored or only slightly hinted at in their corresponding official series.

Even with its copyright-infringement aspect, many claim that doujinshi actually support the official titles on which they are based by introducing readers to works that they might not otherwise have discovered. Hmmm. I have to admit that I initially thought this to be a weak argument created by desperate fans who simply wanted to continue seeing their favorite characters engage in endless copulation... That is, until I discovered Orchid Sphere.

I distinctly remember my first viewing of this doujinshi and being captivated by the artwork, character designs (especially the beautiful attire), and loving expressions. It had not yet been fan-translated, and I had many questions: Why was the one girl sleeping so majestically at the beginning ala Sleeping Beauty (laying on back, arms across chest)? Why was the well-endowed girl who looked like a fortune teller so flustered when the other girl awoke, and why did she seem to care for her so much? What was up with that living vegetable on page 31?!

As a result of my curiosity, I investigated the PS2 game on which this doujinshi was based: Odin Sphere. After purchasing a copy, I was overjoyed to discover an addicting and unique 2D side-scrolling romp full of elegant hand-drawn and hand-animated character sprites the size of which put those in any other game to shame (yes, even you, Guilty Gear). With a drama-filled emotional story, the game portrays a number of very strong and proud female characters, a rarity in games nowadays. One 40+ hour gaming addiction later, I am now able to fully appreciate Shimoyakedou’s Orchid Sphere... If not for this wonderful doujinshi, I would likely never have experienced the equally wonderful game it is based on.

~WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FROM THE GAME!~

PHASE 1: AFFECTIONATE SETUP (pgs 7-13)
Artist Tokiichi Ouma displays his typical highly-detailed use of shading from the very first frame. Gwendolyn's outfit consists of four different shades of gray, each of which is sub-shaded to highlight each clothing article's depths and folds. In the absence of colored pages, this shading detail serves to simulate the vibrant coloring associated with these remarkable character designs.

When compared with most other Shimoyakedou works, one unique aspect of Orchid Sphere is the artist’s decision to focus attention on the background and setting. Tokiichi-san’s recreation of Gwendolyn’s memorably scenic room and balcony helps the reader identify the official scene on which this doujinshi is based, which is shown in the screenshot to the right (Chapter 5, Act 6 of Velvet's gameplay arc). Velvet is musing near her peacefully sleeping half-sister Gwendolyn who recently defied the king’s orders to sacrifice Velvet to a nearby dragon. Furious over Gwendolyn’s actions, the king (their father) has punished Gwendolyn by stripping her of her honor and casting a sleep spell that will cause her to fall in love with the first person she sees upon awakening... What a great setup for this doujinshi’s diverging series of events. Whereas the game has Velvet leave before Gwendolyn awakens, this story explores what might have happened had Velvet stuck around just a little bit longer. ^_^

The loving nature of this doujinshi becomes immediately apparent as Velvet gently touches Gwendolyn’s face, the first of this doujinshi’s many affectionate gestures. Velvet's super-deformed reaction to Gwendolyn's sudden awakening is the doujinshi's only lighthearted moment. Gwendolyn offers a sincere yet unforced desire to have Velvet be her lifelong partner, but a somber tone soon develops during the ensuing discussion in which Gwendolyn accepts her sad fate: to be stripped of her ability to fight as a proud flying Valkryie and instead marry and bear children. Velvet’s remorse over Gwendolyn’s situation prompts her to comfort Gwendolyn with a passionate, two-part, tear-inducing kiss. A follow-up compliment of Gwendolyn’s elaborate dress causes a delightful response in Gwendolyn who holds her hand to her heart. Seriously... This doujinshi’s well-executed introduction simply oozes with sincere affection.

PHASE 2: BREAST COMFORTING (pgs 14-22)
Driving the pace of the encounter with a series of sensual touches through Gwendolyn’s clothing, Velvet reveals an intriguing and recurring aspect of her own sexuality at the bottom frame of page 14. By casually glancing back up at Gwendolyn’s face, Velvet provides her first hint at what appears to be her unique fetish: Her own derivation of pleasure stems from watching the pleasure-filled facial reactions of her partner. The artist highlights this revelation by shading the entire frame slightly darker.

Velvet then makes an odd decision to briefly break from the encounter’s gradual pacing by suddenly burying her face in Gwendolyn’s panties and stimulating her vagina. Gwendolyn’s near-orgasmic reaction to this completely unexpected intrusion brings Velvet back to her senses, and she proceeds to slow things down. The remainder of this phase involves them taking the time to admire and slowly explore each other’s well-endowed chests without even a hint of breast-size envy or pride.

I cannot help but compare page 19, the page immediately following Velvet’s suckling on Gwendolyn’s breasts when Velvet offers her own in return, to a very similar scene in Green Green Character DVD #2. Both scenes feature a dramatic yet consensual offering of a breast fondling, and, as shown in the comparison image to the left, they follow the exact same sequence: (i) awestruck visual fascination, (ii) dramatic yet nervous hand approaching, and (iii) curious exploration of the breasts’ suppleness. In addition, I would argue that the leading frame of this page showing Gwendolyn’s reaction to Velvet's breast revealing is one of the best frames in the entire doujinshi for several reasons. First, it is the very first moment that Velvet’s character design takes center stage. Whereas many doujinshi artists have their characters completely remove clothing to simplify the remainder of the drawings, Tokiichi-san’s decision to leave Velvet’s frilly top intact with the flap from her neckpiece draping over top serves to highlight the beauty of Velvet’s curvaceous body here as well as the remainder of the doujinshi. Secondly, with Velvet’s ornately decorated and detailed breast on such prominent display in the foreground, the reader can relate to Gwendolyn’s silent yet awestruck reaction in the background. Thirdly, this frame commences the first lead change as Velvet relinquishes control of the encounter to Gwendolyn... or does she?!

Just as Gwendolyn starts to take charge by exploring Velvet’s body, Velvet suddenly pulls Gwendolyn tight to her chest. The entrancing and soothing power of the female body is displayed as Gwendolyn, intoxicated by having her face buried in the warm softness of Velvet’s rather sizable breasts, begins to suddenly reminisce of her past, specifically her mother who has long since passed away followed by thoughts of her father and sister. Realizing the power of this introspective moment, the artist highlights this tender scene by drawing it from five glorious angles. Completely relaxed, Gwendolyn begins to instinctively suckle on Velvet’s breasts.

PHASE 3: YURI PASSION (pgs 23-30)
Velvet takes advantage of Gwendolyn's euphoric state and vulnerable position astride her right leg by suddenly lifting her knee, applying pressure directly on Gwendolyn's crotch. Although Gwendolyn is startled by the unexpected pleasure, her body has clearly been desensitized since Velvet's first attempt to stimulate her vagina. She is also able to endure the ensuing pleasure from Velvet's probing fingers which begin to stimulate Gwendolyn through her panties.

Velvet then displays her now clearly evident "face-watching" fetish twice in succession: First, she watches Gwendolyn's powerful facial reaction at the moment she first slides a finger inside her. More prominently, though, after removing Gwendolyn's panties and spreading open her vaginal folds, Velvet completely disregards the splendorous view of Gwendolyn's full exposure, which the readers are no doubt focused on, and instead gazes up between Velvet's breasts to stare at her embarrassed reaction. This fetish emphasizes the selfless nature of Velvet's actions... She truly cares for her partner.

After providing some preparatory clitoral cunnilingus, Velvet decides to bring this phase to a close by removing her own panties, interlocking their legs, and pressing her vagina directly against Gwendolyn's. It is at this moment that Velvet shows the first signs of her own pleasure... Yet even as they find themselves equally lost in pleasure while grinding to their first shared orgasm, Velvet cannot help but display her fetish once again by sneaking a one-eyed peak at Gwendolyn.

With its affectionate setup, gradual progression of consensual passion, and a shared orgasm induced by tribadism, the first 24 pages of this doujinshi make for a complete and absolutely enchanting yuri encounter. The artist could have easily ended the doujinshi here and nobody would have the wiser... However, Tokiichi-san yet again goes above and beyond the call of duty with a second arc that is almost as long as the first.

PHASE 4: FUTANARI ENCORE (pgs 31-38)
Those who played Odin Sphere will immediately recognize what is transpiring on page 31. In the game, players mix herbs and bottles in different combinations to concoct a variety of potions. Velvet's mixture of a Habaneristo chili and a material 4 bottle is a valid recipe that, just as would happen in the game, produces an 'M', or metamorphosis potion. Whereas the use of this potion would normally metamorphose the drinker into or from a frog, the doujinshi has a much more fascinating effect by transforming the drinker into a futanari. Notice how, unlike many doujinshi which have female characters sprouting a penis for no apparent reason, the artist of Orchid Sphere creatively utilizes aspects of the official game to make Velvet's futanari transformation seem plausible.

Not unlike her previous breast-fondling offer, Velvet gently holds her newly-formed penis as she presents it to a very curious Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn proceeds to caress it and then responds to Velvet's request to provide a brief blowjob. The highlight of this phase, though, is the 10-frame paizuri sequence that leads to Velvet's second orgasm. After complying with Velvet's request to wrap her breasts around her penis and press them tightly together, Gwendolyn surprises Velvet by suddenly and rapidly jiggling her breasts up and down, the only such bouncing display in the entire doujinshi. Realizing this intense stimulation has caused Velvet to pass the point of no return, Gwendolyn positions her mouth directly over the tip of Velvet's penis as she prepares to catch the forthcoming ejaculation. Velvet's lost-in-pleasure expression at the bottom of page 37 is a wonderful "page turning cliff hanger"... There is no doubt what will happen on the next page.

The depiction of Velvet's forceful ejaculation does not disappoint, and Gwendolyn remains focused throughout the entire act so as to contain as much of it in her mouth that she can. Tokiichi-san outdoes himself with a particularly beautiful drawing in the bottom frame on page 38. Velvet's relieved expression while supporting her weight with one hand and holding Gwendolyn's head with the other wonderfully complements Gwendolyn's ongoing diligence in capturing the remainder of Velvet's subsiding ejaculation.

PHASE 5: NAKADASHI & CONCLUSION (pgs 39-51)
This last phase focuses on their final energetic copulatory rise to climax and allows Tokiichi-san to display his full mastery of erotic comic art. Velvet is unfazed by her recent ejaculation as evident by her penis which is still firm and fully erect. As Gwendolyn lies on her back with her legs spread, Velvet wastes no time in positioning herself and thrusting inside. To emphasize their increased pacing, the artist alternates views between their upper and lower bodies seven times, and supporting dialogue reveals that Velvet simply cannot stop thrusting her hips. Tokiichi-san's gifted ability to evoke "perceived softness" also shines through at the bottom frame of page 41 in which their intermingled breasts merge together with Velvet's neckpiece flaps blanketing them all.

Just before it appears they are about to climax, though, Velvet suddenly and unexpectedly pulls out, much to Gwendolyn's dismay. The reason for this startling halt is quickly explained, however: Velvet wants to feel the entire depth of Gwendolyn's vagina and cannot do so in their current position... so they reverse. Following is a wonderfully executed five-frame sequence that shows Gwendolyn slowly lowering herself onto Velvet's penis. The artist's judicious timing to conclude this full insertion with the doujinshi's very first internal view, which shows the entire length of Velvet's penis fully engulfed by Gwendolyn's vagina, is the icing on the cake. As shown in the comparison image to the right, this sequence is very reminiscent of the train scene from Hatsu Inu in which Fukaya, wanting his penis even further inside Fujino, pulls up on her stockings to try and angle her body upwards to maximize his penetration... His success is also accompanied by the scene's only internal view that shows his penis fully buried inside Fujino.

The final stage is now set. However, just before their shared climax, note the artist's decision to abandon the typical frame-dividing lines on page 47. Their absence serves to underscore the chaotic, uncontrolled nature of Gwendolyn's and Velvet's motions as they have both completely submitted to their bodies' instinctive desires. The subsequent jaw-dropping two-page spread allows the artist to show how their entire bodies react to the powerful orgasmic release... Having their hands firmly embraced, tear-filled eyes shut tight, mouths opened wide, and bodies covered in perspiration, the artist draws a stunning depiction of two bodies fully united as one. So as not to leave anything to the imagination, one of the three surrounding sub-views shows how Velvet's penis just manages to penetrate Gwendolyn's cervix and forcefully ejaculates directly into her womb. What a truly remarkable and breath-taking conclusion...

The final two pages of the story abandon the typical Shimoyakedou placement of humor and instead depict a tender discussion and embrace between Velvet and Gwendolyn amidst further illustrations of the beautiful scenery. Note the subtle symbolism in the final frame... The fallen feather could be seen as representing Gwendolyn, her proud flying Valkyrie status now stripped away, while the proximity of Velvet's Psypher chain weapon lying nearby symbolizes Velvet's vow to protect Gwendolyn henceforth.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Having given a lot of thought as to which title is my favorite, I can finally say that Orchid Sphere holds that honor (sorry, Sisters' Syrups). The captivating dynamics of this doujinshi lie in the continual interplay between Gwendolyn's exploration/fascination of Velvet's body and Velvet's unselfish fascination of Gwendolyn's pleasure-filled facial reactions. I am hopeful that this review reveals the artistic heights and truly loving character interactions that are possible in the doujinshi medium.

Remains very faithful to the source material's story, characters, and renowned art style.

Consensual theme with a gradually progressive pacing.

Well-organized flow throughout the delightfully long 45-page main story.

Those who are fond of yuri but not futanari can stop on page 29 and enjoy the completely phallic-free, self-contained first arc.

A follow-up six page masturbation sequence featuring the flat-chested Mercedes is a pleasant diversion from the voluptuous character designs in the main story.

Missed opportunities with the lack of fairy queen Elfaria and the bouncy Netherworld queen Odette whose well-endowed character designs would have been very suitable subjects for the artist.

This doujinshi's serious nature, which abandons typical Shimoyakedou lightheartedness, may be hit-or-miss for readers.

Has a doujinshi ever led you to discover a new anime or video game that you would likely never have experienced otherwise?

Finally, I would like to extend special thanks to the hard-working efforts of DesuDesu for translating, YuriFutaFan for commissioning and editing, and Sbeghan for decensoring this marvelous work...

The Voice of Hentai - Captivating Moments

2009-02-22T08:36:00.030-05:00

Last Updated: July 25, 2009

Thanks to some wonderful suggestions by bigwiggy and 100+ Alias, I feel compelled to expand on my previous post, The Voice of Hentai. In that post, I highlighted and examined four high quality voice acting performances. This post will instead focus on specific yet brief moments of voice acting that manage to achieve such remarkable and memorable levels of simulated pleasure that they elicit numbingly euphoric reactions in the listener. Although such moments usually involve expressive outcries during an orgasm, they can also occur with a well-timed impassioned moan, groan, or breath. When full of delectably sensual intonation, even spoken dialogue can manage to evoke intense pleasure.

Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder (well... ear of the listener, in this case), no scene will elicit the same reaction in everyone. Therefore, this post will serve as a collection of as many such vocally "pleasure-oozing" moments as people are willing to share. I plan to contribute specific scenes myself from time to time, but I encourage everyone to recall and share their favorite such moments as well. If you have any contributions, please provide as much detail as possible (name of show/eroge, episode, character, description of scene, name of voice actress, etc) along with why you find it so captivating. Remember: This post is NOT intended for general overall performances but rather SPECIFIC instances of voice acting magnificence. Assuming I can produce a brief audio clip of the scene and share your appreciation of its merit, I will happily add your suggestion... Let's all give due credit to these amazing voice actresses that make our favorite titles come alive.

CHARACTER: Sutra (スートラ)
VOICE ACTRESS: Nagasawa Tomoko (永沢知子)
TITLE: Twin Angels (eps 3,4)
SCENES: (1) Sutra breathes in as a wound on her thigh is healed
(2) Sutra moans in pleasure while tending to Onimaro
COMMENDED BY: Hakumoki

Before Angel Blade's Nailkaizer, I would argue that the premiere dark-skinned female in hentai was none other than the enchanting Sutra from Twin Angels. With her enticing character design, combat prowess, villanous role, plentiful screen-time, and seductive voice actress, Sutra embodied eroticism and stole every scene she was in, living up to her title: The Queen of Seduction. The two clips below highlight her wonderful seiyuu who, from what I can gather, unfortunately voiced no other characters in anime or hentai.

(From Episode 3) While using their sexual powers to seduce and confuse the protagonists, Kama and Sutra are interrupted by sharp hairpins that strike them in the neck and inner thigh respectively. After Sutra heals Kama's wound, Kama returns the favor and tends to Sutra's. The allure of this scene is the focused attention on Sutra's leg, which Kama gently holds while licking her thigh. The icing on the cake, however, is Sutra's reaction: She closed her eyes, clutches Kama's head, and lets out a very pleasure-filled moan just before the wound seals itself.

(From Episode 4) To prevent Lord Onimaro from regaining his past memories, female captives keep him in a state of mindless seduction. Concerned that he might still break free, Sutra is called upon to utilize her highly-skilled sexual arts. The perceptive Sutra, however, has already comprehended the situtation and engaged herself with him, grinding herself on Onimaro's immense manhood while his tentacles stimulate her exposed breasts. Nagasawa Tomoko's tantalizing breathing during this scene consists of quick inhales interspersed with long, pleasure-filled exhaling moans... Unfortunately, the spectacle is cut short as the heroines Mai and Ai interrupt the scene, prompting Sutra to disengage and prepare for combat.

CHARACTER: Angel

VOICE ACTRESS: Kaibara Erena (海原エレナ)
TITLE: Heartwork: Symphony of Destruction (ep1)
SCENE: Angel gasps upon initial penetration
COMMENDED BY: Anonymous

During their hotel stay, Angel gives Yuu a huge confidence boost by guiding him through his very first sexual encounter. Voice actress Kaibara Erena's soothing voice is a perfect fit for Angel during this scene as it helps set the calm and relaxing mood that Angel is trying to achieve for Yuu who is clearly nervous due to his inexperience.

This audio clip starts with Yuu trying to insert his penis inside Angel's dripping vagina. After three missed thrusts, Angel reaches down and holds it for better alignment. The very next thrust succeeds, causing Angel to gasp loudly at the abrupt intrusion. Her sudden outcry is very passionate and convincing but short-lived as she quickly regains her composure due to Yuu's subsequent hesitation.

CHARACTER: Futanari Angel (Long Orange Hair)
VOICE ACTRESS: Unknown
TITLE: Viper GTS (ep3)
SCENE: Angel receiving blowjob from Carrera
COMMENDED BY: Elegant Succubus

At the beginning of the futanari angels' initial sexual assault on Carrera, the blue-haired angel enjoys a brief blowjob. In a later scene, however, the blue-haired angel relinquishes Carrera's mouth to her fellow long-orange haired angel, who completely monopolizes it for the rest of the encounter.

This audio clip is taken from the scene that shows a closeup of Carrera providing a blowjob to the orange-haired futa. If you watch the scene, you’ll see how this angel's voice actress accurately times her quick out-then-in breathing spurts to the cyclical animation of the angel's penis sliding in and out of Carrera's mouth. The seiyuu's detailed eloquence shines through as she simulates the angel's attempted vocalization of the pleasurable sensations she is experiencing.

During the fifth thrust, the seiyuu starts to say "seiyoku", a phrase which expresses one's sexual desire, but due to an intentional mistiming between her voice and thrust, she only manages to whisper "sei..." before the thrust ends, forcing her to catch her breath. On the subsequent sixth thrust, she succeeds in fully articulating the word "seiyoku" as a result of perfect timing between her voice and thrust. This subtle attention to detail in the voice-to-animation timing is magnificent.

The pinnacle of her performance, however, lies in her VERY sensual moan on the tenth thrust. After the voice actress utters "ii" twice in succession on the eighth and ninth thrusts, the seiyuu provides a deep heavenly moan of such realistically convincing passion that I melt every time I hear it.

CHARACTERS: Shanahime & Sanae
VOICE ACTRESSES: Yumi Takada (高田由美) & Unknown
TITLE: Lady Blue (ep1)
SCENE: Shanahime's orgasmic life-draining of Sanae
COMMENDED BY: Elegant Succubus

I know... I know... I bet you are wondering how many times I intend to praise this scene. Since my old review was focused primarily on its amazing visual display, however, I feel another look is warranted to appreciate its equally impressive accompanying vocal performance. Of the three distinct voices in this eight second clip, the only identifiable voice is Yumi Takada who does the voice of the human form Shanahime and possibly her demon form... it's hard to tell with the vocal distortion.

I found the passion-filled vocal interaction between Sanae and Shanahime so fascinating that I put together a chart to more easily convey my reasoning. At the mercy of Shanahime's deep-tongued cunnilingus and breast clasping, Sanae begins the clip with several pleasurable moans complemented by Shanahime's loud, long, and fervid "revving up" grunt uttered without a single catching of breath. Note how Shanahime's ascending voice seems to guide Sanae's moans upwards in pitch, mirroring the enchanting visual display of the gradually strengthening breast squeezing (driving her nipple upwards) as well as their increasing levels of pleasure. All three of these concurrent "ascending" aspects (visual, audio, emotional) are marvelously conceived and setup their fateful climax.

Just before their shared orgasm, Sanae's vocal pitch wavers briefly, but Shanahime's voice seems to once again "guide" it back up, causing them to both pass over the edge of pleasure. Sanae's voice then suddenly cuts out as Shanahime uses her orgasm as a conduit to instantly drain her body's life force. This sudden and no doubt overwhelming influx of energy causes Shanahime's voice to immediately revert to its human form, and Takada concludes the scene with a passion-filled breathing-in moan portraying the new energy now inside Shanahime.

This scene is powerful on so many levels that it will forever remain one of my favorite h-anime scenes.

CHARACTER: Reika Kitami
VOICE ACTRESS: Michiru Shirozaki
TITLE: Bible Black (ep1)
SCENE: Kitami's orgasm inside Itoh
COMMENDED BY: 100+ Alias

Michiru Shirozaki's deep voice is a splendid fit for the villainous futanari Reika Kitami. Although she has a very dominant "in control" personality when it comes to sexual encounters, she ends up succumbing to her inner-most desires during her opening scene with student Mika Itoh. Kitami's mental distraction from the realization that Itoh was not a virgin (as she had hoped) is quickly suppressed by a powerful wave of pleasure that sets her three-stage vocalized climax into motion:
1) Feeling the pending orgasm, Kitami grunts ever-so-briefly as she winces and closes her eyes in anticipation (screenshot above).
2) As Kitami's orgasm begins, she emits an enchanting low-to-high-to-low-pitched scream.
3) No doubt experiencing similar bliss from Kitami ejaculating inside her vagina, Itoh breaks her silence and joins Kitami in a wonderfully long and synchronized low-to-high-to-low-pitched outcry of euphoria.

CHARACTER: General Chloe
VOICE ACTRESS: Masako Katsuki (勝生真沙子)
TITLE: Angel Blade (ep2)
SCENE: Chloe's looming orgasm inside Emily
COMMENDED BY: bigwiggy

With her strong, dignified voice, Masako Katsuki achieves a moment of voice-acting brilliance while portraying futanari General Chloe during her pleasure-filled encounter with Emily. Chloe announces her pending orgasm with a desperate "kita... KITA!!" sandwiched between two moans of such wonderfully passionate inflection, one would think Katsuki herself was having an orgasm. She then utters a short "oooh" just before ejaculating inside Emily. Great find, bigwiggy!

CHARACTER: Nailkaizer

VOICE ACTRESS: Yuu Asakawa (浅川悠)
TITLE: Angel Blade (ep1)

SCENE: Nailkaizer forcibly sprouting her penis
COMMENDED BY: bigwiggy

As the illustrious voice of Nailkaizer, Yuu Asakawa displays her talented acting while simulating Nailkaizer's reaction to her self-induced transformation into a futanari. As Nailkaizer stimulates her clitoris, she elicits several curt muffled grunts. As her transformation begins, she is unable to keep her mouth closed, and lets out a loud echoing cry of pleasure that is full of such passionate intonation that the listener can almost feel her sensations. The length and varying pitch of her outcry are what makes it so unforgettable.

The Futanari Showdown

2009-02-14T09:00:00.008-05:00

After a fierce final battle against Nailkaizer, Nanaka has emerged as the champion, claiming the title of "Best Animated Futanari". Even after having placed second to Kitami in both the quarterfinals and semis, Nanaka manages to rally back and secure the crown. I strongly suspect her success was the result of what I feel is simply the most amazing futanari ejaculation scene ever animated. Look at the intense pleasure-filled emotion on Nanaka's face as she unleashes one of the most beautiful and powerful ejaculations ever seen in animation, futanari-themed or not. Since Sayuka's vagina was unable to contain her entire large volume of ejaculate, Nanaka is forced to pull out mid-ejaculation and shoot the remainder over Sayuka's body... What an amazing sequence.

I would like to thank all voters and commenters for their participation. I was very pleased with the insightful discussions as well as the increasing voter turnout. Nailkaizer fought to the very end, but fell just short to the likely dismay of many followers. Perhaps she would have triumphed had she utilized her futanari skills in more than just one sex scene. In regards to Imari and Kitami... What happened?! Even though they dominated three of the four previous rounds against Nanaka and Nailkaizer, they hardly put up a fight in the final round. Did having too many characters from Bible Black lead to their downfall?

Below are some questions that I hope spawn some additional comments and discussions on this post. My personal responses are in italics.
- Out of the 32 combatants, which futanari did YOU want to see win the tournament and why?
Although I am glad Nanaka emerged on top, I eventually decided to vote for Nailkaizer in the final round. Her outfit is simply awe-inspiring... Seeing her go into combat fully exposed and yet still completely confident in her abilities is most enchanting. Choosing between Nanaka and Nailkaizer was the most difficult decision I had to make in this tournament.
- Did I exclude any futanari from the tournament that you wanted to see participate?
I can't really answer this since I AM the one who selected the participants. ^_^
- Was there an underdog that you knew would not win but hoped somehow would?
When Kuon advanced in the first round, I was secretly hoping she would continue to advance. Her complete transformation from a serious, no-nonsense fighter into a sex-crazed futanari is what I like most about her.
- Were there any futanari with early defeats or unexpected advances that surprised or upset you?
I was VERY upset that Linea didn't appeal to voters. She engaged in two very romantic and passionate scenes and yet only managed to get two votes... one of which was mine! I was somewhat surprised (but not really upset) that Discode's Futaba lost in the semifinals. I thought she was going to easily advance to the finals.
- Which futanari do you feel best defines the genre and why?
Tough question... Let me give it some thought and respond later.

Meet the Four Finalists
NANAKA (Beat Angel Escalayer)
This enchanting purple-haired vixen boasts a highly detailed outfit that wonderfully complements her physique and hair color, a seductive voice actress, a commanding villianous screen presence, extraordinarily powerful ejaculatory skills, and animation quality that rivals characters from most any other animated title, erotic-themed or not. Extremely detailed closeups serve to highlight her intense facial expressions at the moments leading up to and including climax. By opting not to remove her clothing during sexual encounters (quite a rarity in the realm of major h-anime characters), Nanaka is gifted with a certain enigmatic quality that teases viewers who rarely get a chance to see her hidden assets.

REIKA KITAMI (Bible Black)
Once an ordinary schoolgirl, Kitami later becomes the leader of a dark religious cult, masquerading as a school nurse and seducing her female students while trying to locate a virgin to be used as a receiving vessel in a soul-transferance ritual. She especially relishes these seductions as they also serve to relieve her pent-up sexual desires. Her perverse joy in watching others being sexually embarressed, humiliated, and even physically tortured portrays her as one of the most sadistic characters in all of animation, futanari or not. Kitami's deep-voiced mature actress wonderfully complements her role in the series, making her one of the most memorable villainesses in all of h-anime.

NAILKAIZER (Angel Blade)
As the only futanari thus far capable of producing three penises from within her vagina, Nailkaizer really steals the show in Angel Blade. Her bare-breasted, bare-bottomed outfit is perhaps one of the most enchanting in all of h-anime, not only for its showcasing of her gorgeous body, but also for its portrayal of her strong self-confidence. Enjoying the pleasures associated with both her futanari and non-futanari forms, Nailkaizer has a secret sexual infatuation with the physical strength of her nemesis Angel Blade, as evident in her uncontrollable masturbation when seeing Angel Blade in action. The talented and popular voice actress Asakawa Yu provides a powerful, passionate, and seductive performance that suits this elegant succubus splendidly.

KURUMI IMARI (Bible Black)
Formerly a somewhat submissive student, Imari subsequently loses her innocent identity after her youth and virginity are discovered by the malevolent Reika Kitami, who fatefully chooses Imari to be the next vessel for her corrupt soul. After transforming into a powerful-bodied futanari, Imari becomes a complete slave to her penis... When she gets aroused in her new form, she often seeks immediate sexual relief from whoever she can find nearby. Imari also holds the special honor of engaging in the first (and only, thus far) animated futa x futa scene, one of the most fascinating encounters in all of hentai. Appearing in more h-anime episodes than any other futanari, Imari is perhaps one of the most tragic futanari characters.

Thirty-two combatants engaged in the world's first Futanari Showdown, which lasted from Oct 2008 through Feb 2009. In the same vein as Gamefaq's character battles, this tournament was intended to determine h-anime's all-time-best penis-endowed hottie. Although the Animated Futanari Compendium was at everyone's disposal, I urged voters not to be influenced by my personal opinions and encouraged them to (re)watch the related show/scenes. In addition to a futanari's appearance, I requested that voters consider her personality, passion, and overall portrayal before voting.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #4

2009-01-31T13:02:00.008-05:00

(Updated May 9, 2009) Although there were a lot of excellent entries, Quiet One's submission, along with a supporting analysis of this scene, was marvelous... Imagining Kyoko with the ability to identify others based solely on the petite-ness of their butts is hilarious!

Congratulations to anonymous for winning previous Challenge #3!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets. The entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

The scene for this fourth challenge comes from Yamatogawa's well-drawn comic Witchcraft in which we see Kyoko flipping up Sara's skirt. Although the comic has a legitimate reason for Kyoko doing this, it's time for a different humorous spin on this scene... Good luck!

Animated Looping Sequences

2009-01-24T08:00:00.019-05:00

So as to satisfy budget and time constraints, animation studios are famous for reusing frames of animation throughout a series or even a single episode. Unlike in mainstream animated titles, where abuse of this technique can make the show seem cheap and of low quality, reusing animation frames in h-anime titles is often very efficient and forgivable since the sexual act naturally involves cyclical, repeated motions. Developers will often create an assortment of looping animation sequences, composed of a various number of frames, that focus on different parts of the characters' bodies as they engage in their rhythmic copulation. With clever editing and unique transitional frames, these collections of animated loops can seamlessly flow into one another, resulting in a fascinating hentai viewing experience.
On some occasions, an animator will achieve extra-special inspiration and conceive an animated looping sequence that markedly stands out, eliciting a sudden awe-inspired reaction in the viewer who cannot help but marvel at the intricate perceived motion. Such artists consider not just each individual drawing (which are beautiful in and of themselves) but how each one transitions into the next, making the entire sequence significantly more than just the sum of its parts. Although the primary focus of this blog has been on single static drawings, I am compelled to share several wonderful examples of looping animation sequences that I feel deserve special recognition. Have you ever come across any memorable animated looping sequences such as these? If so, what about them was so fascinating?

TITLE: Beat Angel Escalayer (ep1)
CHARACTERS: Kouenji Sayuka and Kouenji Madoka
# ANIMATION FRAMES: 15
THEME: Delicate Breast Massage

Depictions of breast fondling in Japanese animation are a dime a dozen. Not only do such depictions appear frequently in hentai, but they have completely permeated mainstream anime as well. Whereas depictions in anime are almost always accompanied by the "kuri kuri" kneading sound effect for lighthearted comedic purposes, hentai depictions often forgo this sound so as to evoke more passion and arousal.

Even my benumbment to the insanely high frequency of animated mammary caresses could not prepare me for this short yet epic depiction in one of the opening scenes to Beat Angel Escalayer. As Sayuka relaxes in the bath, android Madoka steps in and informs her that the Doki Doki Dynamo, which we later learn is a battery-like device implanted inside Sayuka that feeds off of her high levels of sexual arousal, needs to be recharged. After Sayuka steps out of the bath, Madoka sits behind her, signals her pending massage, and then begins to excite Sayuka by fondling her breasts ever-so-gently...

Now... Most all anime and hentai depictions of breast fondling involve either (i) forced breast movement via a very firm clutch or (ii) squeezing in which the hand remains motionless as the fingers simply clasp together and re-open repeatedly. In this fascinating scene, however, Madoka instead applies a gentle lifting force which is distributed equally across the lengths and tips of her long, slender fingers. After lifting Sayuka's breasts all the way up, she then lets them delicately slide down across her fingers under their own weight. The interaction between between Madoka's hands and Sayuka's breasts is like watching a graceful ballet.

When it comes to animation frames for the lowering/uncompression of breasts after they have been raised/squeezed, most animators simply re-use the frames from the lifting or squeezing sequence and reverse them. This is all fine and dandy when firm clutches or motionless squeezing are involved since the return motion will be identical. However, since Madoka is applying a circular motion that delicately balances her lifting force and the weight of Sayuka's breasts, the upwards and downwards motions are completely different and require more frames to depict properly. The 15 frames in this sequence, twice that of a typical breast fondling sequence, serves to showcase the elegant suppleness of Sayuka's soft breasts. Her nipples are also animated to great effect as their circular motion path and sliding in and out of the channels between Madoka's index and middle fingers help emphasize the manner in which her breasts are distorting throughout the massage.

The perceived weight of Sayuka's breasts, their changing shape, the high number of frames, exquisite animation quality, and overall sensual nature of this plot-justified sexual massage make it one of the best animated depictions of perceived tactile softness I have ever witnessed. This magnificent attention to detail is maintained throughout the entire three episode OAV.

TITLE: : Front Innocent [Lady Innocent]
CHARACTER: Serving Girl Eichel
# ANIMATION FRAMES: 8
THEME: Realistic Breast Bouncing

A number of years ago, I discovered the amazingly high-quality animated title Front Innocent. One of its most intriguing and unique aspects is that it features an array of succulent serving girls who actually enjoy wearing outfits that completely expose their breasts, hair-veiled pubic areas, and rear ends. The primary spectacles, however, are indeed the myriad of exposed breasts which are portrayed in a variety of sizes and skin tones and appropriately respond (i.e. bounce) to actions that would normally not yield such a visual treat if they were restrained in a bra. Never before have mundane actions like stirring soup, wiping a desk clean, adjusting curtains, or walking down stairs been so... visually stimulating.

The depiction of one particular serving girl’s breasts made me truly appreciate the magnificence that can be achieved in animation. Eichel, a lesser-endowed maid one would not normally consider a prime candidate for a breast-bouncing scene, takes over when her partner Aine climaxes prematurely while trying to bring their master to orgasm. As the camera shifts to different views of the ensuing action, Eichel's chest is suddenly shown from the side which showcases my all-time favorite depiction of animated breast bouncing.

The beauty of this specific sequence stems from how her breasts realistically and energetically respond to her body's more subdued yet precise rhythmic motion. The reason for her breasts' vivacious response comes from how Eichel matches her body's motions with her breasts' natural frequency... When Eichel drops her chest, her breasts briefly hover in the air before succumbing to gravity. Just as they gain some downward momentum, she raises her chest, causing the breasts to energetically rebound upwards and hover again. This precise resonance provides her breasts with a movement range of almost four times that of her body's. Realizing the end result is a display of wondrously varying contorted breast shapes with an enchanting sense of density and mass, the editors loop this sequence six times, giving it the attention is most definitely deserves.

Like the aforementioned scene from Beat Angel Escalayer, the artist of this scene also utilizes Eichel's nipples to enhance the portrayed movements of her breasts... The right nipple's circular motion path reveals that her breasts are not only bouncing up-and-down, but also slightly side-to-side, just like they would in real life. The varying degrees of shading along the bottom of both breasts complete the grandeur by giving them three-dimensional volume. It amazes me how so much detailed realism can be jammed into only eight frames of animation. (For those who are curious, Eichel does succeed in her efforts and is rewarded with an act of nakadashi).

TITLE: DearS
CHARACTER: Ren

# ANIMATION FRAMES: 22
THEME: Exaggerated Breast Bouncing

Anime features a whole host of exaggerated character designs and animation styles, some more outlandish than others. Breast size and depictions of their bouncing are no exceptions, and they can often reach levels that defy all laws of physics. Take the lead female character Ren from the sci-fi comedy DearS... Throughout the show, her large bust size draws the jealous eyes of the other female characters, who have no qualms about copping a feel so as to satisfy their own envious curiosities. Ren's acquiescence to other people's touches and complete obliviousness to the impact her hand-magnetizing breasts have on others makes her character quite endearingly cute.

In my opinion, Ren's most enchanting moment occurs at the end of the first episode, immediately after she declares the male lead character Takeya as her master. After Takeya gives her the shortened name Ren, she shows her joyous appreciation by pouncing on him in happiness. Wearing nothing but a very loose-fitting shirt, Ren's enormous mammaries suddenly take center stage as she dangles them over a surprised Takeya. When it comes to nudity, Ren has a childlike innocence and does not realize that her nearly-exposed wildly flailing breasts are causing quite the reaction from her new master. Although just as fascinating as Front Innocent's uber-realistic up-and-down bouncing animation above, this sequence contrasts starkly by portraying a side-to-side bouncing with exaggerated dynamics.

In the first half of the sequence, Ren swiftly whisks her body to her left as her breasts (after momentarily lagging behind) promptly whip over in response, briefly hover in the air, and then descend under their own weight. However, her unbalanced body jerk back to her right causes her left breast to rise above her right, resulting in an asymmetric chain reaction of three wobbly rapid bounces as they settle back to their dangling position above Takeya. This seductive dance between her left and right breasts is sadly looped only once in the anime... such a waste for a wonderfully conceived and well-animated sequence that deserves so much more appreciation.

TITLE: Angel Blade
CHARACTER: Nailkaizer & Fudo Ayame
# ANIMATION FRAMES: 11
THEME: Nipple-to-Nipple Massage

I find that many of my favorite drawings contain elements that clearly contrast one another, and this sequence features two such contrasts: (i) the erectile states of the girls' nipples, and (ii) the skin tone and areola colors. After trying to excite Ayame by briefly sucking on her nipple, Nailkaizer changes tactics and decides to slowly tease Ayame by circling her already fully erect nipple around the circumference of Ayame's, which remains flat against the surrounding breast. The detail is fantastic. Note the natural-looking compliance of Nailkaizer's stiff nipple as it changes its angle while circumnavigating Ayame's. The stimulation also appears to cause Ayame's nipple to continuously lactate... The flow, which is clearly emanating from her nipple, is being continuously wiped off by Nailkaizer's nipple as it passes beneath.

As if this looping nipple massage sequence was not fascinating enough, the animator goes one step further by animating a followup sequence that shows Nailkaizer pulling her nipple away from Ayame's. Suddenly, Ayame's nipple quickly extends to full length, Nailkaizer re-engages, and their now equally-erect nipples firmly "embrace" one another... Wow. Click on the image to the left for the complete animated sequence.

In Support of Bouncing Breasts: The Evolution in Mainstream Video Gaming

2008-11-09T21:00:00.120-05:00

(Updated Mar 20, 2010)
Regardless of your stance on the matter, there is no denying that a great many hours have been and continue to be dedicated to simulating the intoxicating complex motions and contortions of the two mounds of flesh adorning a female’s chest in various media such as 2D drawings, traditional animation, and video games. In this essay, I will delve deep into its history, evolution, and potential future in mainstream video gaming.

UNDERLYING ALLURE
Due to the rhythmical thrusting nature of intercourse combined with the female's lack of breast support from removed attire, one would be hard-pressed to witness a sexual encounter that does not feature an accompanying display of attention-drawing bouncing breasts. As a result of this mental association, breast bouncing in more innocent non-sexual contexts still conjures up strong mental images of the sexual act itself. Driven by the oh-so-true adage "sex sells," creators of mainstream video games use this association to their advantage so as to imbue their titles with a unique titillating factor while remaining within the confines of relative social acceptability. Breast bouncing has proven to be an amazingly lucrative and low-risk aspect of many game developers' business models since it can be portrayed without yielding to the somewhat demographic-restricting "mature" rating from the ESRB. Side note: Speaking of the ESRB, they seriously need to consider updating their list of content descriptors to include "Breast Bouncing" as it is LONG overdue... It would help to inform gamers who appreciate such displays while simultaneously helping to prevent offending those individuals who have strong opposing feelings.

The display of bouncing bosoms has completely permeated video gaming during its 16 year evolution. The underlying reason for its longevity and detailed focus lies in the fact that video game females often forgo traditional and conservative attire in favor of revealing outfits that simply do not support their breasts very well. As a result, game developers have little choice but to address this lack of support by modeling the breasts' unrestrained motions with much more detail than would be necessary with more conventional attire, lest they receive negative reviews claiming their game is unrealistic, unpolished, or graphically inept. Developers who omit such jiggling on their scantily-clad leading ladies also risk alienating them from lists such as GameDaily's Top 50 Hottest Game Babes. The fact that 12 of the top 20 on that list are well known for their motion-prone breasts proves that a little bounce goes a long way. On the other hand, characters like Nariko from Heavenly Sword who support their breasts in a manner more befitting a powerful warrior already have one strike against them... Unable to rely on kinetically drawn gazes to their motion-challenged mammaries, such characters must depend more heavily on appearance, attire, personality, voice acting, and gameplay interactivity to make them successful and memorable additions to the world of gaming.

ORIGINS: THE BOUNCING KUNOICHI
In 1992, a female ninja named Shiranui Mai joined the ranks of SNK’s Fatal Fury and King of Fighters (KOF) series and had the distinct honor of jump-starting a unique trend in the blossoming video game industry. Her formula for success came from a unique combination of (i) her well-endowed character design, (ii) attire that provided virtually no breast support, and (iii) an up-and-down bouncing combat ready stance. Together, these factors yielded the very first in-your-face display of breast bouncing in a video game, providing an unprecedented titillation factor that enhanced the already enjoyable gaming experience. Mai’s character design helped pave her way to being one of the most iconic female video game fighters in history.

The KOF series was received so well by the gaming community that SNK released sequels on a yearly basis. In KOF '96, Mai’s breasts took on even more life when she was gifted with a new side-to-side combat ready stance. When one compares the number of animation frames in her stance to those of the other female characters, it quickly becomes apparent how much effort specifically went into showing off her bouncing bosoms. Side Note: If Mai ends up making the cut in the completely reanimated King of Fighters XII, gamers can likely expect to see the most epic 2D bounces ever drawn.

Since Japanese society enjoys one of the highest tolerances for erotica in mainstream media, gamers were no doubt delighted to have Mai’s bosoms bouncing all over Japanese arcades. The more prudish U.S. also wanted to reap the financial rewards of importing this great series of games but did not share the same fondness for Mai’s motion-induced mammaries, apparently believing that such imagery was inappropriate for the general public. Therefore, in one of the most bizarre acts of censorship in all of video gaming, Mai's breasts were completely re-animated for the U.S. release. As shown in the comparison animation to the left, all 18 frames of her ready-stance were retained. However, her static chest stands out like a sore thumb amongst her bouncing hair, arms, legs, and clothing, making her look oddly stiff and detracting from her character's otherwise dynamic visual grandeur.

Seriously, I cannot help but laugh at the overall silliness of Mai's censorship. At the time KOF '96 was released, the first three Mortal Kombat games had already portrayed violence in ways never before seen or imagined. Whereas Mai’s one-second loop of clothed bouncing breasts was deemed unfit for public display and completely censored, perverse visual depictions of extreme violence such as decapitations, spine rippings, heart pullings, and full-body skin peelings were completely sanctioned and all over arcades thanks to MK. This obvious disparity is a prime example of how different societies have varying levels of acceptance for public sexuality and violence. Fortunately, Mai’s nonsensical censorship has finally discontinued as I confirmed in the recent U.S. PS2 release of KOF XI. One cannot help but wonder: If arcades were still prevalent in the U.S., would we still be seeing such absurd censorship of even the most trivial sexual content?

BREAST PHYSICS: THE EVOLUTION
Before the advent of powerful home consoles capable of 3D gaming, artists were limited to pain-staking creation of individual 2D sprites for each frame of a bouncing animation. With the release of 3D-capable consoles, however, female characters could be rendered with enough polygons and detail at a frame-rate high enough to warrant the need to more accurately portray breasts. Enter "breast physics engines": mathematical models intended to simulate the pliant and supple nature of breasts as they respond to their owner's physical motions. Over the years, I have had the distinct honor of witnessing nine distinct and major breakthroughs as various companies experimented with these engines.

(1) Relative Movement - Early engines allowed for simple pre-rendered relative up/down movement between the breasts and torso, but the breasts themselves were depicted as firm, unyielding masses. Example: Prior to their evolution into the aroused jello-textured wonders they are today, Taki’s breasts began their claim to bouncing fame in Namco's arcade and PS1 classic Soul Edge. Gamers were rewarded for a win by being treated to a primitive but noticeably sizable bounce during her victory pose. It is perhaps this specific low resolution jiggle that served as the catalyst for transforming Taki's breasts into one the most recognized pair in video gaming. Aside: Taki's nipples deserve special mention as being the most renowned in all of mainstream video gaming... From their humble beginnings in Soul Edge as overtly pronounced surface textures with clearly distinct nipples and areolae that adorned the tips of her thinly covered breasts, Taki's perpetually erect nipples have enjoyed prominent attention in all official art ever since. In fact, her nipples are so distinguished now that developers of Soulcalibur IV even went to the extent of fully rendering them underneath her red leotard... or so I read.

(2) Breast Shape Deformation – As a critical aspect in replicating proper breast behavior, the ability to portray deformation was a major milestone in the development of breast physics engines. One of the first such engines was developed by Terminal Reality and wonderfully executed in Bloodrayne 2. In response to her various attack motions, Rayne's breasts deformed while undergoing a single dampened return bounce. To further draw attention to Rayne's chest, the game also featured a larger breast size option which could be activated by entering the secret "juggy mode" code. Perhaps most impressive was the fact that different outfits resulted in different degrees of bouncing, depending on how well each ensemble supported her seductive mounds. The video below shows Rayne in her black form-fitting evening gown which yields the most bouncing of all her outfits. Although different attacks and actions resulted in different bouncing direction and severity, her breasts were still limited to various pre-programmed animations which were exactly the same for any given action or attack, whether it be a simple body turn or an acrobatic somersault.

(3) Dynamically Rendered Jiggling – Perhaps the greatest breakthrough in breast physics history was the achievement of a variably dynamic "jiggle" in which the breasts reacted in real-time to the severity of their owner's movements. A perfect example is Fiona from Capcom’s Haunting Ground as showcased in the video below. Depending on the intensity of her player-controlled movements, Fiona's springy breasts reacted accordingly, rebounding several times before eventually returning to their nominal chest-resting position, although not without a visually detracting "uni-breast springboarding" phenomenon. By hacking into the game, a player could also choose one of six different breast sizes (seven for her hidden costumes), with larger sizes having an even more energetic response. Capcom clearly put a lot of effort into Haunting Ground's varying breast size physics engine, yet they did not include any in-game option for the player to choose her bust size. Why the developers spent so much time and effort to encode multiple breast sizes that were never officially featured in the released product remains a mystery...

(4) Compressive Force Distortion - I take my hat off to the Namco developers who worked on the breast physics engine in Soul Calibur III... They actually put the time and effort to simulate how breasts deform when subjected to a compressive force, even though this display would never normally occur in-game. The video below shows how the breasts of the well-endowed shopkeeper Valeria realistically flatten out and spread apart when she presses her chest against the floor. This attention to detail is absolutely remarkable... Previous engines would have simply had her breasts clip through the ground unresponsively. The real challenge now is for game developers to find creative yet legitimate ways to showcase this unique aspect of their physics engines. ^_^

(5) Independent Breast Physics - Tecmos's Dead or Alive (DoA) series originally began strictly as a series of deep fighting games, but a spin-off Xtreme series, which consisted of volleyball and other mini-games, focused specifically on showcasing how detailed their breast physics model had become. Although many people claim that DoA Xtreme 2 introduced the industry-first concept of an independent breast physics engine which permitted the left and right breasts to respond asynchronously from one another, Soul Calibur III actually holds that honor, as one can clearly see in the previous video of Valeria above. This was a significant step up from the unsightly "mirror image" bounce inherent in previous engines. Although the engine from DoA Xtreme 2 did succeed in taking this new independent bouncing aspect to exaggerated levels, it had the unrealistic side-effect of causing the breasts to jiggle excessively even after their owner had long since stopped moving. However, many gamers appreciated the unique visual captivation that it offered since breast bouncing had never been seen in such an over-the-top fashion before. Admit it: It's hard to tear your eyes away from Helena's independently bouncing bosoms no matter how unrealistically energetic they may be... They almost have a life of their own.

(6) Varying Size Bouncing - Unlike Team Ninja, Namco has come to understand that not all breasts are created equal and have provided a host of female fighters in their Soul Calibur series that have a refreshingly wide range of breast sizes. From the cute flat-chested Amy & Talim, to the moderately-sized Xianghua & Seong Mi-na, to the massively endowed Sophitia and Ivy, this breast size diversity allows for a fascinating variety in depictions of bouncing. Namco recently struck pure gold with their release of Soulcalibur IV which utilizes the most well-developed and robust breast physics engine to date that beautifully balances realism and fantasy across a wide variety of breast sizes. SC4’s option-filled custom character creation mode has such depth that players can choose from one hundred breast sizes that bounce appropriately based upon their size. This far surpasses the options provided in other games' custom-character modes, such as Mortal Kombat Armageddon (21 breast sizes) and Top Spin 3 (11 breast sizes). Marvel below at the jaw-dropping demonstration that an appreciative fan put together showcasing the utter magnificence and attention to detail of SC4's physics engine as it portrays the various female forms. This truly breathtaking display shows how far video game breast bouncing has progressed since 1992.

(7) Direct User-Controlled Bouncing - While playing through Metal Gear Solid 4, I was ecstatic to learn that it features the first attempt in mainstream video gaming to allow players to directly control the motion of breasts. Konami utilized the new sixaxis technology built into the PS3 controller, and by shaking the controller during any cutscene with Rosemary, the gamer can cause her breasts to inexplicably jiggle. However, this ingenious concept is limited to only three pre-rendered bounce animations, all of which are sadly independent of the severity and direction in which the controller is shaken. The bouncing also has no impact on the game whatsoever... If anything, it should have provided a psyche boost not unlike the motivational between-round fist tapping for Little Mac in the original NES Punch Out.

However, in late 2008, the developers at Mystic Game Development completed iBoobs, an iPhone demo application that ingeniously combines the phone's built-in accelerometer with a breast physics engine. As showcased in the video below, shaking the iPhone causes the on-screen bikini-clad breasts to react accordingly, jiggling in response to both the direction in and severity at which the phone is shaken. Although this monumental advancement in the world of interactive breast bouncing was a significant improvement from Rosemary's rudimentary user-controlled bouncing, Apple ultimately cancelled the release of iBoobs', claiming it was too offensive.

For a time, it was appearing that Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 would set a new industry standard in this category. However, unlike the elegant motions and responsiveness shown in Team Ninja's promotional video below, all gamers received was a poorly-rendered gimmick that only reacted to the most violent of controller motions. The definitive six-axis user-controlled bouncing has yet to be conceived.

(8) Bare-Breasted Bouncing - Supporting Characters - Okay, I realize this is more of a thematic breakthrough than a technical one, but it is significant just the same. Namco Bandai's Afro Samurai game for the PS3/XBOX360 features the most daring breast bouncing display yet. Upon entering an elaborate room in the second level, the player will encounter a topless exotic dancer who joins her three companions, their collective bodies forming a long Chinese dragon tattoo hinting at a shared history between them. Hidden beneath their sexuality, though, lie deceptively strong portrayals as adept and agile swordswomen, the most difficult opponents up to this point in the game and easily my favorite video game depiction of kunoichi to date. Anyone who insultingly categorizes them as "ninja strippers" will have to answer to me.

The ensuing combat which fills the room with the first gameplay depiction of bare-breasted bouncing ever in a mainstream video game does not fail to disappoint thanks to: (i) a robust cel-shaded breast physics engine with dynamic rendering that keeps the bouncing in a supporting role instead of being unrealistically over-the-top, (ii) the kunoichi's agile movements as they continuously dodge, duck, and spin away from the player's attacks, and (iii) the large dragon tattoos that accentuate the breasts' subtle distortions. It's downright cruel, though, that the player is forced to heartlessly dispatch these sexy nameless vixens so early in the game without an opportunity to learn more about them.

Not only was I impressed by how well Namco Bandai was able to push the limits of eroticism in a cel-shaded visual medium, I was amazed at how much effort was spent on these extremely minor characters who were so regrettably short-lived. In addition to providing each of the four kunoichi with individually unique visual designs, the game developers even went so far as to provide unique breast sizes that bounce differently as well as varying nipple textures... Bravo!

(9) Perceived Tactile Response - In the wake of Afro Samurai, other games such as Dante's Inferno and God of War 3 continue the alluring trend of featuring topless antagonists accompanied by detailed breast physics engines. The team at Visceral Games, the developer of Dante's Inferno, deserve special mention for a most remarkably realistic engine as well as the unique manner in which it is showcased.

With the boss of the Lust level, Cleopatra, portrayed as a towering giant, her completely exposed breasts take center stage when the player is forced to combat her. Not only does her massive character design allow her breasts to be so prominently featured in the background during the entire combat, they also serve as spawn points for her summoned minions. The perceived tactile response becomes immediately apparent as her right breast (i) reacts to her hand's grazing as she grabs the minions off it and then (ii) bounces back down upon release. Later, during Cleopatra's attempted seduction of Dante, her breasts bounce energetically as she and Dante struggle, and the perceived tactile response occurs again as they react to his fondling hand.

I continue to use the word "perceived" since it appears her breasts are simply programmed to lift and bounce back at the specific times her and Dante's hands "touch" them as opposed to real-time rendered model-to-model contact. Nevertheless, the realism displayed is quite a fascinating visual distraction, making the combat and quick time event much harder than they should be.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Having remained fairly impartial and objective thus far, let me say that I seriously tire of the growing number of obtuse criticisms against the depiction of breast bouncing in video games. I respect that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that it is impossible to please everyone, but I get distraught when I read articles that inappropriately bash the talented video game artists who strive to provide their audiences with the highly detailed physics engines required to portray such a complex and dynamic part of the human anatomy. People need to realize that games are merely forms of entertainment intended to provide respite from reality by whisking gamers away to wondrous fantasy worlds. Gorgeous scantily-clad women fighting in life-or-death situations is not your typical everyday event, so why should such fantasy-world content be specifically restricted by making their breasts less fantastical? Whatever the case may be, such insensitive comments are completely irreverent of the hard-working and talented pioneers who endeavor to recreate the beauty of the human form in this relatively new artistic medium.

On several occasions, I have purchased games that I knew I probably would not enjoy playing but still desired to own so as to observe and analyze how far simulated breast bouncing had progressed as well as financially support the companies who invested in it. I truly applaud the developers of games & series such as Ninja Gaiden, Tomb Raider, Devil May Cry, Dead or Alive, King of Fighters, God of War 3, and Dante's Inferno that not only feature such detailed attention in their portrayal of breasts, but are also completely fun in their own right. I am frustrated, though, that most all mainstream developers nowadays simply do not have the courage that Interplay did in 2000 when they released Giants: Citizen Kabuto, a game which featured a topless (though sadly, bounce-free) female lead that the player actually controlled throughout most of the game. Such exquisite topless character designs would serve as refreshingly unique challenges for modern developers, allowing them to showcase their progress in apparel-free breast bouncing physics. What company will dare to follow in Interplay's footsteps and release the first mainstream video game that features a topless, breast bouncing playable lead? It will happen eventually... The questions are simply "who?" and "when?"

In regards to Apple's decision to cancel iBoobs, I feel they really dropped the ball. Instead of seizing a golden opportunity to cash-in on what would have no doubt been a top-seller, Apple is basically relinquishing their profits to another company who will no doubt take advantage of this concept in the future. I am also confused by their definition of "offensive" given their existing library of other similarly suggestive apps (iJiggle, Wobble, iGirl, iFloaty, Shake Mates, and Pull My Finger). Seriously: Are clothed bouncing breasts more "offensive" than seeing girls lap-dancing or having their clothes removed?

I eagerly await the day that mainstream game developers build off of Mystic Game Development's creativity and integrate similar in-depth breast bouncing interactivity in future games. Like peanut butter and jelly, breast physics engines and six-axis/accelerometers were made for each other, and I feel that their marriage in mainstream gaming is near at hand. Which company will be the first to take this unique concept, maintain interactivity and responsiveness, and release a full blown breast-bouncing rhythm game ala Samba de Amigo? ...Anyone?

BREAST PHYSICS: THE FUTURE
Breast bouncing will continue to coexist with video gaming for as long as heroines are depicted in revealing and non-supportive clothing. Although it has come a long way since its initial conception, evolving into a sort of complex rag-doll physics engine localized to the female chest, there are still even more detailed facets that have yet to be explored. I am hopeful that increases in console processing power as well as continued engine tweaking fueled by the ardent competition between experts at Namco Bandai, Team Ninja and now Visceral Games will eventually introduce us to four aspects of breast bouncing that are currently sorely lacking: (1) variation and user control of breast firmness, (2) creative displays of tactile response and/or the "compressive force deformation" aspect first introduced in Soul Calibur III, (3) more realism and variety in how different types (or states) of attire support the breasts as they bounce, and (4) innovative reasons for direct breast control that actually affect gameplay. The continued future evolution of video game breast bouncing appears to be bright indeed.

Doujinshi Dialogue Challenge #3

2008-10-31T22:40:00.013-04:00

(Updated January 31, 2009) I can't imagine a better submission than anonymous' "partly covered" entry. It humorously combines Asuka's mixed Japanese/German descent with the ever-frustrating censorship that Japanese artists must endure. Also, if Asuka WAS somehow involved in a discussion about Japanese censorship, I could see her character actually doing this strictly to prove her knowledge on the subject... Remember how she nonchalantly used her breasts as the subject of a physics discussion with Shinji in the series? Well done, anonymous... You earned it!

Congratulations to anonymous for winning previous Challenge #2!

The rules are simple: I have removed the original dialogue from a doujinshi scene. All you have to do is think of replacement dialogue that brings a wonderfully humorous spin to the scene and submit your text entry by commenting on this post. You may also include some brief "situational information" in brackets... The entry that induces the most laughter will be declared the winner, and I will upload a professional edit of the scene with the winning text and the winner's name.

The scene for this third challenge comes from the classic Evangelion doujinshi Motherless Children in which a completely out-of-character Asuka proudly shows off her goods to Shinji. I suspect this is going to be a difficult one, so let those creative juices flow!