Hentai (変態 or へんたい?) About this sound listen (
help·info) English /ˈhɛntaɪ/ (lit. "
pervert") is a word of Japanese origin which is short for (変態性欲?, hentai seiyoku); a perverse sexual desire. The original meaning of Hentai in the Japanese language is a transformation or a metamorphosis. The implication of perversion or paraphilia was derived from there. Both meanings can be distinguished in context easily.
In Japanese, the term describes any type of perverse or bizarre sexual desire or act; it does not represent a genre of
work. Internationally, hentai is a catch-all term to describe a genre of
anime and manga pornography. English adopts and uses hentai as a genre of pornography by the commercial sale and marketing of explicit works under this
label.
The word's narrow Japanese-language usage and broad international usage are often incompatible. Weather Report Girl is considered yuri hentai in English usage for its depiction of lesbian sex, but in Japan it is just yuri. The
definition clash also appears with the Japanese definition of yuri as any
lesbian relationship, as opposed to its sexually explicit definition in English usage.