In the world of Anime
characters like Dragon ballIt's Goku, One pieceIt's Luffy, My Hero AcademyIt's Deku, and Jujutsu KaisenThe Gojo are instantly recognizable heroes who have steadily built the genre for years, transforming the medium into a way to consume Japanese entertainment. But on the opposite side of that spectrum, a new report from NSFW has revealed that the raciest subsection of anime, called hentai, has once again topped the list of the most searched term on adults-only website PornHubsetting a record for himself in the process.
Defined in English as “a genre of Japanese manga and anime characterized by overtly sexualized characters and sexually explicit images and plots.” "hentai" originated as a Japanese term dating back a century and at first it had nothing to do with the raunchy images and animated clips with which the word is associated today.
However, in more recent decades, “hentai” has been used almost synonymously in relation to this explicitly animated genre, with a report shared on X by Miles (@Real_Kilometers) officially revealing that For the fourth year in a row, the number one search on NSFW site PornHub was “hentai.”
"Hentai" tops Pornhub's most searched list in 2024 for the fourth year in a row
Data graph shared by Miles (@Real_Kilometers)
Claiming the top spot on PornHub's list of most searched terms in 2024, Miles notes, "The rise of Hentai could be seen as an early indicator of anime's imminent explosion in popularity during the pandemic," something that makes sense given the way Miles also mentions that “anime” as a search term also reached the site’s top ten. Providing an analytical graph sourced from PornHub Insights and Google Trends, Miles shows how, just over a decade ago, hentai wasn't even in the site's top 20 searchesbut with interest in anime growing steadily over the years, the genre has benefited exponentially.
A genre populated by steamy, steamy pages, sexually charged animated videos, and even the more recent use of 3D animation to replace traditional art, hentai offers viewers content featuring both well-known and obscure fetishes, subgenres involving bondage and tentacles, erotica stories with real character development and more, with hentai being a driving force behind what helps the porn industry succeed. Additionally, when it comes to unsanctioned fan-created content, There will always be unofficial ways for hentai to grow as a genrewith some going so far as to insert popular anime characters into situations their official counterparts would never be allowed to.
Hentai is becoming an incredibly popular genre for adults-only audiences
While it's strange to see anime close to an NSFW conversation like this - especially in the context of what's being reported here - it can be argued that hentai was always will become as popular as it is nowand, similar to the meteoric growth of the porn industry, it will use this demand to further expand its niche of producing raunchy animated content. Anime it's not going anywhere anytime soonand considering hentai follows the continued success of the genre, one can expect the same to happen with this pornographic version of the category in the future.
Source: @Real_Kilometers